When the European Commission published the preliminary results of its anti-dumping investigation of Chinese aluminium wheel producers, it also released a wealth of market information to anyone willing to trawl through numerous pages of legal jargon. The good news is that Tyres & Accessories has done this, so you don’t have to. And the results reveal the sheer scale of the case.
Goodyear Dunlop will exhibit its off the road range to the industry at Vertikal Days and Hillhead during June for the first time in over three years. Vertikal Days on 16 and 17 June will provide the platform to highlight the new Dunlop SP ER50 tyre to the crane industry. Meanwhile Hillhead will provide the perfect arena to introduce the industry to the full Goodyear Dunlop OTR tyre range, states the company.
Bridgestone’s soft tyre took reigning world champion Jenson Button in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to the top of the time sheets in sweltering conditions on the first day of practice for the Turkish Grand Prix. Button set a 1:28.280 lap time in the afternoon session at the undulating Istanbul Park Circuit as the latest specification Formula One cars met the tough challenge of the notorious Turn Eight for the first time. Button’s Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton went fastest in the morning, using the hard compound Bridgestone Potenza.
British tyre manufacturer, Avon Tyres, has announced it will be the tyre partner to National Family Week 2010, giving away 70,000 tyre safety kits with its tyres. This year’s event is the UK’s largest celebration of family life, packing in thousands of events, activities, competitions and promotions, all to encourage families to spend more quality time together. Backed by all major political parties, National Family Week will take place during summer half term holiday, between 31 May and 6 June.
Continental’s solid industrial tyres have been continually developed and manufactured in Korbach, Germany for over one hundred years alongside the regular implementation of process and product improvements. Now, the company says, a large step forward recently introduced in the site’s manufacturing processes “demonstrates Continental's technological leadership in the field of industrial tyres”.
Maxxis has two industrial tyres that it says are “highly versatile” offerings, giving the company the ability to “make its name” in the market. The M9000 MT Loader and the M8000 Tuff-Guard skid steer tyres are designed to tackle a wide range of heavy duty industrial applications, including construction, agriculture and dockside freight, safely and efficiently, Maxxis states.
Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has been selected by Bombardier to supply tyres for the new 100-seat CRJ1000 Next Gen regional jet. The aircraft has 45 firm orders with carriers including Adria Airways and Brit Air. Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, one of two approved suppliers for the CRJ1000, will manufacture and retread the tyres at its facility in Birmingham, UK.
During the 2009-10 financial year sales at Apollo Tyres’ operation in India, the Netherlands and South Africa increased 63 per cent to Rs 81.2 billion (₤1.2 billion), with operating profit growing from Rs 4.4 billion to Rs 11.9 billion (₤175.0 million) and net profit leaping 364 per cent to Rs 6.5 billion (₤95.6 million) – a result company chairman Onkar S Kanwar described as “an impressive performance by the company.
For the year ended March 31, 2010, JK Tyre & Industries reports consolidated net sales of Rs 45,706 million (₤672.2 million). A comparison with the previous financial period is not possible, notes the tyre maker, as the fiscal period ending March 31, 2009 was an 18-month period. Net profit for the year to March 31, 2010 stands at Rs 2,197 million (₤32.3 million). JK Tyre & Industries comments that its sales and profits for the year “are the highest ever, despite disruption of operations at Kankroli Tyre Plant, Rajasthan for three months owing to [an] illegal strike by workmen during the year.” Revenue from the company’s operations in India amounted to Rs 36,777 million (₤540.8 million) while those in Mexico came to Rs 8,934 million (₤131.5 million).
Next time you’re sitting in the dentist’s chair getting your teeth checked, you may spare a moment to consider how many degrees of separation stand between yourself and the tyre industry. It may be fewer than you think. American firm Tekscan Inc, which developed its TireScan system in conjunction with Goodyear, admits the basic technology behind the system was originally created for use in dentistry. “However, it was recognised that the principle concept could be adapted for numerous other applications, the tyre industry being just one of them," explained the company's international sales manager, Jason Marcouillier.
Wittmund, Germany based Reifen – Center Hofdmann celebrated its 25th anniversary on 24 April 2010. The company, which Brazil-based retreading materials supplier Vipal Europe described as “a long term customer,” recently opened a new production hall focussing on the repair and retreading of truck, agricultural and earthmover tyres. This production line was established following the transfer and centralisation of the company’s equipment from its previous premises. In addition, since April, the company has also stocked retreading materials in the new production hall.
In April Translogik Ltd signed a distribution agreement with RFID Chile. According to the company, the agreement combines Translogik OTR TPMS (Tyre Pressure Monitoring System) technology and RFID Chile's “mining application expertise” to provide a real-time OTR tyre temperature and pressure management solution to the South American mining industry. The system was launched at the 2010 EXPOMIN in Santiago, Chile. Chile is the world's largest producer of copper.
Translogik reported “enormous interest” from some of the world's largest mining operations from across South America and Komatsu 830E field trials of the new system, with a large Chilean mining company, were scheduled to begin on 10 May. At this point a team of engineers from Translogik and RFID Chile planned to fit three OTR TPMS systems to Komatsu 830E dumper trucks fitted with 57 inch tyres.
TyreCheck, which supplies business automation, CRM, and fleet and tyre management solutions to the global tyre market, has announced that it is launching INContact at Reifen 2010. The latest release reportedly incorporates solutions for the new EU tyre energy labelling system in addition to its enhanced IN (Intelligent Newtech) fleet management and inspection products. TyreCheck managing director, Michael O’Dwyer, and commercial director, Jonathan Brennan, invite interested parties to stand 1 – 105 to find out more.
UK service and repair network Autosafe has expanded its range of member benefits to include what it calls “a timely special offer on tyre disposal, designed to help garages at a time when contractors are charging a fortune for their removal or, in some areas of the country, refusing to take them at all.” Autosafe reports that it has also negotiated some preferential rates on disposal of all hazardous waste for its members. Autosafe marketing manager John Morton said: “The IFA is made up of independent regionally based businesses…The tyre disposal arrangement is just one example of the ways in which we aim to help them work smarter, but leave them free to choose.”
India’s JK Tyre & Industries has outlined plans for a new greenfield facility capable of producing 2.5 million passenger radials and 400,000 truck and bus radials per annum. “We will set up a greenfield plant near Chennai and invest Rs 930 crore (₤136.7 million) in that. The plant will be completed by 2012,” JK Tyre & Industries Vice chairman and managing director Raghupati Singhania. JK Tyre & Industries has reportedly already acquired more than 100 acres of land for the factory. According to the company’s president and director, Arun K Bajoria, just under a third of the total planned investment will be funded through internal accruals and the rest will be raised from various financial institutions.
