SingEx-ECI, the owner and organiser of Brityrex International, is to sponsor a new award at this year’s NTDA Tyre Industry Awards. The Marketing Initiative Award will recognise originality and creativity in the marketing and promotion of products or services and will extend and complement the existing suite of NTDA awards.
The National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) is reporting a strong start to 2014 with a number of past members returning and an increase in membership in general during the first quarter.
The SMMT’s Award for Automotive Innovation, is returning for a fifth time this year. Sponsored by GKN and supported by The Times, the award recognises UK-born concepts and technologies that have the potential to transform the wider automotive industry. Ford Motor Company took the crown last year with its efficient, yet powerful, 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine, which now features in more than 100,000 cars and vans across the country.
Retreaded truck tyre production amongst members of the Retread Manufacturer Association (RMA) rose 1.8 per cent to 463,591 units in 2013. However, at the same time pre-cure retread sales are said to have fallen 4.7 per cent to 113,676. Meanwhile mould cure retread reportedly benefited from this and sales grew 4.1 per cent to 347,915.
For the second consecutive month, Pro-Align has completed every single one of its aftersales service call outs within a 48-hour timeframe; the wheel alignment and wheel service equipment specialist says this achievement shows the company’s “rapid reactions” and commitment to delivering the very best levels of customer service and care.
Berovich Portnoy has succeeded Anwar Fasikhovich Vakhitov as factory director of the Nizhnekamsk SSC Tire Factory in Russia’s Republic of Tartarstan following the latter’s appointment as director of the Tatneft-Neftekhim Management Company. Portnoy was previously chief engineer at the Nizhnekamsk SSC Tire Factory, a position he held since 2007. Vakhitov was appointed executive director of the newly-established Nizhnekamsk SSC Tire Factory in March 2007 and headed construction of the plant before named factory director when it entered operation in 2009.
At its Investor Day, held in New York on 15 May, Cooper Tire & Rubber outlined the measures it will implement to support the company’s goal of sustained annual operating profit in the eight to ten per cent range and, over the long term, operating profit above ten per cent plus annual net sales in the vicinity of US$5 billion to $6 billion.
In addition to bringing its full line-up of new and retreaded truck and bus tyres to Reifen 2014, Bridgestone will show off its brand new range of Bridgestone-brand agricultural tyres for the first time ever. The company says all 550m2 of its two-storey booth will be used to showcase its full range of commercial products, including those of subsidiary brands Firestone, Bandag and Protread.
On 16 May, Trelleborg Wheel Systems launched ‘Pit Stop Line’, an innovation that will be employed on its industrial tyre range. The Swedish company describes its new solution as “revolutionary” and says it “answers one of the industry’s most elusive and critical questions” – how to know, with 100 per cent certainty, when a forklift tyre is worn out and needs replacing. Central to Pit Stop Line is an orange line embedded into the tyre; this indicator line is visible on the tyre sidewall and designed to reveal itself across the surface of the tyre when wear reaches a level that necessitates replacement.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber says it will webcast its presentation at the KeyBanc Capital Markets’ Industrial, Automotive, and Transportation Conference on 29 May, with Laura K. Thompson, executive vice-president and chief financial officer, providing a business overview. A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available at 10am EDT (3pm BST, 4pm CEST) on the company’s investor relations website: http://investor.goodyear.com. A replay of the webcast will be available following the event.
Sheffield-based Pneumatic Components Ltd – better known as PCL – says its nitrogen inflation equipment is making hefty inroads into the South African market. The company shares that it is enjoying particular success with its Nexus Compact model. PCL says this inflator is unique in that it can be fitted to the inside or outside of mobile tyre service vehicles while covering every tyre inflation application, from passenger cars to large commercial vehicles, including trucks and OTR tyres.
The car that gave the motoring world its first taste of front wheel drive – and led to Michelin’s four decades in the vehicle manufacturing business – has turned 80. The Citroën 7A, the first Traction Avant, went on sale in May 1934. This was the beginning of the range’s 23 year production run, which eventually saw 759,123 Traction Avant units manufactured at Citroën’s Javel factory in Paris and in plants in the UK (Slough), Belgium (Forest) and Germany (Cologne).
Steel cord manufacturer Bekaert reports organic sales growth in the first quarter of 2013, however the influence of changing exchange rates ensured this positive trend was more than cancelled out. In the first quarter of 2014, Bekaert achieved consolidated sales of €782 million and combined sales of €990 million, respective decreases of 2.1 per cent and 4.4 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2013. On a constant currency basis, Bekaert’s consolidated revenues increased 4.2 per cent and combined sales rose 4.9 per cent.
Bridgestone has put its money where its mouth is by adding a number of all-electric BMW i3 vehicles to the car pool attached to its European headquarters near Brussels, and by equipping the headquarters site with recharging points. The tyre maker says the presence of electric vehicles in its fleet underlines its faith in the concept of sustainable mobility.
Kenda has appointed former Hankook tyre engineer Tom Williams as vice president engineering of the Taiwan based tyre manufacturer. According to the company, he has been vice president engineering at Kenda in Taiwan since the beginning of March.
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