Horse Brand's market share in China increased to 20% in 2015

Chinese consumers are easily attracted by low-priced tires in terms of price strategy, and are being branded by Michelin and Goodyear. How does the German Continental Horse brand, the fourth high-end tire in the world, break this situation?

With a local annual production capacity of 425,000 tires and 1,500 sales outlets, after achieving this goal, the German mainland brand tires began to have the capital in the Chinese market to rank themselves into more reasonable competition teams, such as Michelin and Bridgestone. And Goodyear, Hankook.

As one of the top ten tire companies in the world, the brand tires in the first few years of its entry into China have been regarded as the same kind of tire brands as Cooper and Pirelli. In a tire industry report in March 2010, the horse brand and Yokohama, Margits, and Warrior were included in the third category of the Chinese market.

This is indeed a bit unfair for a company that is the largest in Europe and the fourth largest in the world with annual sales of more than 100 million tires. It should be noted that the branded tires established in 1871 have occupied 1/3 of the European original market and have cooperated with Mercedes-Benz's original equipment that lasted for hundreds of years.

Now, the goal is a step away from reality.

In December of this year, the horse brand's 70,000-square-meter factory in Hefei Hi-tech Zone will begin trial production and will begin mass production in the first quarter of 2011. The number of dealers in the Malaysian dealership will increase at a faster rate. The current sales network will be 1200 and will reach 1,500 at the end of the year.

On November 2nd, 2010, in an exclusive interview with “Automotive Business Review” at the office of the Tianan Center of Nanjing West Road, Shanghai, Mortimer von Tschirschky, general manager of the Malaysian brand China, said: “We have been in the past 3 months. Inside, we open 3 image stores in China every day (workday). We hope to maintain this growth rate and better reach consumers."

Qi Fangmo, a German who graduated from the Hult School of Business in the United States, is the second general manager of the company's brand tires in the past four years. He came to China in March 2010 as director of marketing and sales, and four months later he was promoted to general manager of Continental Horse Tire Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai. Growing up with this 34-year-old young man is the dream of the Malaysian brand tires for the Chinese market.

In 2010, the sales volume of horse tyres in China increased by 70% compared with the previous year, but in the entire market of passenger cars and light trucks, the sales of horse brands accounted for only a small percentage. Qi Fangmo set goals for himself, but he did not think it was open. He said: "We don't want to talk more about quantity now, because we are still relatively small."

For the horse's 2011 growth goal, he set it directly to 100%. “The Chinese market has grown very fast. In the past few years, we have seen more growth rates here than in other regions. We feel that we have already established a well-operated sales network throughout the country, which in part guarantees our growth.”

Localization and the establishment of marketing outlets provide an important basis for the development of Ma Ma. More importantly, the reputation of the high-end brands possessed by the horse may be amplified with the increase in sales volume. "Automotive Business Review" noted that in the high-performance tire market, especially in the 17-inch and above sizes, the market share of the company's brand tires in China is 12%. Qi Fangmo hopes that in 2015, this figure will increase to 20%.

With the increase in sales figures, there is also a sales team for the company's tires in China. Qi Fangmo clearly knows that no matter how strong its leading position in Europe is, it is only a latecomer in China. It needs to grasp local demand faster and better than its competitors and is closer to consumers than they are.

In August 2010, the Malaysian brand BestDrive flagship store in China's first high-end retail store opened in Guangzhou. This is the 1000th licensed retail store in China.

The BestDrive concept originated in Europe, providing one-stop professional tire replacement and vehicle maintenance services. In the past few years, this service concept has been extended to Asia Pacific regions such as Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia, and has achieved rapid development. Now, the horse hopes that this model can drive the development of the Chinese market, not only to expand sales, but also to enhance the brand.

Qi Fangmo said: "We are also strengthening the construction of the sales team, such as increasing the scale, training, these sales staff will help us improve the quality and strength of retail stores. Our aim is to create a high-end brand image."

In fact, on a global scale, the company has always placed great emphasis on its own brand and promoted its brand tires through various channels to shape its passionate brand image. They sponsored two World Cups and a European Cup. They also sponsored the Saab flight show in China and cooperated with the BMW X Tour and the Mini mission. In 2009, the company also sponsored the film "Speed ​​and Passion 4".

But how to pass these ideas to Chinese consumers, the horse has not found a good way. Chinese car consumers are easily attracted by low-priced tires in their price strategy, and are being branded by Michelin and Goodyear. In order to achieve better results in the Chinese market, this is a horse card that will be dealt with and resolved in the next few years. The horse also sees a trend that is beneficial to itself. Chinese consumers are becoming more and more mature and willing to pay a little more money for tire safety and driving.

However, the horse has a very good start, has its own factory and a large number of outlets, and amazing speed, it can get more support from the headquarters. Continental's brand tires have planned a new 500 million euro investment plan for emerging markets, some of which will be invested in the Chinese market. At a speed, this veteran tire company can finally release its passion for expansion in China. Qi Fangmo said: "I have heard that some competitors have also begun to attach importance to our actions. I think they should pay attention to us as a serious competitor."