Continental Tire North America Inc.’s (CTNA) ContiTread product is doing well in Mexico; so well, in fact, that CTNA plans to set up 15 self-contained ContiTread plants in that country within the next two years.
CTNA opened its first ContiTread plant – a franchise facility in Monterrey, Mexico – in late December, Paul Williams, executive vice president, Commercial Vehicle Tires, the Americas, CTNA, recently told www.moderntiredealer.com.
A second shop is under construction, while a third is under survey. “We’ve already bought enough equipment to fill 14 shops,” says Williams.
All ContiTread shops in Mexico will be roughly the same size. “We’ve taken a template and said, ‘OK, this is what will be the best lay-out for a single plant.’ It’s just a single buffing machine, a single building machine and a single curing chamber.”
Equipment will be supplied by various manufacturers. (In the U.S., ContiTread product is manufactured by Marangoni Tread North America retreaders.)
Each plant will have the capacity to produce 10,000 to 12,000 units per year running five, single-day shifts. “Geographically, Mexico is a big country. The (goal) is to make sure every major market has at least one ContiTread dealer.”
ContiTread has been well-received in the U.S., as well, he notes. “The product is performing exceptionally well.” CTNA recently tested ContiTread at its proving grounds in Uvalde, Texas. (ContiTread is currently sold through 22 dealers in the U.S.)
“We have a lot of very interested fleets… a lot of them have said, ‘We’re going to adopt it straight away’ and others are running the product to check for wear and fuel efficiency.”
From a technology standpoint, CTNA's objective in both the U.S. and Mexico is “to copy new tires straight into the retreads. We’re not going to come out with any retreads that look dissimilar to what we offer as OE tires. The retread has to be the same product – the same compounding and the same tread design.”
CTNA is considering new retread designs for the U.S. market. Plans for Canada also are under development.
