Sentury and Huagao cooperate on first graphene tyre
On 3 August 2016 Sentury Tire and Huagao Graphene Technology Corporation hosted a ceremony marking the two firm’s cooperation on their first (and possibly the first) graphene high performance car tyre.
Qingdao information technology department vice director Wang Jian, deputy mayor of Qingdao Sun Mingming, China grapheme industry alliance secretary Li Yichun, chairman of Sentury Qin Long and Sentury president Lanny represented Sentury by attending the signing ceremony.
Orion to close French carbon black factory by end of 2016
On 18 August Orion Engineered Carbons S.A.’s French subsidiary, Orion Engineered Carbons SAS, reached an agreement with the Works Council and labour union at its Ambes, France facility on a comprehensive social plan. Following this agreement, the French subsidiary will “proceed to implement the restructuring and down staffing of that facility with cessation of production at the site expected by the end of 2016”.
Mesnac, Michelin and others drive RFID standardisation forward
Mesnac, the Chinese tyre factory and systems specialist, reports that it is continuing to support the development of international standards for RFID tyre tags – a technology the company has been investing in for more than a decade already. To this end, Mesnac representatives recently spoke at an ETRO (European Tyre and Rim Technical Organization) summit on the subject. ETRO held its meeting in July 2016 in Brussels, Belgium.
The Michelin Group has acquired Levorin, a Brazilian manufacturer of bicycle and motorcycle tyres.
Levorin is a family business which was founded in 1943 by Hercules Levorin. It specializes in the production of tyres for the commuter segment in Brazil. In 2015 Levorin had an annual turnover of 135 million euros and employs 2,000 people at its two plants in Sao Paulo and Manaus.
Point S Canada introduces new distribution company following merger
Unimax Ltd., Point S master franchisee for Canada, has announced the creation of Distribution Stox, a new company that specializes in distributing tyres and accessories for cars and vans throughout Canada.
Distribution Stox has been founded from the merger of the wholesale activities of Unimax and of three of its shareholders-members (Distribution RT, Distribution DSP and Distribu-Pneus). This new Canadian tyre distributor has more than 300 employees, 19 distribution centres and more than 100 delivery vehicles. The company offers products and services to auto repair shops, tyre retailers and car dealers in Canada.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was formally presented with the 2016 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award on 26 August during a ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The Freedom Award was given to 15 companies selected from more than 2,400 nominations an acknowledges.
WEC – AMR car reverts to Michelin tyres for remainder of season
After choosing to kit out its GTE factory team cars on Dunlop rubber for 2016, Aston Martin Racing reports that its #98 GTE AM entry will revert to Michelin tyres for the rest of the current FIA World Endurance Championship season. It appears the Vantage GTE driven by Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda will be fitted with Michelins for the remaining races as the drivers have struggled with the Dunlop tyres, which like all tyres used in GTE AM feature 2015-specification compounds. Aston Martin Racing shares that Dalla Lana, together with the team, requested the change.
Vacu-Lug hits 20-year high as Brexit leaves markets ‘wide open’
With Continental’s acquisition of Bandvulc, the voice of independent retreading in the UK has been substantially diminished at a moment of intense market pressure and political uncertainty. Issues surrounding the at times unbelievably cheap new commercial vehicle tyres imported from China have been around for many years now, and have certainly squeezed retread output in this period. The Brexit vote has increased doubt that protectionist European market measures for which independent retreading businesses could lobby the EU to provide would be implemented in a more isolated UK market, though in the short-term the reduced value of sterling has presented opportunities for British-manufactured product. While nothing is currently clear, we will leave our readers to consider the chances of UK market protectionist measures against Chinese imports being implemented while the country redefines its trading relationship with global economic superpowers. It’s not hard to see how the security provided by merger with Conti was attractive to Bandvulc.
Alligator releases CVVEasy tyre valve for trailers, DS-P valve cap
Alligator Ventilfabrik has introduced a new version of the patented CVVEasy tyre valve, the CVVEasy TR 412 for trailers. This addition to the range meets the demand for increased tyre pressures of more than 4.5 bar and offers an alternative to screw-type valves, which are difficult to install in the required length. In combination with the new DS-P valve cap (more on this below), the total length of the CVVEasy TR 412 is 47 millimetres.
TKH Group reports lower sales, income; organic decline for tyre machinery sales
Organic turnover earned through manufacturing systems produced by the TKH Group’s Industrial Solutions business area, which includes equipment made by VMI Holland BV, contracted 16.2 per cent in the first half of 2016. This decline was due in part to a reduced order intake in 2015 for a range of manufacturing systems equipment, including machinery for the production of car and truck tyres as well as machine operating systems, can washers, test equipment and product handling systems for the medical industry.
Conti’s Bandvulc purchase results in UK market remoulding
On the 4 July, as the USA began to celebrate its independence day, Continental AG’s UK subsidiary (Continental Tyre Group) announced it had bought Bandvulc (B.V. Environmental Ltd.), one of only two substantially sized independent retreaders left in the UK. Legally, the takeover establishes Bandvulc as a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental UK Group Holdings Limited. T&A understands Bandvulc’s existing management team are to continue to lead the business.
America’s Car Museum (ACM) and the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) have announced that Boston will be the starting point of “The Drive Home II: The Heritage Run” – an 11-day, 2,150 mile winter road rally, from December 28 to January 7, concluding at the opening of the North American International Auto Show.
The Drive Home II (TDH II) will feature ACM’s 1957 Chevrolet Nomad, 1961 Chrysler 300G and 1966 Ford Mustang, all of which completed the first “The Drive Home” in early 2016, from the Museum’s headquarters in Tacoma, Washington to Detroit.
UK car manufacturing achieved its 12th consecutive month of growth in July, rising 7.6 per cent to 126,566 units compared with the same month in 2015, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Year-to-date production grew 12.3 per cent to 1,023,723 units – the best performance since 2000, and the first time in 12 years volumes have been greater than one million in the first seven months.
Demand was up both at home and abroad with a 14.1 per cent increase in output for the domestic market and exports up 6.0 per cent to 101,184 units. More than three quarters of a million cars built this year are destined for overseas markets, a 77.8 per cent share of total production volumes.
What a difference a year makes – July CV production down 5.2 per cent
SMMT figures reveal that UK commercial vehicle (CV) manufacturing fell
-5.2 per cent in July. The decline shows a marked difference to last year’s figures, when a remarkably strong performance in July 2015 saw production rise by almost 50 per cent.
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