Mexico: Pirelli to build second tyre factory
Pirelli has announced a US$200 million investment in Mexico to establish a second factory near its existing passenger car tyre plant in Silao, Guanajuato state. The project to build the facility was announced during yesterday’s visit by Italian Prime Minster, Matteo Renzi, to Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, where he met with President of Mexico, Pena Nieto.
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How excessive tyre pressure can deflate share price
A simple “trick” – or perhaps we should say “cheating” or “fraud” – has been common practice in the European automotive industry, to the displeasure of environmental organisations: Place a car with excessive tyre pressure on a dynamometer and – voilà – lower fuel consumption levels and emissions are recorded thanks to the ‘optimised’ rolling resistance. Mitsubishi has conceded carrying out this practice in Japan with test data submitted to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. This time round it doesn’t affect, as in the case of Volkswagen and its ‘cheat’ software, millions of vehicles, rather ‘only’ 625,000 small cars, the majority of these off-take production for Nissan.
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Maxxis to unveil first European runflat tyre, M36+
Maxxis has launched its first runflat tyre for the European market, the M36+. The new product will be unveiled at Reifen 2016 in Essen, Germany next month, and Maxxis states the new line “will affirm its commitment to continuous innovation for mid-range buyers.”
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Micheldever’s Protyre retail chain is UK’s fastest growing
This year’s UK tyre retail ranking shows that the fastest growing tyre retailer is Micheldever’s Protyre chain, which added some 21 branches to its network in the last year – by far the fastest growth (both in terms of branch count and growth percentage) of any tyre retailer we are tracking. Nevertheless, ETEL remains the largest overall and is also the fastest faller, with the company running 9 points of sale less than in our 2014/2015 research. However, context makes a big difference, so for more on both these stories, read on.
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Nokian excluded from SUV summer tyre test, loses top honours in winter test
The publication ‘SUV Magazin’ has printed a test of size 215/65 R16H/V in its current 2/2016 issue. An Audi Q3 quattro was used to evaluate five brands of tyre; a sixth tyre – the Nokian Line SUV – was removed from the ranking post-testing as a “precaution” after details of Nokian Tyres’ test manipulation activities came to light.
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Dmack launches UK-made gravel tyre range
After what it says was an intensive development programme, FIA World Rally Championship tyre supplier Dmack has launched a new range of gravel tyres. These tyres have been designed and produced in the UK and developed specifically for competitors in WRC 2 and those driving R5 class cars.
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EU tyre label under scrutiny – authorities begin 24-month project
One of the chief criticisms of the European tyre label since its introduction in November 2012 is the absence of effective third-party control; abuse is inevitable in a system that allows tyre manufacturers to evaluate their own products. The Market Surveillance Action on Tyres 2015 (MSTYR15), a project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon2020 programme and coordinated by the Product Safety Forum of Europe (PROSAFE), aims to bring accountability into tyre labelling.
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Better together: Regional NTDA meetings show national strength
At the end of February Tyres & Accessories attended the NTDA’s North West region meeting. For years the National Tyre Distributors Association kept in touch with the grass roots of the industry via a regional structure. This dissipated and virtually evaporated in recent decades, but not in the North West where it has continued to be strong – representing the local needs of the association and working together for the common good of tyre distributors as part of the national NTDA organisation. Latterly, the NTDA has experienced something of a resurgence of the regional approach with other regions being re-invigorated (prior to the North West meeting, the South East and Central South regions met in Watford on 10 February).
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Nokian Tyres’ boss: How could we “have been so stupid”? – Ari Lehtoranta talks tyre test manipulation
“I didn’t have any choice.” – Ari Lehtoranta, president and CEO of Nokian Tyres, is convinced his decision to go public about the Finnish manufacturer’s manipulation of tyre tests in Europe over decades was the right decision. Lehtoranta, who has led the company since October 2014, wonders why Nokian Tyres went to the effort of supplying specially-made test tyres – particularly as the company’s non-manipulated products have always gained good results in tyre tests. In an interview with Tyres & Accessories, Lehtoranta explains why it is now important to take part in the current public discussions on the subject and, through these talks, develop new industry-wide transparency rules.
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Klarius to invest £1.5million from 2016
The UK’s largest manufacturer of exhausts, CATs and DPFs for the aftermarket has announced £1.5m of project investment to begin in 2016. Klarius Products states that it has allocated the money to production capacity increases, quality improvements, and lead time reduction on new parts.
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Goodyear’s new Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 boasts strong improvements in mileage and braking
Goodyear’s latest Ultra High Performance (UHP) tyre offers performance that is a large step ahead of its premium competitors, company representatives explained at the online launch of the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 today (23 March 2016). According to company representatives, who base their claims on extensive testing with TUV Sud and Dekra in addition to in-house research and development, the new tyre outperforms not only its predecessor (the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2), but also the latest comparable tyres produced by Bridgestone, Continental and Michelin in terms of wet braking, dry braking and mileage.
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Kwik Fit expanding into Italy, across Europe
The Kwik Fit Group has agreed a partnership deal that sees the Kwik Fit tyre retail and fast-fit brand expand into Italy. Under the terms of the agreement, 200 centres are set to open over the next decade. The expansion is based on a franchise agreement with CDG-ONE, part of Segema S.p.A., a leading tyre distribution group in Italy. Segema imports and distributes Yokohama tyres in Italy through Yokohama Italia S.p.A. and GiTi Tyres through Magri Gomme S.p.A.
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BMW selects Hankook UHP, winter tyres for 7 Series OE fitments
Hankook will supply runflat versions of its ultra-high performance and winter car tyres to BMW for original fitment on its new generation 7 Series. The luxury car will roll on the Ventus S1 evo2 in mixed 245/50R18 Y *RSC (Runflat Safety Component) (front) and 275/40 R19 Y*RSC (rear) sizes in summer, and the i*cept evo in size 245/50R 18 H *RSC for winter use. Both tyres were developed in the Hankook’s German-based European R&D Centre, and are supplied to BMW directly from Hankook’s European high-end factory in Hungary.
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