Latin Tyre Expo – post show report
The organiser of the Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo reports that 3,880 visitors from at least 78 countries attended the Panama-based trade exhibition between 23 and 25 July. A total of 233 exhibitors were also present at the show, and organiser Latin Expo Group LLC says feedback from exhibitors and visitors indicates that 95 per cent had a “positive business experience at the show.” The 2014 show was the fifth time the exhibition has been held; it will take place again at the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama between 16 and 18 July 2015.
Continue ReadingBridgestone named America’s Golf Cup title sponsor
Bridgestone is to be title sponsor of the inaugural America’s Golf Cup, which will take place at the Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina between 20 and 26 October. Upon announcing the deal, Bridgestone described the Bridgestone America’s Golf Cup as an “important platform” for advancing golf in the Latin America region and a venue for promoting the company’s product portfolio.
Continue ReadingNew owner found for Pneu Expo, Le Pneumatique following insolvency
French tyre show “Pneu Expo” and the publishing house behind “Le Pneumatique” – currently France’s only tyre trade magazine – are now in new hands. NewsCo Group, a trade publisher based in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, is reported to have purchased Versailles-based company Éditions VB for an undisclosed sum. Éditions VB is said to have had a capital of €166,400.
Continue ReadingCooper extends timeframe for Cooper Chengshan talks
Yesterday Cooper Tire & Rubber Company announced it has extended, for a brief period, the option commencement deadline within the agreement that Cooper, Chengshan Group Company Ltd. and the CCT labor union reached in January of this year, which set forth a process to determine the future ownership of Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Company Ltd (CCT).
Continue ReadingMichelin’s overhauled US truck tyre website goes live
With the launch of its new MichelinTruck.com site, Michelin Americas Truck Tires says it has introduced some industry-first features, including a retread selector. It also says the refreshed website is more customer-driven and mobile-friendly than the previous incarnation.
Continue ReadingApollo broadens its football portfolio with VfL Wolfsburg sponsorship
In UK football circles Apollo Tyres is best known for its Manchester United sponsorship, and the tyre maker now aims to replicate its Manchester experience over in Germany. Apollo Vredestein has signed up as partner to Bundesliga team VfL Wolfsburg for the 2014/15 season, and as national partner for the Wolfsburg men’s team and international partner for the women’s team for the 2015/16 season. In a statement announcing the deal, the company said such a sponsorship is in line with Apollo’s strategy and “should make a significant contribution to promoting the Apollo brand internationally.”
Continue ReadingContinental employees benefit from first company daycare centre
Continental describes the opening of its first children’s daycare centre as a “milestone in its strategy of supporting families.” The Hanover-based facility opened on 1 August and has space for 50 children aged between eight weeks and school age. Continental employees working at the Vinnhorst, Stöcken and Vahrenwald sites in Germany are able to use the new centre. In addition to local educators, an English-speaking employee will be present at the daycare centre at all times so that, as human resources representative Claudia Heinrich explains, “interactions with foreign languages will be integrated into the children’s daily routine in a playful manner.”
Continue ReadingSpeedline Truck exhibiting at Swedish truck show
Between 20 and 23 August Speedline Truck will participate at Elmia Lastbil, for the first time. The international commercial vehicle show is held every two years in Jönköping, Sweden, together with its Swedish distributor NicNac. With the focus on this large trucks and trailer fair in Scandinavia, Speedline truck reports that it aims to strengthen its position on the Scandinavian market in order to also take on a leading role there in the future.
Continue ReadingKanwar speaks on Cooper and future growth at Apollo AGM
Onkar Kanwar has used the opportunity afforded by his company’s 41st Annual General Meeting to share Apollo Tyres’ view of why the planned acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber never materialised. The Apollo chairman also spoke on upcoming plans and the market opportunities and challenges the tyre maker has identified.
Continue ReadingMichelin seeks participants in anniversary US treasure hunt
In 1889, Édouard Michelin took over a factory in Clermont Ferrand, France that produced farm machinery and rubber balls, and renamed it Michelin et Cie. Exactly 125 years have passed since that fateful acquisition, and part of its celebrations in this anniversary year, Michelin is calling on interested parties to take part in a “treasure hunt across the United States with the world’s largest location-based activity: geocaching.”
Continue ReadingHungarian union holds Hankook Tire demo
Yesterday the Federation of Chemical Workers of Hungary (VDSZ) held a demonstration against Hankook Tire Hungary Ltd. and what it views as the tyre maker’s harassment of union officials at its plant in Rácalmás. The VDSZ called upon other unions and workers to display solidarity by attending the protest.
Continue ReadingKumho seeks to repurchase bus company
Around two years ago, Kumho Tire’s parent company the Kumho Asiana Group was heavily indebted, and sold its Kumho Buslines bus operation to a private equity company. Now the Korean conglomerate intends to repurchase the business, however concerns exist that the purchase price may end up being too high.
Continue ReadingOver 70 killed in explosion at Kunshan, China wheel plant
An explosion at Zhongrong Metal Products Co Ltd killed at least 70 people on 2 August. One source put the figure as high as 75. According to the local People’s Daily newspaper, 44 died in the initial blast with others being pronounced dead in hospital. National broadcaster CCTV reported that 187 others were injured in the blast, although other sources put this figure at 200 or more.
Continue ReadingEuropean Commission approves Bekaert acquisition of Pirelli steel cord business
The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of the steel tyre cord business of the Italian company Pirelli by its Belgian-based rival NV Bekaert SA under the EU Merger Regulation. According to an official statement dated 31 July, the commission concluded that the acquisition “would not raise competition concerns as the merged entitys customers, which are large, multinational tyre companies, have countervailing buyer power which is further strengthened by over-capacity in the steel tyre cord market.”
Continue ReadingOTR sector worth more than $100 million to China’s retreading industry
In its report, China Tire Retreading Industry - Overview and Forecast to 2017, Shanghai-based China Research and Intelligence states that China’s retreading market increased by more than ten per cent year-on-year to reach a volume of 18 million tyres in 2012. This volume represented a market scale in excess of RMB 6 billion (£575 million, $972 million). Most retreading is carried out by smaller operations, added China Research and Intelligence; of the 500 or so retreaders in China, in 2012 only 20 had an annual production of more than 100,000 units.
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