RHA welcomes charge on foreign hauliers
The news that the Government intends to go ahead with plans to introduce a charging system whereby foreign operators pay to use UK roads gets the thumbs up from the Road Haulage Association.
The news that the Government intends to go ahead with plans to introduce a charging system whereby foreign operators pay to use UK roads gets the thumbs up from the Road Haulage Association.
B&J Rocket has begun manufacturing the successor to its worldwide established B&J RFBOT buffing tool. The Swiss company first presented prototypes of the new Airbot series at this year’s Reifen show in Germany, and it says customer feedback was enthusiastic; greater efficiency, considerably shorter buffing times and greater longevity due to better cooling were arguments that convinced visitors at the B&J Rocket booth and led to the first pre-orders.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has confirmed reports made by Japanese and Turkish media regarding a new joint venture company in Turkey. The Japanese firm says it will hold 80 per cent equity in a joint venture with Abdulkadir Özcan Otomotiv Lastik. An agreement was signed between the two companies on 21 September, and the yet to be named operation will be established next month. Sumitomo Rubber reports that the joint venture is being set up with initial capital of US$30 million and will involve a total investment of around $500 million. This sum will cover the cost of building a greenfield passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyre factory in Çankiri, Turkey.
At its media day in New York, German specialty chemicals company Lanxess announced a new mid-term goal for its leading earnings indicator – EBITDA pre exceptionals. The company projects that its EBITDA pre exceptionals will reach 1.8 billion euros in 2018, and says its previous 2015 EBITDA pre exceptionals goal of 1.4 billion euros will now be reached a year ahead of schedule. This key performance indicator has increased by an average of 20 per cent per annum since 2004, and for 2012 Lanxess reconfirms its guidance for EBITDA pre exceptionals to increase by five to ten per cent year-on-year.
Bridgestone Corporation held its third annual Bridgestone Global Total Quality Management (TQM) Conference on Friday, 14 September, at the company's Global Manufacturing Education Center (G-MEC) building in Kodaira City, Tokyo. The motto for this year's event was "Standards are Our Guiding Principle,” and a focus was placed upon ‘kaizen’ – the Japanese word describing improvement or change for the better – throughout the Bridgestone Group. In that context, Bridgestone Europe’s Burgos plant in Spain was given a TQM award, in particular thanks to “open and close standard based kaizen” in the plant’s curing department.”
During the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Germany, Hankook UK sales director Barrie Horrocks shared with Tyres & Accessories that the tyre maker plans on launching its own bead-to-bead retreads in the first quarter of 2013, and the UK has been chosen as the pilot market for the new range. The retreaded products will be marketed under the ‘Hankook Alphatread’ name and will be initially available in three sizes that mirror new tyre patterns.
Over the summer, Michelin reviewed its capital expenditure programme and 2015 financial outlook. The review followed on from the Group’s interim 2012 earnings performance, which Michelin describes as “robust” and says reflected its strategic vision, competitive strengths and management.
According to George Rietbergen, when Goodyear Dunlop releases a new tyre-related innovation, it doesn’t do so because it wants to release something ‘sexy’ – it has to be a meaningful innovation, one that will help its customers reduce costs and improve safety. A product that fits squarely into this category is Goodyear Dunlop’s Air Maintenance Technology, or AMT. The public first caught a glimpse of AMT at March’s Geneva motor show, where it was displayed in its passenger car tyre guise. Now, at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Show, the tyre maker has presented AMT for commercial tyres. The technology is still under development and therefore full technical details aren’t being shared at present, yet Rietbergen stated his belief that AMT will be a “game changer.”
A further development of Hankook’s e-cube range is currently on display at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Germany. The new tyres are promoted as e-cube Max products, and Hankook Tyre UK sales director Barrie Horrocks told Tyres & Accessories that the e-cube Max will eventually replace Hankook’s current e-cube line-up.
A particular focus for Van den Ban at this year’s Reifen show was to convey to visitors the company’s full range of services. To this end, representatives from the Netherlands-based wholesaler’s various national sales teams were on hand to meet with new and existing clients, and VDB showed off examples of its private labels, exclusive brands. Of course, the complete range of premium brands distributed by VDB was also there.
There appears to be a collapse in the number of British towns supporting World Car Free Day on 22 September – the annual event that encourages motorists in over 1,000 towns around the globe to leave their cars at home in favour of bicycles, trains and buses. The lack of support can be blamed on slashed budgets for local government and dwindling interest in the environment, according to the Environmental Transport Association (ETA); the organisation that first coordinated the event in Britain.
October is fast approaching and TyreSafe invites garages, tyre dealers and other road safety professionals to start their preparation for Tyre Safety Month by ordering their campaign materials. This year’s campaign is titled ‘Time for a Change?’ and addresses the perennial favourite British topic of conversation, the weather. To be precise, it highlights the need for drivers to make sure their tyres are safe and legal at a time when the weather normally takes a turn for the worse.
Visitors to Michelin’s stand at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Germany, which opens to the public today, will be greeted by a whole new range of tyres from the French manufacturer. The world premier of the X Line Energy range is being held at the show; Michelin says the launch of the new range comes at a “special time” as it coincides with the introduction of the European tyre labelling programme.
After declining by 7.8 per cent in July, new passenger car registrations in Europe were down by 8.9 per cent in August. Eight months into the year, the downturn reached 7.1 per cent as the EU registered 8,268,642 new cars.
Although not a tyre maker in its own right, Lanxess supplies its synthetic rubbers to major manufacturers around the world. But to demonstrate the company’s competence in product innovation and its solutions for green tyres, Lanxess has entered the tyre making business, albeit on a very small scale – the German specialty chemicals company has produced an ‘AA’ rated concept tyre.
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