Goodyear caters for booming SUV market with new tyre

GOODYEAR has introduced its latest EfficientGrip Performance (EGP) SUV tyre developed specifically for the booming premium crossover market, and is expected to contribute around 50,000 units to the brands annual Australian sales.

Launched in Thailand earlier this week, the next-generation rubber features newly developed technologies that are designed to decrease tyre noise and vibrations, as well as increase wet weather performance.

According to Goodyear, the EGP tyre specifically meets the needs of the burgeoning luxury crossover segment in the Asia-Pacific region with SUV models from brands such as BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Land Rover, Volvo, Lexus and, for some countries, Cadillac, identified as candidates for the new rubber.

Goodyear Asia Pacific product director of consumer tyres Jenner Powell said the new EGP SUV tyre is key to the company’s success, which is the fourth-largest tyre-maker globally and Australia’s second-largest tyre brand.

“By looking at the Asia-Pacific, sales of SUVs have (had) an amazing combined growth of 26 per cent over the last five years and the projected sales of the future is that this trend is going to continue,” he said.

“It is therefore important for us that we are a player, and a good player, in this segment.”

Across the Asian Pacific region, SUV sales have grown by 26 per cent over the last five years, with 2012 sales hitting 4.1 million units (13 per cent market share) and 2017 sales projected to hit 13.2 million (31 per cent market share).

In Australia, SUV sales have hit 270,477 in the first seven months of 2017, a 5.6 per cent jump over the same period last year and representing 39.1 per cent of this year’s overall sales so far.

SUV sales overtook passenger cars sales – which have amassed 266,059 new registrations to the end of July – in March this year.

Mr Powell revealed that the target demographic for the EGP SUV tyre was young, affluent crossover owners with high disposable incomes who will be attracted to the benefits that the new Goodyear tyre brings over its competitors.

Mr Powell also said he expects the EGP SUV tyre to proliferate across car-maker’s SUV ranges as they bring new vehicles to market.

“The original equipment work is ongoing and you will be seeing this product on new vehicles as they hit the marketplace,” he said.

Building on the previous-generation EGP SUV tyre, the new rubber features QuietTred Technology that increases the number of pitches – the repeating pattern sequence found across a tyre – and optimises the repetition in a way to reduce the noise generated from each segment coming into contact, and lifting off, from the road.

Goodyear has also fitted the new tyre with a thicker shock absorbing cushion, increased insulation and a hexagonal-shaped bead instead of square for better tyre-to-rim contact, resulting in improved vibration absorption.

Overall, the new EGP SUV tyre reduces in-cabin tyre noise by as much as 10 per cent compared with its competitors and it also features five per cent less vibrations, according to independent test results.

Finally, the new tyre also wears a new, optimised tread pattern with wider shoulder blocks and wider centreline sipes for improvements in wet weather performance by as much as 15 per cent when compared with rivals, according to Goodyear.

Goodyear’s EGP SUV tyre is available in 16- to 20-inch rim sizes and will hit the Australian market on September 1, while the New Zealand launch is earmarked for a month later on October 1.