New owner for insolvent Reifen Ihle’s retreading operation
The retreading business belonging to insolvent German tyre company the Reifen Ihle Group now has a new owner. The sales contract was signed late last Friday, and follows the divestment of the firm’s 12 Point S tyre retail centres to regional retailer Reifen Müller at the end of October. R-I-G Technische Produkte GmbH has been acquired by Frankfurt am Main-based holding company Prolimity Capital Partners and will now be operated under a new entity, Rigdon GmbH.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop opens winter test circuit in Finland
Goodyear Dunlop has opened a new winter tyre testing facility, the Arctic Centre, in Ivalo, Finland. Located 300 km north of the Arctic Circle, near the town of Ivalo in North Eastern Finland, the Arctic Centre is one of Europe’s leading winter tyre testing centres, and as of December 2014, will be exclusively used by Goodyear Dunlop. Jean-Pierre Jeusette, general director of Goodyear’s Innovation Centre, Laurent Colantonio, director of global tyre performance prediction and, representing the company‘s Nordic Region, Ludvig Nauckhoff, general manager Nordic were present as the ribbon was cut.
Continue ReadingMichelin to cut 10% of Western European dealers from its Exelagri network
In early December, Michelin shared plans to “further develop” its Exelagri dealer partnership programme “with a new vision.” While the French tyre maker aims to increase the size of its 2004-established agricultural tyre dealer network from the current level of 770 partners to 1,000 in the next ten years, Michelin’s plans involve placing much more attention on the growing Eastern European market. In a press statement released in its German-language markets on 3 December, Michelin relayed an intention to boost its Eastern Europe market presence from 38 to 350 points of sale. But the figures Michelin gave also tell another story – if the company achieves the stated ten-year goals, it will involve a considerable reduction in the number of Exelagri partners it has in Western Europe. In response to our questions, Michelin’s headquarters in France explained how and why it intends to divest partners in Western Europe.
Continue ReadingCooper releases new precision challenge football video with Arsenal players
In its role as Arsenal’s official tyre partner, Cooper Tire Europe has produced a video examining the accuracy of five Arsenal players. In the video, Cooper overlays graphics onto the original video, examining the varying styles and techniques as the players tried out the precisions shooting challenge. The five players were Santi Cazorla, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski and goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny.
Continue ReadingDuensing to succeed Wente as ContiTech boss
It was decided at yesterday’s meeting of Continental AG’s Supervisory Board that, as of 1 May 2015, Hans-Jürgen Duensing will join the company’s Executive Board and simultaneously take charge of the ContiTech division. He will take over from Heinz-Gerhard Wente, who has requested the termination of his contract on 30 April, thus ending a career with Continental spanning more than forty years.
Continue ReadingSumitomo establishes Australian tyre sales company
Sumitomo Rubber Industries is saying g’day to Australia through a joint venture with Sumitomo Corporation to establish a tyre sales corporation in the country. Sumitomo Rubber Australia Pty. Ltd. is expected to begin operating in March 2015 and strengthen Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ replacement market consumer tyre sales in Australia. The Sydney-based office is being set up with a capital investment of AU$20 million (£10.6 million), with Sumitomo Rubber Industries and Sumitomo Corporation respectively holding a 75 per cent and 25 per cent share in the operation. Representative Kenichi Furuhama will manage approximately 60 Sumitomo Rubber Australia employees.
Continue ReadingBridgestone launches mobile-friendly website
Following a complete overhaul, Bridgestone Corporation’s global website is now suited to browsing with smartphones and tablets. Bridgestone says the redesigned site features automatic page layout adjustment to match the users viewing environment. Other new additions to the bridgestone.com site include an ‘About Bridgestone’ section that provides a one-page overview to facilitate understanding of the Bridgestone Group, and improved search functions and site navigation.
Continue ReadingContinental producing first Taraxagum-based test tyres
Continental has produced a limited number of Russian dandelion rubber-based tyres for product development and testing purposes. The first products featuring the new natural rubber alternative will be winter tyres. Speaking at a press conference in London on Friday 5 December, David O’Donnell, senior vice president research and development for Continental’s tyre division, shared a number details relating to both the natural rubber replacement material and the tyre production strategy related to it.
Continue ReadingChinese JV exit gives Cooper Tire flexibility to plan for a changing tyre market
In recent weeks and months, Roy Armes has voiced on a number of occasions that Cooper Tire & Rubber still views China as an important part of the company’s future plans, despite its experiences at the Cooper Chengshan Tire (CCT) joint venture factory in 2013. Most recently, the chairman, chief executive officer and president confirmed during a conference call on 4 December that the country “will continue to be an important part of our long-term growth strategy.” But that doesn’t mean Cooper Tire can’t or won’t adjust its activities in China to meet global market conditions. In light of a new round of tariff measures in the US, which came into effect shortly after Cooper Tire sold its 65 per cent share in CCT, the company has shifted some of its production from China to other global locations, and it will continue to do so should conditions favour this strategy.
Continue ReadingCarlos Ghosn re-elected as ACEA President
The board of directors of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has re-elected Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of Renault, as its President for 2015. Speaking after his re-election, Ghosn said: “I am honoured that my colleagues on the Board have shown their continued confidence in me. 2014 is set to mark the first year of sales growth in the EU industry since 2007. Next year we will continue to push for a political environment that will help us sustain this growth.”
Continue ReadingPro-Align presents latest automated Revolution
While the financial context of the last five years has undoubtedly provided a challenging market environment for many players in the tyre industry, the premium garage equipment sector has seen opportunity. As tyre retailers have broadly seen margins squeezed further as consumers look to save on tyres, so has the importance of maximising ancillary services grown. On the occasion of the launch of another trail-blazing addition to its range with the Revolution tyre changer, Hunter garage machinery supplier to the UK Pro-Align took the opportunity to show Tyrepress the effects of providing innovative services to the sector.
Continue ReadingChengshan forms new JV with investment group
Prinx Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Company Ltd has succeeded Cooper Tires joint venture with Chengshan. The previous JV was dissolved when Cooper closed the sale of its 65 per cent share to Chengshan Group Company Ltd on 1 December. Unveiled at Reifen China 2014 in Shanghai, the new joint venture has been formed with Prairie Investment Company.
Continue ReadingPerformance Fibers selling Asia operations
On 7 December, Performance Fibers – one of the worlds leading producers of industrial polyester fibre and fabrics, and supplier to the tyre industry – signed a definitive agreement to sell its Asia operations to Indorama Ventures PCL (IVL), one of the worlds foremost petrochemical producers. Financial terms of the agreement, expected to close in the next few months, were not disclosed.
Continue ReadingRubber ducks bring Goodyear a SABRE award
A public relations campaign supporting the launch of a Goodyear-brand tyre in China has been honoured as one of the world’s 50 best public relations programmes by The Holmes Group, organiser of the SABRE Awards. At the 2014 Global SABRE Awards, an event billed as the “elite of the elite” that brings together the finest from the SABRE Awards competitions in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the EMEA region, Goodyear was named winner in the specialist audience – marketing to men category.
Continue ReadingContinental: UK car tyre market stable, getting larger and AFV fitments growing
Continental executives opened their annual market trends briefing in London with the positive assertion that the 2014 UK car tyre market demand is stable at roughly 35 million tyres for the year. Contis definition of the market includes imported tyres, 4x4 tyres and part worns, so this figure is broadly in line with other estimates.
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