Mitsubishi, Yoma enter tyre business
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Property and construction firm Yoma Strategic Holdings, through its 70 per cent-owned subsidiary, Myanmar Motors, has teamed up with Mitsubishi Corporation to provide sales support for Bridgestone tyres in Myanmar.
Under the deal, Mitsubishi will hold 70 per cent of the joint venture company, First Japan Tire Services Company, with the balance held by Myanmar Motors.
The other 30 per cent of Myanmar Motors is owned by First Myanmar Investment Co, an affiliate of Yoma, which is part of the Serge Pun & Associates (Myanmar) enlarged group of companies (SPA Group).
Mitsubishi and SPA Group signed a business alliance memorandum of understanding last October to jointly explore business opportunities in Myanmar, including automotive service and elevator-related businesses.
To date, MC and SPA Group have entered into agreements to jointly distribute and operate after service centers for Mitsubishi Motors, distribute Mitsubishi Electric lifts and elevators and, together with JALUX, jointly operate Mandalay International Airport.
MC’s decision to enter the tyre business in Myanmar is also based on the projection that demand for tires will grow in keeping with growth in the automotive market and that its business endeavors will contribute to the improvement of infrastructure.
MC and Bridgestone, the world’s largest tyre and rubber maker by market share, already have a series of tyre manufacturing and sales joint ventures in Southeast Asia. The new venture will draw on the know-how that MC has accumulated in the industry to provide sales and marketing support to SPA Group’s distributors that meets the needs of the local market and, in so doing, expand the sales of high-quality Bridgestone tires in Myanmar.
New Strategic Direction, MC’s corporate strategy released last year, sets out as part of its long-term growth vision circa 2020 to accelerate global business development by leveraging the shift towards Asian markets, which are gaining greater international presence as consumer markets.
MC will continue its pursuit by partnering with leading Japanese and other global enterprises to take advantage of the business opportunities that accompany economic development and the growth in demand for consumer goods, particularly in emerging countries in Asia.
