Yokohama Rubber is supplying its BluEarth-XT AE61 tires as original equipment (OE) to Toyota Motor Corporation for use on the automaker’s new compact SUV, the Yaris Cross, which launched in Thailand in Oct. 2023. The Yaris Cross is being fitted with 215/60R17 96H and 215/55R18 95V size tires.

Yokohama Rubber said the BluEarth-XT AE61 is a summer tire developed specifically for use on crossover urban SUVs. The manufacturer said the performance of the tire was achieved using a proprietary system to predict the values of key tire characteristics based on Yokohama Rubber’s proprietary HAICoLab, an AI-based development framework that Yokohama said aims to foster new discoveries and digital innovation.

Yokohama Rubber said the technologies applied in the development of the tires are based on new knowledge obtained by collecting actual data and virtual data generated by simulations and then using AI’s predict, analyze and search functions.

Yokohama Rubber said it is aggressively developing tires employing its BluEarth tire technology, and many of these tires are now coming factory-equipped on gasoline-powered vehicles, hybrid cars and EVs such as a wide variety of new car models, including the latest-model sedans, SUVs, sports cars and compact cars.