CGS Promotes Semperit Brand

At the end of 2005 CGS Tyres launched its new SuperVolumeTyre (SVT) – an innovation designed to serve demanding machinery, according to the company. But it didn’t stop there. At the same time CGS launched the Semperit agricultural brand, effectively re-branding its Uniroyal line, while also releasing its 2006/2007 databook.

CGS introduced its new Semperit agricultural tyre brand, in November, during the Agritechnica exhibition in Hanover. The move amounts to the re-branding of its Uniroyal products under the Semperit moniker. According to CGS, this brand is characterised in particular by an excellent price/performance ratio.
Unlike the Continental brand, Semperit will be marketed exclusively through selected dealers in Western Europe. For farmers and contractors in the British Isles this means RH Claydon in Great Britain and Phillip White Tyres and Donnegal Tyres in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Accompanying the launch, CGS has created modern new advertising concepts, which are said to allude to the Semperit passenger car range.

CGS will offer Semperit cross-ply and radial tyres. By offering a “large dimension range,” the company says the brand represents an alternative to other competitors in the quality segment. The Cultor-S (standard radial tyres) and Cultor-70 (70 per cent radial wide base tyres) were also presented at Agritechnica.

Speaking with CGS UK commercial managing director, Andrew Mabin, reveals that the company is in the process of negotiating OE fitments with a number of well-known machinery manufacturers, which could be finalised in the early part of 2006.

As far as the GB distributor, RH Claydon is concerned the introduction of the Semperit brand is good news. “Semperit is a good name, its an exciting brand to bring back into the market,” commented RH Claydon’s Dick Anderson.

When asked how he thought customers would respond to the brand name change, he added: “We had excellent sales with Uniroyal and we expect the same with the Semperit.” Tyres & Accessories learnt that there may be one or two minor alterations to the product range, but generally the transition is expected to be smooth with most of the changes taking place within cross-ply fitments. According to Andrew Mabin six Semperit sizes are already available with another scheduled for a January 2006 release.

For its part RH Claydon intends to promote the brand through the production of new Semperit brochure and show exposure, starting with January’s LAMMA show in Newark.

In order to explain the reasoning behind CGS’ decision to re-brand its Uniroyal products, the recent history of the company has to be examined. CGS Tyres develops, produces and markets its own brand Mitas agricultural tyres, as well as the licensed Continental, Barum, Semperit and Euzkadi brands. The company licences these brands on a “long term basis”, as it did with Uniroyal until recently.

When CGS bought Continental AG’s agricultural division in November 2004, the licensed brands came with it. However, now the time has come for the company to launch the Semperit brand. CGS says it will offer “excellent price/performance ratio” products under the Semperit name.

The broader CGS Tyres business unit makes a wide range of products – from the lawnmower to combine harvester tyres. CGS Tyres is active in 11 international locations and contributes to approximately 40 per cent of the total turnover of the larger CGS-Group. These sales are said to make CGS Tyres the second-largest manufacturer of agricultural tyres in Europe, Behind Michelin.

CGS agricultural products are manufactured at its Czech factories in Otrokovice, Zlin and Prague. The Otrokovice plant specialises in the production of radial drive wheel tyres. Radial tyre production there represents 80 per cent of total output.

With the addition of two further production plants, CGS Tyres expects to be able to expand capacity to approximately 500,000 units in the coming years.

SuperVolume Tyres

In terms of products, CGS is keen to highlight the Continental brand and particularly the new SVT range. For the manufacturer, Continental and Mitas represent the peak of its brand pyramid, with Semperit heading up its second line offering. But for at least all eyes are on the new SVT, which was born out of a range of high volume combine harvester tyres.

“We designate tyres with this name which have a larger volume than standard tyres,” explains Ralf Krieger, manager of research and development for Continental agricultural tyres. “The larger volume is achieved through a larger tyre width or a smaller rim diameter with the same tyre diameter,” he added.

This means the SVT has an individual cross-section relationship according to its dimension. Due to its air volume, the tyre is said to offer high load-bearing capacity with low pressure. According to the manufacturer this means it is “outstandingly ground-friendly.”

Furthermore the tyre’s special tyre sidewall is reportedly designed to dampen vibrations and improve comfort. A further advantage of the volume tyre in case of on-road driving is its width, because an SVT-shod tractor falls below the total width of three meters generally permissible for on-road use. “The SuperVolumeTyre thus represents the optimal solution with respect to ground-friendliness and road-driving aptitude,” states Krieger. The SuperVolumeTyre is available in two tread pattern designs: The Harvester tread pattern for harvesters and the traction tread pattern for use on tractors.

CGS is also offering something to existing customers – an updated 2006/2007 technical manual. The 120-page advisor, which is available for download in addition to a standard bound copy, includes technical data on Continental tractor drive-wheel tyres, front tyres, multipurpose tyres (MPT) and implemented tyres (IMP), as well as technical data on rims, water filling and overall tyre equipping possibilities. In addition to German and English, the manual is now also available in Spanish, Italian and French. The downloadable version of the guide can be accessed through the Internet at www.cgs-tyres.com.