Bridgestone achieves AA label on tyre to launch 1 October
Announcing that it will start labelling its car tyres today (2 July), Bridgestone Europe says it will join Pirelli in bringing an AA-rated product – the Ecopia EP001S – to market. Coming in just a few months after the Cinturato P7 Blue, which was unveiled at Reifen 2012 in Essen, the tyre will be available in the UK on 1 October 2012 with top A grades on both fuel efficiency and wet grip. Bridgestone also claims that it is the first product in the industry to achieve top label grading both in Europe and in Japan. Though not present at the company’s Reifen stand in early-June, the EP001S, the latest member of the fuel-efficient Ecopia range, will be officially presented at this September’s Paris Motor Show and effectively introduced in the European market as of October 2012.
In preparation for tyre labelling, Bridgestone says it has been working with its tyre dealer network across the EU and sourcing it with practical tool kits and educational material in the form of leaflets and posters explaining the EU label to consumers. Bridgestone also has a section of its EU website devoted to consumer awareness and education of the new tyre labelling programme.
In common with certain other premium brand tyre manufacturers, Bridgestone presents its position on the EU tyre labelling issue as supportive, while stressing that other tyre performance characteristics are as important as – if not more important than – fuel efficiency, wet grip and external noise. Bridgestone says it supports the EU initiative because it helps consumers make a more informed purchasing decision: “Not only are we fully compliant with EU tyre labelling regulation, we have also obtained top results in the gradings,” the company states.
“However, we do not stop there since our development also considers other key parameters for safety and comfort such as dry braking, stability, wear resistance, durability and mileage, for summer tyres. For winter tyres, added to the above criteria, are handling and breaking on snow and ice.”
Bridgestone stresses the importance of knowing that certain performance characteristics are in direct conflict with others when comparing tyres, exemplifying this point by explaining the traditional strong trade-off between wet grip, which requires more rubber friction on the road, and fuel efficiency which is dependent on lower rolling friction.
“Bridgestone is committed to providing consumers with quality tyres, which guarantee our customers’ safety while meeting their driving expectations and needs, supporting ‘Your Journey’ with ‘Our Passion’. New EU tyre labelling is a positive move towards high level categorization of tyres sold in Europe,” continues Franco Annunziato, CEO and president, Bridgestone Europe. Bridgestone says this “balanced, all-round approach” extends to its Turanza and Blizzak ranges.
“Thanks to its advanced technologies – such as NanoPro-Tech – Bridgestone has been able to bridge such trade-offs and develop a tyre that achieves A/A rating under new EU tyre label regulations,” continues Annunziato. “We are extremely proud that Bridgestone is one of the first announcing and introducing to the European market an AA tyre this year.”
Related news:
- Pirelli first to reach market with AA-rated tyre
- Conti ready to roll with labelling on commercial vehicle tyres
- Toyo launches AB-rated NanoEnergy 1 tyre
- Michelin online guide tackles the fundamentals of labelling
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