Truck Tyres
Roughly 48 hours before his televised debate with fellow Conservative party leadership finalist Liz Truss, former chancellor Rishi Sunak visited leading independent retreading business Vaculug.
Apollo Tyres says its EnduRace RD2 has proven a great success since its launch last year. The existing size 315/80 R22.5 tyre will soon be joined by two further dimensions. As of this month, Apollo EnduRace RD2 is also available as a 315/70 R22.5 product, while a 295/80 R22.5 version will arrive next March.
During the recent Tire Cologne event, Tyres & Accessories met with Hankook Europe’s top management including president and chief operating officer Sanghoon Lee; Dietmar Olbrich, vice president of marketing and sales at Hankook Germany; Byung Ryong Lee, vice president of marketing strategy in Europe; Guy Heywood, vice president sales, marketing and business strategy for truck and bus tyres in Europe; vice president of European Technical Centre, Klaus Krause; Massimo Cialone, chief specialist for compounding and materials.
Linglong Tire has provided further details of its original equipment partnership with MAN Truck & Bus, which it first announced at The Tire Cologne in May. The world’s 12th largest tyre maker will equip the MAN TGL with the Linglong KLS200 steer axle tyres and KLD200 drive axle tyres in sizes 245/70 R17.5 136/134M and 265/70 R17.5 140/138M.
Goodyear has supplied Kmax Gen-2 steer and drive axle tyres for a vehicle billed as the world’s first fully-electric 40-tonne tractor unit boasting 900-kilowatt hours (kWh) of battery capacity. The Futuricum-made truck has been in daily use with Swiss logistics firm Galliker Transport AG since October 2021.
Volta Trucks, the full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has completed its first customer driving evaluation and feedback sessions of the Volta Zero Design Verification prototype. The review gave customers their first experience of the zero-tailpipe emission medium-duty truck designed for urban logistics, providing a real-world understanding of the vehicle’s performance, world-first driver-centric cab and innovative safety features. Volta entered a tyre partnership with Bridgestone in August 2020, with the manufacturer supplying tyres to Volta’s pilot fleet since 2021.
On 8 July 2022, the European Commission (EC) re-opened its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations relating to the imports of Chinese-made truck tyres [Regulation (EU) 2018/1579 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1690]. The latest move follows the judgments of 4 May 2022 in joined cases T‑30/19 and T‑72/19.
If you design your products in Germany and manufacture them in Serbia, in what sense are they Chinese tyres? A question anyone interested in Linglong’s Hubtrac tyre brand must address. During the recent Tire Cologne exhibition, Tyres & Accessories spoke with Hubtrac UK general manager Dr Edward Xu in order to engage with that particular question and find out more about Linglong’s progress in Europe and beyond.
Hankook Tire has marketed its Alphatread range of mould cure or ‘hot’ retreaded tyres for almost a decade now, and today satisfies demand for these products from plants in the UK, Spain, Italy, France and Germany. The last of these is the former Reifen Müller facility in Hammelburg, some 60 miles east of Frankfurt am Main. Hankook recently expanded its Alphatread operation at this site by setting up a separate mould cure retreading operation, significantly increasing capacity.
The first tyres may only just have rolled offer the Serbia factory’s production line, but as part of its ongoing plans to increase market share in the European tyre market, Linglong is currently rolling out its Hubtrac designed-in-Germany, made-in-Serbia truck tyre range. One part of that strategy is supply strategic customers across the country. And those include key fleets.
Midlands-based wholesaler GB Tyres has grown rapidly despite the challenges of lockdown and logistics during the last couple of years. Indeed, GB Tyre’s annual turnover has skyrocketed from £3 million in 2016 to full-year 2022 predictions of £50 million. Considering the company was only established in 2013, it is fair to say the business has grown to become one of the fastest growing importers and exporters of commercial vehicle tyres in Europe. Tyres & Accessories met up with commercial director Graham Hutchinson to find out more.
A completely new size for Giti Tire in Europe, the freshly-released Giti GSR237 Combi Road steer tyre in 355/50R22.5 offers a further fitment option for vehicles used in high load, low platform transportation. Giti Tire says it designed the GSR237 Combi Road to compete with premium brands – which up until now have been the only manufacturers producing this size.
The first tyre manufactured at Linglong’s Serbian factory – an “all steel radial truck and bus tyre” – rolled off the production line at 6:58am on 27 June 2022 China time (23:58 European time). Whatever the precise time, production on 27 June fulfils Linglong Tire chairman Wang Feng’s commitment that the factory would enter its initial manufacturing phase before the end of the first half of 2022.
The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) and its member companies have voiced their support for a legislative proposal to incentivise retreading. The Commercial Vehicle Fleet Retreaded Tire Utilization Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2022 (H.R. 8165), introduced to the United States Congress this week, would provide tax credits for fleet purchases of US retreaded commercial vehicle tyres.
Giti Tire appeared on the 19 June episode of Top Gear, supporting the presenting trio’s participation in a round of the British Truck Racing Championship (BTRC). The episode focused on commercial vehicles – an HGV special – as presenters Chris Harris, Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness passed their lorry driving tests before driving across the UK in new DAF, Mercedes and Scania pulling units. Their journey ended at Pembrey Race Circuit, where McGuinness then competed in a BTRC round in a fully liveried Giti truck.
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.
Vaculug
Tyre Industry Publications Ltd
Volta Trucks
Chris Anthony; Tyre Industry Publications Ltd
Kortimed
Linglong
Giti Tire