What is the most popular tire projects in 2024? Of course it is none other than new energy vehicle tires. The latest data shows that as the sales of new energy vehicles in China continue to rise, the number of vehicles is expected to reach 39.4 million by 2025, and the market share is expected to reach 14.0%.
As the number of new energy vehicles continues to rise, it is expected that the tire pattern development of new energy vehicles will increase by 200% in 2024, the silent sponge technology will increase by 180%, and the growth rate of self-sealing technology will also exceed 100%.
Faced with this rapidly erupting market demand, tire manufacturers, agents, and terminal stores stepped up their actions to prepare for the upcoming new track.
01 Since the beginning of the year, billions of dollars are pouring into new energy vehicle tires
On the manufacturing side, many tire manufacturers have launched special tires for new energy vehicles in the past two years. Since 2024, there has been direct investment in new production capacity to prepare for the next market trend.
On April 2, Nanjing Kumho Tire's "New energy vehicle high-performance tire production line upgrade project" made an environmental impact assessment announcement. It is planned to invest 200 million yuan to transform the remaining production area of its existing factory in Nanjing, which was originally equipped with 3.5 million semi-steel radial tire and the construction of a new energy vehicle high-performance tire production line upgrade project with a capacity of 1.78 million units.
In February this year, Jianda Tianxia Group signed a contract with the Jilin High-tech Zone Management Committee for the "Intelligent manufacturing project of special tires for new energy vehicles", attracting an investment of 3 billion yuan. It will expand based on the original factory in Jilin City and add new car and truck and bus tire production lines, with an annual output of 15 million tires.
On March 28, the new energy series new product Warrior 205/60R16 92V R700 EV tire of the second phase project of Double Coin Group (Anhui) Warrior Tire(referred to as Anhui Warrior) successfully rolled off the production line. It is reported that the Anhui Warrior Phase II project is an important step for Double Coin Passenger Car Tires to adapt to market demand and realize the strategic plan of "new energy, new starting point, and new journey".
Since 2024, Haida Group has accelerated the construction progress of three technical transformation projects including the joint-stock company's new annual output of 2 million new energy vehicle semi-steel radial tires, striving to put into production as soon as possible and achieve the goal of expanding capacity and increasing efficiency as soon as possible. At the end of March, Haida Group's newly developed HD317 new energy vehicle tires entered the market and are expected to achieve sales of 500,000 units throughout the year, becoming the company's latest profit growth point.
02 Do new energy vehicle tires require special production lines?
Someone asked, do new energy vehicle tires need to build a special production line? Let's first understand that in terms of design, special tires for new energy vehicles must be upgraded in the following aspects:
1) Tire material: Special tires for new energy vehicles use higher-grade materials such as low rolling resistance rubber and silicone compounds. These materials can reduce energy loss, improve energy efficiency, and extend tire life.
2) Structural design: Special tires for new energy vehicles usually adopt lightweight designs to reduce tire weight, reduce the overall load of the vehicle, and improve energy efficiency. In addition, they have better stiffness and stability to adapt to the high torque output and high-speed driving needs of electric vehicles.
3) Tread design: The tread design of special tires for new energy vehicles has also been improved. In order to provide better handling performance and safety, the tread pattern usually uses special noise reduction technology to reduce the friction noise between the tire and the ground. In addition, some tires also feature innovative drainage designs to improve wet grip.
Based on the above, changes in the formula, structure, and pattern design of new energy vehicle tires have put forward higher requirements for the production process of factory mixing, curing, building and other links. More intelligent and sophisticated manufacturing equipment is needed, and new production lines can better meet the realization of tire design performance.
03 A new round of competition for the passenger tire market has begun
We say that the design goals of special tires for new energy vehicles are to improve energy utilization, reduce energy loss, and improve handling performance and safety. As the new energy vehicle market continues to grow, special tires for new energy vehicles will receive more research and development and improvements to meet the changing needs.
But back to the essence, special tires for new energy vehicles are not qualitatively different from traditional car tires in terms of product formula and structure. It only puts forward more performance preferences, and there are no major changes in terminal store installation and sales links, so that many people feel that new energy vehicle tires are more like a gimmick for manufacturers to promote their products.
However, this is not the truth. For the traditional industry of the tire market, a small technological iteration will open up a new market situation and trigger a reshuffle of brands and market shares in the entire industry.
In particular, the new energy vehicle trend has arrived, and I believe the new trend will be enough to set off a new round of competition for the passenger tire market.
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