Fulda is celebrating the 115th anniversary of its founding in 1900, and 100 years as an innovator of commercial vehicle tires.  This heritage has led to Fulda becoming one of Germany’s leading tire brands and popular across Europe, offering value for money, with high quality products for light and heavy commercial vehicles, as well as cars, 4x4s and SUVs.

“Fulda is a very important brand in our portfolio, particularly in relation to commercial vehicle tires.  We are very proud to celebrate the 100th anniversary of modern Fulda truck tires together with the 115th anniversary of the brand itself this year.  The Fulda Sembusto produced in 1915 was Fulda´s pioneering truck tire and since then the brand has offered quality truck tires.  This is valid till today with the Fulda Ecotonn 2 trailer tire being introduced last year and we will continue the successful history of Fulda in the future by introducing new truck tires to the market,” said Benjamin Willot, Director Marketing Commercial Tires Goodyear Europe, Middle East and Africa.  “Its marketing slogans - ‘German High Technology’ and ‘Black, Wide and Strong’ – underline the values of the brand, which are quality at an affordable price.”

The company called Gummi Werke Fulda was founded on August 3rd 1900, making rubber products.  The first tires produced by the company were for prams and horse-drawn vehicles.  Car tires, as well as those for motorcycles and bicycles, were introduced in 1906 and became the main focus of the company’s activities.  Between 1907 and 1909, Fulda produced solid rubber truck and bus tires in 10 different sizes and at that time exported tires to bus companies including those in London and Milan.  In 1914 Fulda developed the first solid tire made of synthetic rubber (Buna).  At this time production converted from solid tires to more elastic types for commercial vehicles and the company gained a reputation for above average mileage from its products.  1915 marked the beginning of modern Fulda truck tires: the Fulda Sembusto truck tire with springs in the rim for additional cushioning was brought to serial production.  The next technological step was 1919 with the Fulda “Riesenkissenreifen” (large cushion tire).  This tire featured patented technology that increased the tire’s shock-absorbing capabilities, giving trucks the ability to reach much higher average speeds than were previously possible.  It became the leading truck tire in Europe.  Under license, other tire makers adopted this technology.

Further development followed and in 1925 the Fulda Parabel became the world’s first “constant pressure” truck tire, being a full rubber tire with an interior air chamber.  In 1929 the Fulda Elastic truck tire was launched becoming the company’s first inflatable pneumatic tire.  Within a short time, all Fulda production tires were pneumatic and commercial vehicle tires continued to be an important part of the Fulda range throughout the following decades.  As the market continued to develop, between 1927 and 1932 the company progressively converted from the production of solid tires to pneumatic tires and close links were formed with Frank Seiberling, co-founder of Goodyear.  In 1938 truck tire production increased and Fulda became recognized as a manufacturer of quality heavy-duty tires.
Fulda’s recognition was illustrated in 1954 when the 50,000th Mercedes Benz truck rolled off the production line on Fulda tires.  Innovation continued to be part of Fulda’s DNA in 1961 when textile belted tires for both cars and trucks went into production.  The following year Fulda became part of the Goodyear family.  Fuldasteel full-steel belted truck and bus tires were introduced in 1967, and in 1973 series production of steel radial tires for trucks commenced.  An important milestone that underlines the high quality offered by Fulda products was in 1993 when Fulda became the first Goodyear plant on the European mainland to receive the DIN ISO 9002 quality certification for production and assembly.

Today Fulda is a key member of the Goodyear family and continues to be an important brand in its portfolio.  Fulda’s tradition of innovation has continued into the 2010s, underlining the value of 115 years of experience at the forefront of tire development, particularly with regard to commercial vehicle tires.

Fulda Commercial Vehicle Tire Range
Fulda offers a full spectrum of commercial vehicle tires.  Most recently, the Ecotonn 2 trailer tire, was introduced in 2014 completing the latest Fulda on-road commercial vehicle tire range.  This comprises the Fulda Ecocontrol 2 steer tire, the Fulda Ecoforce 2 drive tire and the Ecotonn 2 trailer tire.  These tires are available in a wide range of popular sizes for long and regional haul trucks as well as busses and coaches.
For mixed service vehicles, such as tippers operating both on road and on construction sites, Fulda offers Variocontrol, Varioforce and Variotonn tires.  In addition, the Crossforce drive tire is available for extra traction and robustness for off-road use.  Fulda further offers Wintercontrol and Winterforce steer and drive tires for winter conditions, where extra traction and grip are essential on snow and in the wet. 
With regard to on-road tires, the Fulda Ecocontrol 2 is focused on mileage performance with low tire noise.  As well as having low rolling resistance, its low weight makes higher payloads possible, helping operators to reduce fuel bills and increase efficiency.
Fulda Ecoforce 2 drive tires provide uniform wear characteristics and high mileage potential along with enhanced traction.  This means that a high level of traction is maintained throughout the tires’ lives, with good wet traction and winter performance.
Thanks to its tread compound and optimized carcass, the Ecotonn 2 trailer tire’s benefits include high mileage, low rolling resistance, durability and retreadability.