Nexen Tire wins Fiat Chrysler supplier award, extends OE tyre supply
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has chosen Nexen Tire as an ‘excellent supplier’ at an awards ceremony recently held in China. The ‘2014 APAC Supplier Town Hall and Awards Ceremony’ were held in Shanghai to honour the global suppliers FCA considers have delivered the best quality, brand values and technical skills.
Continue ReadingTitan’s Taylor talks about France, and uses the ‘c word’
France should turn communist when everything goes wrong. That’s the advice Maurice Taylor doled out during an interview with France Info radio. The contents of the interview have been reported by AFP and provide an interesting further chapter to the tome of outspoken comments the Titan International boss has made in relation to the tyre maker’s failed attempt to acquire the Goodyear agricultural tyre facility in Amiens Nord, France.
Continue ReadingTyre show showdown: High Noon in May 2018
The largest and oldest continuously-held tyre trade fair in Europe is the Reifen show, held every two years in the German city of Essen. And while Reifen has existed for years in relative harmony alongside other regional exhibitions, such as Manchester-based Brityrex, at the start of 2014 a brand new tyre trade event was announced, and this appears to have gotten under the skin of Reifen organiser, Messe Essen. What sets this new show apart is that it will enjoy the support of Reifen’s current main sponsor, and will take place only 45 miles away from Essen – at exactly the same time. Given this clash of dates it seems, to paraphrase a cliché from Western films, that the town isn’t big enough for the two of them: A tyre show showdown looms on the horizon.
Continue ReadingDakar tyre tops Hankook design competition
The winners of the Hankook Tyre Design Challenge 2014 were announced at the Essen Motor Show in Germany today. This is the fourth time the competition has been held, and this year’s winner is Samir Sadikov, who submitted a ‘Dakar’ racing tyre concept. Runner up was Andreas Hartl with an intelligent “vent tyre” and third place was taken by Lucia Less with the ‘concept winter’ self-transforming snow tyre. These top concepts, which were selected by a jury of design and tyre experts and produced in prototype form by Hankook, will be on display for the rest of the Essen Motor Show’s duration.
Continue ReadingNokian reports Chinese tyre test victory
The Chinese-market edition of auto motor und sport magazine has voted the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 the winner of its latest winter tyre test. According to Nokian Tyres, the publication called the Hakkapeliitta R2 the “king of winter tyres” in the test that appeared in its 10/2014 issue. The Nokian tyre was one of seven brands (others included Continental, Michelin, Dunlop and Goodyear) tested. Auto motor und sport described the Nokian tyre as offering “excellent grip, good track follow ability, easy to get grip when accelerating and no loss of grip when climbing hill straightly (sic).” The overall evaluation of the Hakkapeliitta R2 is that “it makes everything simple”.
Continue ReadingRomanian authorities approve Michelin-Ihle takeover in Romania
The Romania’s Competition Council has approved the takeover of Reifen Ihle’s Romanian operation – Ihle Anvelope by Michelin. The transaction forms of the previously reported earlier deal in which Michelin took over the German operation (Reifen Ihle Baden Baden) and its international operations. According a Romania Insider report dated 25 November, which carried details of […]
Continue ReadingTyre cord firm Kiswire continues US plant expansion
Kiswire, Inc. is continuing the expansion of its South Carolina, USA tyre cored factory with the investment of $30 million, a figure which is to expected to create 45 new jobs. Once the expansion is completed, Kiswire, Inc. will employ approximately 200 at its two Newberry, South Carolina facilities. The latest move represents the second […]
Continue ReadingGiti ‘disappointed’ with US anti-dumping/countervailing duty decision
Giti Tire has stated that the company “is very disappointed” with the recent US Department of Commerce (DoC) preliminary decision to impose 17.69 per cent tariffs on tyres produced by Giti in China for sale in the US. The Singapore-based manufacturer suggests that to do so is contrary to free market business: “Giti is a […]
Continue ReadingNew owners for South Africa’s Tiger Automotive
Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group and South Africa’s Old Mutual Private Equity have announced their agreement to acquire 100 per cent of South African tyre retailer and wholesaler Tiger Automotive from Ethos Private Equity and the company’s founders for an undisclosed amount. Funding for this investment will come from the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund and Old Mutual Private Equity Fund IV, and Tiger Automotive’s founders will also re-invest equity in the company. The transaction is expected to close in early 2015, subject to regulatory approvals.
Continue ReadingVipal rubber on European public sector fleets
Vipal reports that its rubber is supplying a number of public sector fleets in two European capitals – Istanbul, Turkey and Prague, Czech Republic. Vipal suggests that this success points to both confidence in the Brazilian manufactured products and the compatibility of retreading with sustainability policies.
Continue ReadingNot Japanese and not us – Toyo files action against Japan Toyomoto Tire
For many companies, exhibiting at this year’s SEMA show led to contact with new customers and additional business. For at least one, it prompted legal action. On 4 November, Toyo Tire & Rubber and its US subsidiaries filed a trademark infringement action against Chinese company Japan Toyomoto Tire Corp. and its affiliates. This is the second year in a row that Toyo has undertaken such legal action against another SEMA exhibitor.
Continue ReadingLarge-scale Toyo & Nitto tyre recall begins
It is believed that up to 175,000 Toyo and Nitto brand tyres are subject to a recall notice issued in the USA. The recalls, respectively announced by Nitto Tire USA and Toyo Tire USA on 25 and 26 November, cover particular tyre models produced at Toyo’s Sendai and Kuwana factories in Japan. The tyre are being recalled as “production variances in the belt package” have been detected in a small number of tyres, and this has the potential to lead to a separation of the tread and belt and/or a loss of inflation pressure.
Continue ReadingPirelli signs MoU for truck tyre factory expansion in Egypt
Plans to enlarge Pirelli’s truck tyre radial facility in Egypt are one step closer to realisation following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Pirelli Tyre S.p.A and Egypt’s Ministry of Investment. The freshly-autographed MoU explores the possible expansion of the Alexandria Tire Co. (Atco) plant, an operation that Pirelli holds more than 90 per cent control in. On the basis of the MoU, it is foreseen that Atco would invest around US$107 million to expand and technologically upgrade the plant. The investment is expected to take place over a 36 month period once the conditions (which have not been made public) for the launch of the expansion activities have been met. When completed, the expansion project will create up to 250 new direct jobs at Atco and increase truck tyre radial production by around 300,000 units per annum.
Continue ReadingPierluigi Dinelli Pirelli NAFTA CEO
Pirelli has appointed Pierluigi Dinelli as chairman and CEO of Pirelli’s NAFTA region as of January 2015. Dinelli joins the NAFTA team from Pirelli’s headquarters in Italy, where he has held the role of CEO for Pirelli Italia. He brings international experience to the position having held senior positions at Brembo as chief marketing officer and former marketing director at Pirelli’s NAFTA headquarters in Rome, Georgia.
Continue ReadingTotal tariff load could be between 45 and 50%
When you add the standard preliminary countervailing charge of 15.69 per cent to the predicted anti-dumping tariff of between 25 and 35 per cent, it means we are looking a total potential tariff load in the region o 40 to 50 per cent. Writing in an investor’s note published immediately after the Department of Commerce announcement, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Robert Higginbotham certainly suggested as much: “We believe in the middle to upper end of expectations. Countervailing typically the smaller of the two pieces (the other being antidumping); todays decision [24 November] implies a total tariff in the range of 45-50 per cent.
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