Vredestein may go for OE fitments

Geneva, Switzerland - According to Marc Luyten, director of corporate marketing and sales for Vredestein Banden, the company is in the process of changing its approach to original equipment sales. Vredestein has always concentrated on the after-market, preferring the higher margins possible in that market, to the intense cost pressure experienced by tyre companies selling into the OE market.

Following the merger of Vredestein Banden and Amtel in 2005, said Luyten, Vredestein is substantially increasing its manufacturing capacity. He said the company will have extra capacity when Amtel's Kirov plant comes on stream in mid-2006, but Amtel's Voronezh-II plant will focus on high performance Vredestein brand tyres when it comes on stream by the end of 2007.

Luyten said it was no secret that Vredestein and Amtel are talking to Russian car makers about OE contracts, but he added that once the new Voronezh capacity is on stream, the company hopes to expand its OE interests into western Europe. He declined to give any specific details, however.

Luyten added that Vredestein already sells its Spacemaster branded compressor kits for extended mobility into the West European OE sector, with customers including Audi, Alfa Romeo, VW, Daimler-Chrysler and Porsche.