With a growing number of SUVs on the roads – both ICE and electric – there is an increasing need for high-performance tyres that can handle heavier loads without sacrificing performance. Whether you need a sporty, lower-profile tyre or a more traditional offering, company representatives say Davanti Tyres has a range that addresses such demands.
Singapore-based contract tyre manufacturer Sumo Firenza is promoting its “tough and rugged” Firenza-branded AT186, HT183 and ST185 SUV/4×4 tyres. All three patterns are designed and produced in what the company calls “state-of-the-art tyre building facilities in Asia”.
Following the inaugural edition in Goa two years back as well as thousands of smaller editions in different locations over the last 24 months, Apollo Tyres’ #BadRoadBuddies concept returns in a digital format. Since most of the activations have moved to the virtual space, the company has also chosen to build the community of enthusiasts online and is opening this event to SUV owners/drivers and the two-wheeler riders, who enjoy drives during the weekend or on leisure/adventure trips.
Bridgestone reports that it is gaining extra traction in the SUV market, thanks to its range of top performing products, which have “never been more integral to its premium portfolio”. The company’s Dueler range continues to offer broad coverage in the SUV tyre segment and has more recently been supplemented with what the Turanza T005, Weather Control A005 and now the ultra-performance Potenza Sport offer.
Yokohama’s Geolandar CV G058, a grand touring tyre for crossover SUVs, was among the winners at the recent Chicago Athenaeum 2020 Good Design Awards. The award-winning tyre is part of Yokohama’s Geolandar range of tyres for 4x4s, SUVs and crossover vehicles.
Established in 1950, The Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award, is the world’s oldest and most prestigious worldwide design award. Organised by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, candidate products are judged by experts who evaluate them from diverse perspectives, including design, use of new technologies, materials and function.
General Tire has announced a voluntary exchange programme involving a maximum of 612 passenger vehicle tyres that were produced at the company’s Mt. Vernon, Illinois plant and sold in the UK replacement tyre market. The affected tyres are specific DOT and mould numbers of these products: General Tire Grabber AT³ LT235/85 R16; General Tire Grabber X³ LT265/70 R17. Affected tyres will be replaced free of charge.
Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) reports that it is offers a “gripping” SUV proposition for retail customers in 2021, with a range of new products available to its tyre retailer network. According to the company, MTS supplies SUV tyres to over 6,000 customers, including a national network of over 250 independent 4×4 and SUV tyre specialists. Changes include new upgraded patterns, helping to bolster MTS’s range of SUV tyres – for both for on and off-road usage.
In mid-March Jenson Button’s JBXE Extreme E team announced who will be racing electric SUVs alongside the former Formula 1 world champion. He will be sharing the cockpit of his Odyssey 21 with Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky. In recent years, the Swedish driver has successfully competed in the Scirocco R-Cup Germany and in the rallycross discipline. In 2015, she took part in the newly established Audi Sport TT Cup. She also started in the junior classification of the ADAC GT Masters in 2016 and in the Audi Sport Racing Academy in 2017, before switching to the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship in 2018, where she made history as the first and only woman ever to win races in that series.
Apollo Tyres has launched a new tyre range to satisfy demand in India’s fast-growing compact SUV market. The tyre maker says it has introduced the Apollo Apterra Cross following two years of development and testing, and will initially offer the range in five sizes for 16- and 17-inch rim diameters. While Apollo Tyres currently has no plans to bring the Apterra Cross to Europe, it intends to distribute the range in ASEAN and SAARC markets at a later date.
In its 2021 summer tyre test, Auto Bild Allrad looks at ten premium, mid-range and budget brands, products ranging in price from around £230 to £450 for a set of four. The test team was, by and large, impressed with the candidates’ performance and declared six of the test products either ‘exemplary’ or ‘good’. They declined to recommend just one tyre.
Cooper Tire wasn’t initially looking to sell when Goodyear chief executive Rich Kramer approached the company, Cooper’s president and CEO told journalists in a virtual press conference on 22 February 2021. Rather, Cooper’s management and board were convinced by Goodyear’s “compelling offer” and “strategic logic”. So, what exactly was it that convinced Cooper’s leadership team?
Common sense seems to dictate that when you tell the majority of the population to stay home, vehicle utilisation – and therefore tyre consumption – should be down across the board. And in a blunt sense the latest full-year panelmarket data from GfK, which tracks points of sale around the UK to indicate aftermarket tyre trends, does show that this happened. However, the latest infographic from the automotive market data analyst also reveals a few more subtle patterns to consumer behaviour in the difficult 12 months of 2020, compared with the previous period. This article is available in Tyres & Accessories’ February issue.
In little over a month’s time, the new Extreme E race series will commence with the opening round in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, and Continental is ready with its CrossContact Extreme E. The exclusive tyre supplier shares some details of the rubber that will be worn by each of the competing Spark ODYSSEY 21 electric SUVs.
Large, powerful cars and SUVs with electric or hybrid drives are substantially heavier than conventional ICE-powered vehicles and thus need tyres that can handle greater loads. The solution is to fit tyres with a higher load index. The gold standard here is HL, and Continental has announced the arrival of the first passenger tyres with the new HL load index code.
A successor to the Goodyear EfficientGrip SUV has arrived. Starting in January, Goodyear is introducing the EfficientGrip 2 SUV in 52 SKUs for 16- to 22-inch rim diameters. The full range should be available by the end of February 2022.
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.
Davanti
Sumo Firenza
Apollo Tyres
Bridgestone
Yokohama
MTS
Extreme E
Cooper
Continental AG