Pirelli is a household name that has been around since the early 20th century. Generally associated with high-end and exotic brands, racing teams, and celebrities, Pirelli was never really popular with the bigger market of replacement tires for “ordinary” vehicles. Today, Pirelli still has a stranglehold on exotic brands providing OE rubber for the likes of Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati, Lamborghini, McLaren, and Pagani. But if you are going to get a bigger bite of the tire market, you need to have a replacement tire for Ford, Chevy. RAM, Toyota, and others.
And that’s where the Pirelli Scorpion™ ATR All-Terrain tire comes in.
Pickup trucks are the most popular style of vehicle sold in America today, followed by SUVs and crossovers. The tires Pirelli delivers to their upscale customers have brand-specific characteristics, including compound chemistry, tread design, and even tire markings. What they needed was a replacement tire that would satisfy the broader consumer market.
Pirelli is known for its fanatical attention to research and development. For example, with the proposed new replacement tire, their research showed that even though the vehicles purchased had off-road potential, 95% of new owners would never leave the pavement. That means that most owners wanted ride comfort and tire noise to be equal to or better than the factory while still having an off-road tire’s allure.
In 2020 Pirelli launched the Scorpion ATR, a hybrid between an all-season and all-terrain tire that surprised everyone (including Pirelli) with how well it meets the needs of everyday commuting and off-road challenges, particularly snow and mud.