Rebranding for General Truck Tyre Range in North America

A relaunch of the General truck tyre range in North America is intended to give it “a stronger focus and an identity that will resonate with commercial truck drivers across the Americas.” Upon announcing the changes to the Continental Tire the Americas brand, truck tyre brand manager Libor Heger commented that the General commercial vehicle tyre portfolio would be expanded to meet the needs of customers throughout the entire continent.

“The General name is one that our customers know and trust, but today we are going to strengthen it even further with our new focus,” said Heger. “Our plan is to offer dealers more choice than ever before. Over the next year, we’ll be extending our product portfolio with coverage in more sizes, as well as more coverage in the on/off road segment.”

Starting with the US market, truck tyres will be renamed as new products are launched in order to “simply product choices and reflect their intended wheel positions and applications.” While General highway and regional tyres will be given either “General H_” or “General R_” nomenclature, the on/off road portfolio will take on the “Grabber” name currently given to 4×4 and light truck tyres.

“A leading line from our passenger and light truck tyre division, the Grabber name is the perfect reflection of how General truck tires offer great traction and durability for the on/off road segment,” Heger explained. “We’ll be starting this process with our new Grabber OA, the General truck tyre for ‘off road, all position’ driving.” The Grabber OA, launched on July 1 in 11R22.5 and 11R24.5, is a product moved from the General MS520 steer and all-position truck tyre range; the only change to the tyre is the name.

Occurring alongside the introduction of this new brand image is the utilising of local sourcing to “reflect the sizes, climates and truck specifications of their markets,” Leger added. In the coming 12 months, eleven new US market General Tire products will be introduced from the company’s  Mt. Vernon, Illinois, eight new for Brazil from the Camacari plant and ten new articles for the Andean region from the recently radialised truck tyre plant in Cuenca, Ecuador.

“The General brand has an incredible heritage and is one of the strongest for our dealers, in terms of trustworthy and economical tyre solutions,” Leger continued. “Today’s General truck tyres still incorporate the durability and value that customers love, but with even more to offer than before. Our research and development team is poised to take this challenge and continue developing advanced solutions for General customers throughout the Americas.”