WAKEFIELD, Mass.—Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. is consolidating its various off-highway tire assets under a new identity, Yokohama Off-Highway Tires, which will supplant Alliance Tire Group as the face of that business unit.
Yokohama OHT will continue to make and market a range of OTR tires under the Alliance, Galaxy and Primex brands, YRC said, but the ATG trademark will no longer be used.
The company has launched a website, yokohama-oht.com, that takes the place of atg.com, and Yokohama OTR and ATG apps are being rebranded, with the updated versions available on the Google and Apple app stores. The new identity will be reflected on all digital and print communications platforms through 2021.
Yokohama OHT Director Nitin Mantri said the new identity will "result in closer integration of the brand equity and technological expertise of Yokohama with the strengths of companies grouped under ATG; namely strong sales network, diverse product line up and superior cost competitiveness."
Yokohama acquired Alliance Tire and its associated brands in 2016, spending $1.18 billion for the farm and OTR tire maker with factories in India and Israel. It has operated the business as a separate business unit since.
In fiscal 2019, the ATG off-highway tire segment reported sales of $660 million. For the six months ended June 30, sales revenue declined 19.3 percent in the ATG segment to $278.5 million, reflecting the adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on demand worldwide.
"Our customers will continue to enjoy the strong relationships they have built over years of selling Yokohama OTR, Alliance, Galaxy and Primex tires, and will benefit from the expanded opportunities in product line, logistics, manufacturing capabilities and market expertise that YOHTA brings," said Dhaval Nanavati, president of Yokohama Off-Highway Tires Americas Inc.
Combining the brands under Yokohama OHTA, Nanavati said, brings together a portfolio of products comprising nearly 4,000 tires and sizes, ranging from Yokohama's giant radial OTR tires to the Galaxy lineup of skidsteer and forklift tires, and everything in between.
Yokohama OHT will have a global footprint, with offices in Tokyo, Amsterdam, Mumbai, India, and Wakefield, Mass.
ATG operates three tire plants—in Hadera, Israel, and in Tirunelveli and Dahej, India—and YRC recently disclosed plans to build a third OTR tire plant in India, budgeting $165 million for a factory in India's Andhra Pradesh Province.
In 2017, YRC acquired Aichi Tire Industry Co. Ltd., a Komaki, Japan-based producer of solid industrial tires that generates about $65 million in annual sales and operates two plants in Japan.