Sentury testing tire subscription service in U.S. Southeast

LAGRANGE, Ga. — Sentury Tire North America L.L.C. is field-testing a subscription service for retailing tires, called AvanTech Tires L.L.C., in selected markets throughout the U.S. Southeast.

Sentury Tire, the LaGrange-based subsidiary of China's Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. Ltd., is limiting the service, which bundles new tires with installation, a vehicle alignment check, road-hazard coverage and free inspections for a monthly fee, to its AvanTech brand, which was developed specifically for this service.

Sentury said the monthly fees are based on the tire size and the subscriber's annual mileage estimate. The fees start at $17.95 a month. Once approved, the subscriber schedules an appointment with the nearest convenient service point for the installation.

The initial cost is the first and last month's subscription fee plus tax, Sentury said, with a minimum contract length of four months and an annual mileage limit of 30,000 miles.

The subscription calls for the motorist to schedule service checkups twice a year; "not-so-fresh" tires will be replaced at no extra cost, roadside assistance included, according to the terms of the service.

Sentury has begun building a dealer base in Georgia and Florida, as well as around Auburn, Ala., and Columbia, S.C.

For the launch of the service, Sentury has developed the AvanTech GT and AvanTech HP lines in 25 sizes, ranging in size from 185/65R15 to 235/45R18.

LaGrange-based Sentury Tire was established in 2016 to oversee the parent company's plans for build a U.S. plant.

The company has secured a 400-acre site in the Callaway South Industrial Park, located south of LaGrange, for the 1.7-million-sq.-ft. plant, which is expected to cost $530 million and be capable of producing up to 12 million car and light truck tires a year at full capacity.

Sentury initially said it expected the plant to be operational by 2018, but more recently stated on its Website that groundbreaking is now scheduled for fall 2018 with a plant opening to follow in 2019. 

AvanTech is Sentury Tire's second brand. It earlier launched the GroundSpeed brand, which is expected to be the new factory's initial output.