Sailun Tire Corp. showcased two tyres from its Atrezzo and Terramax lines at a ride-and-drive event for dealers last week. The latest Sailun Tire Challenge was held at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.
Organized by National Tire Warehouse (NTW), part of TBC Corp., the event allowed Sailun to showcase two new tyres it is bringing to the U.S. and Canadian markets.
The first tyre is the Atrezzo Z4+AS, an all-season ultra-high performance tyre. It is a W-speed rated tyre with sizes from 16-inch to 20-inch. All of the tyres carry a UTQG rating of 380 AA A.
The second tyre is the Terramax CVR, an all season luxury crossover and SUV tyre. It comes in sizes from 15-inch to 20-inch with H, V and Y-speed ratings. The tyre is designed for popular CUV and SUV fitments. UTQG ratings range from 420 A A to 440 A A.
According to Brian Mielko, vice president of sales for Sailun, his company competes in the value tier for tyres but “we perform at a level at least as a tier two tyre, but at a lower price point.”
Mielko believes the value tier and tier two tyres represent slightly over 50% of the total market for tyres, which allows him to target consumers “who are open to listening to my message.” Over 70% of Sailun sales are placed on compact, economy, standard and intermediate vehicles.
During the driving event, tyre dealers drove Ford Escapes and Audi 4s fitted with Sailun tyres and a “major brand tyre” for back-to-back comparisons. The dealers were asked not to look at the tyres and then give their opinions after driving on both.
After the event, the results were tabulated and showed very comparable results for the tyres, something that Mielko says plays right into his company’s strategy. Sailun’s customer base are looking for a good tyre but are very price aware. The event is designed to give dealer’s confidence in selling the Sailun product line.
Jon Vance, senior director product marketing for TBC Wholesale, said they have been the exclusive distributor of Sailun tyres in the U.S. for the past ten years. He says Sailun is in the top 2%-3% for low rate of return of products.
“The tyres have proven themselves with us. We want consistent programs year in and year out with our suppliers and Sailun has given us that,” says Vance.
During the event, Sailun said it intends to bring a new winter tyre to the market later this year.
Sailun currently has global tyre capacity of 30 million units per year from three factories. The company has plants in Qindao and Shenyang, China and a new plant in Vietnam.