Goodyear rolls out Assurance TripleMax 2

GOODYEAR and Dunlop Tyres Australia has this week launched its latest tyre, the Goodyear Assurance TripleMax 2, which caters towards about 26 per cent of the industry with its wet-weather credentials.

Speaking to GoAuto this week at the national launch of the Assurance TripleMax 2 tyre in Springvale, Victoria, Goodyear and Dunlop Tyres Australia vice-president of consumer and wholesale Lou Mandanici was upbeat about Goodyear’s 17 to 18 per cent share of consumer-tyre sales last year.

“We had a good year,” he said. “The market continues to enjoy growth. Clearly we’re in a developing market, (and) we don’t enjoy the growth (rate) of the China market.

“The good thing about our car parc is its, what we call, a very rich car parc. All you’ve got to do is look around at the vehicle car parc, it continues to evolve.

“It’s probably one of the most complex car parcs in the world if you think about all the makes and (models) that come in from Europe. What that does is it enriches our car parc, it just continues to grow (in) the 17-inch-plus (segment).

“Now we’re also enjoying the growth of the SUV category … (and) that’s fantastic for the industry. It’s good for our customers, good for our products. We’ve got more innovations coming out in the marketplace.”

While Mr Mandanici could not be drawn on a sales projection for the Assurance TripleMax 2, he did share his high hopes, given how well its predecessor sold in the small and mid-size passenger segments.

“It exceeds the (Assurance) TripleMax, which has been a fantastic performer for us,” he said. “We see it as a significant player in that segment, and we’re looking to take share out of some of those key players.

“In terms of estimates, it’s probably a bit early to say at the moment, but we want to be much more successful than the first one.”

When questioned if Goodyear has struck any deals with OEMs to fit their vehicles with Assurance TripleMax 2 tyres on the production line, Mr Mandanici explained that such agreements are tricky due to the long life cycles of most models.

“Clearly the market evolves here,” he said. “No longer can we rely on the Fords and Holdens. It’s competitive, but this is the technology that holds us in good regard with the OEMs.

“Our OE teams in China (and) Europe are working closely with all the manufacturers to bring new products to market for us.”

“(For the Assurance TripleMax 2), the focus is going to be on replacing some of those competitor fitments in the passenger segment.”

GoAuto understands that Goodyear’s North American and Asian OE teams were in Australia earlier this month to discuss a supply deal for one of the best-selling models in the market, but the type of tyre and vehicle remains under wraps.

Available in 14-17-inch sizes, the Assurance TripleMax 2 promises shorter braking distances in wet weather, with a Goodyear test finding that a Volkswagen Golf requires 5.65 metres less distance to come to a complete stop from 80km/h when compared to a leading competitor tyre.

This result is achieved by Goodyear’s new HydroTred technology, which features an improved compound with a higher amount of silica and an adhesive resin formulation, as well as an optimised footprint that creates a larger surface contact with wet roads.

Cornering stiffness and steering precision are also claimed to be better, thanks to the combination of an asymmetric tread pattern with a square and robust tyre cavity, which achieves enhanced footprint geometry due to evenly-distributed contact pressure.

Narrower lateral grooves, an increased number of pitches and a reduction of noise-inducing edges also help to improve tyre noise.

Two-layer high-modulus low-shrinkage reinforcements increase resistance to impacts to the sidewall, which is more robust due to its decreased number of grooves.