Successful Year For Pirelli Rallying
It has been a good year for Pirelli-shod cars involved in rallying. In the recent Rally Great Britain, Petter Solberg notched up his first World Rally Championship win, with Pirelli taking the first six places. Solberg claimed 2nd place in the 2002 Drivers Championship, ahead of Ford/Pirelli drivers Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae. In the USA, Pirelli-sponsored drivers scored a 1-2-3 in the SCCA ProRally series drivers championship and a 1-2 in Group N. Success too in the Pirelli British Rally Championship, with a Pirelli 1-2 in Group N and first and third in the overall drivers championship. Other successes: 2-3 in the Super Drivers Championship and first places in the Toshiba Irish Tarmac Championship and the New Pig Scottish Championship. In Australia, Pirelli-shod cars were 1-2 in the Kumho ANCRO (Asia-Pacific) Championship.
Continue ReadingRetread Market: The Current State Of Play
T&A looks at the recent history of retreading, the threats and the opportunities. According to RAPRA, the number of tyres generated in the UK that would be suitable for retreading is around 15 per cent of car tyres and 50-70 per cent of truck tyres. However, it is reported that only nine per cent of car tyres are retreaded and as few as 24 per cent of truck tyres. It should be noted that many customer own tyre contracts include retreaded tyres which do not get included in this figure and these may amount to as many as 35% of the total retread truck tyre volume in the UK.In 1994 an estimated 14 per cent of the UK car tyre replacement market was taken by the retread sector. This dropped to 12 per cent by 1998 (something around 16 million tyres) and collapsed to eight per cent in 1999 and is continuing to fall. This is a far cry from the 20 per cent market share held in the 1970s and 1980s (when, ironically, the quality was perhaps not quite so good as it is today). Figures for the tonnage retreaded show an increase between 1999 and 2000 from 76,000 tonnes to 77,000 tonnes.Truck retreading is not a particular problem, though there are shortages of casings in some sizes, particularly older more popular retread sizes. The truck tyre market is looking at the cost per kilometre, and retreading lowers the cost per kilometre and makes tyre use much more cost effective. The truck operator sees retreads as a tool to lower running costs.
Continue ReadingNTDA Backs Tyre World Exhibition
The National Tyre Distributors Association has formally endorsed the new Tyre World event, scheduled for October 2003 in Earls Court, London. Buzz Carter, of organisers IDEX Media, said that London had been chosen after extensive research showed that it was the preference of domestic and international visitors. Tyre World will include a programme of seminars and associated events, including the NTDAs annual conference Intyreactive and the national Tyre Technician of the Year competition. Further details are expected soon.
Continue ReadingThe Retread Process: As Good As New?
If the guys who sell tyres on the countrys fast fits are to be believed, the retread is dead. There are regular anecdotes coming back through the grapevine from customers who have been told that: they dont make car retreads any more; youll only get 3,000 miles on a retread; or even more insidiously - they are dangerous - I wouldnt have my mother-in-law driving on them… One wholesaler who had just delivered a batch of retreads to a client overheard that same client tell a customer asking for the very product that he had just delivered that they didnt carry them!There may be numerous reasons for this misinformation about retreads. It may be that the fitters simply dont understand the process of either tyre manufacture or tyre retreading. It may be that there are greater margins to be made from selling budget tyre brands. It may simply be down to personal prejudice. There is an assumption made by many in the tyre business that everyone understands what a retread is. Since very few in the tyre business understand the process of tyre manufacture, then even fewer are likely to understand the process of tyre retreading - yet the two are very closely related - especially in the hot cure process.T&A took the opportunity to tour one of the UKs leading retread operations at Vacu-Lug to view both the hot cure and the precure methods operating side by side (these are the two main methods of retreading).
Continue ReadingKumho UK Appoints Sales Director
From 1st December, Steve Tidmarsh will be the new Sales Director of Kumho UK. He has a wealth of experience in the UK tyre industry, having spent some 29 years with Goodyear UK in a series of senior positions, most recently that of Sales and Marketing Director, Consumer Tyres. He takes up his new post with the company in a planned move from Kumho UKs exclusive Marshal brand distributor, Bond International, whom he joined earlier this year to gain experience of the wholesale market in the UK.
Continue ReadingMike Wise Takes Charge Of Kwik-Fit Fleet And FTM
Mike Wise has been appointed to the new post of Fleet Sales Director, following the sale of the Kwik-Fit group to CVC. Kwik-Fit Fleet MD Ron Bambra has retired and Mike Wise will now head up both Kwik-Fit Fleet and FTM. He will also join the newly-created Kwik-Fit UK management team, headed by recently-appointed CEO Tim Parker.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Run-flats OE on BMW Z4
Bridgestone is to supply its Potenza RE050 RFT run-flat tyres as OE on the new BMW Z4 roadster. Four sizes will be offered, to accommodate different engine sizes and vehicle configurations.
Continue ReadingNew Plant For Bridgestone
Bridgestone Corp, Japans largest tyremaker, said on Tuesday it would spend 17 billion yen to build a third tyre plant in Thailand to meet growing demand for truck and bus tyres, particularly in Asia. The development, first notified in December 2000 by T&A, could also take Bridgestone to the number one position in the global tyre market. Bridgestone said in a statement that the new plant, located in Chonburi, 60 km south of Bangkok, would produce and export tyres to the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and other Southeast Asian countries. The new plant is a move to provide a multilateral, global response to the growing worldwide demand for truck and bus tyres, said a spokesman for Bridgestone.
Continue ReadingAndreas Niegsch Replaces Marco Molinari At Goodyear Dunlop UK
On December 1st, Andreas Niegsch will be appointed General Manager of Goodyear Dunlop UK, replacing Marco Molinari, who is leaving the company to pursue other interests. Molinaris current position of Group Managing Director will be eliminated. Niegsch will report to Robin McKnight, MD of Goodyear Dunlop sales countries, western Europe. Niegsch originally joined Dunlop Germany in 1998 as manager, sales countries, western Europe and was appointed director the following year. In 2001 he assumed his current position as director of marketing and sales for Goodyears Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The UK manufacturing operations at Wolverhampton and Washington will report directly to the European regional manufacturing HQ in Luxembourg, as part of the current policy to centralise product sourcing to obtain maximum efficiencies.
Continue ReadingAsbestos Claims Fears Hurt US Auto Stocks
The shares of US auto parts retailers fell sharply this week on the news that hundreds of companies, including the Big 3 car manufacturers, are facing lawsuits from plaintiffs who have been exposed to asbestos, which was once widely used in brake manufacturing. An argument is on-going whether those outlets that performed repairs should face greater liability than the manufacturers of the products.
Continue ReadingBlackstone Group Buys TRW
The automotive parts division of TRW is to be sold to investment firm Blackstone Group for $4.7 billion, once TRWs merger with Northrop Grumman is finalised. TRW recently sold its aeronautical systems business to Goodrich for $1.5 billion. TRW makes seat belt systems, air bag systems and other components, with annual sales over $10 billion. Blackstone has raised a private equity fund worth $6.45 billion and the TRW purchase will be the first through the fund.
Continue ReadingThunderbird Fits Pirelli As OE
Pirelli P Zero tyres have been chosen as standard OE fitment on the Saleen Thunderbird Bonspeed Edition Concept Car. The car was originally planned as a one-off for the Sema show, but such was the reaction that it was decided to go into production with the vehicle. Saleen Inc. has a reputation for the design of high-performance speciality vehicles and, for the past five years, has exclusively chosen Pirelli tyres.
Continue ReadingViking International Strengthens Senior Management Team
Viking International, one of the UKs leading tyre, exhaust and automotive wholesale companys, has appointed Mike Curry as National Sales Manager. As part of the senior management team, Mike will be responsible for eleven business development managers that cover the country from nine strategically positioned regional warehouses. He will also play a leading role in key national account expansion.Mike Curry has over twenty years sales experience working with blue-chip companies in a variety of senior positions. His most recent appointment was as sales and marketing director with Tenneco Automotive who manufacture Walker exhaust systems and Monroe shock absorbers.
Continue ReadingNew Bridgestone Production System
Bridgestone has unveiled a new tyre production system which automates the entire manufacturing process from initial materials processing to final inspection of finished tyres. Called Bridgestone Innovative and Rational Development (BIRD), the system consists of three elements. First is Bridgestones Automated Tyre Manufacturing Synchronised System (ATMSS) technology covering materials processing to vulcanisation. Second is Automated Inspection Modular System (AIMS) for automatic inspection of finished tyres and the third element is the Flow Oriented Approach (FOA) implementation of autonomous information processing for managing the system. Among the advantages claimed for BIRD include flexibility, quality improvements, smaller plants (a unit can produce up to 350,000 car tyres a year), occupying one-third of the space of a conventional plant, smaller lot production and reduced environmental impact.
Continue ReadingCord Deal At Michelin
The Hyosung Corp. has announced that it has won a $350 million order from Michelin to supply tyre cords and has also agreed to acquire a U.S. cord plant from Michelin for an unspecified amount. Hyosung, which is the worlds largest polyester tyre cord maker, said its U.S. unit, Hyosung America Inc, would acquire Michelins tyre cord plant in Virginia. The acquisition would enable Hyosung to secure a production point to enter the North American market.The South Korean company said in the statement it expected to increase its North American market share of tyre cords to 20 percent from the current 13 percent, while global market share would rise to 24 percent from 20 percent.
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