Triangle Group celebrated its 40th anniversary on April 8 in Shanghai, China, with a day-long conference. The Weihai City-based company hosted around 500 people. The attendees included Chinese government officials, employees from around the world, suppliers, customers, and yes, Modern Tire Dealer.
Chairman Yuhua Ding shared the Triangle Group Vision with guests. He referred to Albert Einstein and his belief that “science and technology are the driving forces of society.” Ding said the company is focused on the improvement of its U.S. R&D center in Akron, Ohio, and will use this model in other parts of the world.
Ding stated that tires are a major contributor to allowing society to enter into a more civilized way of life, and Triangle understands that contribution to society. "Countries are living on the wheels, and the tire industry’s improvement will contribute a lot to the development of society and civilization."
Ding said the company hopes to be producing 30 million units per year in five years, up from 25 million per year at the present time.
Ding ended his remarks by stating the company wants to accelerate its globalization, but in doing so, he says the “global team must adhere to integrity and culture. Hard work and diligence is the road to success.”
In an exclusive interview with MTD which will appear in our May issue, Ding said the company plans to have a sixth “production base” not in China within the next three years. Currently all five plants for Triangle are in China.
Cohade: 151 new products in 2016
Product leadership, manufacturing excellence and the Triangle brand will drive the company’s success and globalization, according to Triangle CEO Pierre Cohade.
“Our focus on product leadership is anchored on true research and development testing facilities, one in Weihai, one in Akron, Ohio, and very soon we will announce a third facility in Europe,” he told attendees.
“We invest every year 5% of revenues in developing our own technology and our own expertise using the most advanced testing equipment. The expertise we have developed is the reason Triangle does only does one thing. We love tires, we only do tires, and we do all tires.”
He also offered a glimpse into Triangle’s plans for products in 2016, including the introduction of aviation tires and the reintroduction of a line of radial farm tires. A total of 151 Triangle products will be launched in 2016.
“We continue to innovate in jumbo OTR, we just manufactured our first 63-inch tire, the world’s largest tire. We continue to innovate in OTR radial, we continue to improve the OTR bias but we never forget our roots in TBR and PCR,” he said.
Cicero: Triangle will partner with U.S. dealers
The conference gave Triangle a platform for celebrating its heritage and its initiatives to transform from a Chinese-focused company to a large player in the global tire industry. And the U.S. market is one that the company intends to pursue. Manny Cicero, new CEO of Triangle Tire USA, was the only speaker from Triangle who was not based in China.
Cicero used his speech to explain branding in the U.S. “Brands can make people pay more for even a commodity,” he said. “But, it starts with a relationship we’ve established over the years. This will allow our (dealer) customers to help promote our brand.”
While emphasizing the need to work in partnership with dealers, Cicero stated that Triangle has growth opportunities, with some of those coming about due to the fact that “major tire companies are competing against their customers.”
For pictures from Triangle's 40th anniversary celebration, click through our exclusive photo gallery.
