BFNAT Gets County Dollars to Help Plant Upgrade
(Akron/Tire Review) Wilson County, North Carolina, commissioners have approved a $364,324 economic incentive package for Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) on 6 March, funds earmarked to help the tyremaker expand its passenger/light truck tyre plant in that area.
Continue ReadingArvinMeritor Sells NA Aftermarket Light Vehicle Exhaust Business
ArvinMeritor, Inc has sold its North American Light Vehicle Aftermarket (LVA) exhaust business based in Loudon, Tennessee and Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, to IMCO (International Muffler Company), a producer of aftermarket exhaust systems and components based in Schulenburg, Texas. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Continue ReadingTenneco Plans Expansion of Exhaust Lines
(Akron/Tire Review) Tenneco Inc. said it will introduce 575 additional part numbers to its Walker and DynoMax aftermarket exhaust system lines in April, expanding coverage for domestic and import vehicles. The new SKUs cover cat-back exhaust systems to direct-fit catalytic converters and premium muffler assemblies, and will give Tenneco 92 per cent coverage of the North American car population, the company said.
Continue ReadingNew Bike Tyrestore Catalogue
Bike Tyrestore has just released its 2006 Ultimate World Of Bike Tyres catalogue. The catalogue contains 64 pages of information covering all of the main brands of motorbike tyre available for the new season and includes the full Bridgestone Fitment Guide, useful for any dealership! This year’s catalogue is designed to be “100 per cent trade and consumer friendly” while giving dealers an “authoritative guide” they can show to and discuss with retail customers, leading to the best choice of tyre for bike, rider and riding style.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Summer Tyres Top German Tyre Tests
Bridgestone tyres have topped a number of comparative tests in some of Germany’s leading automotive publications. The Bridgestone Potenza RE050A was one of just two models to receive the top ‘highly recommendable’ rating in its category from ‘ADAC Motorwelt’. The respected journal of Germany’s automobile association compared a line-up of 17 225/45 R17 Y/W tyres running on a Mercedes C-Class 230 – with dry handling evaluated at the Nürburgring; and wet performance, comfort, noise and rolling resistance measured at the Contidrom complex near Hamburg.
Continue ReadingNTSA Probes Faulty TPMS Claims
The Office of Defect Investigations at the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating consumer complaints that the 2004 and 2005 Toyota Sienna’s tyre pressure monitoring/regulation system can fail. In one incident, a consumer reported that by the time he pulled his Toyota Sienna to the side of the road the tyre was smoking and had burst into flame but the warning light failed to come on, according to consumeraffairs.com.
Continue ReadingFire at Cooper’s Melksham Plant
Cooper Tire & Rubber Europe suffered a minor fire over the weekend of 4 and 5 March. Five firefighters were taken to hospital as a precaution after the fire at the company’s Melksham production facility. Cooper’s Sarah McRoberts told Tyres & Accessories that the fire was successfully contained by the factory’s sprinkler system. Despite more than 35 firefighters attending there were no serious injuries and business is reported to have been unaffected. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Continue ReadingThorite’s New Diamond Compressors
Compressed air products and pneumatic systems supplier Thorite has announced the launch of new direct drive “Performance” portable compressors. The new machines augment Thorite’s own brand Diamond compressors and are instantly recognisable by their bright red, rather than dark blue air receivers.
Continue ReadingNizhnekamskshina Slows Production in January and February
During January and February of 2006 JSC “Nizhnekamskshina” says it produced 100,000 less tyres than planned. According to the company, the basic reason for the disruption was the high rubber price. The beginning of March has not proved to be much better for Russia’s largest domestic tyre producer. In Nizhnekamskshina’s words the situation “remains complex” due to short supplies of natural rubber.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Increases Prices
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is to increase its consumer, commercial vehicle and OTR tyre prices by 4 per cent. The increases will cover all brands and were reportedly caused by escalating raw material costs. The announcement takes effect from 1 April.
Continue ReadingTIA Sets DoD Privatization Meeting
(Akron/Tire Review) Following up on its announcement at the recent OTR Conference, TIA will host a Tire Privatization Industry Day on 9 March at the Defense Supply Center in Columbus, Ohio. The meeting is in accordance with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure statute, and the meeting will “discuss establishing a performance-based logistics approach for the supply chain management of tyres for the Department of Defense,” said TIA.
Continue ReadingCrypton Announces Moves Towards Expansion into Global Market
Crypton Technology Group has announced some internal restructuring plans designed to assist with its growth strategy in the global garage equipment market. Ian Garwood, who was recently promoted to sales manager of Traction Chargers, will now also be responsible for the Crypton, Dieseltune and Wheelforce brands in the US, South America and Canada. Geoff Cross in his role as Sales Development Manager will also widen his duties to include generating a European market entry and growth strategy in conjunction with the current Export team already in place at Crypton Technology Groups’ headquarters in Bridgwater in Somerset.
Continue ReadingContinental Appoints NZ Distributor
German tyre manufacturer Continental has appointed Tyres4U as its exclusive distributor in New Zealand. In announcing the appointment, Tim Sanders, Continental general manager Oceania said: “We are very pleased that Tyres4U has accepted our proposal to distribute the Conti and Barum range of tyres in New Zealand. We have a long relationship with the group and with Tyres4U NZ now distributing our passenger range it lines up perfectly with the Tyres4U Australian operation and the products they have been selling for over 30 years.”
Continue ReadingGSF’s Newcastle Branch to Open With ‘Bubbly’ Car Wash
GSF Car Parts has unveiled its new Newcastle-upon-Tyne branch, opened as part of the company’s 2006 expansion drive. The Newcastle branch opening is the second tier of the GSF Car Parts 2006 expansion programme, following on from the Canterbury opening, earlier this year. GSF Car Parts will officially celebrate the opening of Newcastles doors on Saturday, 25 March with bubbles galore - but not of the champagne variety. Instead, the team at GSF Newcastle have organised a dedicated charity ‘Bubbles’ car wash to raise funds for the Newcastle charity, The Bubble Foundation which supports the children’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Newcastle-upon-Tyne General Hospital. The unit treats babies and children with immuno deficiencies by bone marrow transplantation.
Continue ReadingNew Look Supply Direct Catalogue
Supply Direct has just published a new catalogue and price list. The catalogue features a full range of two-post lifts, four-posts lifts, scissor lifts, compressors, wheel aligners, tyre changers, wheel balancers, MOT bays (including the new Automated Test Lane) and a full variety of other garage equipment. Details for every product include 3D CAD drawings with full dimensions, and complete specification tables for every piece of equipment.
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