Aiming to boost its presence in Europe by increasing sales in the rapidly expanding all-season tire market
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., recently announced that it will launch sales in Europe of a new all-season passenger car tire, the BluEarth-AllSeason2, in September 2026. The Company plans to supply the new tire in 74 sizes for use on premium cars, SUVs, and BEVs (battery electric vehicles).
The new BluEarth-AllSeason2 is the successor model to the BluEarth-4S AW21 and a strategic second-generation YOKOHAMA all-season tire designed for the rapidly expanding European market. In Europe, where weather and road conditions change often, car owners need tires that can be used on dry, wet, and snowy roads, enhance their cars’ fuel or energy efficiency, and have high wear resistance that contributes to a lengthy useful lifespan. The new BluEarth-AllSeason2 was developed as an all-season tire that meets European drivers’ demands for tires with the excellent on-road performance, fuel or energy efficiency, and durability that provide peace of mind when driving in any season of the year.
The new tire was developed using AI and simulation technologies based on Yokohama Rubber’s proprietary AI utilization framework HAICoLab1. By utilizing AI to predict tread patterns and structural characteristics, Yokohama Rubber has developed a dedicated tread pattern to increase tire surface contact area by 5% over the previous model, enhancing handling stability and grip. The BluEarth-AllSeason2 is also the first YOKOHAMA all-season tire developed using the Company’s COLD TECH2 winter tire technology concept that improves its performance on snow by providing more stable surface contact.
*1 An acronym for “Humans and AI ColLaborate” for digital innovation.
*2 A universal Yokohama Rubber technology concept for developing special compounds, tread patterns, and structures that enhance tire performance in winter by maximizing contact with winter road surfaces.
The dedicated tread pattern features symmetrical V-shaped grooves, providing excellent drainage that enhances the tire’s stability on wet surfaces while ensuring edge effect on snow. In addition, optimally placed Crank sipes and 3D sipes further strengthen the tire’s edge effect on snow and suppress block deformation, thus improving traction during acceleration and cornering. The tire’s compound contains a large amount of silica, made possible by the use of Yokohama Rubber’s proprietary A.R.T. Mixing rubber-blending technology, which greatly improves silica dispersibility, thereby increasing the compound’s contact points on wet surfaces by 40% and significantly improving the tire’s wet grip performance. Another special feature of the BluEarth-AllSeason2 is the tire structure’s optimal use of lightweight steel belts, which reduce its rolling resistance by 8%. In addition to contributing to a car’s fuel and energy efficiency, the BluEarth-AllSeason2’s compound, tread pattern, and structure work together to increase the tire’s wear resistance by 35%.
As part of the growth strategy in Yokohama Transformation 2026 (YX2026), the Company’s medium-term management plan for fiscal years 2024–2026, Yokohama Rubber is implementing Product and Regional Strategies aimed at strengthening its development, supply, and sale of products that respond to specific trends in each regional market. By introducing the new BluEarth-AllSeason2, Yokohama Rubber is expanding its product lineup in Europe with the aim of increasing sales in the region’s growing all-season tire market. At the same time, this launch is intended to boost its presence in Europe, a market crucial to the Company’s overall growth.
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