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Kenda continues to grow its light truck tire sales

REFRESHED LINEUP CONTRIBUTES TO ONGOING SUCCESS

By Maddie Gehring

“We’ve turned over all of our light truck (tire) patterns and we’ve added new products every year over the past four years,” says Brandon Stotsenburg, vice president of American Kenda Rubber Co. Ltd.’s automotive unit.

Photo: MTD

American Kenda Rubber Co. Ltd. might be — by its own admission — an “underdog” brand in the light truck segment. But the company says its light truck tire sales are growing.

“We are a 1.5% to 2% market share brand” despite having “only been in the light truck tire segment for a little over 20 years,” Brandon Stotsenburg, vice president of Kenda’s automotive division, told attendees of the company’s recent light truck tire “boot camp” event in Arizona.

According to Stotsenburg, Kenda has been picking up extra steam in the light truck tire segment since 2016 and has continued to make progress.

“We’ve turned over all of our light truck (tire) patterns and we’ve added new products every year over the past four years. We’ve had double-digit increases in our product sales.”

Year-to-date, Kenda’s light truck tire sales are up “about 15%,” he added.

THE “UNDERDOG” BRAND

“Underdog” was a common phrase uttered by Kenda officials over the duration of the boot camp event.

Stotsenburg told attendees that pandemic-related production delays held up the launch of the Kenda Klever M/T 2 KR629, which originally was scheduled to be released this past summer after debuting at the 2021 Specialty Equipment Market Association Show.

The Klever M/T 2 KR629 contains Kenda’s proprietary T3 Triple Threat Sidewall, which company officials describe as “an optimized tread compound,” as well as interlocking tread blocks, a symmetric tread design, raised letters and other features.

“The product is going to be completed and rolling out with 33 sizes by the end of 2022,” said Stotsenburg.

“We anticipate that the tire is going to exceed what we sold in the older product — the original Klever M/T — that is now going to be discontinued.”