Fast boat from China

API may import 800,000 truck tires

By: Mike Manges

American Pacific Industries Inc. (API) will roll out several wide-base truck tires soon, reveals API CEO Jeff Kreitzman.

Nobody believes in the quality of Chinese-manufactured tires more fervently than Jeff Kreitzman, CEO of American Pacific Industries Inc. (API), but not all Chinese-made tires are equal, he says.

Product quality varies by company and factory, according to the outspoken executive. “Our tires are so significantly different,” he says.

Why? For starters, Kreitzman explains, API conducts its own research and development.

“This has been a huge part of our success. We design our own products.”
Medium truck tires will make up about 40% of API’s total $210 million in sales this year.

The company recently introduced the latest addition to its Gladiator medium truck tire line, the Gladiator QR35-TR, to the North American market. The QR35-TR is designed for trailer applications and is lighter than previous-generation Gladiator products. (Gladiator is API’s only medium truck tire brand at the moment.)

It contains a special tread compound for chip and chunk resistance, plus bead and shoulder elements to reduce heat build-up and other features.

Kreitzman recently brought CTD up-to- speed on API’s medium truck tire program, including upcoming products and plans for the firm’s dealer network in the United States.

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Related Topics: American Pacific Industries, API, commercial tire sales, Kreitzman, Truck tires

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