Michelin buys Blackcircles.com for £50 million
Michelin has bought Blackcircles.com, the number one internet tyre sales company in the United Kingdom, for £50 million. Based in Edinburgh, Blackcircles.com generated £28 million in revenue in 2013. Run by Mike Welch, its founder, Blackcircles.com has enjoyed growth of around 20 per cent per annum since 2008. The company reports that the first quarter of 2015 saw the company achieve revenues 34 per cent higher than Q1 2014.
Continue ReadingDelticom: Tirendo’s business concept not successful
At Delticom’s Annual General Meeting in Germany yesterday, shareholders were informed that the online tyre retailer would distribute a dividend of € 0.25 per share for the 2014 financial year – only half that of the previous year. This smaller dividend particularly reflected a three-quarter drop in net profit – a decline “mainly due to the higher cost base after the Tirendo acquisition.” Andreas Prüfer, head of the company’s board of management, also told shareholders that the Tirendo business concept “of achieving 50 per cent or 100 per cent growth in the online tyre market through high advertising and personnel expenses did not prove successful.”
Continue ReadingApollo Tyres expanding Chennai TBR capacity over next 12 months
A report published by The Financial Express yesterday claims Apollo Tyres will implement the previously announced production capacity expansion at its factory in Chennai over the coming year. According to Satish Sharma, president of the tyre maker’s Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa business, the planned boost in the plant’s truck and bus radial capacity from 6,000 to 9,000 tyres per day will cost Apollo Rs 15 billion (£155.6 million). Passenger car tyre capacity in Chennai will remain at current levels for the time being.
Continue ReadingSumitomo Rubber Australia opens – direct tyre distribution begins
On 30 April, Sumitomo Rubber Industries held an opening ceremony for Sumitomo Rubber Australia Pty. Ltd., its new tyre sales corporation in Australia. Sumitomo Rubber Australia was founded in December 2014 as a joint venture with Sumitomo Corporation (SRI holds a 75 per cent equity share), and it began operating in March 2015.
Continue ReadingGT Radial launches Champiro FE1 in Tuscany
The Tuscan hills south of Montepulciano during an unusually warm and sunny spring are an idyllic setting for most occasions. Yet the choice of location for the official launch of GT Radial’s Champiro FE1 passenger car tyre was more significant than just as one of the world’s most picturesque places. The tyre is designed to tackle what Fabio Pecci-Boriani (senior product marketing manager – PCR, Giti Tire) described as “one of the most important market sectors – 15-17”, H-W speed rated, 50-65 series.” Positioned as an all-round premium passenger car tyre for C and D vehicles (including such bestsellers as the Volkswagen Golf, Peugeot 308 and Kia Cee’d) the tyre now has more than 95 per cent coverage of its target sector, following the introduction of nine new sizes (the FE1 was first (soft) launched in 2014).
Continue ReadingCooper Tire completes fuel efficient tyre project, exceeds targets
Tyre development teams at Cooper Tire & Rubber have exceeded the goals set for it under a US government project, the tyre maker reports. These results were in part achieved by utilising materials that Cooper says are not used in tyres currently available on the market. Looking forward, the various technologies developed during the project will be put together in a single concept tyre, and Cooper is evaluating the use of technologies in commercial applications.
Continue ReadingContinental Q1 2015 sales up 14% to €9.6 billion
While Continental will present its figures for the first quarter of 2015 on Thursday, the company has already published some details of what it calls a “positive start” to the year. In the three months to 31 January, the tyre maker and automotive supplier’s sales rose 14 per cent year-on-year to around €9.6 billion. Adjusted EBIT increased to approximately €1 billion. Integration costs and one-time expenses for Veyance of €37 million had a negative effect on the company results in the first quarter.
Continue ReadingElgi Rubber buys US machinery producer
India’s Elgi Rubber Co. Ltd has acquired US retreading equipment manufacturer American Equipment Manufacturing Inc., a firm better known in the market as Cincinnati Retreading/Reclamation Systems; CRS was established in 1975 as a division of American Equipment Manufacturing. The Aztec (New Mexico) headquartered firm is primarily known for its buffing machines, which are produced in the CRS factory in Fairfield (Ohio). According to media reports, Elgi Rubber intends to further expand the facility.
Continue ReadingPirelli to pay £196k following employee autoclave death
Pirelli has pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in the case related to the September 2012 death of employee George Falder in an autoclave at the company’s Carlisle factory. The tyre maker has been fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £46,706 in prosecution costs.
Continue ReadingQ1 performance ‘well above target’, says Cooper Tire
Although the absence of Cooper Chengshan Tire (CCT) was noticeable in Cooper Tire & Rubber’s net sales during the first quarter of 2014, the tyre maker managed to increase operating margin, and excluding the impact of CCT’s divestment, increased operating income in the opening three months of the year.
Continue ReadingAutopromotecEDU 2015 schedule released
Autopromotec, automotive equipment and aftermarket exhibition to be held in Bologna, between 20 and 24 May, recently unveiled the event schedule of its AutopromotecEDU sessions. AutopromotecEDU is billed as the arena for business-to-business meetings and discussions on the current issues of the automotive aftermarket industry.
Continue ReadingHankook reports drop in 1Q sales and profit
Hankook Tire achieved a global sales revenue of KRW 1.48 trillion (1.19 billion euros) and an operating profit of KRW 203.2 billion (164 million euros) in the first quarter of 2015, both figures down on the previous year period.
Continue ReadingAlcoa Wheel Products Europe appoints new sales director
Alcoa Wheel Products Europe has named Kai Sommerlatte as sales director for the Europe, Middle East and North Africa region, effective 1 May 2015.
Continue ReadingBridgestone excited by CV Show possibilities
Bridgestone exhibited from a large stand at this year’s CV Show, saying that the annual event reaped “a number of quantifiable rewards with many new relationships forged”. A contract extension with Axis Fleet Management. Bridgestone also commented that visitor numbers had risen on 2014 figures, suggesting that its Bridgestone Partner network, which promises greater support to dealers and increased reductions in fleet operating costs, was an attractive proposition. The show represented the European launch of Bridgestone Partner, which will consist of over 350 truck tyre specialists across the UK and Ireland implementing Bridgestone’s ‘Total Tyre Care’ approach.
Continue ReadingCollaboration is the future…or is it?
This month I went back to school. Tyre 2015 – the fourth International Tyre Colloquium, hosted by University of Surrey to be precise. While much of the science was beyond those of us that don’t work in R&D, the concepts behind the really technical stuff are fascinating. And what’s more, they offer a unique insight into what is on the horizon in terms of tyre development, vehicle dynamics and indeed original equipment (OE) trends.
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