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.
GT Radial’s REE Tread retreading programme has added the size 315/70R22.5 to its GDR690 drive tyre range. The size has been chosen to specifically target UK fleet operators looking to maximise price per kilometre, the company stated. Standing for “reliable, economical and environmental”, the GT REE Tread portfolio comprises the company’s hot cure bead-to-bead remoulds.
Giti Tire has launched its latest product, the GT Radial Savero SUV, which arrives in Europe to meet the growing demand in the SUV and CUV segments. The tyre was launched at an event in Barcelona, demonstrating the product’s suitability for fitment on a wide range of vehicles at the compact to medium end of the market.
Giti Tire has made four appointments across its European R&D facilities, bringing the number of staff within its Hannover and Nuneaton (Mira) centres to 17. Giti stated that the appointments meet increasing demand for original equipment, product planning and field engineering projects.
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.
GT Radial has added the GTL919, a new trailer pattern available in 19.5 and 22.5-inch sizes, to its truck tyre portfolio.
According to the company, the tyre has been developed for “maximum return-on-investment ownership, with a dedicated compound formula, extra deep optimised tread and wide shoulder ribs ensuring regular wear as well as reducing fuel consumption and increase mileage potential.” Additional upper sidewall protection provides enhanced resistance to cuts and tearing, especially from curbing damage.
Giti Tire has focused largely on the lucrative European SUV/crossover market in 2015 with size extensions and product launches across three brands to be joined by a new GT Radial tyre later in the month. At the same time, the manufacturer’s existing Adventuro M/T has helped one of the brand’s Leeds dealers to enjoy some grassroots motorsport success, demonstrating its mud terrain capabilities.
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.
Giti Tire has strengthened its Northern European operations with Åke Älmdalen appointed as Business Development Manager – Nordics and Amaury Pouzet extending his remit to General Manager – France and Benelux. Åke Älmdalen will be responsible for increasing existing business in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden across both Passenger Car and Light Truck (PCR) […]
A customer of GT Radial Performance Centre (GTPC), Cranbrook Tyre & Exhaust Centre has been named the winner of the brand’s biggest UK consumer competition to date.
Having heard both the consensus and a third party perspective on what the high performance tyre market is and what is happening in it, when Tyres & Accessories asked Neil Hendry, general manager – Passenger Car Tires, Europe for Giti Tire for his and Giti’s view, he offered another perspective again.
Giti Tire has unveiled its stand design for The CV Show 2015. The stand, situated at 4G40, will provide a platform for the launch of the new GT Radial GDR638 next generation drive axle tyre. An interesting feature of the stand (pictured) will be the presence of the manufacturer’s logo and corporate colours. In previous years Giti has made its flagship GT Radial brand the focus of its CV Show exhibit. Now the manufacturer plans to raise its corporate profile worldwide in support of global infrastructure projects, such as the new $560m manufacturing and distribution plant in Chester County, South Carolina.
Giti Tire has introduced nine new sizes to the GT Radial Champiro FE1 range. Positioned as an all-round premium passenger car tyre for the performance C and D vehicle segments (including such bestsellers as the Volkswagen Golf, Peugeot 308 and Kia C’eed) the tyre now has more than 95 per cent coverage of its target sector. Launched in 2014, Giti expects the tyre to become one of its biggest sellers.
The CV Show has become an increasingly important event for the tyre and wheel segment in recent years, and the trend will continue with the 2015 edition. The UK segment’s biggest manufacturers – Hankook, Goodyear, Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone, Pirelli and Giti will all be present, as will the ambitious Sailun and Aeolus brands and retreader Bandvulc – and related companies such as wholesaler RH Claydon, and Pro-Align with the new Hunter commercial vehicle wheel aligner.
During the course of the last decade, the 4×4 vehicle sector has rapidly evolved out of its utilitarian roots and – thanks to the advent of the Sports Utility Vehicle or SUV – become a distinct category of often luxury road-going cars. The speed of this evolution has increased thanks to the arrival of the Crossover Utility Vehicle or CUV. In-turn these changes necessarily impact the make-up and even the definition of the 4×4 tyre market. All this has been further impacted by the European legislation putting pressure on reducing noise levels produced by out-and-out off-road tyres in particular. The result is a market that is now much more SUV than off-road or even mixed-use driven.
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