Tokyo - The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that from April 2018 it has been supplying its BluEarth-A AE-50 tires to Volkswagen AG subsidiary ŠKODA for use as original equipment (OE) on the automaker's Kodiaq. The BluEarth-A AE-50 tires are being supplied in two sizes, 235/55R18 100V and 215/65R17 99V, for Kodiaqs to be sold in Russia. The Kodiaq is the second ŠKODA vehicle to come equipped with BluEarth-A AE-50 tires; ŠKODA OCTAVIA has come equipped with either 205/55R16 91V or 195/65R15 91H size BluEarth-A AE-50 tires since November 2016. Kodiaq’s to be sold in Russia are being made by Volkswagen Group Rus.

Developed under the “YOKOHAMA Pursuit of Driving Pleasure” concept, “BluEarth-A AE-50” tires are fuel-efficient tires featuring excellent wet grip and other functionalities that deliver superb driving performance and comfort in a wide range of road conditions. The BluEarth-A AE-50 tires are highly regarded by Volkswagen AG, as evidenced by Volkswagen Group Rus’s use of the tires on its Tiguan and Jetta as well as the Kodiaq and Octavia.

The BluEarth-A AE-50 tires for all four vehicles are being manufactured at Yokohama Rubber’s Russian tire manufacturing and sales subsidiary, LLC Yokohama R.P.Z. The subsidiary was established in December 2008 and began production near the end of 2011, making YOKOHAMA the first Japanese tire maker to manufacture passenger car tires locally in Russia. The Russian subsidiary has since increased its plant’s capacity to 1.6 million tires a year, a 2.3-fold increase from the plant’s capacity at the start of operations in 2012.