Against the backdrop of overcapacity and intensified market involution in the tire industry, a group of tire factories that had been shut down or bankrupt have come back to life with new brand identities through capital restructuring and technological transformation.
Yinnuo Tire transformed into “Edson Rubber”
As a typical case of revitalizing idle assets, the former Yinuo Tire Factory has ushered in a new life.
A new energy vehicle supporting industry project with a total investment of 1.8 billion yuan has officially landed in Longquan Street, Tengzhou City. The project is jointly invested and constructed by Edson (Shandong) Rubber Technology Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Shutong Industrial Co., Ltd.
The project is located in the former Yinuo Tire Factory, involving 300 acres of industrial land that has been idle for 13 years and more than 100,000 square meters of factory and office buildings.
On the basis of making full use of the original facilities, the project will build a new production workshop and R&D center of 150,000 square meters to achieve efficient revitalization of existing assets.
The project started in March this year and is expected to be completed and put into operation before the end of the year, and is listed as the “number one key project” of Longquan Street.
It is expected to produce 10 million radial tires for new energy vehicles and 1.5 million sets of air bag shock absorption systems annually, with annual operating income reaching 2.6 billion yuan.
Capital relay restructuring, a “gorgeous turn” in the involution market
Capital operation is also an important driver of the “rebirth” of tire companies in this round.
In November last year, Shandong Zhongchuang Tire completed its reorganization and officially changed its name to Shandong Zhongchuang Tire Co., Ltd., with Shandong Junchi Tire holding 95% of the shares, marking the achievement of full ownership by Junyue Group.
Immediately afterwards, Shandong Junchi Tire launched a digital MES system project and cooperated with Qingdao Wangong Information Technology Co., Ltd. to cover the entire steel tire production process and promote the transformation of intelligent manufacturing through real-time monitoring and data traceability.
In addition, Shandong Junchi Tire has also newly established Qingdao Yuelitong International Trading Co., Ltd. to build an integrated industry and trade system to optimize global supply chain services.
In Wulian County, Rizhao City, Chuanghua Tire, a subsidiary of the former Zhongjun Group, also welcomed a new owner last year.
The newly established Shandong Jinfu Rubber Technology Co., Ltd. plans to invest 1 billion yuan to build a factory with an annual output of 12 million semi-steel radial tires. The construction period will be 24 months and is expected to be fully operational by the end of December 2026.
Jinfu Tire stated that it will continue to deepen its cooperation with Xiamen Junchi Chemical Technology Team in 2026, focusing on customized products adapted to complex domestic road conditions, research and development of EV new energy electric truck and bus tires, and strive to increase production capacity by 20% that year compared with 2025, and the output value of domestic and foreign projects exceeds the one billion yuan mark.
Friend Tire, which once declared bankruptcy, has gradually resumed production after being replaced by Henan Tianji Tire in December 2020.
The current production scale is 2.1 million sets of all-steel truck radial tires and 10 million sets of semi-steel passenger car radial tires annually.
Through restructuring investment, Tianji Tire has invested more than 2.2 billion yuan in capacity expansion and new high-performance all-steel and semi-steel tire production lines, which has become a typical endogenous capital operation model, aiming to quickly expand in scale and seize market opportunities.
Opportunities and challenges coexist
The injection of new capital, the upgrade of manufacturing processes and the focus of products on the new energy field have injected new vitality into these “reborn” tire companies.
However, the current domestic tire market has entered a stage of highly involved stock competition. The concentration of leading companies continues to increase, and cost and brand pressures continue to intensify.
For “new faces” such as Edison, Junchi, Jinfu, Tianji, etc., whether they can truly realize high-end, intelligent, and green transformation on the basis of revitalizing old assets, and form differentiated competitiveness in new energy supporting and other subdivision tracks, will be the key to whether they can complete their “grand turn.”
Industry observers pointed out that capital replacement and production capacity expansion alone are not enough to ensure long-term survival. Substantial breakthroughs in technology and brand are the fundamental way for these companies to survive the cycle.
