A new strategic partnership between Toyo Tire Corporation and automotive component manufacturer JAOS Corporation aims to increase the value of both brands within the SUV and 4×4 sector around the world. The two Japanese companies will collaborate in marketing activities and leverage their aggregate knowledge gained through joint participation in motorsports events and original product testing.
Davanti marked its fifth anniversary with its first international dealer conference at the end of February. The tyre brand hosted more than 150 attendees by Everton Football Club’s Goodison Park, where it’s development director Gary Cross took the opportunity to announce its upcoming products, including range extensions and what might be called the second generation of Davanti tyres given the new naming conventions first introduced in the Wintoura winter tyre and Terratoura all-terrain 4×4 tyre ranges. Davanti sales director for UK and Ireland Sean Maddocks also presented observations on tyre markets, the development of the brand’s global dealer network over the past five years, and its commercial partnerships including the renewal of its official brand partnership with Everton FC.
Turkish tyre maker Petlas shares that its Explero PT411 A/S has gained 3PMSF certification, and is thus approved for year-round use in markets where specific winter tyre rules apply. All tyres in the all-season SUV range will henceforth carry the ‘snowflake’ symbol on their sidewalls.
Micheldever Tyre and Auto Services in Winchester has been named Pirelli 4×4 Key Dealer of the Year for a third time in the award’s five-year history. Pirelli UK commercial director, Jason Sugden congratulated the branch, saying the brand’s audit “is designed to really test the knowledge of the depot and to receive a winning score is testament to all the team and their hard work.”
Devon General Tire Performance Partner, TyreMarks of Tavistock, is supplying volunteer-led Dartmoor Search & Rescue Team with 4×4 and SUV tyres. General Tire and TyreMarks have provided a set of Grabber AT3 all-terrain tyres to the search and rescue team to ensure they can carry out their work safely, responding to emergencies on the wild and remote uplands of Dartmoor. It has also saved the team hundreds of pounds in charitable donations that are used to fund the service.
The UK is one of Pirelli’s biggest SUV markets and with two UK factories, one in Burton-upon-Trent and one in Carlisle, Pirelli is the only premium tyre manufacturer to produce SUV tyres on UK soil.
In order to cater for the growing popularity of SUVs and the myriad of new models being released by vehicle manufacturers, Yokohama’s 4×4 tyre range has been developed to cater for the full spectrum of SUVs, crossovers and off-road vehicles.
Last month we heard that, according to the latest market data collated by analysts at GfK, both the value and the volume of the overall sell-out UK car tyre replacement market decreased in 2019. However, the value-rich SUV tyre sub-segment and its all-season tyre sub niche continue to show encouraging signs of growth. So, with this in mind, the March magazine’s SUV tyre feature takes a closer look at the latest trends in this particular market space.
In January GfK’s “panelmarket” identified SUV tyres and all-season tyres as top two growing sub-segments in 2019. Indeed, since all-season tyre sales have shot up 19 per cent in terms of value and 13 per cent up in volume, the UK market is now selling four times as many all-season tyres as winter tyres sold at their peak. Within this, high performance tyres and bigger size tyres, specifically 17-inch and over, are growing fastest (see separate article for further details).
