Sumitomo Rubber Industries, the manufacturer of the global Falken tyre brand has temporarily shut down its factory in South Africa on government orders. All of its other tyre manufacturing facilities are currently operational, though staff at the Falken Tyre Europe headquarters in Germany are working remotely where possible, or following social distancing guidelines.
Figures recently published by the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA) show that its members produced almost 242 million tyres in all segments of the replacement market in 2019, two to three per cent fewer than the 248 million tyres produced a year earlier.
Start making the popcorn – a new film from Falken Tyres is about to debut. Called ’20 Years, 20 Stories’, the film covers the brand’s 20th-anniversary celebration at the 24 Hours Nürburgring last year and shares the experience of the legendary race as told by 24 people before, during and after the event.
The Audi Q3 is the latest vehicle to be factory-fitted with Falken tyres. The compact SUV will be fitted with the Falken Ziex ZE914 A EC AO pattern in size 215/65R17 99V. Commenting on Audi’s selection of the tyre, Christian Stolting, key OE account manager at Falken Tyre Europe GmbH, said: “The Audi engineers’ decision highlights once again the excellent quality and the capability of our tyres.”
Falken Tyre and Micheldever Tyre Services have extended a regional advertising campaign to bolster UK awareness of the Falken brand.
Falken Tyre Europe has revised its management structure. As a result, Markus Bögner, existing COO and managing director, is now COO and president of Falken Tyre Europe. Bögner, who has been at Falken since 2009, was primarily responsible for sales and marketing. The new role, effective from 1 March, enables Bögner to “focus on the overall running and performance of the growing business”, according to the company.
At the Board of Directors meeting held at its headquarters in Brussels yesterday, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association welcomed Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) as its newest member. SRI, whose affiliate subsidiary Falken Tyre Europe will be the association’s direct point of contact, will be counted as a member as of January 2019.
Falken Tyre Europe says 1 September 2018 will go down in the annals of Falken Motorsports after it celebrated a double win at the Nürburgring – the first in its almost 20 years of VLN participation. The 1-2 finish saw Martin Ragginger and Klaus Bachler dominate the sixth round of the VLN Endurance Championship and win for the first time in the Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of Falken team colleagues Stef Dusseldorp and Alexandre Imperatori in the BMW M6 GT3.
Mitsuteru Tanigawa has become the new CEO of Falken Tyre Europe. Tanigawa (61), replaces Masatsugu Nishino, who has moved to Turkey to head up Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ manufacturing facility.
This year, the Falken tyre brand will serve as presenting partner for the Audi Nines, an annual invitational for some of the world’s best Skicross and Snowboardcross athletes. In 2018, the event comes to Sölden, Austria for the first time and will be held on 14 April.
Masatsugu Nishino has been named the new president of Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ factory in Turkey. Currently chief executive officer of Falken Tyre Europe, a position he has held since April 2015, Nishino will take up his new role with Sumitomo Rubber AKO Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. on 1 January 2018. Nishino’s successor as Falken Tyre Europe’s CEO has been named as Mitsuteru Tanigawa, who will assume the position from January.
Further to news from Micheldever wholesale director Alan Baldwin that the Sumitomo tyre brand is coming to the UK and Europe and will be positioned as an entry-level mid-range brand beneath the Falken brand, the sales director for Falken Tyre Europe’s replacement market business in Germany has shared details on the range heading our way.
The 2017 VLN Endurance Championship is, states Falken Tyre Europe, its most successful season to date. The win by the Falken Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 in the fourth race of the season gave the tyre maker its first overall victory since the start of its Nürburgring commitment in 1999. The Porsche 911 GT3 R team added two more podium finishes later in the season. The final race of the season took place on the weekend with Falken Motorsport team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Klaus Bachler and Romain Dumas, taking fourth place. Peter Dumbreck and Stef Dusseldorp had a great race in their BMW M6 GT3 coming from behind to finish in 11th place overall.
Liverpool FC has a new global partner and official tyre partner. Following the end of its arrangement with Maxxis, which began in 2009 and concluded at the end of the 2016/17 season, the club has entered into a multi-year collaboration with Falken Tyre.
