02/03/2024 – 9:00
The tire sector in Brazil recorded a drop of 8.2% in 2023 compared to the previous year. There was also a decrease from 56.64 million to 51.97 million units sold in the period. Sales to automakers fell even further (9.6%) and went from 13.90 million to 12.56 million tires, according to data from Anip (National Association of the Tire Industry).
On the opposite path, Sumitomo Rubber, owner of the Dunlop brand, plans to increase sales and increase tire production by 10,000 per day by 2029. Currently, the company produces 20,000 units per day at its plant in Fazenda Rio Grande, metropolitan region from Curitiba. Of the total, 19,000 are intended for passenger cars, while around 1,500 are for cargo.
To give you an idea, in addition to other automakers, it produces tires for the entire Toyota line in Brazil.
The manufacturer had announced a cycle worth R$1 billion in 2021, which should end in 2025. When walking around the site, it is possible to notice new facilities and areas destined for future projects.
“With this investment, we implemented another unit of passenger (tyres), which will end this year, which should reach 23 thousand tires/day and the freight unit will reach 2,200 tires per day next year (currently at 1,500 units )”, says Rodrigo Alonso, national director of sales and marketing at Dunlop Tires, in conversation with journalists during a visit to the factory.
The director projects that there will be single-digit growth in 2024.
Another detail is imports. In 2023, 25% of sales came from imports from other company plants. He explains that this has been decreasing, with the growth in sales of products made in the country. In 2024, the goal is for 10% to be imported and next year the projection is for it to be practically zero.
“We live in a complicated moment of imports. This could even impact new company investments. Today it is very easy to import and there are many obligations here in Brazil to produce. This becomes an imbalance.”
Alonso reflects that China has become a gigantic production hub in the world and there are tax benefits for importing in some states. The tax charged is 16%. The focus of the Brazilian plant is local consumption.
passenger car market
Before the optimism in the passenger car marketwith the recent investments in Brazil, the director says that growth potential exists.
“Brazil had a production of vehicles that was 50% greater than it was today. The country still has a very small number of cars per inhabitant compared to Europe and the United States.”
He states that the hybrid car is still the best solution for the national market.
The tires “for hybrids, there is not that big a difference (from products for combustion cars currently produced). For the electric car, two things are different: the noise and the torque.”
ISTOÉ DINHEIRO visited the factory at the invitation of Sumimoto Rubber.
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