Relaunch of Atlas brand heads 2016-17 brand developments

AKRON — Tire brands come and go regularly in North America, but the relaunch of the Atlas tire brand this year would have to rank as the top brand-related story of the past year.

Tire Group International L.L.C. (TGI), which has built its business selling tires throughout Latin America, recently secured the exclusive U.S. distribution rights to the Atlas brand of passenger, light truck and commercial tires and started an extensive nostalgia-themed marketing campaign, featuring posters and video clips of Atlas advertising from the 1960s and 1970s.

The brand, originally developed in the 1930s by Standard Oil Co. for tires and batteries sold through its branded filling stations, had been dormant for more than a decade before Linglong Americas Inc., U.S. subsidiary of China's Shandong Linglong Tire Co. Ltd., acquired ownership in 2015 of the trademark rights.

The brand had a brief revival in the late 1990s, when a Milwaukee-based distributor, TeamTBA, bought the rights to the brand and attempted to breathe new life into it.

Miami-based TGI said it has been distributing the Atlas brand on a limited basis for a few years but late last year secured the exclusive distribution rights to the U.S. market. This is TGI's first attempt to market a product nationwide throughout the U.S.

TGI declined to discuss in detail its expectations for the brand, but a spokesperson said the company would like to expand distribution into Canada and other markets. But for now, it is focusing on the U.S. market, where it has about 40 dealers selling the Atlas brand.

Shandong Linglong is producing the brand in its factory in Rayong, Thailand.

TGI's other brands — Astro, Cosmo, Duramas, Industar, Luna or Orion — are distributed predominantly throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

While the Atlas launch is taking its share of the limelight, there have been several other brand developments worth noting. Among them are:

• Alliance Tire Group's development of the Constellation medium truck tire brand as a complement to the firm's existing Alliance, Galaxy and Primex industrial and OTR tire lines.

The brand is produced by a third-party manufacturer in Thailand and was launched at a time when it appeared the U.S. would impose elevated import duties on Chinese-sourced truck tires, a development that would have threatened the viability of the Aeolus brand that Alliance Tire Americas distributes exclusively in the U.S.

Since the U.S. Commerce Department opted not to go ahead with the elevated duties, Alliance has renewed its commitment to the Aeolus truck tire brand.

The Constellation brand comprises tires for drive, steer and trailer positions in 13 tread patterns and 50 SKUs, targeted at long-haul, regional and mixed service applications.

• Greenball Corp. officially relaunched the Centennial brand atlast year's Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, three years after securing the rights to the name, which had been dormant since 2007. Greenball is using the Centennial brand for a line of all-terrain tires for light trucks, 4X4s and SUVs.

The new line comprises five distinct tread patterns: Dirt Commander M/T and Terra Commander M/T, Terra Trooper A/T and Terra Commander in LT and P-Metric sizing. More tread patterns are expected to hit shelves throughout 2017.

Anaheim, Calif.-based Greenball applied for the Centennial trademark — originally an associate brand of Dunlop Tire Corp. and in use by Goodyear until 2007 — in April 2011 and received approval to use it in 2013, according to information on the website trademarkia.com.

At the SEMA Show, Greenball said the line had been under development for more than a year. The company declined to identify the manufacturer or country of origin.

• TP Commercial Solutions, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Prometeon Tyre Group — the entity being formed out of Pirelli Tyre S.p.A.'s commercial tire business and the commercial activities of China's ChemChina group — is adding a second-tier associate brand, Formula, to its truck tire portfolio.

The Formula brand will complement the Pirelli brand as a value-priced Tier II offering, Pirelli said at the Mid America Trucking Show (MATS) in March.

• Sentury Tire North America L.L.C. (STNA), a new subsidiary of China's Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. Ltd., launched Groundspeed, a brand designed specifically for the North American market that it will market separately from the parent company's Sentury and Delinte brands.

The new brand debuts in six Voyager line models — four for passenger cars and SUVs and two for light trucks — according to Michael Perkins, senior vice president, sales and marketing, for LaGrange, Ga.-based STNA.

The new company was established last year to oversee the construction and operation of a $530 million car/light truck tire plant and research and development center in LaGrange. It is a separate entity to Miami-based Sentury Tire Americas, the importer and distributor of the Landsail and Delinte brands.

• Importer/distributor Taray International Corp. has become the Americas distributor for Özka-brand agricultural tires, produced by Turkey's Özka Lastik ve Kauçuk. The deal also covers Özka's tread rubber and includes efforts to cultivate private-brand customers throughout the Americas.

• Also at the SEMA Show, YC Rubber Co. (North America) L.L.C. unveiled an expanded Duraturn Travia light truck line with mud-terrain and all-terrain fitments complementing the original highway-terrain line.

The Travia M/T — designed for off-road traction through large tread blocks and shoulder lugs — is available in nine light truck sizes, including four with outlined white lettering. The Travia A/T is backed by a 50,000-mile limited treadwear warranty.

• U.S. Tirex Inc., a new Chicago-based importer/distributor, initiated distribution of the Casumina truck tire brand, imported from Southern Rubber Industry J.S.C. of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The company is offering a full line of radial truck tires for construction vehicles, light/medium trucks, semi-trailer trucks, coaches and buses, according to the firm's website.

The tires are being sourced from Casumina's dedicated truck radial factory, opened in 2014 in Binh Duong Province. U.S. Tirex, under the direction of Greg Heintz, debuted the line at this year's MATS in Louisville, Ky..

• Another Vietnamese truck tire brand, DRC, is being imported by Long Beach, Calif-based wholesaler Sonny Bosco Inc., but the U.S. government's decision not to impose elevated duties on Chinese truck tires is causing the company to re-evaluate the brand's prospects. DRC is produced by Danang Rubber J.S.C. of Danang City, Vietnam.

• Finally, SD International, a Shanghai-based private brand distributor, is looking to re-establish a U.S. sales office for its package of Chinese-produced brands, which include Zeta, Pace, Toledo, Basoon, Kapsen, Duration, and Agrostar.

The firm's U.S. office in New Jersey closed last year amid the uncertainty about elevated U.S. import duties.

In addition, several manufacturers and/or importers disclosed plans for improved distribution. Among them are:

• Carlstar Group L.L.C. moved its West Coast distribution activities to a larger warehouse in Fontana, Calf., enabling the industrial tire and custom wheel producer to enhance its logistics and handling efficiency.

The 320,000-sq.-ft. facility offers more than 70 percent additional storage capacity than the previous West Coast operations offered, Carlstar said, and will help streamline the firm's customer operations and ensure on-time delivery and order accuracy.

The facility will handle Carlstar's lines of Carlisle-brand trailer, powersports, agricultural and outdoor tires, ITP-brand tires and wheels for recreational vehicles and Cragar-, Blackrock- and Unique-brand styled wheels.

• Alliance Tire Group (ATG) opened a warehouse in Savannah, Ga., to shore up distribution of its products throughout the Southeast and to replace a smaller facility in Memphis, Tenn., due to close this year.

The 220,000-sq.-ft. leased facility is situated near the port of Savannah and thus is close to many of ATG's OE and replacement tire customers, according to John Mancinelli, vice president of operations for Alliance Tire Americas.

ATG maintains five other warehouses around the U.S. — Bollingbrook, Ill.; Houston; Parkesburg, Pa.; Pomona, Calif.; and Memphis.

• Tire importer/wholesaler Sutong China Tire Resources Inc. (SCTR) has purchased a 360,000-sq.-ft. structure in Anderson, Ind., that it plans to use for a distribution center.

The facility will absorb distribution from a smaller, existing warehouse in Anderson and another in Houston, SCTR said, as it ramps up toward mid-year. The facility will provide Houston-based SCTR with needed space for future growth and provide greater distribution efficiencies.

SCTR will maintain one warehouse in Houston and another in Brampton, Ontario, for the Canadian market.

According to its website, Sutong handles six brands exclusively — Hemisphere, Hi-Run, LongMarch, Pinnacle, Roadone, SuperCargo and Synergy — together with the Lande and ECED associate brands.

Sutong was established in 1993 and specializes in sourcing tires from China. It claims to import more than 5 million tires per year and carries a portfolio of tires ranging from lawn and garden to medium truck.

• American Tire Distributors Inc. (ATD) is planning to open a 756,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Roanoke, Texas, expanding its already dense coverage in Texas.

David Dickey, chief supply chain officer with ATD, said the location in the Alliance Gateway 60 industrial zone near Roanoke "is ideal for ATD to grow our business and hire great people to help us deliver on our commitments to our customers and the communities we serve."

Alliance Gateway — located north of Fort Worth near the Fort Worth-Alliance airport — is part of U.S. Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) 196, a designation that enables importers such as ATD to avoid paying import duties on goods until they are shipped out of the warehouse.

ATD has 13 other distribution centers in Texas, including one in Fort Worth that opened just a year ago, and one in Dallas.

• Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels — which debuted a rejuvenated image campaign at last year's SEMA Show — is planning to move to a new headquarters and warehouse this year in Stow, Ohio. That will nearly double the size of its existing facility in the Akron suburb.

The company, a subsidiary of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., is building a 220,000-sq.-ft. warehouse and office building on a 15-acre parcel in Stow's Prosper Drive Industrial Park.

Mickey Thompson, a designer, developer and distributor of specialty tires for the street, drag strip, truck and off-road markets, occupies a 122,000-sq.-ft. building on the same street in the Stow industrial park, where it has operated since 1995.