American tyremaker Goodyear is hoping to expand its business here thanks to the government's ecocar project.
The company is talking to sever¬al automakers about the possibili¬ty of supplying them with fuelsav¬ing tyres with low rolling resistance, Pierre Cohade, president of Goodyear Asia Pacific, said yester¬day.
Cohade said the Thai government was taking the right direction with the project.
"This is an intelligent initiative by the government. Yes, we will launch new products for ecocars and we are working very closely with origi¬nalequipment manufacturers," he said.
Additional investment would be required for manufacturing ecocar tyres, but Cohade declined to provide details.
The export of ecocars will also help tyremakers increase their own export opportunities.
Nissan is scheduled to unveil its ecocar - the March - on Friday. Other manufacturers who have enlisted for the ecocar project are Honda, Mitsubishi, Tata, Suzuki and Toyota.
Cohade said despite the recession, Goodyear had been able to register growth last year due to cost and price management, as well as the intro¬duction of innovative products such as the DuraPlus, which has a usable range of 100,000 kilometres.
Thai management at Goodyear Thailand, such as managing direc¬tor Kongkiat Teekamongkol, has also played a major role in the com¬pany's local success, he said.
"We are seeing Thai management bringing over innovations and adapting them to Thai operations effectively," he added.
