Bibendum Opens Staffordshire Cycle Ways
In what has been a busy week for Michelin’s corporate mascot, Bibendum turned up near the French manufacturer’s UK base to help promote the opening of a new £250,000 link in Staffordshire County Council’s cycle ways, which runs from Clayton in Newcastle-under-Lyme to near by the Michelin Sports Ground.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop Apprentices Celebrate First Year at BTCC
Goodyear Dunlop’s first apprentices in 15 years celebrated the end of their first year with the company and the successful progression onto their B-Tec and NVQ III qualifications with a visit to the HiQ British Touring Car Championship at Rockingham. The electrical and mechanical apprentices and their mentors got to see first hand the work of Dunlop Motorsport, following the steep learning curve of 12 months at the business’ Wolverhampton and Birmingham manufacturing sites. The company says that the scheme is developing highly skilled engineers of the future.
Continue ReadingAre Changes Afoot for Bib?
(Tire Review) Rumours are swirling about an early morning press event today where Michelin will unveil its initial global ad campaign prepared by TBWA/Chiat/Day. Hinted at in the media invites was a “striking transformation” for the iconic Bibendum – the Michelin Man. Little other information was available, leading to conjecture that the cartoon character might undergo another diet; a few years ago, Bib was slimmed down and re-shaped to look more fit. Or it could be much ado about nothing.
Continue Reading40% of Michelin Workforce in High Cost Countries to Leave between 2007 and 2012
Michelin has released a “pyramid of age” for its French workforce. The company employs 22,000 workers (equivalent full time) in its home market, of which some 12,000 are engaged in production. Approximately 1,0000 will retire every year for the next decade. Taking into account a natural attrition of two per cent per annum, 1,500 French workers will leave Michelin each year. This equates to 30 per cent of the 5,000 employees that will leave the group per annum in high cost countries. In total around 30,000 people are anticipated to leave the Michelin Group in the six years between 2007 and 2012, some 40 per cent of the company’s tyre workforce in high cost countries.
Continue ReadingKirkby Tyres Sees “Mid-Range” Growth
With a five acre site close to Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport in the UK and two warehouse facilities in Ireland, Kirkby Tyres and Wheels’ business is still growing in the aftermarket. The company says that, “we are finding that more and more customers are using mid-range brands such as Double Coin, which we are seeing strong demand for.” Kirkby offers a wide range of brands within this segment, such as Alliance, Malhotra, Protector and Petlas. The growth in the market for these brands has been such that the company has been able to employ an additional two sales people to cover East Anglia and North of England. The wholesaler is ISO 9001 accredited and can, in most areas, deliver products the next day.
Continue ReadingCooper Tire Moving to 24/7 Operations at Texarkana Plant
Production capacity is to be expanded at Cooper Tire & Rubber’s Texarkana, Arkansas facility. The company reports that, in response to growing market demand for its products, operations at the Texarkana passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyre plant will shift to a 24/7 operation as of January 1, 2010. Approximately 200 additional employees will be needed to support this increased production volume, which will be phased in over several months in 2010.
Continue ReadingBond International and International Tyres Helping Sumo Firenza UK Growth
The Sumo Firenza brand of car, high performance and truck tyres reports that it continues to gain strength in Europe and that the UK continues to be a very important market for the company. Manufactured in the Far East incorporating Japanese technology, distribution of the brand is the exclusive preserve of North Yorkshire’s Bond International (passenger car high performance range) and West Midlands-based International Tyres (truck sector), both of whom are said to be helping the Sumo Firenza brand’s growth in the UK.
Continue ReadingLeading Tyre Manufacturers 2009
Tyres & Accessories/Tyrepress.com has now published the this year's leading tyre manufacturer's chart, which subscribers can view by clicking more. The revised version of the chart now includes data from leading Taiwanese manufacturer Maxxis.
Continue ReadingMichelin Fairs Well in Consumer Reports Tests
US based publication Consumer Reports has rated four Michelin tyres the top spots in North American market all-season (S and T speed ratings) and performance all-season tyres (H and V speed ratings), and winter categories in the magazine's November issue. Each of the four Michelin models received an "Excellent" rating. The Michelin tyres bested tests of 69 models – the largest group ever tested by Consumer Reports. That includes all-season and winter passenger car and SUV tyres.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Enters World of Outlaws for Series Tyre Supply Deal
Goodyear will supply the tyres for the World Racing Group’s World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in an agreement that will last more than one season, according to a press statement released by the Group. The agreement will begin at the 2010 Florida DIRTcar Nationals next February, with World of Outlaws competitors required – somewhat ironically by the Series’ rules – to fit Goodyear rubber to their rear wheels.
Continue ReadingDestination Europe: More Chinese Products En Route to Europe?
Now President Barack Obama has stuck 35 per cent import duty on all passenger car and light truck tyres from China for the next three years what happens next? Chinese tyre manufacturers won’t want to sell fewer tyres each year. But US importers, consumers and manufacturers are equally unlikely to want to pay or absorb the additional costs. Tyres & Accessories spoke to a range of US, Far Eastern and Chinese companies and found that manufacturers are having to rely heavily on production flexibility, while traders are now setting their sights on one market in particular - Europe. Stephen Wu, managing director of Chinese tyre trading operation, Best Choice International, reports that orders from the US stopped came to a virtual standstill in July. Their strategy is now openly towards producing more European market orientated products: “We stopped an SUV/LT project and waited for the decision. And we produced more European UHP tyre sizes, not US sizes.” Companies like Best Choice are now prioritising orders in other markets – especially Europe – where they aim to sell the most popular sizes, UHP and winter tyres. Best Choice is apparently interested in other markets as well, but Wu refused to give further details at this time. As far as Best Choice is concerned there is now zero chance of getting orders in the first year of the tariff, except in the 19-inch and over category. As a result competition is likely to be based on just two factors: price and delivery time.
Continue ReadingSTL Achieves European Accreditation To Test Agricultural Tyres
Independent testing facility Standards Testing Laboratories (STL) has been approved to test pneumatic tyres for agricultural vehicles and trailers in accordance with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Regulation No. 106. ECE Reg. 106 covers new pneumatic tyres that serve primarily agricultural and forestry vehicles, agricultural machines and agricultural trailers, and that correspond to speeds below 65 km/h. "Companies interested in exporting these types of tyres to Europe can enlist the services of STL to provide unbiased, qualified testing as our facility continues to expand its capabilities and serve as a 'one-stop source' for customers," said Cheryl Schnuth, vice president, marketing, Standards Testing Laboratories.
Continue ReadingScrappage Scheme Boosts Sales For Kia And Mazda
With sales reaching 9,772 in September, Kia Motors (UK) Ltd. has hit a new record for the brand in any European market. No Kia subsidiary or distributor in Europe has ever sold so many new cars in one month throughout the brand's history and with total sales for the year passing 34,700, the UK performance has overtaken Kia Motors Deutschland - traditionally the biggest market in Europe. The result gives Kia a 2.66 per cent market share in the UK - and a 3.73 per cent share of the retail market in September - both new records for Kia. Kia's Picanto was the runaway leader in terms of sales, with 3,395 registered during the month. Rio was hot on its heels with 2,066 sales followed by the cee'd family at 1,592 - before the new model introduction from 1 October and Sportage at 792. Michael Cole, managing director said: "It would be wrong to say that the Government's scrappage scheme hasn't helped us and in particular Picanto has proved very popular amongst those trading in 10 year old cars. But our September performance and our year-to-date result cannot be attributed to scrappage alone.
Continue ReadingHankook Pulls New Truck Tyre Range Out of the Box
A new Hankook commercial vehicle radial known as the “e-cube” is being rolled out in European markets. And while at first glance the name may seem an unusual choice for a round product, Hankook Tire Europe explains the sense behind the new long-haul tyre’s given moniker: Three developmental directions have gone into the e-cube; namely energy and low rolling resistance, economy and high mileage, and environment (reduced hazardous materials and low rolling noise). These three “e” words are all equally important and thus can be represented by a three-dimensional geometric shape with equal length edges – in other words, a cube.
Continue ReadingKings Road Tyres Fined £40,000 in Health & Safety Case
Kings Road Tyres & Repairs Ltd (KRT) was fined £30,000 with £10,000 costs on 25 September at Carlisle Crown Court after a jury found the company guilty of a breach of the 1994 Health and Safety at Work Act at its Carlisle warehouse. The guilty verdict related to the fact that a pile of truck tyres stacked 19 high contravened the company’s health and safety policy. The jury cleared the firm of two other charges relating to an accident in which a roofer had fallen through a skylight. Peter Gaster, KRT group MD accepted that KRT staff failed to apply the correct measures in this instance of over stacking, but maintains the company had to defend its position against unfair and frivolous claims in respect of the roofing incident. In addition to the court case there was also some controversy over local newspaper, the News & Star’s, coverage of the case. The News & Star reported that Judge Barbara Forrester issued the fine after taking into account several “aggravating factors about the firm’s storage of tyres.” However, Peter Gaster told Tyres & Accessories the paper’s reference to “aggravating factors about our storage of tyres…is incorrect and was not mentioned by the Judge.” “We reported the roofing incident under RIDDOR, and this caused Carlisle City Council Health and Safety Inspectors to visit our premises to discuss the accident. Whilst on our premises they noticed a rather high stack of tyres. At no time then or previously has anyone been injured or has there been any accidents resulting from our storage policy,” he explained.
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