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Bigger tires in a growth market And the focus is on CUVs (at the expense of SUVs) By Bob Bissler
FX4, Toyota TRD, and their Jamieson, director of product of-road specialization like management, Cooper Tire t’s a race for market dominance. the Jeep Wrangler.” & Rubber Co. “Te CUV Consumer demand is causing As OEMs continue to vehicle gives the consumer dynamic shifs in the light truck, shif designs away from the look and functionality sport-utility vehicle (SUV) and cross- traditional body-onof an SUV, with typically over-utility vehicle (CUV) market. As frame construction to beter gas mileage and a this market evolves, tire makers are passenger car chassissmoother ride.” challenged to keep up with OEM and based designs, many Jamieson says Cooper consumer demands. tire makers see demand expects to see the CUV Tis segment started increasing for CUVs over market continue to grow. as an evolution SUVs. He sees that same growth “New vehicle sales have with tires. of the pickup “Year over year, CUV tr uck chas- shifed dramatically from sales have increased, sis designed SUVs to CUVs over with bodies the past few years Bridgestone says the Firestone largely steered by adept at car- while truck volumes Destination LE2 offers wet and consumer needs and rying people have stabilized as a dry performance, ride comfort, all- expectations,” says season performance and improved and cargo. percent of the total,” fuel effciency. It comes with a Robert Chew, brand It evolved says Rod Hutchinson, 60,000-mile limited treadwear war- manager, marketing, into differ- product manager for ranty and is available in 37 sizes Falken Tire Corp. ent vehicle Bridgestone Ameri- ranging from 15 to 20 inches. “CUV performance sub-segments cas Tire Operations. “Tis is causing continues to increase at the OE level, that are more an increase in the demand for CUV- and we recognized the need for a serious specialized to focused tires.” performance CUV tire to meet these certain consumer Hutchinson says Bridgestone expects demands.” CUVs to continue to drive growth of Chew says that market demand has Toyo says its Open Country A/T II highway commuting and sport tires. driven the development truck/SUV all-terrain tire features While CUVs gain popularity, cus- of Falken’s A zestrong all-season performance, an aggressive tread design and a quiet tomers are demanding bigger tires in nis FK453CC, ride. It comes with a 65,000-mile this segment. Hutchinson which he says is warranty for P-Metric and Metric sizes says light trucks, SUVs well-suited for that range from 15- to 20-inch rim and CUVs represent vehicles such as diameters. about half of the the BMW X5. needs, and in a variety of sizes. new vehicles be“The most “Tere are SUVs and crossing sold in the growth is in overs that are salient for their market. But it’s CUV tires,” performance, like the Range no three-way says Suzanne Rover Sport and the Porsche s p l i t . CU Vs Mitchell, manCayenne,” says Al Mendoza, and their tires ager of brand segment marketing manager, are changing the development, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. balance. Hercules Tire & “Tey are also salient for their “Te SUV mar- Rubber Co. “Crossfuel efciency like the Mazda ket will continue The Cooper Discoverer A/T3 features CX-5, their people-moving/towto decline, as many a silica-based tread compound that ing capabilities as with the consumers provides strong wet traction and Chevrolet Tahoe and Ford Kenda says the Klever A/T offers the h av e b ee n handling and cut and chip resistance. Expedition, their all-terrain weekend off-roader a long-lasting crossing over It is available in fve black sidewall sizes ranging from LT215/85R16 to and rugged looks for the working capability thanks to op- tire to the CUV LT275/65R20, and 27 white letter professional. It has a 660 UTQG rating tional of-road packages and comes in 15 sizes ranging from s e g m e n t ,” sizes ranging from LT235/75R15 to like Chevy’s Z71, Ford P235/65R17 104S to 278.50R14LT 95Q. s ay s Sco tt LT285/65R18.
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MTD October 2012
