YHI became a public company in 2003 and was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The company continued to expand, catering more and more to the growing global demand for alloy wheels opening new manufacturing plants and a chroming facility in China and Malaysia. Konig (America) became part of the YHI group in 2005, allowing the company a presence in the US and a 35.51% shareholding in Renowned Italian alloy wheel manufacturer OZ Racing Italy saw them enter the international motorsport fraternity. In 2008 YHI entered into a supply and sponsorship agreement with F1 Scuderia Toro Rosso to supply alloy wheels from the group’s proprietary brand Advanti Racing, earning them a global presence in the pinnacle of international motor racing and exposure to millions of fans worldwide. In 1992, YHI approached Tony Suhan to spearhead their alloy wheel initiative in Australia, and one year later they commenced trading here as an alloy wheel importer and distributor. Assisted by Andrew Tabacchi and Jerry Lai, YHI Australia rapidly increased its sales of wheels in the Sydney region and in 1995 opened a Queensland branch headed by Steve Cranney. Tony, Andrew, Jerry and Steve are all still with the company and were singled out for praise at the anniversary dinner. In 2001, a Perth branch was established and two years later Melbourne and Tasmania opened their doors for business followed by Adelaide in 2006. This rapid expansion in Australia started with the selling primarily of Enkei Wheels, supplemented by their Viper brand, but in 1996 Advanti Racing Wheels was launched replacing Viper in Australia. In the early days YHI was a wheel company selling a few tyres, but their tyre market penetration started in earnest in 1999 when they took on the Woosung tyre brand, which was renamed Nexen in 2000. One year later they had the Accelera brand enabling them to service different market sectors, and then the Achilles brand in 2005.
Tony Suhan
In 1992, YHI approached Tony Suhan to spearhead their alloy wheel initiative in Australia. They have a national fleet of 36 delivery vehicles, ranging from 23-tonne trucks to smaller vans for quick delivery in metro areas. Achilles Tyres is a major sponsor and control tyre of the Suzuki Swift series and the Advanti Racing Eco wheel is the control wheel. Achilles also sponsors the series’ champion Allan Jarvis and Commodore Cup series champion Adam Beechey. The brand is also heavily involved in international drifting events, sponsoring drivers and events including this month’s Formula Drift Australia Championship in Melbourne and recently signed a deal to continue sponsorship of the ADGP until 2015. Their Nexen range of tyres is also a growing global range with new factories being built in China and Korea, and supplying Hyundai, Kia, SsangYong, Mitsubishi and Fiat.
All these brands are still part of YHI and today, the scale of their Australian tyre business overshadows their wheel business in size, but the latter is still their focal point, allowing them to specialize in combined wheel and tyre packages.
The latest innovations for the company include the Kustomizor online program that allows users to select their car, adjust the look, suspension, colour and fit their choice of wheels to see how they look before making their final selection, and later this year, YHI Australia will be releasing the top end Nitto brand nationally.
YHI Australia currently sells about one million tyre and wheel units per year, employing over 130 people nationally in 6 branches, holding about 350,000 tyres and wheels in stock.
YHI say they have covered a lot of ground in Australia over the last two decades, but are planning to go even further in the next 20 years.
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