BOULDER CITY, Nev. — American Kenda Rubber Ind. Co. Ltd. is renewing and expanding its product range with the launch of the Vezda Touring A/S KR205 grand touring passenger and Klever R/T KR601 "rough terrain" light truck/SUV tires.
Kenda is launching both product lines as "premium quality at a value price," according to Brandon Stotsenburg, vice president of automotive.
The company, the Reynoldsburg, Ohio-based subsidiary of Taiwan's Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd., demonstrated the new tires to a select group of dealers and distributors at the Vegas Off Road Experience facility near Boulder City about 25 miles southwest of Las Vegas.
Both new tires were designed primarily by the engineering team at Kenda's North American Technology Center in Green, Ohio, and will be manufactured at the parent company's newest factory, in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam, which is scheduled to begin commercial-scale production in early 2018.
The KR205, considered the successor of the KR30, is designed as a first and subsequent replacement tire for owners of coupes, sedans and luxury touring cars, Kenda said, which benchmarked the tire against the Pirelli P7 and Kumho Solus TA71.
The KR205 features an asymmetric tread design with proprietary pitch sequencing for reduced noise and four circumferential grooves engineered to reduce the risk of hydroplaning.