The New KLEBER Gripker
The Wide 65-Series Tirefor Mixed Crop Farmingand Livestock Operations
Press Kit
June 2010
Media Contact: + 33 1 45 6613 43
Contents
Summary
The New KLEBER Gripker: The Wide 65-Series Tire for Mixed Crop Farming and Livestock Operations
v The KLEBER Gripker: The Tire for Today’s Multi-Crop and Livestock Farms
· Protects crops and grasslands while providing enhanced traction
· Delivers superior road performance
· Features a unique tread design
v GRIPKER: A Name Chosen by 3,000 Farmers
v Appendix 1:
KLEBER Tractor Tires: An Expanded Line-Up
v Appendix 2:
Milestones in KLEBER’s History
v Appendix 3:
The KLEBER Boxer: The Brand’s Mascot Since 1971
Summary
The New KLEBER Gripker
The Wide 65-Series Tire for Mixed Crop Farmingand Livestock Operations
At the Salon de l’Herbe agricultural trade show, to be held in Villefranche d’Allier (France) on June 2-3, KLEBER is officially launching its new wide 65-series tire, called the Gripker. Designed for mixed-crop farming and livestock operations, the new KLEBER Gripker helps to protect crops and grasslands while delivering more traction. With a name chosen by a vote of 3,000 farmers attending the SIMA 2009 trade show, the tire is now available in Europe for 80 to 180 horsepower tractors.
The KLEBER Gripker increases protection of crops and grasslands1 thanks to its exclusive tread pattern. The lugs are designed to reduce damage to plant root systems, while also effectively expelling mud, making the tire self-cleaning.
The new KLEBER Griper also has a distinctly modern look and features the three interlugs that have always been a hallmark of KLEBER tires.
The new range2 is also well suited to road use and carries a D speed rating, allowing speeds of up to 65 km/h3. The Gripker enhances the KLEBER range in the 65-series segment, which grew by 70%4 in Europe between 2000 and 2008.
With the new Gripker, KLEBER is continuing to renew an offering that now comprises four tire line-ups:
- The KLEBER Topker, for tractors 180 hp and over, which combines traction when plowing and robustness.
- The KLEBER Gripker, a 65-series tire for 80 to 180 hp tractors that protects crops and grasslands and delivers excellent traction.
- The KLEBER Fitker, a 70-series tire for 70 to 180 hp tractors, whose chief advantage is its versatility.
- The KLEBER Traker, an 85-series tire for 60 to 160 hp tractors that sets the standard for toughness and longevity.
The new KLEBER Gripker range is part of a comprehensive product investment strategy that will be backed by an advertising campaign.
The KLEBER Gripker:
The Tire for Today’s
Multi-Crop and Livestock Farms
Designed for mixed-crop farming and livestock operations, the KLEBER Gripker is the wide 65-series tire that provides farmers with superior versatility. Thanks to its exclusive lug pattern, the KLEBER Gripker helps reduce damage to crops and grasslands while also delivering outstanding traction. Moreover, with its D speeding rate, allowing speeds of up to 65 km/h, the tire is also well suited for road use1, which is increasingly important because of the current trend toward larger farms.
Today’s farmers are increasingly aware of the need for environmental preservation. Protecting the environment also means protecting crops and grasslands, thereby enhancing the quality and purity of grass harvests, which is indispensable in improving livestock fodder. This focus on protection played an important role in the development of the KLEBER Gripker, whose exclusive tread pattern limits crop uprooting.
The KLEBER Gripker’s exclusive new lug design enables farmers to take full advantage of the tire’s performance features in all situations: grasslands are protected yet tractors deliver maximum power when plowing. Thanks to its design and the shape of its lugs, the KLEBER Gripker provides farmers with three key benefits:
- Enhanced protection of crops and grasslands (shallower ruts and less uprooting).
- More efficient plowing (superior traction and mud evacuation)
- More comfortable working conditions (timesaving in road use and a smoother ride)
Growth in the market for 65-series tires in Europe is being driven by ever-larger farms and the development of mechanized farming methods. Across the region, unit sales of 65-series tires increased by 70%2 between 2000 and 2008. With the new Gripker, KLEBER has established a firm foothold in this promising market segment.
Protects crops and grasslands while providing enhanced traction
Thanks to its wide casing and reshaped lugs, the KLEBER Gripker protects plant roots, thereby ensuring the preservation of crops and grasslands. In addition, its flexible architecture distributes weight more evenly. As a result, the tractor makes a wider, shallower impression, protecting the soil and facilitating plant growth.
Tractors equipped with the new KLEBER Gripker also benefit from exceptional traction. The tire’s uniquely shaped lugs improve grip and help to evacuate mud, making the tread self-cleaning. By reducing losses of grip, the KLEBER Gripker also helps to cut plowing time.
Delivering superior road performance
The new KLEBER Gripker is also ideally suited for road use, an increasingly important aspect of farm operations because of the steady increase in the average size of European farms. With its D speed rating, allowing speeds of up to 65 km/h1, the tire combines comfort and safety on the road when traveling between two plots of land on the same farm. The KLEBER Gripker’s exclusive tread design also reduces vibrations transmitted to the tractor cab.
Featuring a unique tread design
Farms are getting bigger and rationalized operations are increasingly important, especially for mixed crop farming. Thanks to its greater versatility, the KLEBER Gripker is addressing these key issues for today’s farmers, which is why development teams focused on tread design and in particular on the tire’s uniquely shaped lugs.
The lugs on an ag tire serve mainly to provide the traction needed for plowing. High, roughly shaped lugs provide better traction but can also damage plant life when tractors are driven across grasslands.
Thanks to its exclusive tread pattern, the new KLEBER Gripker reconciles the conflicting needs of protecting crops and grasslands while ensuring excellent traction.
The tire’s lugs are more rounded in shape, thereby providing two important benefits. They protect plant cover by limiting the phenomenon of uprooting while facilitating the evacuation of mud lodged in the tread.
What’s more, this exclusive tread pattern gives the tires an attractive, modern appearance while also retaining the three interlugs that have always been a hallmark of KLEBER tires.
GRIPKER: A Name Chosen by 3,000 Farmers
At the SIMA 2009 trade show, 3,000 visitors to the KLEBER stand were asked to help choose the name for the new KLEBER range of tires for mixed crop farming and livestock operations. The name they chose was GRIPKER. Allowing farmers to take part in the name selection process is fully in line with KLEBER’s participative approach to tire development. Designed with input from farmers, the KLEBER Gripker reflects the close ties established between the brand and its customers.
The Gripker is the perfect ambassador for the latest generation of KLEBER tires. Versatile, it is equally well suited to use in fields or grasslands and on the road. What’s more, it delivers the performance needed to carry out the many different day-to-day tasks required on a well-managed farm.
Always focused on farmers and their needs, KLEBER solicited feedback from customers and asked them to take part in designing and developing the new tire.
This approach is reflected in the public presentation of the KLEBER Gripker, which has been carried out in three stages.
First, farmers at the SIMA trade show in February were asked to vote for the name of the new KLEBER tractor tire, choosing between Softker, Maxiker and Gripker. The initiative was a big success, with 3,000 farmers casting a vote.
Then, at the Agritechnica trade show in Hanover last November, the results were announced: Gripker was the winner with 42% of the vote. KLEBER also previewed the tire for the first time.
Lastly, the official launch of the KLEBER Gripker is scheduled for the Salon de l’Herbe trade show in Villefranche d’Allier, France, where the tire will be on display on June 2-3, 2010.
In 2010, the tire will gradually be introduced in 13 sizes: 440/65R24, 480/65R24, 540/65R24, 440/65R28, 480/65R28, 540/65R28, 540/65R30, 540/65R34, 600/65R34, 540/65R38, 600/65R38, 650/65R38 and 650/65R42.
APPENDIX 1
KLEBER Tractor Tires: An Expanded Line-Up
With the new 65-series Gripker, KLEBER is continuing to expand its portfolio. The new tire is intended mainly for mixed crop farming and livestock operations. Topker, Gripker, Fitker and Traker are the four tractor tires designed for today’s farmers, whose operations are undergoing rapid change.
KLEBER provides farmers with a full line-up of tires to meet all of their needs, both for increasingly powerful tractors used in plowing and for lighter vehicles used every day.
The KLEBER Topker, which combines traction in the field and robustness, for today’s most powerful tractors (180 hp and over)
The KLEBER Topker was specially designed for powerful tractors that work with heavy equipment. Capable of carrying heavy loads and operating at low pressure, the KLEBER Topker reduces plowing time by maintaining traction when torque is highest.
The KLEBER Gripker, the wide 65-series tire for 80 to 180 hp tractors used in mixed crop farming and livestock operations
The new KLEBER Gripker is intended for mixed crop and livestock farmers who use tractors fitted with wide tires. It combines ground cover protection with excellent traction. What’s more, its architecture and D speed rating deliver comfort and timesaving when used on the road.
The KLEBER Fitker, the versatile 70-series tire for 70 to 180 hp tractors.
The KLEBER Fitker was designed for mid-range tractors. Robust and reliable, this 70-series is also long-lasting. Thanks to its versatility, it can carry out many different types of farming operations.
The KLEBER Traker, the top-performing standard 85-series tire
Designed for small and mid-size tractors, the KLEBER Traker improves their efficiency thanks to its superior traction, especially on wet soil, and its ability to carry heavier loads in a single haul. The tire is also exceptionally robust and long lasting.
APPENDIX 2
Milestones in KLEBER’s History
The KLEBER brand has been serving European farmers day after day since 1948. The invention of the tubeless tire in 1961 revolutionized the ag tire segment. Since then, the brand has constantly brought to market tires ever more closely adapted to farmers’ needs. Today, KLEBER has a reputation for high-quality tires that are also easy to recognize because of the distinctive three interlugs that have always been the brand’s hallmark.
1911: In the Paris suburb of Colombes, Goodrich opens a plant that produces its first tire on December 8.
1945: The move to Avenue Kléber.
At the end of World War II, the company moves its headquarter to Avenue Kléber in Paris, changes its name to Kleber-Colombes and chooses a new logo.
1948: Launch of the first tire for farm equipment.
1950: Maurice Herzog conquers the Himalayas.
Maurice Herzog, a KLEBER employee, leads the French expedition to the Himalayas. On June 3, 1950, with fellow climber Louis Lachenal, he reaches the summit of Annapurna, a glorious achievement for France, the Club Alpin and Kleber-Colombes.
1951: The first tubeless tire.
KLEBER revolutionizes the ag tire industry, producing the first tire with an integrated tube. The Company has a substantial lead over other manufacturers in this technology.
1968: The brand name changes to KLEBER
Following a change in the Company’s name to Pneumatiques, Caoutchouc Manufacturé et Plastique Kleber-Colombes in 1962, the Company decides to simplify the brand name to KLEBER.
1970: KLEBER introduces its first radial ag tire, the Super Tracsol.
1971: A boxer becomes the mascot of the KLEBER brand.
Many adjectives often used to describe this breed also correspond perfectly to KLEBER tires, such as reliability, strength and speed.
1981: The Michelin Group acquires KLEBER.
2010: Launch of the KLEBER Gripker, a wide 65-series tire for 80 to 180 hp tractors used in mixed crop farming and livestock operations.
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APPENDIX 3
The KLEBER Boxer:
The Brand’s Mascot Since 1971
Farmers have always been looking for tires that are reliable, strong and efficient. Given the growing need to rationalize production on today’s farms, these tire qualities are more important than ever. KLEBER, whose core values have always included reliability, strength and close-to-the-customer service, is now launching a new advertising campaign featuring its trademark boxer.
Used for the first time in KLEBER’s advertising in 1971, the boxer quickly became the brand’s mascot. This ever-faithful breed is always by man’s side. Known for its strength and agility, the dog is also fast and reliable.
That’s why KLEBER decided to make the boxer its advertising ambassador.
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