Dunlop Tyres Zimbabwe Shuts Down
Dunlop Tyres (Pvt) Limited, Zimbabwe’s sole tyre manufacturing firm, has shut down with the loss of 820 jobs, leading to concerns about road safety in the country. Officials at the tyre manufacturer and exporter said the firm had shut down its plant last week due to shortages of foreign currency, which has resulted in the company failing to procure raw materials, newzimbabwe.com has reported.
Continue ReadingDelphi Files Chapter 11
Automotive supplier Delphi has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. General Motors, Delphi’s former parent company will bear the brunt of the collapse because it could be liable for up to $11 billion (£6 billion) worth of pension and retirement benefits for about 25,000 Delphi employees.
Continue ReadingFIA Considers Reinstating Tyre Changes Into F1
As Kimi Raikonnen celebrates what he has described as one of his best victories ever, the FIA is said to be considering a U-turn on its policy of keeping to one set of tyres per race weekend. Despite starting back in 17th on the grid, Raikonnen powered to victory on the last lap of the Japanese Grand Prix. Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso filled the remaining podium places. Once again, Michael Schumacher’s seventh place Ferrari was the only Bridgestone shod vehicle to score points.
Continue ReadingCooper Debt Downgraded to Junk
Cooper Tire & Rubbers debt rating was downgraded to junk yesterday by Standard & Poor, which cited pressure on the companys earnings, reports an American news source. The rating reflects poor near-term earnings and cash-flow prospects, said S&P in a statement. The downgrade to high-risk, high-yield junk affects about $720 million in debt.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Tyres for Hybrid Truck
A prototype hybrid U.S. Air Force aircraft refueller truck built on a Mack Truck chassis features a new mixed-service tyre from Goodyear. Goodyear Unisteel G287 MSA tyres (315/80R22.5) are mounted in the steer position on the 6,000-gallon refueller. Mack Trucks Inc. and the U.S. Air Force Advanced Power Technology Office developed the hybrid diesel-electric truck. Eight Goodyear Unisteel G286 tyres (12R22.5) are mounted on the vehicles rear drive axles.
Continue ReadingMAM Software for Mr. Clutch
MAM Software has just completed the installation of its Autopart v20 management system at all 44 branches of Mr. Clutch Autocentres, the national garage services chain. MAM was chosen because of its ability to meet the requirements imposed by Mr. Clutchs recent expansion of services.
Continue ReadingMixed Fortunes for US Tyre Market
There was mixed news concerning demand for tyres in the USA during September. Light vehicle tyre shipments during the month were up 2.6 per cent compared with September last year, which came as a surprise to some analysts, who were expecting sales to fall as a reaction to high fuel prices. The good news is tempered by the fact that these figures represent shipments to dealers, rather than sales to consumers.
Continue ReadingWatch Your Power Consumption
Battery manufacturer Varta has highlighted an anomaly regarding automotive batteries – with todays products vastly superior to those of a few years ago in both performance and longevity, how come the battery is still the cause of most calls to motoring organisations and breakdown service providers? The answer, says Varta, is that there are so many power consumers on todays cars that these can adversely impact on the ability of the battery and alternator to provide constant energy, particularly in winter where the nominal output of the alternator can be easily exceeded in even the shortest journey. And we are talking about modern cars with healthy batteries with comparatively low power consumers, such as lights and heaters.
Continue ReadingKleber Key Dealer Scheme
Glanworth Tyres has been appointed as Kleber’s exclusive wholesaler in Ireland. It will distribute Kleber car and van tyres in what, the manufacturer claims, is one of the brand’s fastest growing markets and the sixth largest in Europe. “The link between the largest tyre manufacturer in the world, the largest wholesaler in Ireland and some of the best tyre retailers around is sure to guarantee a successful future,” remarked sales director Estelle.
Continue ReadingTruck Sales on Target
Commercial vehicle registrations are “on track,” according to SMMT statistics that have recorded 394,738 registrations for the rolling year to September. Last month’s figures were slightly down at 0.6 per cent, but the year to date is up by 1.6 per cent.
Continue ReadingBridgestone’s E-reporter Announced
The UK finalist of the Bridgestone e-reporter competition, Mike Channell, has been announced as the overall winner of its pan-European Bridgestone e-reporter young journalist competition. He attended the European Grand Prix as part of his prize and reported on the inaugural GP2 Series for Bridgestone Europe and the GP2 Series’ websites. Channell will fly to Japan for this years Tokyo Motor Show, and also received a new laptop.
Continue ReadingFulda Challenge 2006
The 2006 UK Fulda Challenge team has been chosen following the European Selection Event that took place in Sulden, South Tyrol/Italy. The two-person team - Martin Yardley, a Royal Marine physical training instructor from Portsmouth and Kate Balchin, a Metropolitan police officer from Bagshot in Surrey - will represent the UK in the sixth Fulda Challenge.
Continue ReadingGlobal Remould Services
This year Cheshire-based casing dealership, Global Remould Services, is celebrating its first decade in business. Much has changed since the beginning. 10 years ago the company turned over £180,000 worth of casing sales. Now annual turnover is almost 20 times that size (roughly £3.5 million). When a casing dealership grows this much, it is important that it also owns it own fleet. That’s why last year Global Remoulds purchased a tractor unit and three trailers to assist in the transportation of the 100,000 tyres that the company handles each year.
Continue ReadingGoodyear To Launch New Airship
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has announced plans to launch a new airship in the spring of 2006 to be deployed to its Pompano Beach, Florida operation. The new airship has been in production for the past two years as a previously scheduled 2006 replacement for the Stars & Stripes, which has operated in Florida since 1992.
Continue ReadingTeam Ferrari Visit Bridgestone HQ
Bridgestone has called in some of its celebrity connections to help motivate workers in advance of next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barichello, and Ferrari F1 team managing director Jean Todt recently visited Bridgestone’s worldwide headquarters in Tokyo at the invitation of Bridgestone Corporation president, CEO and chairman, Shigeo Watanabe.
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