Kinforest Tyre: Putting On A Show
Kinforest Tyre is one of Chinas ever-growing legion of tyre manufacturers. Although the company Kinforest Tyre Co. Ltd was set up only at the end of 2007, the organisations history goes back to 2000, when it bought tyre-making technology from Firestone. In 2006/2007, there was co-operation with Continental until the establishment of Kinforest Tyre at the end of the year. The Kinforest factory employs around 2,500 workers, producing passenger, UHP, light truck and winter tyres under the brand names Kinforest, Mayrun and Starlake. The tyres comply with a number of test requirements, including DOT, ECE, NOM, INMTRO, SABSAND and GCC. Kinforest also says that it was the first Chinese tyre manufacturer to achieve the ECE rolling sound certification.
Continue ReadingFormer Vredestein UK MD Stellinga Now with Conti
Former Vredestein (UK) Ltd managing director Bert Stellinga has held the position of business unit director for Continental Banden Groep B.V. in the Netherlands since 1 February.
Continue ReadingLow Demand For Cars In Thailand Boosts B-Quik
B-Quik Co, Thailands leading operator of car service centres, has increased its revenue target this year to 2 billion baht (42.1 million euros) from 1.8 billion (37.9 million euros) as sluggish demand for new cars has been a windfall to the maintenance market. Eight to 10 B-Quik service centres will be added this year to the existing network of 56 sites nationwide, said chief executive Henk Kiks. The market has been surprisingly good for us with revenue surging over 30 per cent in the first half, said Kiks. We earlier projected sales of 1.8 billion baht, growth of 21 per cent from last year, but now we are aiming for over a 33 per cent rise to 2 billion by the end of the year.
Continue ReadingEnjoy The Best of China
Enjoy Tyre is a young, Chinese company trading in the wheel and tyre sector, which has built up an export business supplying companies in more than 60 countries in less than five years. Turnover in 2008 was US$ 46 million. The product range includes good quality Chinese tyres, including a number of brands that are becoming increasingly familiar names in Western Europe. Among these are; Linglong, Chengshan, Westlake, Goodride, Taishan, Double Star and Jintong. Miss Xu Xia, managing director of Enjoy, told T&A that the company has global exclusivity for the distribution of the Rotalla brand of passenger car and high/ultra high performance radial tyres, which are being actively marketed across Europe.
Continue ReadingChem-Trend Launches Curing Bladder Treatment for Tyres
Chem-Trend, a global manufacturer of release agents and other process chemical specialties, has announced the launch of Mono-Lube 1111, a new high performance tyre-curing bladder treatment for the tyre manufacturing industry. Chem-Trend states that initial field tests have shown that tyre-curing bladders coated with Mono-Lube 1111 can extend bladder life up to 40 per cent. Mono-Lube 1111 cures in one hour at room temperature and provides similar performance to coatings that are baked onto the surface of a curing bladder. It can be applied by various methods including brush, sponge or spray application. The new product is the latest addition to the Mono-Lube family of products for the tyre manufacturing industry. Chem-Trend’s full line of products includes inside tyre paints, outside tyre paints, curing bladder coatings and the Mono-Coat brand of tyre mould treatments.
Continue ReadingChinese Retreading Volumes to Grow 30% This Year – CRI
According to Shanghai based research company China Research and Intelligence (CRI), increased vehicle numbers are causing scrap tyre levels in China to grow at a rate of 10 to 20 per cent per annum. Last year, CRI reports, more than 200 million tyres in China reached the end of their useful lifespan, yet only 11.5 million were retreaded.
Continue ReadingOnline Retailers Amongst Those Supporting Tyre Labelling Rules
On April 22 the European Parliament approved – by a large majority – a number of draft measures that will see tyre performance in fuel efficiency, wet grip and noise levels explained on a standardised label attached to new tyres. The new rating system, pencilled in for implementation by late 2012, will use a scale similar to that utilised on the EU Energy Label or “fridge mark” as it has affectionately been dubbed. Now that the tyre labelling measures first published in November have been approved, it has been proposed that tyres generating particularly low levels of noise be given an extra insignia, imprinted on the outer sidewall. Another proposed change is an upping of the level of information provided in tyre advertisements – the aim is to better inform consumers and provide a stimulus for the development of safer and more environmentally friendly tyres. However, specific details of the labelling scheme have yet to be finalised, and the draft text still awaits the scrutiny of the Council of Ministers, the body representing the 27 EU member states.
Continue ReadingRubber Prices May Plummet 35% as Tyre Sales Slow
Global sales of passenger car and commercial vehicle tyres may decline to 1.32 billion units in 2009 from 1.41 billion last year, said No Dock Moung, an analyst with the Singapore based International Rubber Study Group. The drop of almost 6.4 per cent would be the steepest since at least 1975, he said. And according to a Singapore based trading manager from Marubeni Corp., Japan’s largest rubber trading company, this could lead to natural rubber prices weakening by as much as 35 per cent.
Continue ReadingIs Conti’s Truck Tyre Production Heading East?
Tyres & Accessories sister publication Neue ReifenZeitung recently published reports that Continental has been considering moving its truck tyre production East and linking it with certain Russian tyre makers in the wake of the announced closure of its high tech Hannover-Stoecken truck tyre production plant. For a number of years the Russian tyre manufacturer Nizhnekamskshina has worked together with Continental within the framework of a technical agreement, having previously been involved in a technical partnership with Pirelli. The possibility of forming a 50:50 joint venture has been talked about since 2007, however to date the entire result of this joint effort is that the Russians are building a truck tyre factory and Continental is “only” contributing know-how and organising production processes, as well as delivering all the required equipment. The target is said to be for production capacity to exceed one million all-steel tyres per annum.
Continue ReadingGfK to Analyse Key Asian Tyre Markets
GfK Asia is planning to expand its market research coverage to include tyre reports in China, Korea and Malaysia, followed by Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand at a later stage. The Korean market information is scheduled to be processed first with Malaysia following after that. In the first instance the reports will specifically focus on the tyre market with a view to exploring engine oil and other spare parts markets in the future. GfK Korea, a subsidiary of GfK Asia, is to record data from 4400 shops across five regions (Seoul, Inchon, Kyunggi, Kyungbuk, Kyungnam). Meanwhile GfK Malaysia’s survey analyses the sales of the 17,800 spare parts shops, garages and tyre specialists that serve the pool of more than 12 million motorcycles, passenger and commercial vehicles. GfK Malaysia will launch its first passenger car tyre retail tracking report in June 2009 and the company hopes to expand both studies as the reports gain momentum.
Continue ReadingDeestone: A Successful Entry into Radial Production
Thai based commercial and two-wheel vehicle tyre specialist Deestone, through the founding of the new company Deestone Radial Tire Co. and the establishment of a new factory, has set foot into market territory held by the “Big Three”. The Thai radial tyre market, like almost every other around the world, is dominated by Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear. Yet the decision makers at Deestone Ltd. are losing no sleep over the position their own passenger car and light commercial vehicle radials hold in the domestic market – only two years after the opening of the company’s first radial tyre factory, its Thai market share has grown to five per cent. As Deestone’s business development manager Noppadol Nimdee explained during Tyrexpo Asia, this market share is expected to further increase.
Continue ReadingPirelli Researching the Use of Rice Husk Ash in Tyre Compounds
From an ecological point of view, the new Pirelli Cinturato P7 offers three headline benefits - a CO2 emission reduction of up to 4 grams per kilometre driven, 30 per cent lower noise emissions and a 4 per cent fuel saving. Pirelli’s clincher (particularly aimed at current and potential OE customers) is that it is already in position to meet the targets set by the new EU regulations that are due to take effect from 2011 and that it does this without compromising on wet or dry performance. However, none of this explains how the company is able to achieve these goals. In mid-February, Pirelli gave details of how its 2009 – 2011 industrial plan means the company will have an increasingly “green” focus. In particular Pirelli committed to developing a series of new materials that for use in tyre compounds. One particular silica rich material is rice husk ash (RHA). Pirelli is already (as far as the technological requirements are concerned) in a position to use this material in tyre production this year. However, the material is currently the subject of a large scale viability study focusing on the availability of the kind of tonnages needed for tyre industral scale tyre manufacturing. Tyres & Accessories understands that Pirelli already has research and development teams in place in Brazil and the areas surround Milan, which just happen to be some of the best rice production areas in the world.
Continue ReadingPoint S – From Private Brand to Leading Brand
In 2005 Point S operated in nine different European countries. Four years later it is almost double that. Currently the group consists of 1700 tyre outlets, run by 1000 different owners, commanding a 6 per cent retail market share in both the passenger car and truck tyre segments across Europe. Since the first Point S was opened in 1971, the network has used the same business model in every country its has grown into – allowing independent tyre entrepreneurs to control their business while allowing everyone to benefit from the strong brand and economies of scale that come with a large group. However, the group’s private brand strategy is also a key part of the company’s business and by the time Point S development announced that the France-based international tyre retail group had expanded into Bulgaria (its 17th country) in January 2009, this part of the business had become an exemplary model in the tyre market. Tyres & Accessories recently interviewed Point S Development’s international operations director, Fabien Bouquet, and found out why private brands are so important.
Continue ReadingWhen is a Price Cut Not a Price Cut?
When is a price cut not a price cut? Answer: when international tyre imports and global exchange rates are involved. This month a number of Chinese tyre factories lowered their gate prices in response to the recent easing of raw material costs. Combined with decreases in shipping costs, you’d think this would result in cheaper tyres for mature markets. However, according to industry sources, if the mature market you had in mind was the UK – or most of Europe for that matter – you would be wrong. Aeolus Tyres, for example, apparently became the first tyre maker to openly cut its rates, saying it was aiming to send a clear signal that as a “runner-up among major tyre brands,” it is taking the lead in terms of pricing. Clearly the idea here was for the economy tyre producer to steal a march on the premium tyre manufacturers that are fighting hard not to cut product prices, despite market analysts’ predictions that the days of price increases are over and the opposite is likely, and take advantage of raw material price stabilisation.
Continue ReadingNokian Tyres’ Kazakhstan JV on Hold
Amongst the announcements made upon the public release of the Nokian Tyres 2008 financial statement is news that the company’s joint venture in Kazakhstan has been put on hold. The project with Ordabasy Corporation, agreed upon in 2007, has been paused by mutual agreement, Nokian reports. The company adds that the project may be re-launched, at the earliest, in late 2010. An agreement has been made to return an advance payment of 12 million euros, made for technical support, to Ordabasy.
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