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How big is the knowledge gap between you and your customers when it comes to the difference between all-season and all-weather tires in your region? When you consider all the aspects surrounding the tire sale â from driver demands to technological differences to price to simple vocabulary befuddlement â it's easy to understand why your customers are confused.
According to Chris Han, Senior Product and Channel Marketing Manager at Kumho Tire, one of the biggest points of confusion stems from the similarity in terminology, as many consumers assume "all-season" means the tire will perform in all weather conditions. "Many consumers think all-season actually means all-weather... but theyâre not necessarily meant for severe weather conditions," Han says.
On this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Han emphasizes the evolving landscape of tire technology and consumer preferences, and introduces the Kumho Solus 4S HA32 tire, which was originally launched as an all-weather product but has since been repositioned as a next-generation all-season tire. Han also shares insights into the trade-offs tire manufacturers must consider when developing these products and practical maintenance tips for tire dealers and consumers alike.
This episode is sponsored by Kumho Tire. -
Flying into Monterrey, Mexico, the first thing you'll notice is the serene & green mountain ranges all around you. After getting off the plane, the next thing you notice will be the restroom you just missed before joining the international customs line, as your brain hurriedly looks for another one. But we put that crisis behind us before joining employees from ZC Rubber for a special event.
Tire Review recently flew down to Mexico to witness the groundbreaking of ZC Rubber's third overseas manufacturing facilityâand to get to the site where the facility will be, we had to take a short drive to the nearby city of Saltillo, specifically stopping in the Alianza Industrial Park. Though it's mostly a field for now, soon it will be home to ZC's third international manufacturing facility, and at a size of 600,000 sq. m., this plant is going to be big. For the ceremony, ZC executives and local government officials took turns thanking one another for the opportunity, and celebrating what they expect to be a fruitful partnership, before digging in with gilded shovels.
ZC said this plant will be highly automated and follow the company's "future factory" model. The company said this automation increases speed, safety, consistency, and warehousing and shipping capabilities. Despite the advancements, ZC expects to employ about 2,000 locals at the plant when it's up and running. Speaking of, the timeline to get things running is short. The company expects the first tires to roll off the line by late 2025 or early 2026.
"Actually, I already got some orders," said Henry Shen, ZC Rubber's vice president and secretary of the board of directors. Shen sat down with Tire Review for an interview during our time in Mexico, to break down details of this new project. He said even before construction began, customers were showing interest. "I already got some orders when I flew from Shanghai to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to here," Shen added. "People like Mexican products because there is a much shorter lead time and they can get tires within several days. The other very important reason for U.S. or Mexico customers this what they call a 'sustainable supply.' Thailand, Vietnam and China all have tariffs andy they travel a long distance. There's a lot of uncertainty there.â
The plant is expected to have a starting annual capacity of more than 13,000,000 passenger car tires and over 50,000 tons of off-the-road (OTR) tires, which Shen tells us will help supplement growing demand in the North American and Latin American markets.
"We studied a lot of places. This whole program started two years ago with people coming here to see different options,â he said.
In our interview, Shen also explains how ZC settled on Saltillo as the site to plant its flag, what goes into an automated facility like this, future plans the company has for this area and more.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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Every year, members of the Ohio Tire & Automotive Association gather at the Country Club at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio for OTAA's annual golf outing. For the first time in three years, this yearâs outing had a full field with 128 golfers â which included members of OTAA from independent tire shops and dealerships, friends and family of those members, and media.
Watch the video for more insight from Wallick and Boyd on the event, including an explanation on the benefits of the annual OTAA golf outing, information on OTAA priority legislation and an inside look from our perspective at this years annual outing.
Tire Review: www.TireReview.com
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Thereâs no better place to find out how a tire performs than up close and personal on the track, which is why Hankook Tire, as the official technical partner and tire supplier of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and the official sponsor of the races happening this weekend at the Portland International Speedway, to watch their product perform at the highest level of electric vehicle racing.
Hankookâs North America president, Rob Williams, said that the iON Race tire is directly responsible for the technology being used in Hankookâs passenger iON tires. The iON Race is constructed using organic rayon - a semi-synthetic fiber â which is common in racing tires and UHP tires. It is very stable, strong and heat-resistant, and by pairing it with a blend of natural rubber, Hankook was able to achieve a level of tear resistance and durability that they say they are very happy with.
In electric racing, the efficiency of the car is every bit as important as its power, because these vehicles want to squeeze every last ounce of energy out of those batteries before they have to fuel up again. So, of course, Hankook went the extra mile reducing roll resistance as far as possible on the iON Race to help make the car more efficient.
These Gen3 Formula E cars are powerful. Gen3 hit the track during last yearâs season and introduced a rather significant power increase of 100 kilowatts over the previous generation, to a maximum of 350 kW. Thatâs equivalent to around 469 horsepower, and vehicles can reach a top speed of 174 miles per hour.
Watch the video above to hear more about how these tires perform, how they influence Hankook's passenger EV tire line, and why keeping these tires sustainable is so important to Hankook, including interviews with German Formula E driver, Maximilian GĂŒnther and Hankookâs North America president, Rob Williams. Tire Review:
www.tirereview.com
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Take a look at the next vehicle that rolls into one of your bays. If it was manufactured in the past 5-10 years, I'm willing to bet you'll be able to pick out a sensor or two staring back at you rather quickly. However, there's a significant gap in this technology when it comes to the tires. Sure, TPMS certainly prevalent and helpful, but it fails to alert the driver to attributes like tread depth, stiffness, and balance.
To address this issue, Yagil Tzur, vice president of products at Tactile Mobility, says his company is pairing the use of advanced sensors and artificial intelligence with tires to enhance the safety and efficiency of driving experiences.
"Car manufacturers rely on drivers to go and look at the tires to check that they are healthy and in good condition. But we can't fool ourselves â no one is doing that. Most of the people even don't know what to check in a tire, and this has become a major issue," Tzur says. "We must be able to monitor the tires automatically, just as we get an alert from the car if we have an issue with the engine, with the oil, with the exhaust or with the water level. We need to know what is happening with the tires."
On this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Tzur explains how virtual sensorsâsoftware programs that analyze existing vehicle data to generate new insights â can combine data from various vehicle systems, such as wheel speed, steering angle, and engine torque, to monitor tire conditions and other safety-related parameters.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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The EV tire sector is red-hot â and for good reason. Kelley Blue Book reported there were 1.2 million EVs added to the car parc in the U.S. in 2023, bringing the market share of these vehicles to 7.6%. S&P tells us that in the U.S., 2024 and 2025 will have over 130 new vehicle launches, with over half of them electrified. Tire manufacturers aren't taking their collective eyes off of this data, with some putting a lot of effort and R&D into finding ways to stay ahead of the market and hone in on the needs of EV customers.
Sharing his thoughts on a recent episode of What's Treading, Shawn Denlein, president of sales and marketing at Kumho Tire USA, discussed the company's two latest EV-specific tire lines â the Majesty 9 Solus TA91 EV and Crugen HP71 EV â and how these lines fit into the EV tire marketplace.
"Our goal is not only to meet but exceed the expectations of EV drivers," Denlein says. "Kumho wants to be the new benchmark for performance efficiency and reliability in the EV market."
On this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Denlein dives into Kumho Tire's strategy behind designing tire lines exclusive to EV drivers, how important the EV marketplace is to Kumho Tire, and some of the standout technology found in the company's latest EV tire lines.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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How long have we been talking about the technician shortage now? Too long. It's been an issue for nearly every shop owner I've ever spoken to and seems to have taken hold of the industry around the time Moses was handed the 10 Commandments. We know better by now that there's no magic bullet out there to stop this boss monster, but there must be better ways to chip away at its life bar.
Andrew Coccari, VP of Sales and Marketing at Sonic Tools USA, says his company has a solution that has proven to be a great tool to battle this beast.
âWhen you provide the tools and give them a pathway to earn those tools as their own ... it leads to a much happier, more rewarding life at the shop if you're a technician,â says Coccari. "And, we have the data to prove that it actually makes it more productive as well."
In this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Coccari delves into the causes of the technician shortage and offers some novel solutions to address the need for help around the country, such as modernizing the work environment to attract younger technicians.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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I don't care if you've been in the tire industry for 40 years or 40 days â a lot has changed since you got started. Recently, some of the biggest changes are happening on the technology side: AI, smartphones and sophisticated software have never had such a presence on the shop floor. There's too much to wrap your head around to successfully keep the evolutions in the industry straight.
To help address this, Anyline is this year announcing the first-ever T.I.R.E. Summit, emphasizing its focus on Technology, Insights, Regulations, and Engagement, taking place this year on June 13 in Vienna, Austria. During a recent conversation with Chris Plaichner, chief product officer at Anyline, he highlighted the need for industry players to share knowledge and explore new technological applications.
"There's a real demand in this industry because so many things are changing," he says. "We want to understand what's possible, how others do it, and how they apply the technology."
In this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Plaichner shares his thoughts on how shifting from traditional methods of tire shop management to real-time, mobile-based solutions can enhance efficiency and accuracy, how artificial intelligence is becoming a game-changer for the industry, and what can be expected from the upcoming event â even hinting at a U.S.-based version in the near future.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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Ask anyone in business long enough to find success and they'll likely tell you that relationships got them there. Cosmo Tires, operated by Tire Group International, is no different and is continuing to lean on its uncanny ability to cultivate strong, family-first partnerships as a cornerstone for growth.
"With everything that we do as a brand, if it's not all authentic and we're not able to reach the consumers where they interact with brands in the marketplace, then we lose some of that connectivity. It can get filtered, and we want to make sure that we capture everything from the street, take it all the way into the organization, and feed it directly into product development," says Dominick Montouri, the chief strategy officer for Tire Group International. "We want to make sure we keep that chain very, very short, but also keep it authentic and you don't lose any of those key attributes about what really matters to consumers in our space."
In this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Montouri shares insights into how Cosmo Tires plans to expand its footprint and its engagement with consumers and partners, ensuring that the brand's evolution is just as much about meaningful connections and solutions in the tire industry as it is growth.
Want more What's Treading? Click here.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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Launching a brand in a new market is never easy... even if that brand has nearly 60 years of established history behind it. This is the case with MatraX Tyres, which has roots stemming back to 1965 in Portugal. Now, the company is expanding into the U.S. with passenger car tires, with plans to add more tire lines soon.
"The U.S. market is big â it's the biggest market in the world. It's challenging because, apart from the size of the market, we are talking about different weather conditions and different road conditions between many states. We are talking about [which regions need] winter tires, all-season tires, summer tires. It's a very diverse market," Says Andre Bandeira, managing director for MatraX Tyres. "So, we need to adapt our products to these different markets. That's not so in many other markets, where we have a product that will already fit 80% of the market. In the U.S., it doesn't work this way."
In this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Bandeira discusses how MatraX Tyres was introduced to the North American market, how the company is adapting its products to diverse U.S. conditions, the challenges and solutions associated with distribution logistics, and the importance of dealer support and relationships.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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They say that 10,000 hours of practice will make you an expert at whatever task you've set your mind to. If that's the case, what does 120 years of practice make you? (That's 1,051,000 hours, for the record).
In 2023, Continental marked its 120th year of retreading truck and bus tires. Today, the tire manufacturer retreads more than one million truck and bus tires worldwide every year â conserving resources and reducing costs all along the way. In fact, according to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (UMSICHT), retreaded tires reduce CO2 emissions by up to 50% compared to new tires. The amount of recycled and renewable materials in retreaded tires can be up to 85%.
While the benefits of retread tires haven't waned, modern retreading facilities are very different from those designed a century ago. For example, today these factories use barcode tracking to monitor tires throughout the retreading process, which has significantly improved efficiency and data collection, allowing for better analysis and decision-making. Plus, today's factories have inspection equipment to ensure the tires leaving the factory are of the highest quality possible.
"[Continental's] inspection process allows us to know what's happened in a casing and make some good predictive models of whether that casing will be retreadable. From a continental point of view, we also have a high-pressure test at the end of our process so that we can ensure that anything that gets through the process is going to be a safe and reliable retread when it gets mounted on and aired up and goes onto the tire," says John Cox, head of retread truck tires Americas. "The overall inspection is going to keep the retread better as well."
In this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Cox discusses the advancements and changes in the tire retreading industry, retread market trends in 2024, and the importance of tire dealers advising their fleet customers on the benefits of retreading.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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Succeeding as an independent tire dealer isn't ever a "copy and paste" operation. What works for the dealer down the street isn't necessarily going to work for you, and what works for you may not work for a dealer selling the same tires halfway across the world. Yet, it's the same thread that lead to success for each one.
"They all want to make money," says G.S. Sareen, president and CEO of Omni United, the manufacturer of Radar Tires. "They're all looking for a product on which they can maximize their profit margins â and what are the things that will help them maximize their profits? Is it quality? Is your quality at par with the premiums? Are you punching above your weight in terms of performance? Are your designs better than the rest? Are you a one-stop shop for them? Can you give them the whole spectrum of products?
"It's quality design, range and availability. Surely price competitiveness plays a role, but not as much as people think it does. I think the other aspects play a much wider role because if you don't have those, you can give any price, it's not going to work."
In this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Sareen discusses what it takes to meet the varied needs of tire dealers around the globe, noting that despite each market requiring individualized strategies, quality, design, range and availability must be consistent no matter where they do business. He also emphasizes Omni United's commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality, and what it means to "do the right thing" as a tire manufacturer.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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Commercial tire dealers had their hands full in 2023, dealing with supply chain disruptions, fluctuating raw material costs and oversupply leading to less-than-stellar sales numbers around the country. The good news is that things are already looking up this year, but it's not simply by accident. Instead, commercial tire dealers are finding opportunities to improve their fleet relationships and are discovering new ways to adapt to the needs of the market.
"Some of the very successful dealers are being more aggressive. They're going out to their fleets and the industry and are providing more services, like fleet checks, air pressures, consulting on new tires," says Brian Sheehey, senior vice president of Ralson Tire North America. "The tire industry is a dynamic industry just as the vehicle industry is. Fleets' eyes have to be open and the dealers have to be partners in that, and the manufacturers have to supply that information to the dealers."
In this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Sheehey discusses strategies for dealers to better manage their inventory, and how manufacturers like Ralson Tires are working closely with their customers and fleets to adapt to new demands, such as the needs of electric vehicles, sustainability efforts and other innovations.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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What does "leveling up" your tire business in 2024 mean? It's an easy question to write off while your bays are filling up, or when your phones are ringing off the hook, or when a shipping delay stops an important order from arriving on time, or when a customer is complaining, or when your shop equipment fails...
The list of trials and tribulations taking place daily in the life of your friendly neighborhood tire dealer goes on and on, and it's hard sometimes to take a step back to examine what incremental changes can be made to take a business to the next level. During this year's annual K&M Tire Conference and Trade Show, Cheryl Gossard, president of K&M Tire, had high hopes that the company's dealer base would walk away inspired to do just that.
"We feel like if everybody just focuses on getting 1% better every day â whether that's in their business, whether that's with working with their employees or in a department or whether that's in their personal lives â we just always want to continue to get better and we want to help," she said.
In this episode of What's Treading, we dig into K&M Tire's 2024 goals, expansion expectations and the details of the company's latest partnerships that have been engineered to help dealers take their businesses to the next level.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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A successful tire launch seems to fall somewhere in the middle of innovation, customer satisfaction and dealer support. By that account, Hankook Tire seems to have followed the tire launch playbook to the letter with the recent debut of its all-season touring tire, the Dynapro HPX, designed for SUVs.
According to Rob Williams, president of Hankook Tire America Corp., the R&D that went into the Dynapro HPX focuses on following the latest SUV trends while leaning into attributes that will meet the needs of a variety of drivers.
"I think we all know that the SUV segment has grown immensely in the last 10 years. When SUVs first came out, it was really looked upon as more of an off-road type vehicle. Today, SUVs have become the family vehicle," Williams says. "Maybe you take it off-road when you go camping, but we found out that consumers have a wide range of needs and that's where we had to look to ensure that we had products to meet all the different needs of those SUV owners. I'm going to say that today the HPX and the AT2 Xtreme are definitely our bestsellers for most of the consumers to drive SUVs."
In this episode of What's Treading, we get the nitty-gritty details surrounding Hankook's Dynapro HPX tire, with Williams highlighting key features and new technology. Williams also discusses the value of the company's tire test track in Korea, dealer support initiatives and the state of the supply chain in regard to dealers in the North American market.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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In only the past year or so, AI has opened a Pandora's box of opportunities to better care for customers and their vehicles â so much so that today's consumer has unlocked a new level of knowledge surrounding all aspects of maintenance.
Here's an example: A driver thinks it might be time for a new set of tires since their current set is looking a bit on the worn side. He doesn't own a tread depth gauge and wouldn't know what to do with one anyway. However, he does have an app on his smartphone that uses machine learning technology to analyze treadwear and creates an AI-generated recommendation on whether that tire needs to be repaired or replaced. Going a step further, though, the app communicates with the driver's tire dealer to indicate he'll be coming in for a new set of tires.
Zach Olson, founder and CEO of Treads, an AI-powered car maintenance platform, says this is only the beginning.
"I think when looking at it from the industry perspective, there's all sorts of talk of technician shortages, training gaps, and just really fulfilling the demand for the professionals on that side of the industry. But, technology can come in and start filling in quite a few gaps where if you can automate so much of the customer experience, the customer service side, so when a car shows up in the shop, you know exactly what it needs, what's wrong with it, and how to go about with the right solution â and the customers already paid for it," Olson says. "Technology's going to fill that gap where technicians can do what they're best at, and that's getting people back on the road safely."
In this episode of What's Treading, Olson, explains how the Treads direct-to-consumer mobile app subscription service can simplify the car maintenance process. He also details how the company's growth strategy involves partnering with a range of service providers, from small businesses to large national brands.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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It's hard to think of many places where electrified and autonomous vehicles are more welcome than underground. Large mining outfits depend on the advantages these attributes offer â mainly zero emissions and keeping drivers out of harm's way, respectively â to maximize profits and uptime.
To keep these and other OTR fleets moving, OTR tire manufacturers like BKT must constantly keep a finger on the market's pulse to ensure they can stay competitive and ensure they can best meet the needs of these customers. In many cases, these needs include aggressive sustainability initiatives, says Chris Rhoades, BKT's vice president of OTR. "Go to any major mining company's or aggregate producer's website and take a look at how everybody's got their own statements on sustainability and what they're trying to accomplish. Of course, tires play a big role in that," Rhoades says.
"As a manufacturer, we take a look at every step along the manufacturing process, from acquiring raw materials to the finished goods, to see what we can do to reduce waste and increase efficiencies. One of the highlights and keystones of BKT is we're the only tire manufacturer that has our own carbon black manufacturing plant. Approximately 30% of a tire's weight is carbon black, and we meet 100% of our requirements out of our own plant on that."
In this episode of What's Treading, Rhoades delves into the rise of electric and autonomous vehicles in the OTR sector, current market trends, and BKT's commitment to sustainability. We also discuss the state of the OTR tire market, customer needs and the complexities of tire supply and application.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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Jared Kugel, the CEO of online tire retailer Tire Agent, made waves in the tire industry last August when the business appeared on Inc.'s 5000 list of the fastest-growing startups. Kugel says the accolades are due in large part to the company's customer-first approach, which has secured Tire Agent a loyal customer base and a high repeat purchase rate.
"Over time we've become more than just an online tire retailer. We don't want it to be so transactional; we want it to be relationship-based," Kugel says. "For us, it's far more than just the sale. It's before the sale, after the sale, and then hopefully we're great enough that you want to keep referring us.
"I think the numbers are speaking for themselves where people really appreciate what we're building. We're trying to become really the destination for tires for people."
In the latest episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, Kugel reflects on how his background in the tire industry has inspired Tire Agent's business practices. Kugel discusses how maintaining a competitive edge in the tire industry goes beyond low pricing, finding the secret to success by focusing on value-added services and the overall buying experience. Kugel also shares insights on the company's operational efficiencies, strategic customer service methodologies and overall customer engagement.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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In August, Linglong Tire established a new subsidiary, Linglong North America Sales, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The company appointed industry veteran Geoff Doster as the president of this newly established entity. Now, with a few months worth of his getting his feet wet in the position, Doster stopped by this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review to reveal his vision for the future of Linglong, as well has how he intends to navigate the company's challenges and aspirations going into 2024.
"Linglong's been doing business in North America for 20 years, and the goal of the North American team is for us to first elevate our brands in the marketplace, as well as our marketing, our branding, our programs, our product lines, and segments to the market to make sure that we're actually hitting the needs of our customers and our end consumers," Doster says. "At the end of the day, I want to be a supplier of choice. I want to be a supplier that exceeds the expectations not only of our customers and our business partners, but also our end consumers."
On this episode of Whatâs Treading with Tire Review, we speak with Geoff Doster about Linglong's position in the market and his long- and short-term goals for the new subsidiary. We also discuss Doster's predictions about North America's competitive landscape heading into the new year and the advantages of being able to meet the unique needs of customers in different regions.
Tire Review: www.tirereview.com
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Rolling resistance, durability and overall comfort all play a huge role in tire design, but these characteristics are under a bright-hot spotlight in the context of electric vehicle tires. That's why Nokian Tyres recently revealed its "Electric Fit" symbol to showcase to customers that these attributes have been given special attention in select tires. The company uses a combination of factors, including tire compound, tread pattern and silencing technologies to optimize EV tire performance.
"Many of these characteristics are ones that we have been developing for the European tire [market] for a long time already, and many of these topics are actually such that they also happen to match with the requirements for EV cars," says Marko Saari, head of product management at Nokian Tyres. "As a result of that, we have gained quite a long experience on getting all these different characteristics taken into account, and we can tap into this expertise when we are developing the tires."
On this episode of What's Treading with Tire Review, we pick Marko's brain about the challenges of designing tires for electric vehicles, learn about how the European automotive market is influencing U.S. EV tires, get an understanding of the technology needed to eliminate noises in the cabin, and even delve into the company's commitment to sustainability. - Vis mere
