Truck Tyres
Vacu-Lug has begun production of Hankook’s Alphatread truck tyre range at its factory in Grantham, Lincolnshire. The bead-to-bead retread tyre range is designed for medium haul fleets, and consists of four sizes. For drive axles, the R-DH05 is available in 295/80R22.5, 315/80R22.5 and 315/70R22.5 and for trailer axles, the R-TH22 is available in 385/65R22.5.
Bridgestone Corp. is investing 24 million euros ($28.2 million) in order to produce a new line of 24-inch radial truck tyres suited for on- and off-road applications at its Puente San Miguel, Spain, factory.
At the end of April the UK’s second largest supermarket Sainsbury’s announced that it is merging with the Walmart-owned Asda supermarket. The goal? To push first-placed Tesco off the top-spot and to give the newly combined chain better access to different geographic areas and consumers. Strange as it may seem at first glance, this story can be read across to the tyre market in general and the truck tyre segment in particular (click here for complete coverage on developments associated with the recently initiated European anti-Chinese truck tyre import tariffs).
Apollo Vredestein’s UK subsidiary has chosen Treadsetters to handle the sale and distribution of its Apollo truck and bus tyre range across England, Scotland and Wales. Apollo’s debut in Europe’s competitive TBR tyre segment was barely one year ago. The new distribution arrangement represents a change in strategy; the manufacturer had initially said the brand would be available directly from Apollo through an e-commerce system. Apollo Vredestein states the decision to partner with Treadsetters will aid in achieving the tyre manufacturer’s strategy of rapid TBR growth by combining its product range with a highly efficient and experienced distribution partner in the UK.
Giti Tire has given its first indication of the measures it is taking to shore up its European position in light of the EU tariffs introduced on commercial vehicle tyre produced in China. Presenting two of its most popular tyres, including the Giti GTR955 Combi Road, with “Made in Indonesia” highlighted on their sidewalls, the manufacturer is showing it is capable of shifting European truck tyre production to its Tangerang manufacturing complex in Jakarta, following a development completed in late 2016.
Following statements from Aeolus suggesting “Aeolus moves production to Egypt and/or Turkey“, Prometeon Tyre Group has announced that the project to transfer the production of tyres in the production plants of Prometeon Tyre Group, “is still under initial assessment by the two groups, as it is part of the broader integration project of the two companies”.
South Korea-based tyre manufacturer Hankook, which is a leading player in the UK truck tyre market in terms of unit volumes, has stated that it is not affected by the recently introduced European anti-Chinese truck tyre import tariffs. Commenting as part of a statement on the company’s current and ongoing exhibition plans, Tony Lee, Hankook Tire Europe vice president for marketing and sales said:
Aeolus Tyre Co., Ltd. has emphasised its continued commitment to European markets. In a statement, the Chinese tyre maker describes its progress with the Aeolus brand within Europe as a “remarkable” achievement and stresses that the “unique position” it has claimed within the market will continue despite the introduction of anti-dumping duties. To facilitate this, some Aeolus tyre production will be relocated outside of China.
The new range of Pirelli agricultural tyres and the latest Pirelli truck products will be on display at the Prometeon Tyre Group stand at next week’s The Tire Cologne. These can be found at Stand C48/D49 in Hall 7.
Prometeon Tyre Group’s recent appointment of Kirkby Tyres as its official wholesale partner for Pirelli truck & bus product is “a landmark in Kirkby’s history as with this agreement, this is Kirkby’s first appointment as a national distributor of a major tier-1 tyre brand”, according to Dave Dorrity, managing director of Kirkby Tyres.
The latest data from market analysis specialists GfK suggests that the market is predominantly made up of regional usage 22.5-inch tyres – a trend that is increasing year-on-year. Here Tyres & Accessories takes a look at the latest market data from a number of sources in order to give an overview of current trends. This article focuses on data provided by GfK, but – owing to the fact that it is current hot topic – also analyses different estimates about how many tyres are made in China, something that is outside the scope of the data provided by GfK and therefore our conclusions on this point are something quite separate to GfK’s input.
It is clear that European anti-truck tyre tariffs are already having marked impact on the shape of the market. This is putting pressure on affected importers and manufacturers alike, but – as we have seen elsewhere in this feature – it could also lead to price increases and product shortages. Here Tyres & Accessories takes a closer look at the issue and what is being done in response based on contributions of industry associations such as the NTDA and ITMA as well as key industry figures.
The ‘new look’ Barkley range will be shown at The Tire Cologne next week. With a refreshed corporate identity, including a restyled barkley-tyres.com website, Barkley will exhibit at the trade fair (Hall 7.1, Stand E-020, E-028) along with its latest truck, agricultural and OTR tyres.
On 7 May the European Commission announced that it is implementing provisional anti-dumping duties of between 52.85 euros and 82.17 euros per tyre on new and retreaded tyres imported into Europe from China. It is a landmark move that is already having a huge impact on truck tyre markets across Europe. Tyres & Accessories spoke with TYM International managing director, Steve Eke and Triangle Tyre’s general manager for Europe, Corrado Moglia (representative examples of affected importers and manufacturers respectively) in order to find out more.
Prometeon Tyre Group UK Ltd has selected Kirkby Tyres as a truck tyre wholesale partner, with the goal of enhancing its UK distribution capabilities.
With the addition of the Pirelli TBR range, Kirkby Tyres will be now be offering a full-tier commercial product portfolio from value tyres, right through to premium.
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