Tire brand
Giti / GT Radial
Giti Tire is a tire manufacturer of Indonesian origin, with its international base established in Singapore.
IntermédiaireHiverCamionnette
Brand profile
Giti Tire is a tire manufacturer of Indonesian origin, with its international base established in Singapore. Born out of Gajah Tunggal, founded in 1951, the group designs and manufactures passenger, light-truck and SUV tires, as well as heavy-truck and bus tires. It markets several brands, including GT Radial, its flagship international brand distributed in more than 130 countries.
Positioning: Positioning: Passenger, light-truck/SUV and heavy-truck tires, mid-range, under the GT Radial brand.
History
Giti Tire's history dates back to 1951, when a company named Fotaixing was founded in Jakarta, Indonesia, by members of the Lim family, of Chinese-Indonesian descent. In 1961, it was renamed PT Gajah Tunggal and grew into a major rubber and tire player in Southeast Asia. In the early 1990s, the group established its international base of operations in Singapore, a city that has served as its strategic headquarters ever since. Expansion into China began in 1993 with a joint venture concluded with the Anhui Tire Factory to produce bias-ply tires. In the late 1990s, Giti set up its own sales and distribution networks and, around the year 2000, completed facilities in Fujian province to manufacture radial passenger tires. Over the decades, the group structured its offering around five brands: Giti, GT Radial, Primewell, Runway and Dextero. GT Radial established itself as the international brand aimed at the replacement market and original equipment. In October 2017, Giti reached a major milestone by opening its first plant outside Asia, in Richburg, Chester County, South Carolina, in the United States. This site of more than 1.7 million square feet, the result of an investment of approximately US$560 million, produces passenger and light-truck tires for the North American market, including Canada. The group operates several plants spread across Asia and North America and regularly ranks among the ten largest tire manufacturers in the world by revenue. In Canada, GT Radial and Giti products are offered through distributors and retailers; North American manufacturing is concentrated in the United States, with no plant on Canadian soil.
Technologies
GT Radial and Giti tires rely on tread technologies tailored to each segment. For passenger applications, several lines use silica-enriched compounds to improve grip on wet roads and reduce rolling resistance, which promotes fuel economy. Certain winter lines incorporate a compound enriched with sunflower oil to keep the rubber supple in cold weather, on snow and on ice. Asymmetric or directional tread patterns, featuring wide grooves and sipes, work to channel away water and slush and to limit hydroplaning. On the heavy-truck side, Giti develops casings optimized for low rolling resistance and retreading, such as the Class A energy-efficiency models intended for European original equipment.
Innovations
Giti supports its GT Radial brand through research activities spread across several global centers, notably in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and China. The European center, located in Hanover, focuses on durability, rolling-resistance and handling testing. The group has demonstrated its capacity for innovation in the heavy-truck segment with Class A energy-efficiency tires, which have earned it original-equipment contracts with manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz for its Actros lineup. On the passenger side, Giti supplies certain models as original equipment on European vehicles. The brand also makes its mark in competition, with a presence in single-seater and truck championships as well as at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, demanding proving grounds that feed the development of its compounds and tread patterns.
Manufacturing
Giti Tire's international headquarters is located in Singapore, while its industrial roots remain in Indonesia, in Jakarta. The group operates several plants in Asia, mainly in Indonesia and China (notably in Fujian province and in Hefei), which also supply export markets. In North America, the Richburg plant in South Carolina, opened in 2017, manufactures passenger and light-truck tires for the continent, including Canada, and houses a research center. There is no Giti or GT Radial plant in Quebec or anywhere else in Canada: the products are imported and offered there through distributors and retailers, including liquipneus.com, depending on availability.
Reputation
GT Radial is seen as a mid-range brand offering good value for money, backed by the industrial scale of Giti, one of the world's largest manufacturers. Its winter models, such as the Champiro WinterPro family, earn favorable reviews for their grip on snow and ice in retailer and specialized-magazine tests. In Quebec, where 3PMSF-certified winter tires are mandatory from December 1 to March 15, certified GT Radial passenger and light-truck tires are an affordable option for drivers. The heavy-truck lines, for their part, are recognized above all by fleets for their durability and low rolling resistance.
Models and families
Related Giti / GT Radial models
These families are presented for reference. Actual availability depends on the catalogue and sizes.