In October, Prometeon Tyre Group announced the official introduction of its first Serie 02 Prometeon-branded tyres for the main European markets, as well as the UK and Turkey, at a glittering launch event held in Istanbul.
Prometeon Complete Rebranding Process
The event can be considered unique in that it not only marked Prometeon’s debut as a product brand in Europe and Turkey, continuing the expansion that began with the production and distribution of Serie 02 tyres in Egypt earlier this year, for the African and Middle Eastern markets, but can be considered a milestone in the history of the global tyre industry in that it represents the first ever complete rebranding of a major tyre manufacturer’s product range.
During the event, we managed to sit down with Sabina Oriani, Prometeon’s Head of Sales and Marketing, to find out more about how the company had set about the monumental task of completely reinventing itself whilst maintaining its position in the market.
According to Oriani, a key part of the rebranding exercise was to put together a road map for the implementation of this plan, starting with the product itself. The key priority, she says, was to rebalance the business in terms of its geographical presence, both commercially and industrially, by focusing on growth in Europe, and over the last 7 years the company has achieved this, correcting the previous inherited imbalance, where the majority of the company’s truck business was in Latin America. “Growth in both the replacement and OE markets are priorities,” she confirmed.
In terms of its industrial footprint, Prometeon is looking to enhance its position with initiatives across all its production sites, but especially the plant in Izmit, Turkey, which exports around 60% of its production. In the past 7 years, Prometeon has invested over 185 million euro in its Izmit factory, which also recently received the ISCC Plus certification from the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification organisation.
Elsewhere, said Oriani, in 2023 the company has made the strategic decision to enter the US market as a strong player, establishing an office in New York in charge of managing operations and creating a commercial structure in the territory.
“This is a very big challenge,” she pointed out. “In the future we may also consider having a production plant closer to the US as we aim to have a service model that is close to the customers. In EMEA, on the other hand, with our recent capacity increase, we will have the required commercial footprint and a sustainable balance.”
Rebranding the Business
Oriani argues that, although Prometeon has had access to a first line product in terms of technology, in order to be sustainable over time it would not have been possible to grow using the name of another company – i.e. Pirelli.
“We are a completely independent company since 2017. To make this independence clear to our customers, it was necessary to focus on Prometeon not only as a company but also as a product brand. Now our direction is even more in line with our values and our strategy for the future,” she says.
Introducing the Prometeon Brand to Fleets
Looking back a couple of years, a key challenge facing Oriani and her team was how to introduce the Prometeon brand not only to dealers, but also to fleets. To reach this goal, she understood the need to involve dealers directly in the rebranding process, so to become their “partner of choice”. Therefore in 2023 an ambassador programme was established involving the production of Prometeon branded tyres in popular sizes, fitting them to fleets, and obtaining feedback from the fleets.
“In total we collected direct feedback on around 2,500 tyres and were able to demonstrate that the product is the same as before in terms of high quality and performance. We then shared this information with the market.
“This initiative was very important,” she adds, “because fleets understood that we were committed to the market and dealers knew we were asking them to work side by side with us.”
The company also started working with the OE market, speaking directly with clients, and was able to secure an agreement reassuring them that they didn’t have to re-homologate the product.
“It was very important for us to have the same homologation number, and we were able to share this with customers,” she added. “Overall, we have a very strong relationship with fleets in the UK. Our communications policy is directed through our dealers, with whom we work very closely, conducting regular sales meetings. In this way, we work hard at being present at fleet level.”
SuperTruck and SuperFleet
The starting point of Prometeon’s connection with fleets is SuperTruck, a network of pure independent dealers. “It was very important to invest in creating our own network, it is an essential point of contact with the fleets” says Oriani: “The SuperTruck network grants dealers access to the new SuperFleet programme, which helps them to support their customers with maximum efficiency, including cutting-edge tools and digital solutions, that we call Pro Services. At the end of the day SuperTruck and SuperFleet will be the focal point where fleets can select what they need.”
SuperFleet consists of 4 hubs offering various services. These services include Pro-Check – a continuous management system offering advice on the maintenance of tyres to lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), Pro-Sensor a pressure monitoring system using common tools, and Pro-Management – a central billing tool launched in the UK in Autumn 2023, just to mention some of them. The goal of SuperFleet is to ensure operational efficiency, and a competitive total cost of ownership, providing customers with genuine tangible value
Multi-Brand Strategy
The key component of Prometeon’s branding strategy, of course, consists of a switch from the Pirelli brand to Prometeon, which Sabina Oriani says it aims to be around 50% complete by the end of 2025 in Europe. However, the company’s strategy will be to cover all segments, so while the Prometeon-branded products will cover the Tier 1 offering, Prometeon’s Tier 2 offering will be covered by the Formula and Aeolus brands, and Tier 3 by Anteo, Tegrys, and Eracle.
Sustainability
Sustainability is of key importance to Prometeon, says Oriani. Indeed, the company has been involved in developing its sustainability strategy for the last 7 years, including the enhancement of a “supply chain of sustainability”, through initiatives as the Supplier Awards,an event aimed at acknowledging the value of suppliers which follow the same pillars our Group’s strategy is based on: innovation, quality and sustainability”.
“In addition, our ISCC Plus certification at the Izmit plant in Turkey has also been very important in our roadmap of sustainability.”
An illustration of Prometeon’s sustainability strategy can be seen in the fact that the company’s C02 Coach tyre, launched at IAA Transportation recently, contains 80% of recycled and certified, or renewable-source, materials.
Prometeon’s sustainability strategy as also supported by the company’s approach to retreading, which is managed through the SuperFleet programme. The company does not manufacture retreads itself but works with key partners who have expertise in retreading, such as Vaculug in the UK.
