ONTARIO, Calif. — Wanli Tire Corp. Ltd., China's 19th largest tire maker, has established a U.S. sales office — in partnership with Aufine Group Co. Ltd. — in Ontario to handle sales of Wanli-brand truck and bus tires in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The new office, Wanli Commercial Tire North America Inc., coordinates shipments to customers with either container loads directly from Wanli's factory in Hefei/Anhui, China, or smaller lots from the company's warehouse in Ontario, according to Anna Gao, the new company's top executive.
The new company has set up a dedicated website — wanlitiresus.com — that outlines the products available and provides background on Wanli Tires. The site mentions a three-year warranty on "qualified" products.
Aufine Group is a Qingdao, China-based distribution company with representative offices in 130 countries. It markets a full range of tires under its own brand as well.
Wanli's decision to open a U.S. office comes against a backdrop of potential import duties on tires of up to 25 percent as proposed by President Trump's administration.
In 2017, the tire maker's parent company, Guangzhou Vanlead Group Co. Ltd., proposed investing up to $1 billion to build a plant in the U.S. It put those plans on hold indefinitely this past summer.
With sales of fiscal 2017 sales of $522 million, Wanli is ranked No. 47 worldwide.