Hannover, 17.12.2009: Continental welcomes the European parliament’s decision on the labeling directive for vehicle tires. For the passenger car and commercial vehicle tire divisions, the label with information on the fuel efficiency, wet grip and rolling noise of tires is a suitable way to help consumers choose fuel-saving, safe and quiet tires. However, the international automotive supplier and tire specialist also points out that the label only takes three out of a whole range of tire properties into account. Compared with the initial proposals to introduce only a fuel-efficiency label, the EU tire label that has now been adopted contains considerably more data with greater relevance. This is important because there is always a conflict of aims between wet grip and rolling resistance due to the laws of physics.

Truck tires

• The label will become obligatory from November 1, 2012, in all 27 EU countries
  The EU parliament adopted mandatory labeling of all truck tires in the 27 EU states on December 22nd, 2009.
  
• Additional information for consumers
  Continental welcomes this obligation to inform consumers, but points out that only three out of a whole range of tire properties are taken into account.
  
• Classification in seven groups
  A classification from A to G is used for fuel efficiency - where A is the best class and G the poorest. A further indicator with three classes gives the noise generated by the tire in dB. A final decision has not yet been reached on the classification of wet grip.
  
• Tire information must be available before the sale
  Tire buyers should be shown the information on the three criteria for each individual tire before the sale. It should be indicated on or enclosed with the invoice.
  The commercial vehicle tire division will take this method of customer information into consideration and also publish information on its products in a suitable form.
  
• Industry to provide own tire certification
  The tire manufacturers will certify their products themselves using the set criteria for the EU tire label. Each tire model and each size will be assessed individually. This approach is already successfully practiced for a range of statutory performance guidelines and shows the trust that the lawmakers have in the industry. However, for large manufacturers like Continental, this will involve a very high level of extra expense as several thousand products need to be checked individually.