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Recently, the first European flagship tire center for a Chinese tire brand designed and built by Linglong Tires in Milan, Italy officially opened, and CEO Zhou Lingkun attended the ceremony.
This marks the first time a Chinese tire brand has established a self-built flagship store in a core European metropolis.
Exporting, building factories, opening stores: China's tire globalization has reached the third step: from selling products out to planting the brand locally.
Milan Flagship Store Sells More Than Just Tires
The Milan Flagship Center is a landmark store for Chinese tire brands entering the core European market. Concurrently, the 2026 Linglong Tires Europe Distributor Conference was held, and the next-generation ultra-high-performance tire Sport Master 2 was launched at the venue for European channels.
The Sport Master 2 launched onsite was developed by Linglong's European technical team and manufactured in European factories, featuring three key upgrades: precise handling, full-cycle safety, and ultra-long mileage. The first batch of 74 sizes will commence production at European factories in Spring 2027.
Targeting the European market, Linglong deploys a three-brand matrix: Linglong LINGLONG is positioned as an expert in full-scenario tire solutions, following sustainable development trends to create green and environmental-friendly products while reducing carbon emissions throughout the full lifecycle; Crosswind CROSSWIND focuses on adaptability, covering niche needs such as all-season tires and winter tires; Leao LEAO takes a practical route, displaying flagship off-road tires and city SUV tires this time, targeting off-road and city SUV users.
Stores are the vanguard of the brand. As the first flagship position for a Chinese tire brand in a core European city, whether local channels can promote and dare to push premium products will ultimately be decided here.
Factories Land First, Then Stores Take Root
Linglong's foundation in Europe was laid step by step. The Serbia base, with a capacity of 12 million passenger car tires and 2.4 million truck tires, is the first factory of a Chinese-funded tire enterprise within the European Union, reporting revenue of 1.478 billion yuan in the first half of 2026.
On the brand side, there is continued investment in two major sports IPs: Real Madrid and Chelsea. On the supply side, cooperation has been established with 8 of the top 10 global automakers.
One month ago on the shores of the Red Sea, Linglong hosted a distributor event for the Middle East and Africa market in El Guna, Egypt. CEO Zhou Lingkun and Vice President Xu Yongchao were present, concluding key customer sales contracts on site, followed by partners visiting local LINGLONG and CROSSWIND brand stores after the meeting.
During the event, the Linglong Tire Center opened in Hurghada, with plans for more centers to be established subsequently. As Zhou Lingkun put it, it means "wherever the factory is built, the brand awareness takes root there".
Sailun Indonesia Joint-Brand Store Lands in August
It is not only Linglong moving towards overseas terminals. On August 20, the Sailun Tires and Bosch joint collaboration store was unveiled in Indonesia, located at the Bosch Car Service PIK2 store in Tangerang, Banten Province. The cooperating partner is XMOTORS, the master authorized partner of Bosch in Indonesia.
The authorization signing and store unveiling occurred simultaneously. The terminal channel cooperation between the two parties has upgraded from a single-point pilot to systematic deep diving. The store provides one-stop services including tire matching, installation inspection, daily maintenance, and repair and maintenance.
In Europe, Sailun previously cooperated with the German maintenance retail chain ATU, with over 500 partner stores.
Why Shift Gears in Tire Globalization?
Tariffs have increased the cost of tire exports. Building factories allows bypassing tax burdens, while opening stores directly reaches the terminal, gaining brand premiums and allowing local market feedback to be sent back to the factory immediately.
From exporting to building factories and then to opening stores, Chinese tires are completing an identity transformation: in the past, the comparison was about whose goods were cheaper, but now it is about who can establish their brand standing in others' markets.
Taking Linglong as an example, it started in Zhaoyuan, Shandong in 1975, exported products to over 170 countries and regions, and then opened flagship stores in Milan. The technical and channel capabilities accumulated over fifty years are being converted into overseas market influence.
In the next step, with the continuous release of overseas base capacity and the further deepening of the brand matrix and distributor system, Chinese tire enterprises will move from product globalization to brand globalization, striving for a higher position in the global mid-to-high-end market.
