Construction Underway at Bridgestone’s Hungarian BIRD Plant
Bridgestone Europe has announced that work has started on in its Tatabanya, Hungary high-performance passenger and light truck tyre plant. Construction of the about 190 million euro complex is being financed and managed by Bridgestone Hungary Manufacturing Ltd – a newly-formed subsidiary of Bridgestone Europe NV/SA - with completion due at the end of 2007. Production is scheduled to reach more than 8,000 tyres a day by 2009. The company expects to employ more than 200 people by 2009.
Continue Reading“Lucky Severn” for Matador Driver
Matador Tyres backed rally driver Craig Middleton bounced back from his fiery exit on the RBS International Manx Rally with a superb victory on the Severn Valley National Rally this weekend. With the Hyundai Accent WRC repaired after it ignited on the Isle of Man, the 26-year-old Welshman from Llandrindod Wells took a hard earned victory in hot and sunny conditions. The win keeps Craigs chances of winning the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship alive after a year of mixed fortune so far.
Continue ReadingDunlop Sport Maxx Cup Set for 2007 Launch
The BARC/Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup for production specification cars has taken a major step closer to taking a prime slot on the 2007 UK racing calendar. Dunlop Tyres and the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) announced the launch of the BARC/Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup in January this year. Since then the BARC has been inundated with enquiries, illustrating the demand for a genuine stepping stone to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.
Continue ReadingEnvironmental Award for Watts Industrial Group
The Watts Industrial Group has been awarded the prestigious BSEN ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Standard by BSI. The standard is a benchmark for environmental control and the development of targets to reduce the environmental impact of the organisation’s activities. The standard was awarded to the Watts group’s Gloucestershire site which covers rubber compounding from watts Industrial Polymers and the manufacture of industrial wheels by Watts Industrial Tyres, as well as the distribution of industrial tyres to the OEM and replacement markets.
Continue ReadingGoodyear First Supplier of RunOnFlat Tyres for Ford’s New MPVs
Goodyear reports that it is proud to be the sole supplier of RunOnFlat tyres to Ford in the ramp-up to the launch of the manufacturers latest MPVs: the Galaxy and the S-MAX. In the design of its new cars, Ford has paid great attention to detail. The S-MAX matches sports style and driving pleasure with flexible and spacious accommodation. The larger, more luxurious Galaxy is slightly bigger than the model it replaces.
Continue ReadingHankook Tire Launches New Chinese R&D Centre
Hankook Tire is stepping up efforts to defend its position in the Chinese tyre market by investing in a new local R&D centre, extending production facilities and expanding its sales network. The company announced detailed plans for China its Jiaxing plant on 29 May. Hankook Tire recently completed the expansion of its production facilities in Jiaxing, enhancing annual capacity to 2.5 million units. As the main production base for the company in China, the Jiaxing plant will undergo further expansion work in the latter half of this year. Once completed by the end of 2006, Hankook Tire will secure total production capacity of 28 million units per year from its Jiaxing and Jiangsu plants in China.
Continue ReadingKumho Adds Three to Sales Team
(Akron/Tire Review) Kumho Tire USA Inc. has hired three new account managers. Wally Holst was brought in as account manager covering Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and El Paso, Texas. Mike Mannina was hired as account manager for Kumho’s corporate accounts. Charles van Heusden was named account manager for Florida.
Continue ReadingAlexey Evteev to Head PR at Sibur Russian Tyres
Sibur has named Alexey Evteev as its new PR and Communications manager. Evteev will be responsible for the formation of information policy as a whole and positioning of Sibur Russian Tyres in mass media. Evteev combines his professional work with legislative projects and sits on a number of key advisory councils on the Russian Duma. He also actively participates in consultations concerning Russia’s presidency of the G8.
Continue ReadingSapphire Gains Contract With ATS Euromaster
The first load of end of life tyres processed at Sapphire Energy Recovery’s new Manchester facility coincided with the signing of a major contract with ATS Euromaster. Now that the site is practically up and running the company has invited a number of tyre retailers and distributors to a special open day on 29 June, followed by the official press and VIP opening on 30 June.
Continue ReadingDestination Recovery
With the implementation of the tyre landfill ban rapidly approaching and following the publication of ETRMA’s (European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturer’s Association) first comprehensive report on end-of-life tyre management, Tyres & Accessories takes a look at the findings and reports on the development of the UK’s free market system, publishing the most recent pan-European data on this segment. While the ETRMA (in its former guise as BLIC) has made European end-of-life tyre (ELT) figures available for some time, this year is the first time the newly re-formed association has given such a detailed overview of the EU15 and enlarged European tyre recovery and recycling business.
Continue ReadingGB Team Takes Flag in Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli
Ferrari GB took the chequered flag for the first time this season with a perfect first and second place in the Spanish sunshine as the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli moved to Valencia (2,3,4 June). In the second round of the 2006 season, the racing was tough in temperatures of 28°C and the Ferrari Challenge Dealer Team GB worked hard in qualifying to ensure that both cars in the Trofeo Pirelli dominated the front row of the grid with pole position and second place.
Continue ReadingHayes Lemmerz Produces Aluminium Truck Wheels in Bahrain
The worlds largest wheel manufacturer Hayes Lemmerz (producing a total of approximately 60 million units annually), has extended its product spectrum to include aluminium truck wheels. The wheels are called “CentruStyle“ and are manufactured by Aluwheel W.L.L in Manama (Bahrain) in the low pressure casting process. “CentruStyle“ will be marketed using the existing sales team into the original equipment business, to fleets and into the aftermarket. In order to make the wheels the producer will use equipment it acquired from the former Tunaverken (Sweden), which went bankrupt at the beginning of the year. Hayes Lemmerz and its Bahrain-based partner will begin with size 8.25x22.5 and want to increase the production volume gradually depending upon customer interest.
Continue ReadingMichelin Launches ‘Self-Generating’ Retread
(Akron/Tire Review) Michelin Retread Technologies has introduced the Michelin XDA Hypersipe tread stock, which it claims is the first self-regenerating retread. As the tread wears, Michelin North America said, sipes molded into the bottom of the tread appear giving improved worn traction over the life of the retread.
Continue ReadingNew Aluminium Casting Plant Inaugurated in Turkey
Together with joint venture partner Inci (40 per cent of the shares), in June Hayes Lemmerz inaugurated a new aluminium wheel casting plant in Manisa (in the Izmir region of Turkey). Production is based on the low-pressure process and operates at the same standard as at all the original equipment manufacturers other facilities. 400,000 wheels will be manufactured this year, with some 17-inch products being sold to Toyota. In the next year production will increase to approximately 1 million units with further expansion plans in the offing dependent on the order situation.
Continue ReadingYokohama to Construct Vietnam Plant
Yokohoma has announced plans to build a light truck and motorcycle tyre plant in Vietnam over the coming 13 months. According to analysts reports, the plant is expected to come on-line by June 2007, with annual capacity of 3,100 metric tonnes of mixed rubber.
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