The company has perseveringly been working during the past years – the group, however, has experienced only limited acceptance for its products in the consumer segment so far. In the framework of an online dealer conference, the top management of the company stressed again that cooperation with the dealers would be intensified. It was planned to achieve an increase in export by 15 per cent in 2021. ZC was aiming at bigger investments in brand marketing to achieve this goal – distributors and retailers were to benefit too.
The management described the plans with the well-known confident Chinese self-image: “We are going to further strengthen our position with additional global expansion and technological innovations”, said Shen Jinrong, Chairman of the ZC Rubber Group. Already in 2020, a year of crisis, it was possible to generate a sales plus of 2.25 per cent compared to the previous year.
Future Factory
“We have been following the strategy of technological innovation and have achieved a general improvement of product quality, production efficiency and quality control since last year”, said Shen Jinrong. New products were introduced both in the commercial and in the consumer segment”. According to people responsible, the course will have to be set towards complete digitalization of production with a focus on smart manufacturing, future factory, and sustainable development. The first smart factory is to be finished this year. The Group is still planning to set up a new tyre plant in America, Europe, or the Middle East. “Our digital development will support global distributors and retailers in the years to come”, assured Ge Guorong, Vice President of the ZC Rubber Group.
The managers are aware that optimizing processes and structures will not guarantee any success in the European market. Especially the German market is extremely selective and focused on quality – ZC Rubber will only be able to develop punch by achieving an essential jump of the products in crucial performance criteria. Now, the Chinese giant will have to deliver to increase the dealers’ acceptance. Future will have to tell whether the recently presented consumer car product lines of the brands Westlake, Goodride, Trazano and Chaoyang will be able to meet these requirements.
