"Our objective with ContiTread is to go after fleets with a life cycle solution," says Clif Armstrong, director of marketing, Commercial Vehicle Tires, The Americas, Continental Tire North America Inc. (CTNA), in reference to Continental's decision to offer its own Continental branded retread product in the U.S.
CTNA's entry into the U.S. retread market was first reported last week on www.moderntiredealer.com (see "CTNA enters retread market with own product," Aug. 28).
"This is a big retread market and a very competitive market," Armstrong recently told www.moderntiredealer.com. "Our goal is to offer fleets the very best solutions for lowering their overall driving costs. This is a fleet solution."
The ContiTread product will be manufactured by Marangoni Tread North America licensees at their plants. Retreads are currently running on several test fleets.
When asked if CTNA has plans to develop retreads for its General truck tire products, Armstrong said "today we don't see a reason to bring out General. We don't see it as an opportunity today. Continental is the way to go for us."
ContiTread retreads will be offered in both the U.S. and Mexico, according to CTNA officials.
