Giti Tire will sponsor Team BRIT (British Racing Injured Troops) in the Fun Cup endurance championship. The manufacturer is the official tyre partner for the series, and will supply Team BRIT cars with its Giti GTR2 competition racing tyres. The sponsorship increases the manufacturer’s involvement in the series; it is also running a car with its GT Radial brand in the 2017 series.
Giti Tire has presented its three-year development programme for its GT Radial brand to key dealers, including UK distributor Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS). The annual PCR European Marketing Council, held in Austria, was attended by customers from across the continent. It looked at current market conditions, future trends, product development and marketing direction, including the brand proposition across advertising, point-of-sale and online activities, comprising the brand website and social media.
Giti Tire’s GSW226, the brand’s first specific winter marked tyre, has won plaudits following a nine-day trip to Switzerland and Austria, fitted by one of the North East’s leading coach hire companies. Stockton-on-Tees-based Compass Royston, which undertakes transport for schools and travel operators, and counts Middlesbrough and Hartlepool United Football Clubs among its many sport clients, decided to trial the tyre based on brand feedback from its sister companies, Esk Valley Coaches and Proctors Coaches.
Giti Tire rides again with Fun Cup UK, having returned as official tyre partner for its second consecutive season. New for the 2017 season, the tyre manufacturer has taken its place on the grid too with a fully liveried GT Radial racing car. The company said the extension of its partnership with the series is part of its growing involvement in European motorsport. The car will be used to raise consumer awareness of the brand while supporting a number of marketing activities throughout the GT Radial Performance Centre (GTPC) network alongside exclusive UK distributor, Micheldever Tyre Services.
Giti Tire has extended the scope of its ultra-high performance tyre, introducing the GT Radial SportActive SUV derivative. The manufacturer has made seven 18-19” SUV sizes available initially, across speed indices V-W, section widths from 225 to 255 and series sizes 50 to 60. Giti states that it is targeting SUVs with dynamic performance and powerful engines such as the Audi Q3, Range Rover Evoque and BMW X3.
Giti Tire has released details of the six new Giti branded patterns that will be launched at CV Show 2017 (Birmingham NEC, 25-27 April). On show at stand 4G20 will be the GDR655 combi-road drive in 22.5”; the GTL919 long-haul trailer in 17.5”, 19.5”, and 22.5”; the GDR638 regional drive in 17.5” and 19.5”; the GT867 all-position urban in 22.5”; and the GAM837 all-position and GAM851 trailer mixed service patterns in 22.5”. The manufacturer said these models have been carefully selected to support its growing OEM presence throughout Europe or to target specific aftermarket sectors where growth potential has been identified. They each carry either the three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) or M&S marking.
Giti Tire will unveil the first phase of its Giti branded truck and bus portfolio at the CV Show 2017. In total 20 patterns will make their European debut. The introduction of the Giti brand to European commercial vehicle markets was announced at Reifen 2016 last May. The manufacturer will present the products between 25 and 27 April on stand 4G20 at the Birmingham NEC.
Jane Bailey of Morecambe’s Westgate Tyres has been made the inaugural Foxy Lady Drivers Club Woman of the Year 2017. The Award acknowledges Bailey’s business story, describing her as “a rare and inspirational female role model within the tyre industry.”
The GT Radial SportActive became available around a year ago as a new flagship tyre for the brand, distributed in the UK by Micheldever. Towards the end of 2016, Giti Tire held an event for its wholesale partner and a large group of its most successful dealers in Vilamoura, Portugal, with track-based demonstrations of the tyre’s capabilities at Portimao’s Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. GT Radial has leveraged a racing partnership before to market the tyre in the UK; it partnered consumer high performance driving magazine Evo for its popular 2016 series of track day events at the Bedford Autodrome, making its tyres available for amateur racing enthusiasts to try out on vehicles such as the Audi S3, Golf GTI, BMW 340i and Toyota GT86.
The new GT Radial FE1 City tyre for A-C segment urban cars is now available throughout Europe following its launch on Giti Tire’s stand at Reifen 2016. The tyre currently comes in 16 sizes, with rims from 13-16”, section widths from 145 to 195 and series sizes 55 to 80. The tyre was designed by the company’s R&D Centre in Hannover, Germany and features a silhouette of the city of Cologne to mark its European R&D credentials.
Giti Tire has celebrated the 500,000th sale of its GT Radial FE1 with a ‘Golden Tyre’ presented to GT Radial Performance Centre (GTPC), Perry’s Tyres & Exhausts Service of Cinderford, Gloucestershire. The FE1, launched in 2014, is the fastest selling European pattern in Giti Tire’s history. As of September 2016, more than 580,000 units have been sold in the 21 months it has been available.
The GT Radial GSW226 will make its show debut at the Birmingham NEC’s Euro Bus Expo 2016. The brand’s first specifically winter-marked tyre for the sector is targeted at coach operators who need to meet UK and trans-European winter road regulations. GT Radial manufacturer Giti Tire will also use the show as an opportunity to broaden awareness of the company’s flagship Giti brand, which entered Europe earlier in 2016.
Giti Tire has appointed Brian McDermott and Daria Sala della Cuna as sales and marketing directors – Europe for passenger car and light truck tyres (PCR) and truck and bus tyres (TBR) respectively. Both directors will work closely with major clients and partners around Europe to increase sales and marketing activities, handle brand strategy, and channel development and product portfolio extensions for the Giti, GT Radial, Primewell and Runway brands, Giti states.
Following up the European launch of Giti branded truck tyres at Reifen 2016, Giti Tire has now launched a new flagship Giti branded passenger car and SUV summer portfolio for the German market. The range, which consists of four “premium performance” tyres, has been developed and tested exclusively throughout Europe by the company’s Hannover-based R&D Centre. Giti stated that there were “no plans to replace the GT Radial brand”, previously positioned as its global flagship, in Europe when the commercial range was launched. According to the manufacturer, this remains the case, with the Giti PCR range designed to complement its existing GT Radial, Primewell and Runway brands; Giti will offer selected sizes aimed at specific vehicle segments.
Giti Tire is currently partnering with performance car magazine Evo for a series of track days. The manufacturer states that this “provides an excellent platform” from which to promote its current flagship ultra-high performance product, the GT Radial SportActive. Five events are held at Bedford Autodrome every year. With three track days completed and two more in the diary, including the popular How Fast? on 22 October with F1-style qualifying timed laps and leaderboard, the partnership is revving up.
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