Kenda Rubber Wins OE Tire Orders From Automakers in China, Iran

Taipei, March 26, 2009 (CENS)--Kenda Rubber Ind. Co., Ltd. recently announced its winning an original equipment (OE) passenger car radial (PCR) tire order from Saita Group, the largest automobile conglomerate in Iran.

The Taiwanese tire maker will supply about 200,000 tires per year for the Pride car produced by Saita.

In addition, Kenda has also successfully tapped into the supply chain of an independent automaker based in Guangdong Province, China and will soon begin supplying products, though initially at low volume.

Some institutional investors said that new-car sales in China is expected to eclipse a new high of about 10 million vehicles this year, due to the Chinese government's economic-stimulus policy to subsidize buying home appliances and vehicles in rural areas, turning China rapidly, replacing the United States, into the world's largest automobile market in terms of volume.

Kenda operates several plants worldwide, including two in Taiwan, three (Shenzheng, Tianjin, and Kunshan) in mainland China, and one in Vietnam (Dong Nai Province). The company registered revenue of NT$6 billion (US$171.4 million at US$1: NT$35) in 2008, up 21.73% from previous year.