AutoXpress targets transport firms with new retread plant
Tyre retread firm AutoXpress has invested Sh150 million in a new factory to tap growing demand from transportation companies. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
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.
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.
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