Bangkok--11 Jun--ABM
Goodyear (Thailand) Public Company Limited recently held its 46th Annual General Meeting in Bangkok , where managing director Mr. Finbarr O’Connor presented Goodyear Thailand’s highlights for 2013 and expressed his optimism of maintaining strong sales growth in 2014.
The introduction of the Assurance TripleMax tire in Asia Pacific last July was the biggest launch for Goodyear in the region in 2013. Its performance in the Thailand market has exceeded expectations, with Thai consumers responding well to the market-back approach the company has taken by bringing meaningful benefits to drivers. With an improved wet braking ability that enables drivers to reduce braking distances by more than 2 meters on wet roads, a high level of tire durability, and an increase in fuel savings, the Assurance TripleMax tire has become among the top choices in the mid-tier passenger vehicle segment in Thailand.
2013 also saw Thailand launch Goodyear’s quietest ever SUV tire, the EfficientGrip SUV. The Goodyear EfficientGrip SUV is engineered with QuietTred Technology to let SUV drivers “Command the Road and Control the Noise”, creating an exceptionally quiet and confident ride. The tire has already been met with great reviews and awards around the world; in Asia Pacific alone, it has to date been awarded with 10 awards and recognitions for its performance from leading automotive publications.
“Thailand remains a very important market for Goodyear. We achieved a steady increase in sales in 2013 and were especially encouraged by our performance in the second half of the year as consumers really took to the new Assurance TripleMax tire. We expect to further improve on this performance with growth in 2014,” Mr. O’Connor said.
“This year, Goodyear Thailand is positioning itself as a “top of mind” tire brand for safety and innovation, and a business that everyone wants to partner with. This will be achieved by being first with customers, the leader in our targeted market segments, the innovation leader and competitively advantaged.
“We are confident of achieving our long-term goal of remaining at the forefront of innovative tire technology, focusing on growth in key market segments, increasing our distribution capacity and creating sustainable economic value,” concluded Mr. O’Connor.
In the Thailand market, Goodyear differentiates itself by offering a range of innovative, high-quality, high-performance tires designed to serve the specific needs of Thai car owners. This is backed by national servicing through a Goodyear branded retail network of aligned independent dealers. Thailand is also a key strategic manufacturing location for Goodyear, supplying both the domestic and international markets. In addition to producing innovative tires for passenger and SUV vehicles, Goodyear’s plant in Thailand is also the company’s only facility in Asia Pacific—and one of just three plants globally—that manufactures new aviation tires.