Having hinted at its impending introduction in February, Goodyear has launched the Vector 4Seasons Gen-3. The most recent instalment in its award-winning range of all-season tyres, Goodyear’s latest generation tyre is designed to provide “improved snow, wet and dry performance”.
Following the news that there will be a new EU tyre label in 2021, the Council of the European Union has announced that it will officially adopt its position relating to the new label on 25 February 2020. In short the new tyre label has been confirmed and will in time be extended to include retreads. At the same time, the rescaling of fuel efficiency and wet grip measures has been halted.
Seven years after the initial introduction of the European Tyre Label, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have decided on the next phase of the European Tyre Label, which is set to be introduced on 1 May 2021. Article 14 of the agreement requires a review of the regulation by June 2025.
Proposed changes to the EU Tyre Labelling Regulation came a step closer to becoming reality on Wednesday when the European Parliament, Council and Commission reached a political agreement on the matter. The text of the Regulation now awaits formal approval by the European Parliament and the Council. Once both endorse the updated Regulation in the coming months, it will be published in the Official Journal of the Union and will enter into force 20 days after publication. The new Regulation will apply from 1 May 2021.
The debate over how much tread depth is sufficient and recommendable has been going on for years. While some tyre makers and motoring groups support changing the legal minimum tread depth to 3mm as a move towards greater peace of mind, Michelin has been a vocal advocate of not only keeping 1.6mm the legal minimum but of actually using tyres right down to this tread depth. It is also one of a growing number of parties calling for legislation that informs consumers how tyres perform when worn. Earlier this month, Michelin shared the latest developments in the quest for ‘Long Lasting Performance’.
Michelin has been a vocal advocate of whole life tyre performance for several years now. Its belief that tyres should perform safely until reaching the legal tread depth limit of 1.6mm is gaining traction, and Michelin is confident that, within the next few years, tyre labelling will provide greater insight into how wear affects performance, particularly in wet conditions. The tyre maker is currently reiterating its commitment to ‘Long Lasting Performance’ and sharing the latest efforts to better inform tyre buyers. Further details will be reported here on Tyrepress.com and in next month’s Tyres & Accessories magazine.
Test World officially opened additional new indoor test facilities at its Ivalo, Finland operation on 27 March 2019, signalling the culminating of that latest part of a multi-million-euro series of investments in Test World. The recently constructed indoor facilities increase Test World’s capacity for year-round cold weather testing, allowing for simultaneous testing on snow, ice, and wet and dry asphalt, 365 days a year.
The European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) is ready to enter the final phase of the review on the 2009 EU Tyre Labelling Regulation, following the outcome of the European Parliament plenary vote to replace the existing regulation. The association said that “an improved Regulation” could be adopted in early 2020, should the new European Parliament move the file into trilogues in the second half of 2019. ETRMA added that it is pleased with the commitment and efforts by the European Institutions to pursue a new Tyre Labelling Regulation, as it “increases consumer awareness of the label and strengthens market surveillance and enforcement in EU Member States.”
On 4 March 2019 the European Union adopted its negotiating position on the introduction of the next phase of its European Tyre Labelling legislation. In short, the EU is updating its rules in order to add information on snow and ice grip and raise the prominence of labels for consumers. At the same time there are plans to broaden the scope of tyre labelling to include wear/mileage performance once suitable testing methods have been found.
The Tyre Industry Federation (TIF) has announced that it understands the Department for Transport (DfT) intends to retain alignment with future evolutions of the EU tyre labelling regulations in the UK, at least as far as the label itself is concerned. The rationale is to ensure a smoothly working market for tyres, the TIF adds.
The Market Surveillance Action on Tyres 2015 (MSTyr15) project may claim success in its aim of ensuring the enforcement of tyre labelling regulations, yet enforcement is only effective if end consumers actually consider label results when buying tyres. A report funded by the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) suggests they aren’t, and the association wants this considered during the European Commission’s current review of tyre label regulation (1222/2009).
The UK didn’t participate in the MSTyre15 project, yet we’ve gained a better understanding of tyre labelling non-compliance here thanks to freedom of information (FOI) requests made by Unite, the trade union representing many employed within the automotive sector in Britain and Ireland. In separate FOI responses, it was confirmed to Unite that no legislation exists to enforce Regulation (EC) No. 1222/2009 and that mislabelled tyres have been sold in the UK.
The coordinator of the Market Surveillance Action on Tyres 2015 (MSTyr15) project claims success in its goal of ensuring that Regulation (EC) No. 1222/2009 on the labelling of tyres is effectively enforced. In a statement, PROSAFE (Product Safety Forum of Europe) has shared details of the 28-month project.
In the USA Audi has recalled 3,500 of its RS 7 models due to incorrect information on the tyre label. The vehicles covering model years 2014-2018 have tyre information labels that are printed with incorrect maximum weight ratings, the company told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
In 2012 the EU introduced plans to support consumers with better information about a tyre’s noise, wet-braking and rolling resistance performance. Since then, Japanese, South Korean and US variants have been either mooted or implemented. However, the world’s largest tyre market (China), is also close to releasing its own labelling system – or should that be systems? Tyres & Accessories saw two labelling variants during the recent Tire+ exhibition in Shanghai and discussed the subject with a number of firms exhibiting there.
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