Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company Ltd. (ZC-RUBBER) was started in 1958 in China’s Hangzhou region. Hangzhou ZC is a leading Chinese tyre producer with manufacturing facilities located across 10 different regions in the country. As a first step towards tapping other foreign markets, apart from China, and cater locally to its global customers, the company has expanded its footprint by setting up a manufacturing unit in Thailand.
The company manufactures tyres for passenger cars, motorcycles, off-the-road vehicles, trucks, buses and also bicycles at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. With a strong professional team of 1,000 Japanese, Korean and Chinese nationals contributing extensively towards its research and development, Hangzhou takes great pride in producing tyres that rate among the best in the world. With huge investments of over $50 million each year, the company caters to leading OEMs across the globe, through its large network of 10,000 distributors worldwide. Since India is the closest to China when it comes to potential for growth in the automotive sector, Hangzhou is looking to make inroads into the market by appointing agents and cater to the huge customer base available in the country.
“Hangzhou ZC is the No.1 tyre manufacturer in China and among the top 10 in the world. We have factories spread across 10 different locations in China and produce more than 20 million tyres for passenger cars, over 10 million TBR tyres and around five million OTR tyres in 2012-13. India is a very important market for our company. We have been exporting to all leading automotive OEMs in India since 2006 and are now looking at moving closer to the market”, said Mr. Philip Zheng, Senior Sales Manager, International Business Department, in an informal chat with MOTORINDIA.
The Chinese manufacturer has a world class noise test laboratory and the MTS flat-trac III CT tyre testingsystem across its facilities and believes in producing quality tyres which go through strict quality control systems. Every tyre manufactured is x-ray inspected by balancing and uniformity inspection machines, and also undergoes human inspection by its employees. In order to stay ahead of competition and excel in quality of production, Hangzhou has installed some of the latest machinery and equipment from renowned brands such as Fischer, VMI, Krupp, etc., at all its facilities.