With the news that Aeolus’ parent company, ChemChina, is now the majority shareholder in Pirelli via a complex ownership structure, we thought it would be fitting to mark the occasion with a few particularly interesting facts about ChemChina’s various tyre operations, which together put the firm’s tyre assets amongst the top three Chinese tyre makers in terms of output:
1、In 2013 Aeolus Tyre became the only officially designated tyre for the China Grand Rally (CGR), the same year Aeolus made its debut in what it refers to as top flight (literally “grade-A”) rally racing.
2、The Zhengzhou-Europe International Freight Shuttle Train, which as the title suggests runs from China to Europe, has been named after Aeolus since 23 November 2013, when the first “Aeolus” Zhengzhou-Europe shuttle train departed laden with more than 10,000 sets of Aeolus truck and bus radial. According to the companies involved, the Zhengzhou-Europe Shuttle Train saves about 20 days for businesses exporting to Europe thereby reducing costs and “further enhancing competitiveness of Chinese enterprises on European markets”.
3、While Aeolus and to a lesser extent Yellow Sea, Double Happiness and Torch are the best known tyre brands, ChemChina also owns tyre manufacturing interests, such as Guilin Rubber Machinery. And Guilin Rubber Machinery has a unique technique for “Radial ply tyre with body filling glue”. This patented technology won the Excellent Award of the Fifteenth China Patent Award competition in recognition of its inventiveness.