Dunlop will launch the latest iteration of its winter tyre series, the Winter Sport 5, with a full range of sizes available by September 2015. The tyre, which is designed to build on the award-winning success of its latest Winter Sport 4D, is the fifth addition to the line that offers the grip and performance to combat a variety of winter surfaces, including wet, icy and snow-covered roads.
Crowntyre’s Gremax brand has launched a new passenger car tyre designed for European markets, the Capturar CF19. Featuring low noise, increased comfort and improved control, the company is targeting drivers with “middle and high end vehicles” with the new tyre. The tyre is labelled C-B-69)) in size 225/45R18 95W XL.
Figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on the morning the UK heads to the polls underline a robust new car market, with registrations up for the 38th consecutive month in April. Demand rose by 5.1 per cent to 185,778 units – the month’s best performance since 2005. Year-to-date registrations for 2015 are up 6.4 per cent to 920,366.
The Tuscan hills south of Montepulciano during an unusually warm and sunny spring are an idyllic setting for most occasions. Yet the choice of location for the official launch of GT Radial’s Champiro FE1 passenger car tyre was more significant than just as one of the world’s most picturesque places. The tyre is designed to tackle what Fabio Pecci-Boriani (senior product marketing manager – PCR, Giti Tire) described as “one of the most important market sectors – 15-17”, H-W speed rated, 50-65 series.” Positioned as an all-round premium passenger car tyre for C and D vehicles (including such bestsellers as the Volkswagen Golf, Peugeot 308 and Kia Cee’d) the tyre now has more than 95 per cent coverage of its target sector, following the introduction of nine new sizes (the FE1 was first (soft) launched in 2014).
The Z tyre brand has held a co-ordinated countrywide launch in South Africa in association with Tyrecor, its distribution partner. Taking place in three different locations showcasing the country’s diversity to accommodate the maximum number of tyre dealers, the main event was held at the Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg, hosted by Harjeev Kandhari, CEO of Tyrecor and Zenises, global distributor of the Z brand. The two supplementary official launch events were also hosted by Tyrecor at the Oyster Box in Durban and the Taj Hotel in Cape Town.
The days when a handful of well-known brands dominated the tyre market are long gone, and while consumers are now spoiled for choice, this choice comes with one major hitch – gaining an overview of the good, the bad and the ugly in the tyre world is nigh on impossible. All but a few brand names are ‘unknowns’ to the average tyre buyer, and as a result serious manufacturers can easily remain invisible. Faced with this situation, passenger car tyre sector newcomer Aeolus Tyre Co. Ltd is drawing attention to its products through a name synonymous with product quality the world over.
The association representing tyre manufacturers in Europe says its members experienced “mixed results” in the region’s replacement market during the first quarter of 2015. While companies belonging to the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association sold more passenger car tyres (up 1.9 per cent to 52,120,000 units) and motorcycle tyres (up 6.6 per cent to 3,297,000 units) in the first quarter of 2015 than a year earlier, both truck and agricultural tyre sales were down compared with the corresponding period in 2014; ETRMA members’ truck tyre sales decreased 0.74 per cent to 2,158,000 units and agricultural tyre sales dropped 12.8 per cent to 436,000 units.
The Aeolus ACE Series 2 ranges first displayed at the Madrid-based motortec trade show earlier this month and subsequently shown to distributors and dealers at events in Spain and Finland are the first passenger car products from Aeolus Tyre to go on sale bearing a quality mark from world-renown testing and certification corporation TÜV. The TÜV Tire Test Mark will be used to promote the PrecisionACE2 and SteeringACE2 summer tyre ranges and Aeolus intends to use it as a means of differentiating its products from the many other Chinese brands now on sale in Europe.
Autopromotec will provide the platform for the launch of a new brand when the 2015 show is held in Bologna, Italy between 20 and 24 May. Davanti is pitching itself as an up-market tyre offering and is said to be able to boast “impressive EU labels”, “outstanding wet-grip performance and consistently low noise ratings across the range…”.
The brand will launch with the release of the Davanti DX640 and DX390. The DX640 is an ultra-high performance passenger and SUV tyre dynamically designed for maximum grip, and the DX390 is a high performance tyre offering a fuel efficient and comfortable drive.
Michelin has specially developed a new variant of its Pilot Sport Cup 2 ultra-high performance tyre for the original equipment fitment on the new Audi R8. The tyre is an optional fitment to be specified by customers, which can be identified by the RO1 marking on its sidewall. Michelin describes meeting the requirements of Audi as a technological challenge; engineers sought to combine high levels of dry grip to improve lap times on the track, without any compromise in safety on wet roads. The tyre sizes are 245/30ZR20 (front) and 305/30ZR20 (rear).
Continuing its five-year collaboration, premier Mercedes tuner, Carlsson, Vredestein has released a new 19-inch high-performance tyre for the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The Carlsson Vredestein Ultrac Vorti is being pitched as a premium ultra-high performance tyre. Like numerous other Vredestein tyres, the new product’s asymmetric tread pattern was developed in cooperation with Giugiaro.
Kinforest Tyre Co. Ltd. – a Chinese company whose brand portfolio (led by Kinforest) is imported in the UK by various wholesalers including Micheldever – were promoting the performance of their products during the Citexpo show in Shanghai.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.