Key stakeholders discuss major trends and developments in Middle East tire industry at 1st Automechanika Exclusive Tire Gathering
Dubai, UAE: Automotive industry professionals have weighed in on the debate about the Middle East’s tyre industry, with the future headed for positive growth, as the sector swings from a buyers’ to a sellers’ market.
More than a dozen key figures from the regional tyre industry gathered to discuss future growth prospects, challenges, and the way ahead at the 1st Automechanika Exclusive Tyre Gathering today (7th March) in Dubai.
Panelists at Dubai’s H Hotel were headed by Surender Kandhari, the Chairman of Al Dobowi Group; Mohammed Aqel, the General Manager of Central Trading Company, and Alireza Moaref, Managing Director of Varga Group.
Varga Group is the Middle East representative of Marshal, Kenda, Deestone, Achilles and Alexia tyre brands. Moaref said the region has reached the bottom of its sales cycle.
“The tire market normally goes through five year cycles where one sees five years of a buyers’ market and five years of sellers’ market”, said Moaref. “I believe it bottomed out by November 2016 and we’re now witnessing a change from 5-6 years of price decline to a price incline market. There’s a small chance prices might steady out after a few months but we won’t see a decline in the near term.”
Moaref’s comments were shared by Aqel, whose Central Trading Company represents more than 25 auto aftermarket brands, including Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop, and Kormoran tyres. Aqel said the region is on an upward trend due to recent price increases in raw materials such as rubber after three years of decline.
“There will be positive growth coming from price increases but we don’t expect much growth in tyre volumes,” said Aqel, who added there were some challenges ahead to brace for as well. “We were facing the price drop challenge, now we will face the price increase challenge.”
The 1st Automechanika Exclusive Tyre Gathering was hosted by Messe Frankfurt Middle East, organiser of Automechanika Dubai, the region’s largest automotive aftermarket trade fair, which runs from 7-9 May 2017 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Other panelists today were Jignesh Parekh, Managing Director of JASPA; Ashwin Jain, General Manager of Apollo International Trading; Subhash Joshi, Regional Head and Associate Director of Automotive & Transportation at analysts Frost & Sullivan; and Prachi Satoskar, Business Group Manager for Automotive in the MENA at GfK.
Among the other hot topics up for discussion was future trends and innovations in a Middle East market where, according to Frost & Sullivan, revenues from tyre sales will reach US$3.6 billion in 2021, growing nine per cent annually from US$2.4 billion in 2016.
“These are dynamic markets and contribute a good share to all major tyre brands in the replacement market,” said Aqel. “Keeping in mind that the GCC region in particular has a very high GDP with high purchasing power when compared to other markets in the region.
“However, it needs to be further regulated and controlled, especially in the UAE, as the country is a very open market and a hub for re-export. We’re still considered as an emerging market here in UAE and there’s still a lot of development required.”
Added Moaref: “The UAE is probably going to have the biggest percentage growth for us in the next couple years leading to the Expo 2020 Dubai. On the other hand, Africa has a bright future and we predict a resumption of sales soon in some African countries that were affected by currency devaluations and the oil slump.”
“We believe that we are headed for a good year considering the recent upward trend in prices. When prices are on the upside purchasing increases and there’s capital inflow into our market. Tyres are after all a commodity and people buy on a bullish market.”
The 1st Automechanika Exclusive Tyre Gathering comes amid growing interest from tyre manufacturers and suppliers from across the globe at Automechanika Dubai 2017, which has a dedicated Tyres & Batteries product section featuring more than 200 exhibitors.
Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of Messe Frankfurt Middle East, said: “Today’s Automechanika roundtable is designed to promote dialogue between key market figures and develop profitable avenues of idea exchange that is not only beneficial to the region, but to the industry as a whole.”
“Tyres & Batteries constitute a significant and growing product group at Automechanika Dubai, with 35 per cent of the 30,000-plus trade visitors to the show expressing interest in this dedicated section. Space taken up too has nearly tripled over four years since 2012, underlining its huge drawing power to exhibitors worldwide,” he added.
Now in its 15th edition, Automechanika Dubai 2017 will feature more than 2,000 exhibitors from over 55 countries, and spans five other product groups of Parts & Components; Electronics & Systems; Accessories & Customizing; Repair & Maintenance; and Car Wash, Care & Reconditioning.
The annual three-day event returns with its popular Truck Competence initiative, where more than 1,000 exhibitors will showcase their products dedicated to the entire value chain in the truck sector, from truck parts and accessories, to workshop equipment, body repairs and care.
Its global influence is underlined by the presence of more than 20 country pavilions and 35 international trade associations, while 90 per cent of exhibitors, and 51 per cent of visitors are expected to come from outside of the UAE.
Automechanika Dubai 2017 will return with the popular Automechanika Academy – a series of seminars, presentations, and workshops about key issues and regulations that affect the automotive aftermarket, and the African Buyer-Seller Meet, connecting suppliers with buyers from the world’s second largest continent. More information about Automechanika Dubai is available at: www.automechanikadubai.com.
- Published in News & Events
Marshal Tire Holds Global Dealers Meet to Launch New Brand Strategy
Marshal Tire, the highly popular tire brand owned by Korean tire manufacturer Kumho Tire recently chose to launch two new patterns at a dealers meet held at the Sheraton Creek Dubai Hotel in Dubai on October 16, 2016. The highly anticipated event was also used to reveal the roadmap to rejuvenate the veteran brand with a new brand policy comprising a more aggressive marketing strategy and a revamped visual identity.
Over 70 distributors from different countries across the world including United Kingdom, UAE, Russia, Angola, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Ghana, Italy and Madagascar attended the two day event. This was the first such gathering of distributors of Marshal Tire to be held in Dubai, which is the hub of the automotive trade in the Middle East and Africa region.
Speaking at the event, Han Seob Lee, CEO of Kumho expressed his gratitude to the company’s partners for their support over the long years. He went on to add that Marshal is Kumho’s longest established brand and said that the company has come up with a new road map to drive the growth of the popular brand. He was also on stage to launch the two latest tires from the company, the MU12 and the MH 12 tires. These two innovative patterns are meant to spearhead the brand’s expansion on the global scene.
The MU12 tire is positioned as an ultra high performance tire that offers superior braking and handling when compared to its predecessor, the MU11 tire. It comes with an asymmetric tread and is made from a superior rubber compound, high styrene SBR, which has higher stiffness to make the tire stronger and improve its wear and wet braking performance. It has four wide channels for better hydroplaning and stylistically it has a sharp serration deco on the sidewall to enhance its appeal to customers and to differentiate the tire from those of other brands.
The MH12 tire is a high performance tire and is the successor to the MH11 tire. Compared to its predecessor, the tire offers users better dry braking and wet braking performance. This tire has a symmetric tread, has a solid rib in the center and a waffle type dimple in the middle block for style. The M initial in the sidewall reinforces the brand identity. High dispersion silica has been used instead of conventional silica to enhance fuel efficiency and wet braking performance.
Alireza Moaref, Managing Director of Varga Trading Co. LLC, the exclusive distributor for Marshal Tire in the UAE was invited to speak at the event on behalf of all the distributors who attended the event. He praised Mr. Lee’s exemplary leadership and emphasized the importance of communication as well listening to partners, two qualities Mr. Lee has demonstrated in ample measure. He went on to say that he highly appreciated the support that the factory has extended to Marshal distributors in such a short time by adding 7 new patterns in 2016 and increasing marketing and logistical support.
He said, “Marshal distributors are some of the oldest partners Kumho has, as some of them have been selling Marshal tires for over 3 decades. I would like to thank Mr. Lee and his team of top officials from Kumho for attending and organizing this amazing event, which will no doubt send a clear message to the world that Marshal is back! Events like these play a crucial role in boosting the morale of distributors and will motivate us to continue to strive to reclaim Marshal’s rightful position as one the leading tire brands in the world.”
The distributors who attended the Marshal tire conference really enjoyed their stay in Dubai as in addition to the official product launch event they were taken on a tour to see the chief attractions in the city including the famous Burj Khalifa. They also experienced a dhow cruise and participated in a thrilling desert safari which made their stay in Dubai a truly memorable experience.
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Varga and Kenda strengthen collaboration with UAE drift team at Automechanika
The members of the UAE based drift team, Lunatics by Nature visited Varga’s stand and met top management of Kenda tyres at the 2016 Automechanica Dubai show. Consisting of pro-drift drivers Sultan Al Qassimi, Khalifa Al Nahyan and DJ Dany Neville, the team has enjoyed great success on the local and international drifting scene in the recently concluded season.
Aside from being the official tire sponsor of pro driver Dany Neville, Kenda is an important technical partner and the visit by the team was an opportunity to discuss Dany’s performance at the wheel of the RTR drift Mustang, as well as to discuss the future drift tire development. The meeting between the Kenda management team and the pro driver helped to charting the path for their collaboration in the coming seasons and thus the joint development of new products for drifting competitions.
Commenting on the meeting Alireza Moaref, managing director of Varga Trading -the sole distributor of Kenda in the UAE- said “We are very pleased with our collaboration with Dany. The drift scene in the UAE is growing tremendously and I am confident that we have the best team participating in it. The trio are young, enthusiastic and perfectly fit for the scene. I am looking forward to watch Dany and his team mates burn some tire on the tarmac in the coming season.”
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Varga launches 5 New Marshal Tire patterns at Automechanika Dubai
May 15, Dubai – Marshal Tires is on an expansion drive in the MENA region. A brand belonging to the Kumho Tire Co. from Korea, Marshal Tires was formerly known as Samyang Tires, and has maintained a presence in the region from the late 1970s through its authorized dealer, Varga Trading. At this year’s show, which was held from 8 to 10 May at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the company launched five new tires including AT51, KRA50, MT51, MU12 and MH12.
Marshal MU12 is an Ultra High Performance (UHP) summer tire that is geared towards maximum speed and performance with the promise of stability even at high speeds. It comes with a special tread compound to enhance wet performance and is available in 49 sizes. Marshal MH12 tire is a high performance summer tire that offers a high level of straight line stability at high speeds. It has an optimal tread profile and four wide grooves for better hydroplaning. The award winning MT51 tire is ideal for use in the off-highway sector with improved on-road driving performance and strong ejector and mud clearing properties. It won the Red Dot design award on the basis of its ability to reduce resonance noise without compromising on offroad performance. The AT51 tire is an all-terrain tire for light trucks with a high level of braking and handling performance. The tread is made from a cut and drip-resistant compound for optimizing its durability and the tire offers plenty of offroad traction even on tough and uneven terrain. KRA 50 is positioned as an all position truck and bus tire which has been optimized to offer better mileage through the use of a new tread compound. ICOS technology has been utilized to come up with a design that offers the best casing endurance.
Speaking about the launch of the new tires, Alireza Moaref, Managing Director of Varga Trading Co. LLC said, “Some people chose to term our strong presence at the Automechanika show for the past 2 years as a come back, but Marshal has had a strong presence in the Middle East region for over 30 years. Hence, we prefer to think of it as taking our marketing efforts to the next level. With the introduction of these new patterns and sizes in the market, Marshal will offer a wider product range that helps us to increase our market share in all three segments; PCR, SUV, and TBR. These launches are just the starting point of an aggressive expansion plan that we have in place for increasing our presence in the Middle East market.”
For more details and interview opportunities, please contact:
Vinod Kumar. V
Business Development Manager
Unit 603
Twin Towers,
Deira, Dubai,
U.A.E.
P.O. Box: 7830
Tel: +9714-2239566
Mob: 052 9059708
Email address: wheels@vargaco.com
- Published in News & Events
Marshal Tires Boosts MENA Presence with Participation in Automechanika Dubai
Marshal Tires is on an expansion drive in the MENA region. A brand belonging to the Kumho Tire Co. from Korea, Marshal Tires was formerly known as Samyang Tires, and has maintained a presence in the region from the late 1970s through its authorized dealer, Varga Trading Co. LLC. Varga recently played a key role in launching the Middle East website of Marshal Tires. Marshal Tires has considerably strengthened its presence in the GCC countries by making an impact at Automechanika Dubai trade show which was held from June 2 to 4 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Automechanika Dubai is one of the biggest annual trade shows in the automotive calendar with a wide range of international participants. Leading manufacturers and distributors from the region, and indeed the world visit and participate in the show to network and expand their footprint at the regional and global level.
Marshal Tires participated in the show through Varga Trading Co.LLC, its distributor in the UAE. The company’s tires occupied prime space at the Varga booth.
Speaking about Marshal’s participation in Automechanika Dubai, Alireza Moaref, Managing Director of Varga Trading Co. LLC said, “Marshal’s participation in Automechanika Dubai is an extension of Varga’s longstanding partnership with Marshal Tires. The area of our booth that showcased Marshal Tires was impressively branded with Marshal’s signature colors and tagline of “unlimited performance”. The branded football giveaways and the photo booth that captured images of the visitors in a variety of poses added to the fun factor in addition to significantly promoting brand awareness.
At the show, Marshal Tires definitely made an impact on visitors by showcasing new patterns. Many domestic and overseas industry professionals were drawn to the Varga booth to forge new partnerships and provide customer feedback that will be invaluable for the development of new tires.
For more details and interview opportunities, please contact:
Vinod Kumar. V
Business Development Manager
Unit 603
Twin Towers,
Deira, Dubai,
U.A.E.
P.O. Box: 7830
Tel: +9714-2239566
Mob: 052 9059708
Email address: wheels@vargaco.com
- Published in News & Events
Marshal Tires Expands Online Presence with New Website for the Middle East
The Marshal brand of tires is owned by the Korean tire company, Kumho, which was established in 1960 and has considerable expertise in the tire industry. For the past 25 years, the company has been selling tires for passenger cars, SUVs, vans, light trucks and even heavy trucks in many countries around the world including Germany, UK, Australia and Italy under this brand. Marshal tires are notable for the exceptional performance they offer at really attractive prices. Tires with innovative technologies and new sizes are added to the range on a regular basis. Marshal will now be expanding its digital presence in the Middle East region with the launch of its new website.
Commenting on the launch of this new website, Alireza Moaref, the managing director of Varga Trading Co. LLC, the trading partner of Marshal Tires in the Middle East said, “The market for tires in the Middle East is growing at an amazing pace. As the meeting point of three major markets – Asia, Africa and Europe, the region is a major logistics hub for the import and re-export of automotive parts and accessories including tires. Most of the countries in the region are undergoing a phase of immense development with heavy spending on infrastructure and industrial projects. The Middle East also has an expanding population of young people with plenty of spending power. Dubai has one of the highest rates of car ownership in the world. Marshal is seeking to take advantage of this rise in demand and increase its sales and brand awareness by launching this new website specifically for the Middle East region”.
The new Marshal website is a bilingual site in English and Arabic with a user friendly layout for easy navigation. The site has been optimized for viewing on all devices including mobiles, iPads, laptops and desktop computers. With complete details of products that are available in the region and a dealer locator giving details of the nearest dealer, the site will make the entire process of finding information on Marshal tires convenient for customers.
Consumers today check out everything from tires to books online before making a purchase, especially in a market like the Middle East where there is a high level of internet usage. The new website will definitely help to make Marshal Tires more familiar to customers in the region.
For more details and interview opportunities, please contact:
Vinod Kumar. V
Business Development Manager
Unit 603
Twin Towers,
Deira, Dubai,
U.A.E.
P.O. Box: 7830
Tel: +9714-2239566
Mob: 052 9059708
Email address: wheels@vargaco.com
- Published in News & Events
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