New EU tire label offers consumers additional information when pur-chasing tires

- As part of its commitment to reduce CO2 emissions, the EU is introducing a new tire labelling scheme from May 1, 2021
- All Hankook tires for the European market that are subject to the new scheme will carry the new EU label from May 1

Neu-Isenburg, Germany, April 23, 2021 – The EU has adopted a new tire labelling system that will be introduced in Europe from May 1, 2021: Regulation (EU) 2020/740. This gives consumers new information on tire labels, and requires tire manufacturers to submit tire information to a database before tires can be sold on the European market. Global leading tire company Hankook Tire will equip all tires launched in Europe with the new EU tire label from the deadline onwards.

In future, the regulation will apply not only to passenger car tires (C1) but also to C2 (light trucks) and C3 tires (trucks and buses). The new label is visually different from the current one, and also contains addi-tional information about the tire and restructures the label classes for rolling resistance and wet braking values: Classes A to C continue to exist. Class D, which was previously unfilled, will now be filled with the values of the previous class E for passenger cars and light trucks (C1 and C2). The previous classes F and G in turn are being merged into E. For C2 tires, new rolling resistance limits for class D also apply.

For external rolling noise, an A to C rating will replace the existing sound waves. New additions are graphics depicting snow grip (3PMSF) and ice grip. The latter, however, currently only concerns passenger car winter tires containing a soft compound (Nordic Soft Compound). Spike tires are not marked with the ice grip symbol. Similarly, C2 and C3 tires have so far been excluded from this labelling requirement, as for these tire classes there are no reliable, accurate and reproducible test methods or international standards yet. For the snowflake logo, tires (C1, C2 and C3) must meet the corresponding 3PMSF limits during snow tests.

Additional information on the new EU tire label will continue to consist of: the name of the tire manufac-turer, a tire type identifier (ID), tire size, and load and speed index. Also included is a QR code that leads to the EU product database where all tire data for the label is stored. Consumers can use this to access a product information sheet. The same feature must be issued to consumers when buying tires featuring the EU label.

From May 1 2021, tires can carry both the old and the new label – depending on the date a tire is placed on the European market: Tires produced between June 25, 2020 and May 1, 2021 and in the market before May 1 must carry the old label, but it will remain valid after the deadline; However, these tires must already comply with the standards of the new regulation and the tire data must be transmitted to the EU product database by the tire manufacturer. Tires produced in the same period and put to market after May 1 must bear the new label.

There is no difference in construction and performance between a tire with the new EU label, and the same tire with the old label.