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UK Border Agency officers working in Calais have stopped an attempt by 11 illegal immigrants to smuggle themselves into the UK – hidden in a lorry load of racing tyres. According to the Home Office, the French registered lorry was stopped at 08:04 on 30 April.
P.T. Sumi Rubber Indonesia, Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ Indonesian subsidiary, produced its 100 millionth tyre on Monday 27 April 2009. Sumi Rubber Indonesia started operation in April 1997 as Sumitomo Rubber’s first tyre production base in Asia. The Indonesian company has since supplied tyres in Indonesia, Japan and globally. At the same time, the company worked actively on reduction of burden on the environment and obtained ISO14001 certification in August 2003. It attained the zero emission in December 2004 and the complete zero emission in August 2008 as one of the companies to obtain it fastest in Indonesia. The factory employees 3000 and produces 4200 tons a month, according to company literature.
On 4 May 2009 Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc. received an exchange listing non-compliance letter from the Nasdaq stock exchange notifying the company that it was “no longer in compliance with the rules for continued listing according to Listing Rule 5250(c)(1),” which refers to the prompt publication of financial results. According to a statement issued by Hayes Lemmerz, the letter comes as a result of its failure to file its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 January 2009 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Hayes has until 3 July 2009, to submit a plan to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s continuing listing standards. The company says it expects to file its Form 10-K on or before 15 May 2009. The notification has no effect on the listing of the common stock of Hayes at the moment.
Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has posted a net loss of 5.7 billion yen (£38.7 million) for the financial year ended 31 March 2009, compared with net income of 21.1 billion yen (£142.6 million) in full-year 2008. This came as a result of operating income declining 61.3 per cent, to 12.8 billion yen (£87 million), on a 6.2 per cent decline in net sales, to 517.3 billion yen (£3.5 billion). The company’ s Tire Group saw operating income plummet 62 per cent, to 9.9 billion yen (£67.4 million), on a 4.8 per cent decline in sales, to 399.7 billion yen (£2.7 billion).
Previewing the fourth round of this year’s MotoGP championship, which takes place at Le Mans at the weekend, Hiroshi Yamada predicts that competition will continue to be fierce following the presence of three different riders at the top of the leaderboard after each of the first three Grand Prix weekends: “We’ve now had three races of this new season with Bridgestone supporting all riders and teams as the series’ Official Tyre Supplier, and in this time I am very pleased to have seen three championship leaders. Casey is only 11 points behind Valentino and Jorge and Dani are tied on points for third position, so we could see another change at the French Grand Prix.
“Valentino will want to win to keep himself on-track for his 100th victory in Mugello and Casey will want to make amends for last year’s race, but Jorge and Dani are also fast at Le Mans, Colin Edwards has performed well there in the past and after his excellent fourth position in Jerez, Randy de Puniet will carry a lot of confidence into his home grand prix so I think competition at the front will be tight. We had full wet race in 2007 and last year rain fell in the middle of the race, so I hope this year we will have another exciting battle but with dry conditions!”
Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Limited is to consult with pension trustees, trade unions and employee representatives over the introduction of a new Defined Contribution (DC) Pension scheme. According to a company statement, the proposed scheme would replace both the company’s ‘Hybrid Scheme’ (combined Defined Benefit final salary and Defined Contribution) and ‘New Hire’ DC scheme. Approximately 850 employees are in the Hybrid scheme and 70 in the ‘New Hire’ scheme.
The consultation will be on the proposed replacement of the current schemes with a new enhanced defined contribution programme. Those who are currently paying into the Defined Benefit (DB) scheme will have their accrued benefits deferred, and the company are proposing the introduction of a new DC scheme for future service to add to the members’ existing benefits.
Dunlop Motorcycle in the UK has announced that it has extended its popular Roadsmart tyre range. Created to meet the needs of all-weather, year-round riders on sports-touring, naked street bikes and supersport machines, the Roadsmart range has been extended to provide tyres for the increasingly popular large capacity trail bikes used for road riding. The tyre is now available in sizes 110/80 R19 (59V) and 150/70 R17 (69V) to be fitted on popular trail bikes for road use.
Lisa Faulkner, motorcycle manager, UK and Ireland stated, “We’re very happy to be able to bring the Roadsmart range to even more riders. Large capacity trail bikes have become an increasingly popular choice for road use, Roadsmart is one of the best all round tyres and it was only natural that we would develop a tyre for these bikes.”
Pirelli has developed a new “qualifying tyre” for the Italian track, with the specific aim of reducing lap times and enhancing the spectacle of Superpole action. The tyre will be given non-permanent white “long P” markings and yellow lines have been imprinted on the tyre’s surface, which will reveal the strategy of teams and riders to motor-racing fans looking on.
Pirelli presented the new 200mm tyre at the first Italian round of the Superbike World Championship. It is unique to Monza, being equal in measurement, profile and structure to Pirelli’s race tyres for this circuit. Giorgio Barbier commented, “We continue to put forth significant efforts in developing additional tyre options available to every rider of the Superbike and Supersport grid, and we are satisfied with all the results, including this new qualifying tyre which guarantees more excitement and visibility into the strategies of each team during Superpole for all spectators, both live and on television.”
In the USA, Goodyear Tire & Rubber is exiting the OTR tyre retreading business, selling the assets of its operation to Purcell Tire & Rubber. Purcell plans to move the operations and equipment – located Salisbury, North Carolina, and Winona, Minnesota – to its Potosi, Missouri base. Purcell already has five retread plants in the western US and some 60 retrail and commercial tyre centers.
“This should be a shot in the arm for our Missouri operations,” Purcell executive president Keith Butcher told the St Louis Business Journal. Goodyear will continue to operate its commercial truck tyre retreading operations. (Tire Review/Akron)
Under a new agreement, Marangoni Tread North America will produce custom pre-cure retreading stock for Continental Tire North America. The new ContiTread will features the same rubber compounding, tread designs and fuel-saving technologies as new Continental tyres, said CTNA, and will be
available to fleets in the US and Canada. In addition, CTNA and Marangoni are working to establish “a total retreading business model” for dealers that will “include setups of retread operations with Marangoni equipment, and sales of the ContiTread products.”
Marangoni will produce ContiTreads based on the Continental HDL Eco Plus and the HTL Eco Plus tyres, both of which are EPA SmartWay certified. Initially, the retread stock will be produced in Marangoni’s Ringtread technology; later, cut-to-length precure stock will be made available. (Tire Review/Akron)
Goodyear has been supplying US military vehicles’ rubber for a century, and that trend looks as though it will march on, as the company announced that it has won the approval of BAE Tactical Vehicle Systems as the standard tyre supplier for a widely used military transport vehicle.
BAE, based in Sealy, Texas, has selected the Goodyear 395/85R20 MV/T tyre as the exclusive fitment for the company’s FMTV (Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles), the US Army’s vehicle of choice in the 2.5- to 10-tonne capacity. The contract calls for supply of approximately 100,000 tyres to be delivered through 2010. Goodyear manufactures the tyres at its Danville, Virginia factory.
Semperit’s tyre, the Speed-Life represents the Continental second-brand’s affordable entry into the high performance market place. It benefits from an advanced generation silica compound, which gives the tyre better handling characteristics in the wet as well as reduced fuel consumption.
The use of offset tread blocks of varying sizes enables the contact between the tyre and the road to be staggered, this minimises the noise output to give a quiet and comfortable drive.
Stapleton’s offers a substantial range of high performance tyres including its own brand Prestivo and tyres from the manufacturer Nexen, from whom it holds distribution exclusivity. Prestivo, Stapleton’s own brand range of tyres, is positioned as a quality mid-range tyre. The brand will be available in new sizes and tread patterns later in the year. The range is available exclusively to members of Stapleton’s Prestivo Partners scheme and ensures all retailers receive the backing and support they need to maximise sales of Prestivo tyres. Stapleton’s other exclusive high performance brand is Nexen. The range is available in more than 140 patterns and sizes, ranging from family to high performance cars.
Describing the Prestivo 2000, Stapleton’s trading director, Steve Parker, said, ”The Prestivo 2000 gives a sense of assurance. This performance tyre provides a smooth and comfortable ride. It offers confidence across all road conditions with longevity.” On the Sport iteration of the series, he commented: “The Prestivo Sport offers true driving pleasure. You can feel reliable acceleration, braking and cornering in everyday driving. Aggregated and advanced technology gives this tyre sport and comfort performance.”
Al Saeedi Middle East FZ Co. was recently named as Maitech Tyres’s Best Dealer 2008. The award was presented Ian Thomas, Maitech director international sales in a ceremony held at the Intermat show in Paris.
The Maitech range includes all-steel off road radials with sizes to suit many different types of construction equipment. The Maitech range of steel radial UM3/UM5 tyres covers 15.5R25, 17.5R25, 20.5R25, 23.5R25, 26.5R25 and 29.5R25. In particular Maitech tyres are said to be highly resistant to shoulder and tread cuts and hence enjoy a greatly extended life for maximum cost effectiveness. This extended life, combined with the Maitech’s ability to wear evenly, results in lower costs per kilometre and therefore reduced overall machine operating costs.
Goodway Integrated Industries Bhd registered 12,559 million Malaysian ringgits of pre-tax loss in the year ended 31 December 2008, compared with 6,702 million ringgits of pre-tax profits in 2007. Chief operating officer Alison Wong Ping Kiong told Malaysian Insider: “It was difficult for us to pass down the cost to customers as the prices fluctuated so much that by the time we price in the extra cost, the rubber prices increased again and vice-versa.” Wong said 75 per cent of the company’s revenue were derived from rubber compound while the remaining 25 per cent came from tyre retreading focused in the local market.
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