This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Tyrepress Editors contributed 35524 entries already.
Startrescue.co.uk figures suggest that the recent cold weather has left the UK’s roads in a bad way, causing the number of call-outs for tyre and suspension related repairs to rise rapidly in the 2009-2010 winter season. The relatively new breakdown recovery service reported a 13 per cent increase in December and January.
Watts Tyre Group, the UK-based industrial tyre and wheel producer has announced the creation of Watts America Latina, a new business unit to service the Latin American market (excluding Brazil and Mexico where the group has existing business operations). Watts America Latina is headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay and is headed by director General Carlos Correia. The business services container customers across the region as well as sales from a warehouse operation from which pallet orders can be satisfied enhancing product availability.
One of the more widely anticipated effects of the car scrappage schemes popular in Europe as stimuli for the industry in 2009 was the increase in market share of A and B-segment small cars (exemplified by Ford’s Fiesta and Ka, Fiat’s 500 and Panda and Volkswagen’s Polo and Fabia). Data released by Deutsche Bank analysts shows that the predicted swing transpired to a significant degree – these small cars comprised 45 per cent of 2009’s registrations in the zone, compared with 39 per cent in 2008. In terms of passenger car tyres, it seems the trend must follow in Western Europe, though we predict the general growth in small car rim-sizes will mitigate this factor somewhat.
Netherlands based manufacturer Interstate Tire & Rubber has announced its participation in Brazil’s Recaufair tyre show between April 13 and 16, 2010. The company plans to launch its brand new Interstate Eco Tour Plus tyre into the South American market during the Sao Paulo show. Interstate reports that its market share in South America is “growing rapidly”, and according to company vice-president Theo de Vries, the region represents a “fast growing market with excellent opportunities for Interstate.”
During the global recession and financial crisis of 2009, tyre manufacturer Pirelli negotiated the challenges thrown at it better than expected and in doing so proved it is what many companies only claim to be: a storm-proof edifice. With its world-renowned Pirelli premium brand, the Italian tyre business retains its pattern of growth.
Yesterday Michelin launched the latest generation of its Pilot Sport family of high performance tyres. According to the company, the new tyre maintains all the the dry handling and high speed performance benefits of its predecessor with marked improvements in wear life (10 per cent longer); rolling resistance (10 per cent less) and wet stopping distances. In fact, the French tyre manufacturer claims to have improved the latter so much that it now stops three metres shorter than its closest competitor in the wet.
Upon the release of his company’s annual figures, Nokian Tyres president and CEO Kim Gran commented that “eventually, after taking decisive action in a tough market, we achieved quite satisfactory results in 2009.” This action, which included cutting investments by 94.7 million euros and wages and salaries by 44.6 million, helped the company achieve an annual net profit of 58.3 million euros, a figure that is, coincidentally, 58.3 per cent lower than the company’s 2008 profit. Net sales for January to December 2009 amounted to 798.5 million euros, 26.1 per cent less than a year earlier. Operating profit was 102.0 million euros compared with 247.0 million for the 2008 financial year.
Apollo has ended its key sponsorship deal of India’s quest to find the country’s first tennis Grand Slam singles champion by 2018. A statement issued by the company praised the “stellar performances” of the children taken on by the programme, and said the decision to end its sponsorship was “regrettable” and “extremely unfortunate”, according to The Hindu in India.
Goodyear Farm Tires, a Titan Tire Corporation brand, has introduced a new tyre the company says is suited to wet conditions. To help it achieve this wet condition operability, the DT 930 TM in size 1100/45R46 features a low sidewall (LSW) aspect ratio.
Motorsport.com reports that tests at Jerez revealed some concern for the reported lack of longevity in wet and intermediate tyres. Finland's Turun Sanomat told Motorsport.com that between two and three seconds were being lost very soon after fitting the wet-weather tyres.
Bridgestone has announced its Potenza tyre compound allocations for the first three rounds of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship. The supplier will provide super soft and medium compounds for the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir, with soft and hard compounds set for Melbourne and Sepang at the Australian and Malaysian legs. The first three races see the return of Bridgestone’s challenge to teams in including two non-consecutive compounds, exploiting the FIA’s regulation that teams must use both compounds during races. This season will be the second with slick tyres, which made a return to Formula One last year after an eleven years absence from the sport. All four dry compounds have also been modified from those used last year.
Exide has appointed a new national sales manager. Effective February 8, this position rests in the hands of Heath Ghent, who, according to the battery supplier, brings with him a wealth of experience. Ghent’s previous roles include senior sales and marketing positions in a variety of companies, including Aggreko Ltd and Air Products PLC, servicing customers in a wide cross section of market sectors.
Goodyear has announced that customers choosing Optional Performance Package on the recently unveiled 2011 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 will receive its Eagle F1 SuperCar G:2 UHP tyres as standard fitment. The tyre, tested on some of the most renowned road courses in North America, appears on the new Mustang this year in sizes P265/40ZR19 and P285/35ZR20.
Recent advances from the tyre industry’s leading manufacturers and technology providers have been acknowledged at this year’s Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence. The ceremony, held on the evening of February 10 in conjunction with the Tire Technology Expo show in Cologne, Germany, covers five categories.
Tyre supplier Strathclyde Tyres has won the West Dunbartonshire and South Lanarkshire local authority Exel contracts. Strathclyde reports that the use of Cam Systems’ Cameo software platform has assisted Strathclyde’s account management and reporting, allowing it to develop its communication with customers. Cameo provides a foundation line-of-business application suite for tyre wholesalers and retailers. Debbie Tracey, manager at Strathclyde Tyres says: “Our partnership with Cam Systems has enabled us to improve the way in which we manage accounts and streamline our reporting process. This has allowed us to improve the way we communicate with our clients and, in turn, make us more marketable. We selected Cam as we had been looking for a software package which is specifically built to meet our needs and have been impressed with the increased visibility it has given our company.” Cameo reportedly helped to increase visibility across its two divisions – private and commercial – provided by Cam Systems, the leading software solutions provider to the independent tyre industry.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
