MTD exclusive! ContiTread 'well-accepted' in marketplace, says CTNA
Continental Tire North America Inc. (CTNA) executives say they’re pleased with the level of acceptance earned by the company’s recently introduced ContiTread retread product. “It's completed, it’s approved and it’s out in the field,” Paul Williams, executive vice president, Commercial Vehicle Tires, the Americas, CTNA, recently told www.moderntiredealer.com.
Four months ago, CTD Online broke the story that CTNA had entered into a manufacturing alliance with Marangoni Tread North America Inc. (MTNA) to produce ContiTread. (See CTNA enters retread market with own product, posted April 28, 2009.)
The product – which is currently offered in designs based on the HDL Eco Plus and the HTL Eco Plus, two Continental brand medium truck tires – is manufactured by MTNA retreaders.
“It’s a strategic approach we needed because we were uncompetitive sometimes when larger fleets would ask us for a complete lifecycle concept,” says Williams. “We were unable to provide one” prior to the development of ContiTread. “Now we are able to solicit some of the larger fleets, some government business and things like that, which demand a new-tire-to-retread package.”
A number of fleets have tested ContiTread in the field, notes Williams, who adds that “there is no more testing going on” currently.
The product “has been well-accepted in the market. Our dealers have been very enthusiastic."
While CTNA continues to roll out ContiTread in the United States, the company also is promoting the product in Mexico. “We will be the sole distributor for ContiTread in Mexico. It will be the same situation as before – we, together with Marangoni, will develop the product based on our own tread patterns.”
When asked if CTNA has plans to roll out ContiTread on a widespread basis in Canada, Williams tells www.moderntiredealer.com “it’s not our focus at the moment. It isn’t a push for us. That’s not to say it won’t be in the future.”
