“We’re happy to be up in a really challenging year,” Tim Chaney, vice president of marketing for Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp., recently told MTD.
“The industry is slightly down, according to the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association,” he said during an interview at the 2024 SEMA Show, which recently took place in Las Vegas, Nev.
But Toyo “is up in every segment,” with the exception of TBR, “which is flat.”
Chaney credits Toyo’s upward trajectory to a variety of factors, including “strong relationships with our dealers and distributors. We embarked on a retail channel strategy this year to drive pull-through sales.
“We already have strong consumer demand, particularly in light truck with our Open Country line, but we made an extra effort to sign up new associate dealers on our Toyo Driven program,” Chaney told MTD. “The numbers are pretty astounding. We grew it by 46% this year.
“Much like our competitors, we had targeted incentives and promotions” during 2024. “Everybody was spending to drive retail business, so we participated in that, but feel ours were very targeted and successful.
“We have a thin field staff, but they’re road warriors and they get out” to visit existing and potential customers face to face. “Seeing those dealers – and adding new dealers and seeing them – is fundamental to what we do.”
New products
Days before the start of the 2024 SEMA Show, Toyo launched its new Proxes Sport 2, a performance summer tire designed for sports cars, SUVs and CUVs.
Among other features, the Toyo Proxes Sport 2 boasts a redesigned profile shape to enhance cornering traction; a dual silica tread compound on the inside and outside of the tire to provide optimal grip and resist deformation; and an asymmetrical tread pattern with a dynamic taper design element for consistent road contact in order to maximize acceleration and braking, according to Toyo officials.
The Proxes Sport 2 will replace the existing Toyo Proxes Sport, said Steven Shearer, senior manager, marketing communications, Toyo.
“We always measure internally the differences between tires and we’re seeing 15% better wet braking and 10% better dry braking” than the new product’s predecessor.
“With the Proxes Sport 2, we’re going to launch all 75 sizes in February,” covering “roughly 80% of the market. Our team’s really happy with that.”
Shearer also touted the success of the Open Country A/T III EV, an electric vehicle-specific all-terrain replacement tire designed for electric pickup trucks and SUVs that Toyo introduced last year. The tire “has been performing great,” he told MTD. “We’ve learned so much from it.”
Toyo will continue its cadence of new tire roll-outs in 2025, according to Chaney, who added that “an all-new Open Country product – not the latest addition, not an upgrade, but an all-new product” - will probably launch in spring 2025.
