Competitive Threat Analysis for a Global Tire Company

A leading global tire manufacturer was expecting competition from a Chinese tire manufacturer and wanted to understand it better. The scope of our research included the understanding of: Operations Summarization of financial information Research and Development information Products launched and upcoming products New Announcements and Events

A detailed presentation in PowerPoint on the Chinese Tire Manufacturer included: Industry Overview Competitor’s manufacturing capacities and capabilities Finances - global and regional Products - current and proposed Market expansion strategies Research & Development – spend (global and regional) and activities New announcements Historic and forecast data (five years) Detailed sourcing and interview highlights

We conducted research on the competitor through:- Primary research (9 interviews with senior employees of the competitor; 2 interviews with other tire manufacturers) Secondary research (largely from Chinese-only sites) Social Media monitoring – monitoring comments on consumer discussion forums and professional networking sites Delivery of a comprehensive report on the competitor and the threat it posed to the client

The report on the operations of the competitor helped the client to shape its response. Primary research revealed a range of important strategic information the client had not been aware of, including: The competitor company’s ambitious plans to increase capacity and output in the short term Plans for first manufacturing sites in the US and UK Insights into the company’s M&A strategy