Teething Troubles For the New Tyre Labels?
Even though the new EU tyre labelling laws don’t come into play until November, there are already people in the industry worried that it isn’t going to work out quite as it was intended.
The levels for each grade boundary were intentionally set to push the industry to reach new highs; it wasn’t supposed to be possible to get an AA grade (A rated for rolling resistance and wet braking) straight away. And yet Pirelli have a AA graded car tyre ready for production, and several other brands will be following shortly. The concern is that this no longer leaves as much for tyre manufacturers to strive for; or will we see an A+ grade next year, and an A++ the year after that?
Michelin tyres have already pointed out a limitation of the new labels with regards to tyres with a specific purpose such as winter tyres or high performance tyres. Winter tyres are likely to excel at wet braking, but not perform as well on rolling resistance/fuel efficiency. Motorists shopping for high performance tyres to go with their high performance cars, are more likely to be interested in the handling abilities of the tyres rather than their fuel efficiency!
Putting the tyre labels to one side for a moment, these issues could change the way we categorise our tyres. Currently the brands are separated into premium, mid-range and budget tyres, but with budget brands sometimes managing to outperform premium brands on the EU tyre labels, this may no longer be appropriate. A different system may be needed to help consumers understand why an expensive, high performance tyre may have an E grade for rolling resistance, however the majority of motorists may find it hard to get passed that initial impression delivered by the brightly coloured EU label.