Pro-Align a ‘five-star’ Hunter Platinum Partner
Wheel servicing specialist Pro-Align has been awarded a five-star rating by leading garage equipment manufacturer Hunter Engineering for the first time. Pro-Align said this reflected the significant progression and development of the Hunter brand in the UK. The company was also presented with Hunter’s “Platinum Partner” award for the ninth consecutive year, indicating the Towcester-based company as one of Hunter’s most successful and important global distributors.
Continue ReadingMichelin launches the first cloud-based tyre content syndication platform
On 15 June Michelin launched what it says is the tyre industry’s first cloud-based content syndication platform. According to the company, the digital platform will allow partner dealers to access any kind of official digital content provided by the manufacturers in real time in order to automatically update their own sites.
Continue ReadingVMI named best performing TKH Group company
VMI Holland BV has once again been named best performing subsidiary by parent company TKH Group NV. For the third time in five years, the developer and manufacturer of machinery for the tyre, rubber, canning and care industries has received the ‘Best Performing Company in TKH Group’ award. VMI reports that it won the award for 2014 due to its financial results and for its performance in three other key areas – innovativeness, entrepreneurship and excellence in production improvements.
Continue ReadingArval signs MoU to buy GE Capital Fleet Services in Europe
Vehicle leasing specialist Arval has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with GE Capital to acquire the latter’s European fleet management business. The scope of this acquisition covers more than 160,000 vehicles in 12 European countries, of which France, Germany and the UK represent more than three quarters; vehicle assets amount to €2.4bn as of Q1 2015. Parent company BNP Paribas states that the transaction will “significantly reinforce” Arval’s leading market position in Europe.
Continue ReadingTension Control Bolts acquires Disc-Lock Europe
Disc-Lock Europe, European distributor of the award-winning Disc-Lock Safety Wheel Nut, is to be acquired by UK owned, Tension Control Bolts Ltd (TCB), a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of high strength, bolted systems for applications world-wide.
Continue ReadingNo Wolverhampton redundancy plans in place yet – Goodyear Dunlop
Goodyear Dunlop UK has no plans in place regarding redundancies at its Wolverhampton mixing and retreading factory. Responding to a report issued by Wolverhampton Express & Star journalist Peter Madeley, Goodyear Dunlop UK managing director Erich Fric told Tyrepress that the company would wait until after the scheduled consultation on the immediate future of the […]
Continue ReadingBridgestone releases 2015 environmental report
Bridgestone Corporation has published the English-language version of its Environmental Report 2015. Titled “Looking Ahead to the World in 2050,” the 16-page document presents an overview of the company’s environmental activities, and provides details of Bridgestone’s efforts last year as well as its future plans. The report can be downloaded here.
Continue ReadingHeads roll at Toyo in light of earthquake dampner scandal
On 23 June Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. chairman Akira Nobuki resigned and executive corporate officer Tetsuya Kuze was demoted in order to take responsibility for Toyo Chemical Industrial Products Co., Ltd.’s sale of non-compliant seismic isolation rubber products. Four more executives announced their retirement. All the personnel changes take effect from 1 July 2015.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop Tires Germany to relocate remaining Wittlich PCR production
Another of Goodyear Dunlop’s European plants has today announced plans to cease a portion of its production in addition to the planned withdrawal from Wolverhampton. Tyrepress sister site Reifenpresse.de reports that Goodyear Dunlop Tires Germany informed its employees of its intention to relocate remaining car tyre production from Wittlich to other plants within the region EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). PCR production has been shifted away from the plant gradually for several years, with the latest announcement completing cessation of Wittlich’s production of these products.
Continue ReadingFirst Goodyear retread redundancies expected in October
Following the news of Goodyear’s planned closure of its Wolverhampton mixing and retreading operations, Express & Star journalist, Peter Madeley has quoted “a union spokesman” on Twitter, saying that the closure proposal was “out of the blue”.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop Wolverhampton retread plant closure: history and reaction
The proposed closure of Goodyear Dunlop’s Wolverhampton retread plant will bring to an end 90 years of tyre production in the city. The factory was part of the first Goodyear factory outside USA, when the manufacturer first started producing new tyres in the city in response to post-World War One import tariffs designed to boost British industry. At its peak, the manufacturer’s operations in Wolverhampton were estimated to have provided more than 7,000 jobs, making it one of the most significant players in the local economy. This role diminished throughout the 2000s, as Wolverhampton job losses became a regular occurrence.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop to close Wolverhampton retread plant
Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK has announced a proposal to close its Wolverhampton mixing and retreading facility. Under the proposal, the company would move its compound mixing activities and the production of commercial retreads to other existing sites across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. It has been reported that the process of transferring operations would be completed over the next two years under the closure proposal.
Continue ReadingZC Rubber’s Thailand factory in production
Ge Guorong, vice president of Zhongce Rubber Group (known as ZC Rubber), visited Thailand for an update on construction progress of ZC Rubber Thailand factory in March.
Continue ReadingChemChina (UK) Ltd founded
On 4 June, Pirelli’s largest single shareholder, ChemChina announced that it had set up ChemChina (UK) Ltd., as a wholly owned subsidiary of ChemChina Petrochemical Co., Ltd. According to the company, this business serves as “a London-based trading platform that will effectively complement its sister company ChemChina (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. to build around-the-clock trading networks covering various fields”.
Continue ReadingPirelli and Rosneft expand partnership
During the course of the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Marco Pirelli CEO Tronchetti Provera and Igor Sechin (chairman of the majority of Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft) announced that their companies had deepened the partnership entered into in late 2012.
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