Recall Population Reduced, Tyremaker Claims No Impact on Business

(Akron/Tire Review) Even as the Chinese manufacturer continues to claim there are no quality problems with its tyres, certain light truck/SUV tyres produced by Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. are still being recalled in the US, though apparently not in the same numbers as originally stated.

Foreign Tire Sales now says it is recalling only 250,000 Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber-produced tyres. Originally, FTS and NHTSA estimated that 450,000 tyres had to be recalled due to concerns over tread separations.

In a letter to NHTSA, FTA said its has narrowed the group of questioned tyres. The impacted tyres were produced in three phases, FTS said, but only those produced in the second phase were missing gum strips. Tyres produced without the gum strips layers between the steel belts, FTS claims, have a greater propensity to suffer tread separations.

As a result, FTS said, its cost to recall the tyres will be reduced to around $20 million from the nearly $80 million it had previously stated.

Meanwhile, Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber claims its export business has not been impacted by the recall and surrounding controversy. “Our exports to the US are as good as before. Nothing needs to be changed (in production) as there’s no quality problem with our products,” Xu Youming, director of the legal department of Hangzhou Zhongce, was quoted as saying in an AFX report this morning.