FORT MILL, S.C. (Aug. 16, 2010) — Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C. (CTA) is renaming all of its General-brand truck tires to simplify product choices and reflect their intended wheel positions and applications.
The Fort Mill-based tire maker also is rebranding its off-road truck tires under the General Grabber name and will add 30 truck tire sizes over the next year throughout the Americas.
The name changes will be phased in over the next few years, a company spokeswoman said.
The company said it hopes this new focus and identity will resonate with commercial truck drivers across the Americas.
“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 CTA Truck Tire Brand Manager Libor Heger. “Our plan is to offer dealers more choice than ever before. Over the next year we will be extending our product portfolio with coverage in more sizes, as well as more coverage in the on/off road segment.”
Starting in the U.S., CTA has introduced a new full color data book with complete tire product information specifications and new literature for each tire.
Under the new program, General highway and regional truck tires will be given either the General H (for highway) or General R (for regional) nomenclature, while the off-road tire portfolio will be rebadged under the Grabber name.
In accordance with this change, CTA launched the Grabber OA (off-road, all-position) July 1 in sizes 11R22.5 and 11R24.5. The tire is the same product as the General MS520 steer- and all-position truck tire for construction and other off-road applications.
In addition, the company will phase in additional off-road lines including the General Grabber OD (drive tire) possibly next spring, and the General Grabber OT (trailer tire) some time after that, the spokeswoman said.
CTA is looking to promote the General brand throughout the Americas, Mr. Heger said, and will introduce new sizes that will be produced locally and in specifications reflecting their local markets.
Over the next year, the tire maker will launch 11 new General truck tire sizes for the U.S. made at the firm´s Mt. Vernon, Ill., tire plant, eight new sizes for Brazil made at the company's plant in Camacari, Brazil, and 10 new sizes for the Andean region from its recently radialized truck tire plant in Cuenca, Ecuador.