Continental Commercial Specialty Tires is repositioning itself in the industrial solid tyre segment by clearly defining the role each of its three brands play. Going forwards, the Continental brand will serve as its range of premium solid tyres, General Tire will provide a home to the company’s medium intensity portfolio, and it will sell solid tyres for low intensity use under the Barum brand name.
Continental Tire the Americas is recalling more than 90,000 Continental, General Tire and Barum tyres in North America that have been over-cured and are thus at risk of developing breakages in the sidewall area. A separate recall of approximately 12,000 Cooper and Mastercraft tyres in North America is taking place due to a possible low tread gauge in the tyres’ shoulder slot area which could cause tread separation and sidewall failure.
We associate the slogan ‘every little helps’ with a well-known supermarket, but the idea of small savings adding up to a large one applies to more than just baked beans and washing detergent. From this month, Continental is making do without one of the two stickers it previously affixed to new tyres sold in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. By doing so, it expects to avoid around 110 tonnes of plastic waste per year from the stickers themselves as well as waste from the backing foil.
This year the Barum tyre brand celebrates its 70th anniversary, and the newly-minted septuagenarian is keeping young with the introduction of an all-season tyre range.
The Commercial Vehicle Show 2017 opens this morning, and Continental says it is showing its Conti Hybrid range there, as well as products from its Semperit and Barum brands.
The Barum range has expanded with the addition of three new trailer tyres to the 200 R-series. The BT 200 R is now available in sizes 385/65 R 22.5 and 385/55 R 22.5 as well as in the special 445/45 R 19.5 size developed for use in volume transport. The Continental-owned brand reports that the “robust tyres feature high mileage and economical fuel consumption and the flexibility for use in both regional and long-distance transport.”
A ceremony was held last week to officially inaugurate the newly-rebuilt truck tyre production hall at Continental’s manufacturing facility in Otrokovice, Czech Republic. The inauguration marks the completion of a three-year project that involved a CZK 4.4 billion (£146.4 million) investment and has led to the creation of 130 new jobs. The project has seen the Otrokovice site, which previously served the European, Middle East and African markets, additionally develop into a production hub for markets in America and the Asia Pacific region.
The Barum 200 R truck tyre range will be extended this year with the introduction of new steer, drive and trailer fitments. At the CV Show this week, Continental presented its size 315/70 R22.5 BF200 R steer axle tyre; this will be launched in the UK in June, together with the 315/70 R22.5 BD200 R drive tyre.
Having reduced a field of 51 to 19, Auto Bild announced that three of the winter tyres tested had made it all the way to the top of the German magazine’s rankings, picking up “exemplary” ratings. Continental’s WinterContact TS 850, Pirelli’s Winter Snowcontrol Serie 3, and the Barum Polaris 3 were the best performers, according to Auto Bild’s testers, who ranked the tyres based on their performance on snowy, wet and dry roads and their cost. The tests were performed on a VW Polo, with the tyres sized 185/60R15 T.
In its annual winter tyre performance survey, German motoring publication AutoBild narrows a wide field of 49 winter tyres and two all-season tyres with wet and snow braking measurements before conducting a full test of a range of characteristics. 19 tyres made it through to the 2015/16 season test, conducted using the tyre size 185/60 R15.
