Corporate News
Tyre retread firm AutoXpress has invested Sh150 million in a new factory
to tap growing demand from transportation companies. FILE PHOTO
By VICTOR JUMA
In Summary
- The new plant, which has a capacity to retread nearly 100 truck tyres per day, is located on Mombasa Road in Nairobi. It also does wheel alignment and balancing.
- The company is targeting individuals and companies that want to lower their operating costs by stretching the lives of their tyres.
- Retread is a re-manufacturing process for worn out tyres whose threads are replaced to extend their life.
Tyre retread firm AutoXpress has invested Sh150 million in a new factory to tap growing demand from transportation companies.
SHARE THIS STORY
The new plant, which has a capacity to retread nearly 100
truck tyres per day, is located on Mombasa Road in Nairobi. It also does
wheel alignment and balancing.
“As the East African economies mature, logistics
solutions become increasingly more important,” said AutoXpress CEO
Sandeep Shah.
He added that the modern equipment installed allows
the company, which also sells tyres and batteries, to offer better
services at a lower cost than in the past.
The company is targeting individuals and companies
that want to lower their operating costs by stretching the lives of
their tyres.
Retread is a re-manufacturing process for worn out tyres whose threads are replaced to extend their life.
It saves motorists and commercial transporters the
expense of buying new tyres, with the process estimated to cost 40 per
cent of new tyre prices.
Retreading a tyre costs roughly between Sh15,000 to
Sh18,000, depending on the size of tyre and design of retreading, as
well as quantity discounts.
The new investment by AutoXpress comes at a time of
increased activities in the local tyre market that has seen the entry
of more players.
Its top rival in the retread business, Treadsetters
Tyres Ltd, was recently appointed the second distributor of Bridgestone
tyres in Kenya in a move that ended Sameer Africa’s exclusive
distribution of the Japanese tyre brand.
Bridgestone appointed Treadsetters after selling its 14.9 per cent stake in Sameer in December, a divestiture that also ended its technical support to the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm.
Besides selling Bridgestone tyres, Treadsetters
also got the rights to use the Tokyo-based firm’s technology in its
retread business. AutoXpress sells Pirelli, Dunlop, Marshal, BKT, Ceat,
Alliance, and Nexen tyre brands.
No comments :
Post a Comment