The long-established Italian company Pirelli is being sold to the Chinese chemicals group ChemChina for 7.1 billion euros. For the time being, the China National Chemical Corporation has only acquired a stake in Pirelli, but the plan is to buy the tire manufacturer outright.
The purchase gives ChemChina access to the technology for the production of premium tires. For Pirelli, in turn, it means a greater presence in the growth market of China.
The end of a traditional European brand?
The question naturally arises as to whether the takeover means the end for the traditional Pirelli brand, or whether the move to China is a step towards a secure future and represents an important door opener.
Giovanni Battista founded the Pirelli rubber goods factory in 1872, when horse-drawn carriages still plied the bumpy roads. With a small workforce, telegraph lines, submarine cables and bicycle tires were produced. After the turn of the century, when motorized carriages increasingly replaced carts pulled by draft animals, Pirelli began producing car tires.
Pirelli celebrated the company's first victory in a race at the Peking-Paris Rally in 1907. This started a tradition of sporting success on two and four wheels, which was consolidated over the years by personalities such as Nuvolari, Ascari and Fangio. Over a century of technological excellence and innovation, from the pre-war Stella Bianca model to the Cinturato radial tire, the wide tire series (including the P6 and P7) and the extreme low-profile tires of today.
Today, Pirelli is the fifth largest manufacturer on the tire market worldwide. The Italian manufacturer now supplies Formula 1 and is also known for its provocative photo calendars, for which many top models have posed.
