Show review: Reifen China 2014
The eighth annual “Asian Essen”, Reifen China took place at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in the first week of December, with some of the Chinese tyre industry’s major players rubbing shoulders for the last time in 2014. The European side of the Sino-German partnership behind the annual show, Messe Essen stated that it expected the presence of around 120 exhibitors in hall W1 and 15,000 trade visitors. This latter figure, unconfirmed at the time of writing, takes into account the other three-quarters of the twin exhibition; RubberTech China 2014 and the International Exhibition on Rubber & Elastomer, led by the China United Rubber Corporation, comprised around 500 exhibitors across another three halls (W2-4). Messe Essen CEO, Oliver P Kuhrt stressed the importance of the ‘Reifen’ brand’s presence in China, stating in his introduction to the show that it “stands for the success of a fair made in Essen extending across borders”. With about two thirds of the exhibitors at May’s Reifen 2014 visiting Essen from outside Germany, Messe Essen also noted the importance of Reifen China in recruiting Asian participants, whose attention the exhibition organiser has drawn in Shanghai.
Continue ReadingDunlop Aircraft Tyres to supply 10,000 tyres a year to Boeing C-17 fleet
Birmingham-based Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has won a deal to support the world’s fleet of more than 270 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft. News of the deal – one of the biggest in Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ 105-year history – follows the announcement that the company is investing in establishing its first ever tyre distribution and retreading facility in the United States.
Continue ReadingATG inaugurates new tyre plant in India
The new, 54,000 ton per annum Alliance Tire Group factory in India’s Gujarat state is now in operation. The company reported the inauguration of its third facility (the others being Hadera, Israel and Tirunelveli, India) in the second half of December 2014, and said the US$150 million facility in Dahej will reach full capacity in early 2016. At this date it is expected to employ some 1,500 workers.
Continue ReadingKumho Tire exits debt programme
On 23 December, Kumho Tire emerged from the debt workout programme it was placed under at the start of 2010. More than 75 per cent of the company’s creditors, in terms of debt held, decided that Kumho Tire had reached the threshold for ‘graduating’ from the programme. The tyre maker’s debt ratio, which hit a high of 858 per cent in 2010, declined to 290 per cent during the first half of 2014. Its credit rating also improved from BBB- to BBB.
Continue ReadingToyo Tire rings in the New Year with management, organisational changes
As of 1 January, several alterations have occurred amongst Toyo Tire & Rubber’s senior management and corporate organisation, including the appointment of company president Takuji Yamamoto as general manager of Toyos North American Business Unit and Tire Business Group Headquarters.
Continue ReadingApollo Tyres ‘pleased’ with final dismissal of Cooper case
The legal dispute between Apollo Tyres and Cooper Tire & Rubber has now ended following the final dismissal of litigation filled by Cooper Tire against Apollo.
Continue ReadingMichelin acquires land for German plant expansion
The German town of Bad Kreuznach reports Michelin’s acquisition of a 70,000 square metre land plot alongside its facility there, an area that will be used to expand the plant. The land is part of the ‘Marshall Kaserne’ site, a former US Army barracks in the Rhineland-Palatinate that closed in 2001.
Continue ReadingChinese court victory for Bridgestone design lawsuit
A court in China has ruled in favour of Bridgestone Corporation, determining that two Chinese companies, Jianxin Rubber (Fujian) Co. Ltd and PT.Beststone Rubber Industries Co. Ltd., infringed the Japanese tyre maker’s design rights. The Zhengzhou Higher Peoples Court ruled that a pre-cure tread the companies manufactured and sold for truck and bus tyres violated Bridgestone’s design rights.
Continue ReadingThe Parts Alliance awarded ‘Best UK Automotive Transactions’
The Parts Alliance has been recognised for providing the ‘Best UK Automotive Transactions in 2014’ in Deal Feed International’s inaugural Sector Success Awards. The website’s new business awards examine mergers and acquisitions across the globe, asking a panel of financial professionals and writers to judge award winners across various segments. The Parts Alliance’s victory comes on the back of “the group’s rapid growth and financial performance as well as other key strengths such as customer service, employee development and overall strategy,” according to the Alliance’s statement.
Continue ReadingBekaert acquisition of three Pirelli steelcord plants finalised
The sale of Pirelli’s tyre steelcord activities at three sites was finalised on 18 December. Bekaert is now the official owner of the Figline facility in Italy, the Slatina plant in Romania and the operation in Sumaré, Brazil, however it still awaits local regulatory approvals for the transfer of Pirelli’s steelcord facilities in Izmit, Turkey and Yanzhou, China. It is expected that these approvals could be obtained in the first quarter of 2015, however the companies can give no assurance that this timeframe will be met.
Continue ReadingHankook Tire takes 19.5% share in Halla Visteon Climate Control
Korea’s Hankook Tire is a 19.49 per cent shareholder in Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp after it and private equity firm Hahn & Company acquired the close to 70 per cent company share that Visteon Corp held in the joint venture. Its 50.5 per cent stake makes Hahn & Company the largest shareholder in the climate control system specialist, while Hankook Tire is the second largest. According to a disclosure made to the Korea Stock Exchange, Hankook Tire paid a total of Krw 1.08 trillion (£630.2 million) for the 20.8 million shares it received.
Continue ReadingPirelli’s Tronchetti Provera: “In Russia we will continue to grow”
Football magnates such as Arsenal’s second-largest shareholder Alisher Usmanov and Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich may have lost nearly losing $809 million (£516 million) $450 million (£287 million) already with the collapse of the rouble, but Pirelli’s Marco Tronchetti Provera remains optimistic about the tyre maker’s chances in Russia.
Continue ReadingRubbery harvest – Mitas to trial dandelion rubber in agricultural tyres
Continental, Apollo Vredestein and Bridgestone have all expressed interest in using dandelion-sourced rubber as a substitute for Hevea brasiliensis rubber in tyre production. Now Mitas has indicated its intention to evaluate the suitability of dandelion rubber for use in the manufacture of agricultural tyres. The company will use rubber extracted from Taraxacum koksaghyz (Kazakh dandelion) and aims to produce the first prototype tyre some time in 2015. This plan complements Mitas’ involvement in the Drive4EU project, which is researching the possibilities of using rubber from the Kazakh dandelion.
Continue ReadingMichelin partners in Spanish wholesale joint venture
At around the same time that Michelin moved to acquire 100 per cent of German tyre wholesaler Ihle Baden-Baden, the company gained approval to enter the Spanish wholesale market. On 12 September 2014, the Spanish National Authority for Markets and Competition (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia) gave its approval for Euromaster Automoción y Servicios, S.A.U. and Rodi Metro, S.L., which operates the 150+ Rodi Motor Services retail network in Spain, to form a new wholesaling operation to distribute car and light commercial vehicle tyres within the country. Rodi says the wholesale operation has been set up as a 50/50 partnership.
Continue ReadingLinglong Tire’s R&D, European factory plans – Wang Feng gives details
Speaking at the signing ceremony of Shandong Linglong Tire’s agreement with German football club VfL Wolfsburg, the tyre maker’s CEO spoke of the “first class exposure” and substantially increased brand awareness the partnership will bring. He also discussed Linglong Tire’s growth ambitions and the role Europe will play in achieving these.
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