Tire brand
Sentury / Landsail
Sentury and Landsail are two tire brands belonging to the Chinese group Qingdao Sentury Tire, a manufacturer listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
ÉconomiquePerformance
Brand profile
Sentury and Landsail are two tire brands belonging to the Chinese group Qingdao Sentury Tire, a manufacturer listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Landsail is the consumer line of touring and performance tires, while Sentury refers both to the manufacturer and to its ultra-high-performance line. The group covers passenger car, light truck, SUV and aviation tires, with highly automated production and a commercial presence in North America.
Positioning: Touring and ultra-high-performance all-season and summer tires for cars and SUVs.
History
The group was founded in 1992 under the name Sentaida Group, in Qingdao, in China's Shandong province. The company first specialized in radial tires before adopting the Sentury Tire identity in 2009, the year its main plant in Qingdao opened, presented as one of the most automated in the world and located near Liuting International Airport. The consumer brand Delinte was launched in 2009 and the Landsail brand in 2010, in order to enter the market for affordably priced touring and performance tires. In 2013, Sentury entered the demanding aviation tire market and produced, among other things, main landing gear tires for the Boeing 737-700/800/900, certified to an FAA TSO standard. In 2015, the group ranked 50th worldwide among tire manufacturers by sales according to Tire Business, and inaugurated a plant in Rayong, Thailand, with an annual capacity of about 12 million units. During that same decade, the company moved closer to North America: in 2016, it announced plans for a plant and U.S. headquarters in LaGrange, Georgia, with a targeted capacity of 10 million tires and an R&D center, and recruited former Nokian Tyres executive Rami Helminen. That project was, however, indefinitely suspended in July 2019, amid uncertainty tied to Sino-American trade tensions. The group was meanwhile listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange under the name Qingdao Sentury Tire Co., Ltd. The brand structure expanded with the launch of Groundspeed, unveiled at the SEMA show in late 2016. At the end of 2024, Sentury opened a new manufacturing base in Morocco, in the Tangier-Assilah prefecture, on roughly 19.5 hectares and with a capacity of about 12 million tires per year, confirming its internationalization strategy. In North America, distribution runs through the subsidiary Sentury Tire USA, which oversees the Sentury, Landsail, Delinte and Groundspeed brands.
Technologies
The brands of the Sentury group rely on rubber compounds enriched with silica, designed to retain flexibility and grip in cool weather as well as on hot pavement, while improving wear resistance and fuel efficiency. The touring and UHP tires adopt tread patterns with four wide circumferential grooves to channel away water and reduce the risk of hydroplaning, complemented by zigzag sipes that strengthen grip on wet surfaces. The tread profiles are computer-optimized to maximize contact with the road, sharpen steering response and stabilize behavior at high speed. The group also highlights variable pitch sequencing and shoulder blocks engineered to lower rolling noise. This technological foundation is shared by the Landsail, Delinte, Sentury and Groundspeed lines.
Innovations
The group's central technological argument rests on its highly automated plants, including the "Smart 4.0" site in Thailand, presented as one of the few fully automated tire plants in the world, ensuring dimensional consistency and uniformity from one tire to the next. This robotization, combined with quality controls inspired by the aerospace industry, stems directly from the experience gained in aviation tires: since 2013, Sentury has manufactured landing gear tires for Boeing airliners, a field in which mastery of materials and manufacturing is critical. On the product side, the Landsail brand claims expertise drawn from motorsport for its performance lines such as the Qirin 990, with tread patterns engineered for road contact and water evacuation. The group is also developing versions adapted to electric vehicles, a sign of an R&D effort geared toward new uses.
Manufacturing
The group's headquarters and historic plant are located in Qingdao, in Shandong (China), near Liuting Airport. To these are added a plant opened in 2015 in Rayong, Thailand (about 12 million units per year, a highly automated site), and a base inaugurated at the end of 2024 in Morocco, in the Tangier-Assilah region. A plant project in LaGrange, Georgia (United States), announced in 2016, was suspended in 2019. There is no plant in Quebec or Canada: North American distribution is handled by the subsidiary Sentury Tire USA, which brings together the Sentury, Landsail, Delinte and Groundspeed brands, which are resold in Canada by distributors and retailers, including Liqui Pneus in Quebec.
Reputation
In the North American market, the brands of the Sentury group position themselves as budget-friendly options offering good value for money against premium brands. Tests and owner reviews generally praise the comfort, the low noise level and satisfactory behavior on dry and wet surfaces for everyday road use, while pointing to limitations in emergency braking and under hard cornering compared with established benchmarks. Like most all-season UHP tires, these products are not designed for harsh winters: for winter driving in Quebec, where certified winter tires are mandatory from December 1 to March 15, you should opt for a 3PMSF-certified winter model rather than an all-season UHP tire.
Models and families
Related Sentury / Landsail models
These families are presented for reference. Actual availability depends on the catalogue and sizes.