Truck Tyre Dumping Probe Begins in India
India’s Commerce Department has, according to national media, commenced an investigation into alleged dumping of Chinese and Thai made truck and bus radials in the Indian market. The decision to launch this investigation follows a complaint lodged by national tyre industry representative body, the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA).
Continue ReadingAutoglym Valet Workstation
A new user-friendly Autoglym Valet Workstation aims to improve the working environment and operational efficiency of professional valeters. The workstation – developed for franchised and independent workshops, bodyshops and dedicated valet bays – neatly stores and presents nine Autoglym’s trade valeting products, the accompanying drying and polishing cloths and the firm’s specialist cleaning brushes.
Continue ReadingUnion Urges Cooper to Keep Jobs in US
Following an announcement from Cooper Tire that it would conduct a study into its US manufacturing facilities, local, state and national USW union leaders and about 80 others joined together in Findlay, Ohio to present their response – they want Cooper to continue production at its Findlay factory, and jobs should remain in the US.
Continue ReadingPDP E-learning Programme
Premier Distribution Partnership (PDP) has announced the launch of a unique E-Learning programme to the UK garage trade. The E-learning programme is a CD based comprehensive diagnostics training programme and is a development of the PDP’s Diagnostic Support Programme, a series of on site training courses lead by Frank Massey, which was launched in January 2008. Tony Parr, PDP Chairman and Managing Director of PDP member BMS explained The original Diagnostic support programme was launched in January 2008, to tremendous trade support and with over 2000 attendees at the regional launch evenings. The E-Learning programme now takes this one step further and is a full diagnostics training programme in DVD format, which allows mechanics to update their knowledge of the latest diagnostic techniques without having to leave their busy workshops, resulting in no unnecessary travelling, loss of income, or time away from the business. Frank Massey passes on his knowledge and skills built up over 38 years of running his own highly successful repair workshop, in an easy to understand and follow format, at a pace and time the viewer controls.
Continue ReadingMichelin Revises Full Year Targets
Michelin’s financial results for the quarter ending September 30, 2008 show a slight increase in sales during the three month period. However, upon releasing its figures the company also warned that a drop in European and North American demand makes it unlikely that previously set targets will be reached. In July, the Michelin Group based its estimated result of around 8.6 per cent for the full year on the assumption that second half markets do not worsen beyond estimated levels forecasted at the time. It now reports the different trends recorded since early October point to a sharper deterioration of demand in most European and North American countries. If this trend is confirmed in November and December, Michelin should post 7 to 7.5 per cent operating margin before non-recurring items for fiscal 2008. The company’s 2007 operating margin stood at 9.8 per cent.
Continue ReadingS&H Tyres BV – Adding Personality to Tyre Sales
Joint managing directors Simon Klapwijk and Henk van Dijk founded S&H Tyres in 2001. Between them they can register nearly 50 years of experience in the tyre trade. The knowledge gained in those years together with their individual charisma and undoubted negotiating skills has played in a big part in enabling the company to become an increasingly dynamic force in the wholesale tyre industry.
Continue ReadingTyres Subject to ‘Biblical’ Wrath in US
And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tyre for tyre…. Two men in the US city of Dallas have taken a biblical approach to their differences following an argument on October 27. According to Dallas Police, the gents were seen “arguing and getting angry with each other” in a car park at 7.30pm. The Police have released details of what followed.
Continue ReadingCompetition Remains Central for Michelin
The news that Michelin has bowed out of MotoGP, after walking away from Formula 1 and WRC in the last few years, just goes to show how seriously the French tyre manufacturer takes motorsport. Competition and, of course, winning is a central tenet of the French manufacturer’s thinking when it comes to racing. Tyres & Accessories visited Silverstone at the culmination of the 2008 Le Mans series and met with Michelin competition manager (four-wheel activities) Matthieu Bonardel. Exhilarating bike series like MotoGP may not be in his remit, but when it comes to four-wheel motorsport, racing means business. Nowhere is the competition philosophy more apparent than in the endurance racing series Michelin has dominated in recent years. After 4000km of competing on Europe’s finest circuits (including Barcelona, Monza, Spa and the Nurburgring) Silverstone hosted the final race of the 2008 Le Mans Series which also turned out to be the championship decider. Automatic entry into the 2009 Le Mans 24 hours was available to the top two in each category – and it showed. This year’s Silverstone event was as exciting as anyone could have hoped for with Le Mans Series organisers hailing the event as “the greatest race in the series’ history” with record crowds to boot. The end result was that after five hours of racing, Michelin-shod Audis achieved surprise wins in both the drivers’ and championship titles. Michelin will no doubt be pleased that this year’s Le Mans series was so exciting. But a close finish like this only highlights how tyre selection can make a world of difference. Just 48 hours before the Le Mans Series reached its climax at Silverstone, Michelin showed T&A the lengths teams go to when it comes to selecting the right tyres and compound. Michelin’s competition tyre “demonstration” meant being strapped into a Corvette C6R and taking Silverstone’s corners at break-neck speed, while attempting to simultaneously hold onto lunch and keep an eye on the telemetry set-up. After two comparative sets of three laps with different compound configurations in each, it was clear that using the soft compound on the front axle and the hard tyres on the rear was, subjectively, the best set-up. With hard tyres all round there was noticeably less traction requiring more over-steer from the driver and resulting in a slower corner. But here is the key point: teams like Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette don’t make their tyre and engineering decisions on subjective opinions alone. That’s where the technology comes in. The equipment teams use to evaluate tyre performance is based on a GPS system wired up to sensors measuring G-force – in other words satnav with bells on. All this data is stored in a common or garden SD memory card and the fed into a computer for analysis. The resulting data showed the kind of accuracy that it would be impossible to “feel.” The two set ups produced an average difference in lateral acceleration of 0.4G when cornering, which resulted in a roughly two second difference in lap time. In short, the difference between winning and losing a race. To put the scale of and event like the Le Mans Series into perspective, Michelin took around 2700 soft, medium and hard, standard, intermediate and wet tyres to Silverstone in September. All of these are inflated to condition specific air pressures (1.4 bar for slicks; 1.8 bar for wet and intermediate tyres) and all the front tyre/wheel assemblies are balanced. According to the technicians the tyres produced are so uniform that balancing is not always necessary, however, when this is required the tyre tech tent is on hand to apply the necessary weights, using the kind of Corghi tyre changing and balancing machinery that you might find in any number of high-performance tyre dealers across the UK. In the interests of fairness, each Michelin-equipped Le Mans Series team has its own technician and everyone draws from the same pool of tyres.
Continue ReadingDunlop Celebrates Winning Run Milestone
Dunlop commissioned a specially designed helmet for Marco Simoncelli to celebrate the companys 200th consecutive victory in MotoGP 250cc. It was Simoncelli whose victory marked the milestone, to add to his 2008 series victory. The presentation was made by Raoul Smits, European sales and marketing manager, Dunlop Motorcycle Tires, at a press party hosted by Dunlop at the final MotoGP of the season in Valencia on 26 October. While Dunlop is currently the sole tyre supplier to the 250cc series, company representatives say they would welcome competition, though breaking the manufacturer’s winning streak would take some doing. We celebrate not only 200 consecutive victories, but also our 16th consecutive World Championship title in 250cc GP, he said, in congratulating Marco and the Metis Gilera team. Racing is very important to us, and the technology transfer between race and road helps us to develop road tires with outstanding characteristics with regards both to safety and performance.
Continue ReadingDekk Partner Develops New Structure and Marketing Strategy
While there are a few retail chains such as Dekkman and Vianor operating in Nordic markets, the majority of tyre sales are down to a considerable number of independent operators with one or two depots. For most of these as much as 60 per cent of annual tyre sales are compressed into the four month period leading up to the onset of winter. This figure is higher in the North, where the winter season is both longer and harder. High transport costs, extreme seasonal business and little chance of same day deliveries means that high stock levels are usually required at each retail outlet. Despite these difficulties the independents are generally faring better than the equity chains. Increasingly, independent tyre retailers in Nordic countries are joining what is now recognised as the leading buying group in the region and one of the most progressive international tyre buying groups; Dekk Partner, founded in 1994.
Continue ReadingNCC Directs Goodyear to SEMA Show
The NCC, an American manufacturer of consumer electrical devices, is to showcase its new line of licensed Goodyear-branded GPS navigation systems at the 4-7 November SEMA automotive trade show in Las Vegas. The systems are designed for use primarily in passenger cars, though a commercial model will also be displayed. The units – model numbers GY130 and GY135 (affordable range) and GY140 and GY145 (Mid-range) – will feature the company’s “INSTANT Rerouting” system, which utilizes a constant, proactive analysis of all possible routes within a one mile radius to calculate new directions instantly when a user changes their route. In effect the system prevents the time-inefficient recalculations made by some GPS units whenever a turn is missed. This feature will be exclusive to Goodyear GPS products.
Continue ReadingMichelin Could Consider F1 Return
Michelin has publicly ruled itself out of involvement in Formula 1 as long as it remains a control tyre series, but what if that were to change? “Different control tyre series are run and therefore perceived differently. At best the tyre manufacturer is seen as a supplier, at worst they are little more than a sponsor. It is important that there is a balance between tyre makers to motivate a comeback,” Michelin four wheel competition manager, Matthieu Bonardel, told Tyres & Accessories in a recent interview. If and when the conditions are right Michelin would appear to want to “jump at the chance of re-entering the series.” However, there may be a twist in the company’s involvement were there to be a return to Formula One. “F1 is a good place for newcomers to come in and get known with their brand…Michelin could use any one of a number of different brands,” Bonardel said during the interview with Tyres & Accessories.
Continue ReadingJK Tyre Reports September Quarter Losses
India’s JK Tyre showed a loss of 323.70 rupees (3.97 million pounds sterling; 1.00 GBP = 81.58 INR) for the quarter ending September 2008, the company has reported. The same quarter in 2007 yielded a profit of 243.9 million rupees. Meanwhile, net sales for the quarter rose 27.1 per cent on the same quarter last year, rising from 6.88 billion to 8.74 billion rupees. Shares in the company earned 10.05 rupees each, meaning that there was a growth of 26.89 per cent on the previous year, when earnings per share were at 7.92 rupees.
Continue ReadingKumho Eco-Tyre Development Team Wins Company Award
The Kumho Asiana Group has held its ‘5th Kumho Asiana Group Technology Awards Ceremony’ in South Korea. The ceremony in Seoul was attended by some 150 executives, including Kumho Asiana Group chairman Sam-Koo Park. This year the company’s technology award was presented to three employees from the Kumho Petrochemical rubber research team, along with team director Young-Hoon Koh. In total, ten teams were honoured with awards at the ceremony.
Continue ReadingToyo Aiming for 5% of US Market
Last year Toyo, said to be the world’s 11th largest tyre manufacturer, produced 30 million tyres. This figure is anticipated to rise in coming years – the company plans to produce 35 million pieces by 2010 and 50 million by 2015. Should Toyo reach this level, the tyremaker will be at the level of Yokohama, currently ranked number seven globally. The Japanese manufacturer produced a total of 49.95 million tyres in 2007.
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