Pirelli continuing as GP2 and GP3 tyre supplier
Pirelli’s tyre supply contract for the GP2 and GP3 series has been renewed. The Italian firm has supplied the GP3 series since its inception in 2010 and took on GP2 supply the following year. Comments made by the organiser upon announcing this multi-year renewal for the two Formula One feeder categories – that his philosophy has always been to use the same tyre supplier as F1 – also indicates an official deal for the top-level championship may be imminent.
Continue ReadingMichelin discusses mid-term targets
At the Autumn Conference organised by Luxembourg-based broker Kepler Cheuvreux and held in Paris on 18 September, Michelin chief executive officer Jean-Dominique Senard confirmed the tyre maker’s 2015 operating profit target of €2.9 billion, some 20 per cent higher then 2013 estimates. He also said that capital expenditure is expected to peak between €1.8 billion and €2.2 billion in 2014 and 2015 before declining to between €1.6 billion and €1.9 billion in 2016 and €1.5 billion and €1.8 billion in 2017.
Continue ReadingHankook opens Indonesia plant
The official opening for Hankook Tire’s new plant in Indonesia was held on 17 September. The facility in Lippo Cikarang, West Java – the South Korean tyre maker’s seventh global plant – was inaugurated in the presence of top Hankook executives, including Hankook Tire vice-chairman and CEO Seung Hwa Suh, Hankook Tire Worldwide president and CEO Hyun Shick Cho, and Hankook Tire CMO/CCMO Hyun Bum Cho. Also in attendance was Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and several other Indonesian government officials.
Continue ReadingGoodyear blimps take text-driving message to the air
Despite the dangers involved, texting while driving is perfectly legal in at least ten US states. Yet the practice has many opponents, including Goodyear Tire & Rubber, who today is sending out the blimps to spread an anti- texting and driving message. The messages carried by the three Goodyear blimps today promote ‘It Can Wait’, a US-wide education and awareness campaign encouraging drivers never to text while behind the wheel.
Continue ReadingSeparate Cooper contracts required before Apollo deal proceeds
As well as needing to sort out issues at the Cooper Chengshan plant, Cooper Tire & Rubber and Apollo Tyres now face an additional barrier to acquisition. Last Friday an arbitrator ruled that Cooper cannot sell its Findlay and Texarkana plants in the US until Apollo secures new collective bargaining agreements with the United Steelworkers union and the 2,500 or so unionised workers at the two factories. This agreement is separate from the existing contract the union has with Cooper Tire.
Continue ReadingBetter integrated Business Directory on relaunched Tyrepress
The relaunch of Tyrepress will also mark the relaunch of the Business Directory service. This feature, which has been available in two incarnations before this vastly improved third generation, enables tyre and wheel related businesses to direct the website’s 240,000 monthly visitors towards their own websites with a range of listings options available for an annual fee; web URLs are also listed in the back of Tyres & Accessories magazine each month, increasing exposure to print readers too. The Tyrepress Business Directory 3.0 is better connected to the rest of the website, with entries searchable alongside articles.
Continue ReadingNew Zeetex website
The Zeetex tyre brand launched a new website on Thursday 12 September 2013. According to the company, the site has been “aesthetically upgraded, is user friendly and boasts of enhanced functionality and dynamic tools”. The goal appears to have been to create a “visually appealing, polished and professional website – which also offers region-specific capabilities.”
Continue ReadingDelticom offered shares as part of Tirendo deal
Following on from the news that Delticom AG purchased fast-growing online tyre retailer Tirendo on 17 September, Delticom executives have also revealed that company’s founders and main shareholders Rainer Binder and Andreas Pruefer also sold around 500,000 Delticom shares to a subsidiary of European Media Holding AG (EMH), which itself is a founding shareholder of Tirendo. In addition EMH was granted options to purchase up to a further 1.6 million shares. Apart from increasing the apparent combined value Delticom attributed to Tirendo, it is also likely to have consequential effects on market pricing.
Continue ReadingISO certification for Michelin’s Indian service centres
Michelin has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 certification for its Tyreplus and Michelin Truck Service Centre (MTSC) networks across India. With this certification, Michelin becomes the largest certified tyre service network in the country; the company presently operates 23 Tyreplus and 13 MTSC outlets within India.
Continue ReadingConti says interest in harbour range high
According to Continental, the habour tyre range it unveiled at the TOC Container Supply Chain Europe exhibition in Rotterdam in July has struck a chord with port operators. The company claims that more than half the respondents to a recent survey plan to purchase or recommend the newly-released range.
Continue ReadingNew port range a taste of Conti’s expansion strategy
Over the last decade or so Continental has focused heavily on its automotive businesses, and with an annual turnover of 32.76 billion euros it today ranks as the world’s third largest automotive supplier (behind Denso and Robert Bosch). But now the pendulum is swinging the other way. During a recent press conference, Nikolai Setzer outlined the company’s current strategy of investing into non-automotive areas in order to balance Continental’s footprint. The Tire division head also said investment is being undertaken to reduce vulnerability to automotive sector downturns.
Continue ReadingPirelli debuts premium service network in Germany
German-based Pirelli company Pneumobil GmbH has established its first flagship ‘Driver’ centre. The Driver store in Frankfurt opened its doors on Friday 13 September, and this will hopefully prove a lucky date for the new premium concept. Pirelli intends to expand the Driver network, however it has not outlined its future rollout plans or indicated whether the Driver centre concept will be extended to other markets.
Continue ReadingTweel named a top new product
It isn’t currently available on this side of the pond, but in the US Michelin’s Tweel has been available for almost a year and is expanding its collection of accolades. In April the airless tyre won a Silver Edison Award and now it has been named one of the 2013 contractors’ top 40 new products by publication Equipment Today.
Continue ReadingFederal-Mogul appoints Vehicle Component Solutions UK & Ireland MD
Federal-Mogul Corporation has appointed Andrew Bevington as managing director, Vehicle Component Solutions UK & Ireland. Bevington previously worked at EXIDE technologies, where he has honed his skills and expertise over the last five years. During this time he has developed a number of key relationships in becoming a well-known figure in the marketplace, and is relishing the opportunity to apply his insight to the continued delivery of excellence for Federal-Mogul’s established distributor customers.
Continue ReadingNew sizes added to Michelin earthmover range
Michelin has added a pair of new sizes to both its XTXL and XADN+ line-ups. The first of these has been bolstered by two 25-inch fitments, 26.5R25 and 29.5R25. These complement the existing 33-inch sizes in the XTXL range of underground mining tyres. The two XADN+ new additions are also 25-inch fitments, 23.5R25 and 26.5R25. These join the 29.5R25 quarry tyre introduced last year.
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