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.
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.
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.”
Germany’s Borussia Mönchengladbach has a new premium partner and official tyre partner for the 2019-20 season. The football club, which finished fifth in the Bundesliga last season, is now working together with Falken.
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.
Falken Tyre Europe