HANOVER, Germany—Continental A.G., which re-entered the solid tire sector four years ago, plans to broaden its offerings in this segment with a three-brand, good-better-best strategy.
The launch of the new strategy—which coincides with the company's 150th anniversary year—will include the addition of General- and Barum-branded solid tires for specific industrial applications and customer requirements, Conti said.
Broadly speaking, Continental will be the premium brand, General for "medium intensity" applications and Barum for "low intensity" uses.
Continental is rolling out three General-brand products in 2021, for forklifts, trailers and other types of industrial equipment in several sales regions, and will follow that in 2022 with the debut of the Barum-branded solid tire for applications with "high cost awareness" and short operating cycles.
At the top of pyramid, Continental-brand solid tires are designed for operating in demanding high-intensity applications where a high degree of mileage, endurance and durability is required, such as for forklifts and other industrial vehicle applications used in production and manufacturing, warehousing, logistics and airport ground support.
The company's Super-Elastic and Press-on-Band (POB) tires offer reduced heat generation and low rolling resistances thanks to the "Continental Plus" compound. Conti also offers products in non-marking rubber compounds for applications such as food processing or pharmaceutical industry.
The new General-branded products are the:
- Lifter, a super-elastic tire for indoor and outdoor logistics applications, focusing on a durable, robust performance;
- Smooth POB, which has been developed for indoor applications "where rolling comfort and traction are best provided by a smooth profile on hard, flat indoor surfaces"; and
- Trac, whose tread grooves are designed for applications where a high-grip edge is needed, such as on ramps and outdoor use where surfaces tend to be uneven and are subject to precipitation.
The Lifter and Smooth are available in clean versions as well.
Complementing the Continental- and General-brand tire ranges will be the Barum Industry solid tire, which is designed for operations that use their forklift trucks only occasionally or where utilization is low.
Conti produces most of its solid tires at the Kalutara, Sri Lanka, factory of its Eu-Retec Pvt. Ltd. subsidiary.
