Former Nexen CEO appointed president of Kumho’s European business
Changrin Suk has been named the new president of Kumho Tire Europe. The 59-year old succeeds Charles Kim, who served in this role since March 2015 and has now left the company.
Changrin Suk has been named the new president of Kumho Tire Europe. The 59-year old succeeds Charles Kim, who served in this role since March 2015 and has now left the company.
The Continental range of wheel loader and dump truck radials has been rounded out by the introduction of two more E4/L4 dimensions into its EM-Master line. The addition of these size 23.5R25 and 26.5R25 tyres give Continental a total of 13 loader and dump truck tyre sizes within its three tyre lines.
A settlement has been reached between Michelin North America Inc. and Tire Mart Inc. regarding alleged design patent infringements. Terms of the settlement, which centres on design patents for the BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM2, have not been disclosed.
Heuver Tyrewholesale has gone energy neutral. Thanks to the installation of more than 1,600 solar panels on the roof of its facility in Hardenberg, the Netherlands, a project undertaken as part of the expansion of warehousing space up to 43,000 square metres, the wholesaler’s energy is now supplied in-house. Or on-house, to be precise.
With the exception of agricultural tyres, sales of tyres produced by European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) members were generally stable in 2017. The ETRMA reports that its members sold 204,838,000 replacement market consumer tyres (passenger car, SUV and light commercial vehicle tyres) in 2017, 0.9 per cent fewer than a year earlier. Sales of original equipment consumer tyres (including in the Turkish market) were up during the year, increasing 0.7 per cent to 86,779,000 units in 2017.
The recent completion of a full EV sports car battery manufacturing concept programme by the Performance Products division of Ricardo is a significant milestone in the company’s aim to become the niche battery manufacturer of choice for high performance hybrids and EVs.
In 2017, new passenger car registrations experienced an increase of +3.4 per cent on the year before. This marked four consecutive years of growth and the best result since 2007 when 16 million units were registered. Registrations rose in the majority of the largest EU markets: Italy (+7.9 per cent) and Spain (+7.7 per cent) were followed by France (+4.7 per cent) and Germany (+2.7 per cent). In the UK the market declined by -5.7 per cent.
Hella has recently added antibacterial carbon activated cabin filters to the Hella Hengst range of OE quality filters.
Brake Engineering has extended its aftermarket portfolio by introducing several new additions across its product range for passenger cars and LCVs, including new brake calipers, pads and shoe sets. The braking specialist continues to launch new products regularly, steadily increasing its vehicle parc coverage as it remains committed to ensuring optimum customer satisfaction.
During the winter months there is sure to be plenty of adverse weather conditions, all of which could hinder the performance of the vehicle, as several key components will be more exposed to the elements and prone to failure.
The global e-commerce automotive aftermarket is largely consolidated with the presence of a few key companies that hold majority of the market share, according to report published in January by Transparency Market Research. This being the case, the automotive aftermarket’s forays into e-commerce are expected to boost sales in the years to come.
Italian retread equipment manufacturer TRM has developed a new line of automated retreading equipment for the US market and signed an agreement with Shamrock Marketing, Inc. of Louisville Kentucky to be the authorized dealer. The new line, called “Latitude”, is built around a robotic style buffing machine that is designed to minimize process time, cut labour, and increase consistency in buff texture. The equipment line will be officially launched in March 2018 during the Mid-American-Truck-Show in Louisville, KY with live demonstrations at Shamrock’s facility.
After sitting 2017 out, Pirelli returns to the World Rally Championship this year, and brings all-new P Zero and Scorpion tyres with it. The first opportunity for us to see these in competitive action presents itself at the Rallye Monte Carlo tomorrow.
Stefano Sanchini has been appointed sales director for Bridgestone in the Middle East & Africa region. He joins Bridgestone from Goodyear, and although the tyre maker only recently announced his appointment, Sanchini has been with Bridgestone since August 2017.
Following its entry into the UK fleet market last year with through deals with several medium-sized operators, Apollo Vredestein has landed its first fleet agreement for 2018 with Heathrow-based aviation logistics specialist CCH Logistics. The yearly contract will include the replacement of all CCH vehicle tyres, which are currently “other OE and replacement premium brands,” with Vredestein products. Tyrepress.com understands that tyre fitting and maintenance will be carried out by local firm Tomato Tyres.
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