Bettina Feldmann has left Goodyear Germany to take on a new role at Falken Tyre Europe. The Japanese manufacturer has appointed Feldmann chief operations officer of its European business, succeeding Markus Bögner in this position. Bögner remains with the company as managing director, president and chief sales officer of Falken Tyre Europe GmbH.
From 25 November Falken Tyre Europe GmbH is participating in raising awareness for “Orange Day”, the internationally-recognized 16-day campaign “for the elimination of violence against women and girls” that runs until 10 December. To give “Orange Day” visibility at Falken’s Offenbach City Tower headquarters in Germany, the usual evening lighting in the foyer will be switched off from 5pm to 10pm. In its place, energy-saving LED lights will illuminate the space in orange.
In response to growth in recent years, Falken Tyre Europe GmbH has added a further tier to its management. As part of this restructuring, Andreas Giese and Mario Pannwitz join Keiichi Miyamoto in the Falken Tyre Europe executive team. Falken will add “additional key positions” to the management tier over the medium term.
In response to the increased pressure to reduce costs in the transport industry, Falken has created a comprehensive ‘Technical Support – Commercial Tyre Guide’ for truck and bus operators. Available now via Falken’s B2B dealer shop, this new guide supports commercial customers make informed decisions to reduce operating costs.
Falken has paid homage to its first aftermarket tyre for electric cars in a short video. The clip, just under a minute long, focuses on the Falken e.Ziex, which debuted at The Tire Cologne in May. Falken says the new tyre is “one of the best tyres in terms of energy efficiency ever developed and manufactured by the Sumitomo Rubber Group.”
Later this month, Falken Tyre Europe will display a range of more than twenty tyre models at The Tire Cologne. This array of products will include several newcomers, such as the Falken e.Ziex electric car tyre, Azenis FK520 UHP tyre and Eurowinter HS02 and HS02Pro winter tyres.
A joint project between Sumitomo Rubber Industries, parent company of Falken Tyre Europe, and Professor Hiroshi Tani of Japan’s Kansai University has resulted in the development of an innovative power generator for tyres. It generates electricity from the rotation of the tyre and uses this to power peripheral sensors installed within the tyre. In this way, the sensors can operate without the need for batteries.
Falken Tyre Europe will increase the prices of its entire product portfolio by nine per cent on 1 May 2022. Falken states the increase reflects global rises in costs for raw materials, energy, and logistics. This price rise does not affect UK Falken customers, where the brand is distributed exclusively by Micheldever Tyre Services. Like Falken, MTS is owned by Sumitomo Rubber Industries. A Falken spokesperson told Tyrepress that MTS would inform its customers of any price rise affecting the UK.
Falken Tyres has formed a new partnership with the European Handball Federation. As part of the deal – brokered by Infront – it will benefit from a tailor-made partner package for the 15th edition of the EURO tournament, which is scheduled to take place in Hungary and Slovakia between 13 and 30 January 2022.
Falken Tyre Europe has further expanded its warehousing in Germany by becoming an anchor tenant of tyre wholesaler Tyroo GmbH. Located near the centre of Germany, the Tyreoo site in Neuhof enables Falken to continue developing its retail strategy, expand its customer base amongst car dealers and increase its presence in the German market.
In July, Falken Tyre Europe announced that its Falken Ziex ZE310A Ecorun was an original equipment tyre for the Audi A3 TFSI e hybrid. This supply agreement has now been extended to other Audi A3 models. Falken is shipping Ziex ZE310 Ecorun tyres in size 205/55R16 91V to the Audi plant in Ingolstadt, Germany. All such tyres will bear the AO – Audi Original – mark on the sidewall.
Seat has selected one of Falken’s most popular tyre models, the Ziex ZE310 Ecorun, as a factory fitment. Seat Leon models rolling of the line at the car maker’s plant in Martorell, Spain will wear the tyre in size 205/55 R16. An additional ‘A’ in the product name will set these tyres apart as original equipment Seat tyres – the OE tyre is thus known as the Falken Ziex ZE310 A Ecorun.
The first Falken tyre to feature Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ proprietary Coreseal puncture sealant technology goes on sale in Europe this month. Coreseal will initially be available on two sizes of the all-season Falken Euroall Season AS210 pattern.
Falken Tyres shares that one of its longest-running driver/team partnerships will “take a different direction” in 2021. Peter Dumbreck will switch from driving to a brand ambassador and adviser role at Falken Motorsports.
A decade on from debuting a sole Porsche 997 GT3 R on the Nordschleife, Falken will field a pair of the latest-generation 911 GT3 R cars in both the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) and 24-Hour race in 2021. Schnabl Engineering, the German specialist that has supported the tyre manufacturer since 2011, will continue to run the Falken Motorsports team this year.
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