P

ublicly listed tire producer PT Multistrada Arah Sarana has set sights on the European market following its promotional partnership with French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Multistrada targets to double sales of its Achilles and Corsa brands in Europe within three years to around 2 million tires a year.

“Our aim is that within three years our products will be well recognized in Europe and our sales on the continent will have doubled,” Multristrada CEO Pieter Tanuri told reporters during the partnership announcement in Jakarta on Thursday.

The partnership with PSG will last until 2019 and span from the use of Multistrada’s Achilles or Corsa tires for all PSG vehicles in France to displaying Multistrada’s logo on the soccer club’s apparel for certain occasions.

Also, the soccer club’s Parc des Princes stadium in Paris will display Achilles and Corsa banners.

The promotional efforts are an attempt to reverse Multistrada’s falling global sales, which have come under pressure from declining automotive and tire sales worldwide.

From January to March this year, the company booked a loss of US$1.38 million, while its revenue dropped to $62.2 million, down 6.5 percent from the same period last year.

The figures show that recovery remains elusive for Multistrada, which last year suffered a 16 percent decrease in revenue to $237 million.

Multistrada produces 30,000 Achilles tires (for cars) and 16,000 Corsa tires (for motorbikes) per month at its plant in Cikarang, West Java, 75 percent of which are exported to 93 countries. The biggest overseas markets are the Middle East, the US and Europe.

Pieter said the company had chosen to cooperate with the Paris-based club realizing that it was undergoing rapid development under Qatar Sports Investment, which had strengthened the club’s financial position and its worldwide fan base since 2011.

“Under its major investor, PSG will certainly be one of the most powerful names in soccer — that is the motivation behind our partnership, to be in line with the club’s fast development,” he said, adding that the club’s fan base was growing in places like the Middle East and Asia.

PSG is the fourth wealthiest club in the world, according to data from Deloitte. It is also the ninth most famous club in the world.

Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) head Triawan Munaf, who attended the partnership announcement event, said he expected the cooperation to be beneficial for Multistrada.

“I hope the partnership opens the eyes of other Indonesian companies to enter cooperation with famous names worldwide,” he said. (adt)