Goodyear Dunlop tests thousands of tyres ahead of EU tyre labelling
Goodyear Dunlop has tested 1200 Goodyear and another 1000 Dunlop branded tyres ensuring that these are ready to meet the new EU tyre labelling regulation that takes full effect on 1 November 2012. The tests covered 70 and 50 tyre types for Goodyear and Dunlop respectively.
According to the company, the grading of all the tyres took nearly a year and was done at the Goodyear Innovation Center in Luxemburg, which is the company’s main tyre research and development facility in the region. The new regulation requires each manufacturer to test tyres internally for the new gradings, based on strictly defined EU testing methods.
The grading was completed ahead of time, with nearly a month to go before voluntary labelling sets in and eight months before it becomes a legal requirement.
Beyond labelling the tyres, Goodyear will also actively launch information campaigns and integrate the label into its customer facing marketing materials, including a clear overview of labels on websites and on printed materials.
“We believe that the label will play an important role in helping consumers become more familiar with the key safety and environmental benefits of tyres”, says Xavier Fraipont, Director Technology Consumer Tyres. “As a result we took the grading of all our tyres in relation to the new regulation very seriously. In total some 100 engineers and operators were put on the job, as you can imagine, with 1200 tyres to test, we needed the manpower”.
Dunlop also completes extensive testing
In addition to the Goodyear-branded products, over 1,000 Dunlop tyres were tested. The tests also enabled engineers at Dunlop to re-affirm many of the 50 criteria the brand tests its tyres on, including dry braking, aquaplaning, cornering, dry and wet grip, handling and so forth. Although the brand fully supports the arrival of the new EU label, it will also continue to communicate on the 50 plus criteria it tests its tyres on.
In support of its vision, Dunlop will introduce QR codes on all EU labels found on the tyres. The code will enable a growing group of smart-phone users to get a full overview of the tyre’s capabilities. Non-smart phone owners will also be able to access the Dunlop site to obtain the information or ask more details from their tyre dealer and fitter.
Like Goodyear Dunlop will begin to implement labelling as of 30 May.
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