BOSTON—Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. has added two tires to its Open Country family of products as the tire company looks to boost its light truck offerings to keep up with market growth.
The light truck category—including sport-utility vehicles, crossover utility vehicles and pickup trucks—accounted for 57 percent of U.S. new light vehicle sales in 2015, a far cry from the 20 percent share of new vehicle sales the segments accounted for in the 1980s, according to Chris Gomez, a Toyo product marketing manager.
“Even in the depth of the recession, still about 50 percent of vehicles fell under light truck,” he said during a launch event Toyo held in Boston. “In the worst of times, it still made up a very healthy portion of the industry.”
And Toyo's sales in the U.S. follow that trend, with more than 50 percent of its sales in what the firm considers light truck series, said Roy Bromfield, Toyo Tire U.S.A. president and chief operating officer. “We have a tremendous passion for light truck tires,” he said. “The light truck market is booming, and we're trying to address essentially every need in the light truck market.”
At the Boston event, Toyo unveiled the Open Country Q/T all-season touring tire, along with the Open Country C/T, an on/off road commercial grade tire.