Linglong Tire President Zhou Lingkun: Navigating Industry Cycles with the "Three Upward" Strategy

Recently, Xinhua Finance engaged in an in-depth dialogue with Linglong Tire President Zhou Lingkun, focusing on the current turning points of transformation in China's tire industry, opportunities in new energy and intelligence, and Linglong Tire's integrated growth strategy of "Brand Upward, Product Upward, Channel Upward". As a leading enterprise in China's tire industry, Linglong Tire's strategic thinking and practical path provide important reference value for high-quality development across the entire industry.

Reporter: Currently, China's tire industry is welcoming new development opportunities. In what aspects are these opportunities manifested? For leading enterprises like Linglong Tire, what do these opportunities signify?

Zhou Lingkun: Currently, China's tire industry stands at an unprecedented historical turning point, formed by the superposition of three waves. First is the phenomenon of "stay in or out of the game" brought about by profound adjustments in the global trade and economic pattern. Second is "overtaking on a bend" brought by the increased penetration of new energy vehicles. In July 2026, China's retail penetration rate of new energy passenger cars broke through 60%. New energy vehicles have proposed new requirements for tire rolling resistance, noise reduction, and load-bearing, shifting from wear resistance and fuel efficiency to noise reduction, intelligence, and safety. Third is the brand dimension elevation brought by the shift from low-price competition to technology leadership. The global market share of the tire industry is shifting towards Chinese tire enterprises, but truly moving from "cost-performance" to "brand power" requires the support of hard capabilities.

The current industry reshuffling provides a key window for leading enterprises to improve quality and advance. Based on development trends, Linglong has already taken action in every dimension, which has also become the core confidence for the enterprise to navigate the cycle.

Regarding going global, Linglong is one of the earliest Chinese tire enterprises to go abroad, possessing flexible response capabilities of "local production, local delivery". The Thailand factory went into production in 2014 with an annual capacity exceeding 17.2 million tires; the Serbia factory is the first production base of Chinese tire enterprises in Europe, having passed audits from global OEMs such as Volkswagen, Audi, and BMW. Sales in 2025 increased by 159.74% year-on-year, and the production and sales ratio has continued to improve in the first half of this year.

In terms of new energy tracks, Linglong is not a follower but a leader. Linglong is one of the earliest enterprises to provide dedicated tire matching for new energy models, conducting exclusive R&D from formula to structure to noise reduction design. Currently, Linglong is at the forefront of the new energy vehicle matching field. According to Frost & Sullivan certification, since 2020, Linglong has been the leading new energy vehicle OE tire manufacturer in the global market for five consecutive years, matching new energy car companies covering FAW Hongqi, BYD, Geely, Chery, SAIC-GM, Dongfeng Nissan, GAC Honda, Seres, Leapmotor, and other brands.

Regarding brand, Linglong has entered the matching system of over 70 global car brands, covering German, American, Japanese, Korean, and domestic mainstream car companies. Eight of the top ten global car companies are Linglong's partners. In 2026, Linglong Tire's brand value reached 121.236 billion yuan, ranking 106th among China's 500 Most Valuable Brands, maintaining steady growth above 5 billion yuan for consecutive years.

Reporter: In April this year, Linglong Tire proposed achieving integrated growth relying on "Brand Upward, Product Upward, Channel Upward" "Three Upward". May I ask how this will help the enterprise cope with challenges and seize opportunities?

Zhou Lingkun: The "Brand Upward, Product Upward, Channel Upward" strategy is Linglong's systematic approach to responding to changes in the market environment and breaking through high-end market access bottlenecks. The three dimensions are not advanced in isolation but form an integrated growth loop; the brand opens up market space for products, products provide strong support for channels, and channels accumulate user word-of-mouth for the brand.

Brand Upward, the core is moving from "Chinese Mainstream" to "Global Mainstream". First, it is reflected in the "gold content" of the matching system, from early Hongqi, Geely, BYD, to breaking through joint venture barriers such as Audi, BMW, Volkswagen, achieving a transition from quantitative accumulation to qualitative leap in matching, with Linglong's global cumulative matching tires exceeding 300 million. At the same time, Linglong partnered with top sports IPs such as Real Madrid and Chelsea to build a brand communication bridge facing global consumers, significantly improving international market recognition and influence.

Product Upward, the core is moving from "Chasing" to "Catching Up". The newly released Linglong Master Gen 2 this April achieved stable performance across the entire lifecycle from new tire to wear limit for the first time. Behind this is the "Three Generations Simultaneous" R&D system supported by high R&D investment, meaning one generation on sale benchmarks the market, one generation reserved is 1-2 levels higher than competitors, and one generation under R&D is 3-4 levels higher.

Channel Upward, the core is upgrading from "Sales Terminal" to "Service Position". Linglong has nearly 30,000 cooperating stores nationwide, achieving "wide coverage" in prefecture-level cities. In the future, it will achieve "same-day delivery" through service standardization, marketing linkage, and a four-level distribution system (central warehouse, branch warehouse, long-tail warehouse, front warehouse), and promote TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) full lifecycle services.

Reporter: The "Three Upward" strategy cannot do without the continuous empowerment of technology and talent. How will Linglong amplify its own industry comparative advantages through R&D investment?

Zhou Lingkun: The core foundation of "Three Upward" is technology and R&D. Facing intensifying global competition and the iterative demands of car companies for high-end and new energy, Linglong will continue to increase R&D investment, building a systematic technology gap in dimensions such as R&D system, testing capabilities, new material reserves, digital tools, etc., to form an unreplicable comparative advantage.

First, look at how much was invested. Continuous R&D investment during industry cycle valleys requires determination, and even more certainty about the future. In 2025, Linglong's R&D investment was 978 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.26%. From 2022 to 2025, cumulative R&D expenditure exceeded 3.461 billion yuan, with the enterprise R&D investment ratio maintained at the high industry level of about 4% for four consecutive years. Since 2026, the company has newly obtained 144 patent authorizations, a year-on-year increase of 87.01%, and the acceleration of innovation output is forming.

Second, look at where it is invested. Linglong mainly focuses on three areas: 1. High-end matching technology. Linglong continues to increase R&D investment in dedicated tires for new energy vehicles, noise reduction tires, and high-wear-resistance original matching products. In the first half of this year, multiple key projects of international car companies achieved mass production. In new OEM projects from 2025 to 2026, the proportion of the company's high-end products maintained a high level of about 70%. 2. New material R&D. In 2026, tire products with 85% sustainable materials have been developed, among which bio-based renewable materials account for over 60% and recycled materials account for about 25%, with key performance indicators reaching the EU Tire Label Grade A standard. 3. Digital intelligence R&D capability. Mainly based on AI tire models to shorten R&D cycles and improve R&D accuracy and efficiency; through built-in sensors and AI analysis, achieving optimization, monitoring, and tracking of the entire process from manufacturing to use.

Third, look at how it is guaranteed. At the platform level, Linglong has built a "Three Countries Eight Locations" global R&D system covering China, Germany, and the USA; possessing a world-class tire test track. At the talent level, Linglong realizes two-way empowerment of talent value and industrial upgrade through innovation in training models and deepening industry-university-research collaboration.

Reporter: In the next three to five years, what are the specific development goals of Linglong Tire in terms of globalization, product high-endization, and brand value enhancement? What are the key handles?

Zhou Lingkun: In the future global tire industry, the voice and brand influence of Chinese tire enterprises will be greater; this is an irreversible trend. Quality enterprises and innovative technologies can still navigate cycles. Based on this, Linglong has set a clear goal: Strive to break through 160 million tires in production and sales by 2030, achieve sales revenue exceeding 80 billion yuan, enter the top five in production capacity scale worldwide, and build a technology-oriented tire manufacturing enterprise with world-class technology levels, world-class management levels, and world-class brand influence.

To this end, Linglong will focus on the following aspects. 1. Complete the globalization layout and continuously increase overseas capacity. Currently, Linglong has built five major bases domestically: Zhaoyuan, Dezhou, Liuzhou, Jingmen, Jilin; overseas it possesses two major pivots: Thailand and Serbia. In the next three to five years, overseas capacity expansion and market expansion will be the focus of phased development. "Wherever the OEM goes, Linglong's factory is built there", following whole vehicles to go overseas and synchronized localization, building a new development pattern with domestic large circulation as the main body and mutual promotion of domestic and international dual circulations.

2. Consolidate the first position in new energy matching and expand smart tires. Linglong will continue to consolidate its leading position in new energy matching, deepen strategic cooperation with mainstream domestic and foreign car companies, and prospectively layout emerging tracks such as smart tires. At the same time, continue to cultivate deeply in basic R&D on materials, formulas, structures, etc., continuously creating value for users with high-performance products of "Safety, Comfort, Green".

3. Deepen digital intelligence transformation, letting AI extend from office to more areas such as customer operation, data intelligence, etc., using the power of digitalization to equip globalization operations with "AI New Tires"; upgrade ESG from "Compliance Requirements" to "Core Competitiveness", continuously cultivate the international top-tier car company matching system, and promote brand value to continuously leap across the globe.

Industry Comment

Currently, China's tire industry is at a triple historical turning point of global trade and economic pattern reconstruction, new energy vehicle deep penetration, and industry competition shifting to technology brand dimension elevation. The rhythm of industry differentiation and reshuffling continues to accelerate. The era of extensive growth has come to an end, and the era that truly tests corporate strategic determination, systematic capabilities, and long-term layout has arrived.

Linglong Tire proposed the "Brand Upward, Product Upward, Channel Upward" integrated growth strategy, which is precisely a systematic response to this industry proposition. The three formed a positive circular loop of "Brand expands space, Product builds support, Channel gathers word-of-mouth", clearly showing the advancement logic of China's top tire enterprises from "Scale Expansion" to "Value Growth", from "Made in China" to "Intelligent Made in China", from "Chinese Mainstream" to "Global Mainstream".

From an industry perspective, Linglong Tire anchored the medium-to-long term development goals and implementation paths for 2030, not only building a core moat for itself to navigate cycles, but also providing a practical sample for China's tire industry as a whole to climb to the high end of the global value chain.