After significantly consolidating its position on the European market in recent years, Triangle organised its 'EffeXperience' in Budapest last June: a major event centred on the recent UHP EffeXSport TH202 tyre, which allowed leading distributors and journalists from all over Europe to test its performance on the prestigious Hungaroring circuit. Present at the event was the entire team from the Chinese manufacturer's European headquarters, set up in Milan in 2017 and led by Corrado Moglia, Triangle's Europe managing director. The event was organised by Angelo Giannangeli, European marketing director, while Roberto Pizzamiglio, sales director for Southern Europe, was there to represent sales activities in Italy. Carlini Gomme, Triangle's exclusive distributor for Italy in the car segment, also attended the Hungarian event.
The first-class A (wet grip) tyre for the Chinese brand 
Unveiled and introduced to the market in 2022, the EffeXSport TH202 is meant to replace the previous SporteX TH201, launched in 2016, and represents a major step forward for the Chinese manufacturer, also in terms of quality, as evidenced by the fact that more than half of the sizes in the range have obtained an 'A' wet grip rating according to European labelling (the remaining sizes are in class B). The goal behind creating this new product was to create a tyre characterised by control, steering precision, high-speed stability, and superior grip when braking on both dry and wet roads: in a word, to offer the driver a feeling of safety in all driving conditions. The tread pattern was developed at the group's technical centre in the United States, while the tyre compound and structure were developed in China by Wang Dapeng, head of research and development for car tyres, who came to Budapest together with Xu Wendong, responsible for exports to Europe. Finally, the lengthy testing phase was conducted mainly in Spain, by the Triangle Testing Department team, under the direction of a highly experienced test driver, Ray Collier, from the British company Tread. The result is a modern tyre with an asymmetric design, featuring four wide longitudinal grooves to minimise aquaplaning and additional diagonal elements to improve water evacuation. The profile provides an optimised footprint and, together with large rigid blocks, improves high-speed handling and braking efficiency. The high-performance compound is the result of the manufacturer's latest research combined with the experience gathered from the already successful SporteX TH201 and is designed to combine grip in all driving conditions with wear resistance. Furthermore, the development team did not neglect driving pleasure; in fact, the longitudinal grooves feature Triangle's 'mute-technology', which reduces that nasty rolling noise for increased driving pleasure. The EffeXSport TH202 line currently consists of 54 sizes ranging from 16 to 21 inches, designed to fit medium-sized saloons as well as SUVs and sports cars, and will be further expanded by the end of the year with 50 additional sizes.
Moglia: “we aim to excel in the budget segment”
We spoke to Corrado Moglia at the event in Budapest to know how the development of the brand is progressing in Europe: “2020 witnessed our biggest growth - Moglia said. During the pandemic, when the first lockdown started in Italy, we supported our European customers both commercially and financially so that they would not suffer any delays or lack of available products. Regular supplies, even during lockdowns, benefited our distributors because the moment the market restarted, our tyres were readily available for sales. It was an important step in terms of volume, but also in terms of partnership, and allowed us to further strengthen the already excellent relationship between us and our customers”.
From the opening of the European office, in 2017, growth in terms of sales has proven consistent, especially for the car segment, which according to Moglia's forecasts will see a volume of around 3.5 million tyres on the European market by 2023: "car tyres sold by Triangle were around 370,000 in 2016, before we opened the office in Europe; this means that we have increased almost tenfold our sales volume - continues Moglia. But the most important changes we have implemented concern the product range, which has been completely renewed, and distribution: we have decided to stop relying on Chinese trading companies, which previously represented around 30% of sales in Europe in all the segments produced by Triangle, and to focus on a business model with a single importer-distributor in each country. We have created a network of solid, strong partners; in Italy we work with Carlini Gomme, one of the most professional and brilliant players in the Italian market; in Great Britain, for example, we have grown thanks to our partnership with Stapleton, the country's largest tyre distributor, where we aim to sell one million tyres a year."
In this process, the brand's positioning in the top end of the budget segment is also being consolidated: “this is a highly competitive segment, but on the one hand we find competition from unstructured, lower-quality brands at decidedly lower prices, while on the other hand the third and fourth product lines from premium manufacturers are now suffering from higher costs and can no longer be profitable. Triangle, on the other hand, is a well-organised manufacturer, with the right partners throughout the European market and can excel in this segment thanks to a quality product, developed for Europe and continuously tested and updated”, explains the CEO.
Triangle's current car tyre offer is made up of about fifteen designs; the range covers both summer and winter (including a line of Nordic-specific products already studded at the factory or with 'ultra-soft' compounds, the so-called friction tyres, sold only in the northernmost markets), with a wide all-season offer as well, which already by the end of 2023 will see the launch of a van product to complete the line. As Moglia tells us, the growth of the brand in recent years has led to the full use of Triangle's production capacity: this is why a feasibility study has been launched for the creation of a new production plant outside China, and among the options under evaluation, several are to be found in Europe.
EffeXSport TH202 Sporty and safe
