Yokohama Rubber sets up dedicated tyre sales unit in Vietnam

Tyre maker giant Yokohama Rubber has spun off the sales unit of its subsidiary, Yokohama Tyre Vietnam Inc., into a new dedicated sales company.

Yokohama Tyre Sales Vietnam Co., Ltd., with a charter capital of VND71.7 billion ($2.95 million), will begin operations on January 1, 2024.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based company will sell bias tyres used on motorcycles, small trucks and industrial machinery, as well as spare tyres for passenger cars. It will also import and sell radial tires for passenger cars and trucks.

After the spinoff, Yokohama Tyre Vietnam, based in the southern province of Binh Duong, will focus solely on production of bias tyres for the vehicles mentioned above.

The establishment of separate production and sales companies in Vietnam is an essential part of Yokohama Rubber’s latest business strategy to expand its business in Vietnam, the company said.

It is also a response to specific trends in each regional market, which is a core element of the Yokohama Transformation 2023 (YX2023) plan as also the company’s medium-term management plan for fiscal years 2021–2023, it added.

Yokohama Rubber emphasized in a Tuesday statement that the ASEAN region was a high-priority market and Vietnam a growth market within the region. The company first entered the Vietnam market in November 1997 when it established a joint venture tire production and sales company. It became a wholly owned company in 2006.

Considering the rapid increase in demand for radial tires for passenger cars and trucks in Vietnam in recent years, Yokohama Rubber decided that establishing separate production and sales, the firm highlighted.