Giti Tire
With an eye on increasing its OEM business, Giti Tire has announced two senior appointments at its R&D Centre Europe. Dr Claus Oberbeck has taken on the role of OE chief engineer at the facility in Hannover, Germany, while Martin Wells has become global account manager for German OEMs.
Upon launching its Savero SUV tyre last September, the company behind the GT Radial brand gave a sneak preview of a new tyre scheduled for introduction in 2016. As we reported at the time, this tyre, the SportActive, takes the baton from the GT Radial Champiro UHP1 and Champiro HPY to become the flagship UHP tyre in the GT Radial portfolio. Following a limited launch in several non-seasonal markets, manufacturer Giti Tire has now released an initial range of 27 SportActive sizes in all European markets.
Three Chinese-made tyres were deemed to have “failed” the wet braking component of the latest summer tyre test jointly released by German motoring magazine Auto Zeitung and GTÜ, the country’s largest officially-recognised independent vehicle inspection organisation. The maker of one of the trio has issued a statement regarding the results.
Giti Tire closed its Chongqing, China truck tyre factory in November 2015 the company has confirmed. This means that roughly 90 per cent of the plant’s 1,100 workers will lose or have already lost their jobs, leaving around 100 staff in work.
Giti has previewed its forthcoming ultra-high performance flagship tyre for its leading GT Radial brand. Eventually replacing the GT Radial UHP1 and HPY, the GT Radial SportActive currently has eight 17 and 18 inch sizes in production at its Hefei, China plant, the manufacturer’s senior product marketing manager Fabio Pecci-Boriani told Tyrepress during the launch of the brand’s Savero SUV tyre in Barcelona. The manufacturer will also have a further “22 sizes in production by the end of the year”, he added, with 40-50 sizes in total available by June 2016. These sizes will include some suitable for high performance SUVs. The SportActive is a significant milestone for the company; it is the first to feature Giti’s “Optimal Casing Construction” (OCC) technology, with the project led by the company’s European research and development centre in Hanover, Germany.
Dr Enki Tan, executive chairman of Giti Tire, has announced that Stefan Fischer and Corrado Moglia have been appointed as managing directors – Europe. The news follows the resignation of Richard Lyons, who has left the company with immediate effect. Prior to his resignation, Lyons was managing director Giti Tire (Europe) and director – International Sales & Marketing, Passenger Car.
Giti Tire has appointed two new business development managers for its truck and bus tyre business in the Spanish market. Rosaura Maria Gonzalez Frade (Rosa) and Daniel Gonzalez Martin (Dani) will be jointly responsible for increasing the existing business of truck and bus products, working in close cooperation with the country’s business partners and fleets to secure long-term partnerships.
The final regulatory approval needed for the construction of Giti Tire’s first plant in the USA has been granted, however local news sources write that this approval has already been appealed.
GT Radial will focus on the revised GSR225 Combi Road and GAU861 all-position urban city-bus tyres at Coach & Bus Live 2015. The GSR225 Combi Road, across sizes 275/70R22.5, 295/80R22.5, 315/60R22.5, 315/70R22.5 and 315/80R22.5, has seen an increase in load index capacity up to 158/150L to further meet Euro VI requirements.
Giti Tire has expanded its GT Radial GSR225 Combi Road multi-use steer axle range with three new 19.5” sizes. In another development for the versatile range, Giti has also upgraded the load index for its next generation 22.5” tyres to meet Euro 6 requirements.
A new sales and marketing director has been appointed to look after Giti Tire’s passenger car and light truck activities in the ‘D-A-CH’ markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As sales and marketing director – PCR, Tobias Stöckmann will work closely with long-term regional partner Reifen Gundlach and other distributors to significantly increase market share for the GT Radial brand, while identifying new sales strategies and customers for Primewell and Runway. Stöckmann and his team are also tasked with maintaining robust market intelligence programmes, further developing retail, promotional and media strategies, and they will also monitor and input into the company’s rolling five-year product development plan.
Confirmation has been given that Giti Tire’s former head of passenger car tyre sales and marketing, Hervé Richert, has been appointed president of French transport systems specialist Lohr S.A. Richert joined Lohr as vice-president in May 2015, and at the time company head Robert Lohr referred to him as the firm’s “future president.”
Giti Tire has appointed Ivo Yonov as business development manager – south east and Andrzej Paczkowski as marketing and retail development manager, strengthening its East European operation.
Giti Tire has appointed Richard Hutchins to the newly created position of senior product marketing manager – Europe for its Truck and Bus Division (TBR). The manufacturer said that Hutchins will be instrumental in new product developments and implementation of TBR tyres into OE and replacement markets. He will also contribute to product strategy, including technical, competitor, pricing and market analysis.
A summer 2015 launch date has been announced for a new GT Radial tyre range that aims to meet demand in the growing SUV and CUV segments. The Savero SUV is a tyre designed primarily for on-road driving and targets vehicles such as the Nissan Qashqai, Dacia Duster, Ford Kuga, Kia Sportage, Opel Mokka, VW Tiguan and the new Renault Kadjar.
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