Cabot commits to Paris Climate Agreement goals
Cabot Corporation has aligned its sustainability agenda with the Paris Climate Agreement to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Announcing its commitment to the agreement today, Cabot says this decision demonstrates its “ongoing commitment to protect the planet and further the company’s robust sustainability journey.”
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Bridgestone supplies original tyres for Audi Q4 e-tron electric SUV
Bridgestone is supplying bespoke versions of its WhatTyre Award-winning summer and winter tyres to Audi for fitment on the Q4 e-tron. The tyre manufacturer will supply newly developed iterations of its Turanza Eco and Blizzak LM005 tyres, WhatTyre’s 2021 Electric Car Tyre of the Year and Winter Tyre of the Year respectively. The Turanza Eco has been developed with Bridgestones sustainability promoting Enliten Technology. The Q4 e-tron is Audi’s first compact, fully-electric SUV.
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Halfords ‘motoring revenue’ will be 70% post National Tyres acquisition
According to Halfords, the acquisition of National Tyres delivers “on its strategy to become a Motoring Services focused business”. Halfords Autocentres has always been amongst the most profitable parts of the overall Halfords Group businesses and financial figures have consistently shown that autocentre-related revenue is amongst the fastest-growing parts of the group. But what the National Tyres acquisition specifically means is that what Halfords terms “motoring revenue” will “represent more than 70 per cent of Group pro-forma revenue”.
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Iverson Tyres also bought by Halfords
In addition to the acquisition of Axle Group/National Tyres, Halfords has also bought London-based Iverson Tyres, which describes itself as a “specialist supplier and fitter of tyres and provider of adjacent maintenance services”. Iverson Tyres was founded in 1992 and is made up of four locations in Chiswick, Hanwell, Northolt and Farnham Common.
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Materials, machinery suppliers feature strongly in Pirelli Supplier Awards
Every year, Pirelli awards just nine of the more than 14,000 suppliers throughout its global chain for distinguishing themselves in making the tyre maker’s supply chain even more sustainable, innovative and of the highest possible quality. Announcing the recipients of its 2021 Supplier Awards, Pirelli says the main selection criterion was care for the environment through an increasingly sustainable supply chain – with lower CO2 emissions, high quality, innovation, speed and global presence.
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New owner for Bridgestone (Huizhou) Synthetic Rubber
As of 1 December, Bridgestone Corporation has completed selling all shares in its Bridgestone (Huizhou) Synthetic Rubber Co., Ltd. subsidiary. The new owner of the business, which manufactures synthetic rubber for passenger car tyres, is Taiwan’s LCY Chemical Corporation. Bridgestone announced the planned sale on 15 June 2021.
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Halfords buys National Tyres and Autocare in £62 million deal
Halfords is paying £62 million for National, the tyre and automotive servicing, maintenance and repair business, which operates under the National Tyres and Autocare, Viking Wholesale Tyres and Tyre Shopper brands. As a result, Halfords’ garage estate will grow by more than 60 per cent (from 372 to 604 garages), offering MOT, servicing, fitting and repair services. According to Halfords, this deal makes it “the largest vehicle service, maintenance and repair business in the UK, with the majority of UK households within a 20-minute drive of a Halfords garage.” However, Tyres & Accessories data suggests European Tyre Enterprises Ltd (ETEL), which incorporates 650 Kwik Fits in its portfolio, is still the largest in the UK with a total estate of 740 at the last count.
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Bridgestone finalises Otraco acquisition
Otraco International is now part of Bridgestone Mining Solutions Australia. Bridgestone Corporation reports that after gaining regulatory approvals and satisfying other customary conditions, yesterday it completed the acquisition deal first announced in April. The OTR tyre management firm changed hands for AU$79 million (£42.4 million).
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Goodyear UrbanMax MCA HL + for electric & hybrid buses
The city bus market is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Electrification, autonomy and accessibility, including on-demand services, are revolutionising urban mobility. Goodyear has launched a new tyre to provide a solution for operators seeking to maximise the efficiency of their current fleet and prepare for the future; the UrbanMax MCA HL + is an all-position tyre with high-load structure, enabling the 8-tonne axle load capacity required by modern electric or hybrid buses.
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RH Claydon to open Tunbridge Wells depot in January
RH Claydon will continue its expansion plan with a new 20,000 sq ft depot in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The unit, on the North Farm Industrial Estate will be the company’s seventh, taking its total storage capacity to more than 240,000 sq ft. The depot will be operational from 4 January 2022, opening for collections Monday-Friday between 8:00 and 17:30, and on Saturday mornings 9:00-12:00.
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Manchester-based industrial specialist Fork Truck Tyres continues to grow
In mid-November Tyres & Accessories visited Manchester-based Fork Truck Tyres, a company that is rapidly becoming a key player in the Northern English industrial tyre business and considering its next steps towards expansion. T&A spoke with company founder John Grey, sales manager Tony Gallagher and warehouse manager Stuart Dorney in order to find out more.
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Hankook Group takes majority share in Canadian optical MEMS specialist
The Hankook Group has acquired a majority shareholding in Preciseley Microtechnology Corp, a global specialist in optical MEMS (micro-electromechanical solutions) systems. In making the acquisition, Hankook is seeking synergies with complementary technologies to generate new business and growth opportunities. The most immediately obvious of these is Preciseley Microtechnology’s optical automotive applications for 3D environment detection.
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Hankook promoting sustainability with hydrogen-powered Hyundai truck
Hankook has collaborated with Hyundai and other partners on a new sustainability roadshow. A Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell fitted with Hankook SmartFlex AH31 and DH31 tyres is travelling around Germany until 8 December to promote ecologically optimised supply chains. Hankook’s partners in the event include H2 Green Power & Logistics GmbH, which is building an ecosystem for green hydrogen in the commercial vehicle sector, including company filling stations; and H2 MOBILITY Germany, the world’s largest hydrogen filling station operator, which operates 87 of the 91 public H2 stations in Germany alone.
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Project TREE: A blockchain-driven, more sustainable rubber supply chain
Japan’s Itochu Corporation announced today the commercial launch of Project TREE, an initiative that uses a blockchain-based traceability system to ensure the sustainability and traceability of natural rubber. Partners participating in the Project include Itochu subsidiaries and tyre manufacturers, and the UK will be the first market to benefit.
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Discount Tire-backed RoboTire automated tyre changing system raises $7.5 million
RoboTire, a Detroit-based automotive robotics and automation startup closed a US$7.5 million investment round in October. RoboTires patented system uses robots to change tyres “in a fraction of the time human operators can” purportedly reducing “multiple-hour experiences to under 15 minutes”. The Series A investment round was led by The Reinalt-Thomas Corporation, which sells tyres through 1000+ branches trading under the Discount Tire and Americas Tire brands in the USA. Automotive Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, 640 Oxford Ventures and several angel investors participated in the funding round.
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