SEOUL, South Korea (June 12, 2015) — Nexen Tire Corp. has gained OE fitments with France's Renault S.A. and Germany's Smart, a division of Daimler A.G., with its N'blue Premium reduced rolling-resistance tire.
The OE deals are for the Renault Twingo and the Smart Forfour, both small city cars that were co-developed by Renault and Daimler A.G. and designed for the European market.
The Twingo offers a spacious interior by locating its engine at the back of the car, while Smart's Forfour, originally launched in 2004, was upgraded recently with a more powerful engine, Nexen said. Both cars are assembled in the Renault plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, Nexen said.
The N'blue Premium is an eco-friendly tire with improved fuel efficiency. It was received Special Mention at the German Design Award 2015 for its sophisticated European styling. The tire will be fitted on the two car models.
Nexen said these OE deals are further recognition of Nexen's “outstanding products and performance-driven technology.”
Nexen said these and other OE fitments have a positive effect on the brand's replacement market awareness, and thus it plans to continue expanding its OE drive.
Since 2012, Nexen has been supplying its tires to various global car manufacturers, including Mitsubishi, Fiat, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Skoda, and SEAT. The company is building a car and light truck tire plant in Žatec, Czech Republic, should be on stream by 2018.