Tyre firm relaunch gaining speed

THE Port Elizabeth-based company General Tire has entered the second phase of its relaunch campaign in South Africa with the introduction of the Altimax passenger car tyre range to complement its existing lineup in the light commercial vehicle and 4x4 segments.

The first phase began in July last year with a focus on the 4x4 category, which features the award-winning General Grabber AT all-terrain tyre, the heavy duty Grabber MT competing in the hard-core mud-terrain category, and the all-new Grabber GT, designed for high-performance sports utility vehicles. “General Tire has a great reputation in South Africa, having started producing tyres locally in 1949, and consistently offering contemporary, extremely competitive and well-priced products over the past 66 years,” marketing manager for Continental Tyre SA Niel Langner said.

More recently, the General Tire 4x4 range has become the cornerstone of the brand’s local market offering, and has been well received.

The Grabber AT, in particular, has raised the stakes by winning two consecutive local tyre tests and is regarded as the benchmark in the all-terrain 4x4 tyre segment.

“With the launch of the Altimax Comfort and Altimax Sport, we’re reintroducing the General Tire brand to the highvolume passenger car category. Both products offer segment-defining new technologies matched to outstanding performance, braking and low rolling resistance,” he said.

“The expansion of our local range is perfectly timed around General Tire’s global 100-year anniversary celebrations. We’re proud of the fact that SA has been a central part of that history for almost seven decades.”

The launch campaign also signals the official renaming of the brand to General Tire, aligning the manufacturing operations, product range, technologies and remarkable heritage to the US tyre company and its landmark centenary after it was founded in Akron, Ohio, in 1915 by William F O’Neill and Winfred E Fouse.

General Tire has been owned by Germany’s Continental AG since 1987. In SA the brand is manufactured, marketed and sold by Continental Tyre SA.