YOKOHAMA announced today that it is supplying its GEOLANDAR X-CV tyres as original equipment (OE) for Toyota Motor Corporation’s first-ever Grand Highlander Midsize SUV, which was launched in North America in June 2023. The Grand Highlander is being fitted with 255/65R18 111H and 255/55R20 107V size tyres.

*The Grand Highlander is not available in Japan.

The GEOLANDAR X-CV tyres being supplied as OE on the first-ever Grand Highlander represent a new standard in highway terrain tyres focused on high-speed performance and manoeuvrability, combined with ride comfort worthy of the first-ever Grand Highlander thanks to a structure specially tuned to the characteristics of the vehicle. The tread pattern is optimally designed to provide excellent balance between high quietness and driving performance on wet and snowy roads, two things that are difficult to achieve simultaneously. In addition, the lightweight design reduces rolling resistance.

The tyres being supplied as OE for the Grand Highlander were developed using YOKOHAMA’s proprietary HAICoLab*, an AI-based development framework that aims to foster new discoveries and digital innovation by merging human inspiration and creativity with AI’s enormous data processing capability. To achieve the highly quiet ride, an optimal pitch sequence was obtained using evolutionary computation (genetic algorithms), one of the technologies incorporated in HAICoLab. The innovative technologies applied in development of the tyres are based on new knowledge obtained by collecting actual data and virtual data generated by simulations and then using AI’s predict, analyse and search functions.

* An acronym for “Humans and AI ColLaborate” for digital innovation

Under YOKOHAMA’s three-year (2021–2023) medium-term management plan, Yokohama Transformation 2023 (YX2023), the consumer tyre business aims to maximize the sales ratios of high-value-added YOKOHAMA tyres, namely the global flagship ADVAN brand, the GEOLANDAR brand of tyres for SUVs and pick-up trucks, and various winter tyres. The initiatives taken to achieve this goal include expanding the adoption of ADVAN and GEOLANDAR tyres as original equipment on new cars, expanding product line-ups, and strengthening its marketing of tyres that respond to specific trends in each regional market. In particular, in 2023, the focus is on expanding sales of the GEOLANDAR brand and accelerating the launch of new products and the introduction of new sizes.