Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is planning “rationalization and workforce reorganization” actions that would result in a 5 per cent reduction in salaried staff globally, or about 500 positions. According to executives, the move has been prompted by the “challenging industry environment and cost pressure driven by inflation.” However it is also attributed to weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results:
Road safety charity TyreSafe has joined a growing chorus of automotive industry opposition to the latest proposal to extend the intervals of the MOT test. The organisation, which has members from all spheres of the UK tyre business sector as well as councils and emergency services, said that plans to require a first MOT after four rather than three years would increase the number of defective tyres and vehicles on the country’s roads. It explained that while new vehicles are often safer than ever, the advanced safety systems they incorporate often rely on the roadworthiness of tyres. Research by TyreSafe and its members suggests that putting more responsibility for ensuring tyres’ roadworthiness on UK motorists could lead to illegal and unsafe tyres remaining fitted to vehicles for longer, as many motorists do not check their tyres frequently enough.
Beissbarth Automotive Testing Solutions GmbH is taking over Beissbarth GmbH as a subsidiary of Stertil B.V., effective 1 January 2023. Most self-administration proceedings Beissbarth GmbH applied for in July 2022 are therefore complete. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
A positive first half of 2022 gave way to an increasingly bleak picture for replacement tyre sales according to overall figures published today by European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) members. Overall this meant replacement consumer tyre sales were 2 per cent down on 2021. Commercial replacement tyre sales remained largely flat, except for the agricultural tyre market, which was down more than a fifth (-22 per cent), having been in contraction all year. Quarter four saw double-digit percentage falls versus the fourth quarter of 2021 as the effects of war in Ukraine, including spiralling energy prices and a continental cost of living crisis, bit. The European replacement tyre segment’s first half of the year had been relatively buoyant, with double-digit growth in replacement truck and bus tyres the highlight.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a public consultation on the future of MOTs in Great Britain, which closes at 11:59pm on 28 February 2023. According to the DfT, “Views are being sought to update MOT testing for cars, motorbikes and vans to ensure roadworthiness checks continue to balance costs on motorists while ensuring road safety, keeping up with advances in vehicle technology, and tackling vehicle emissions.” But the short story is that they are once again proposing to “change the date at which the first MOT for new light vehicles is required from 3 to 4 years” under the guise of saving “motorists across Great Britain around £100 million a year in MOT fees” based on a £40 MOT.
Five years ago, Michelin purchased a 20 per cent stake in German automotive parts and servicing network ATU for 60 million euros. The French tyre maker has now confirmed that majority shareholder, France’s Mobivia Group, will acquire the minority stake from Michelin “in the next few days” and thus become the retail chain’s sole owner
Ceat has become the first tyre brand to gain World Economic Forum (WEF) ‘Lighthouse’ certification. Managing Director Anant Goenka accepted the honour at a ceremony in Davos on Monday. The tyre maker’s Halol plant in India is one of just 132 facilities in the WEF Lighthouse Network.
If asked which tyres are worn by cars competing in Lamborghini Super Trofeo races, you may be tempted to name an Italian brand starting with ‘P’ – but you’d be wrong. As of the 2023 season, Hankook Tire is now official technical partner and exclusive tyre supplier to all three series of the one-make cup. It has also developed a new, high-performance race tyre for this engagement, the Hankook Ventus Race, a product specifically tailored to the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2 racing car.
A name still unfamiliar to many, The Smart Tire Company (STC) is commercialising NASA’s non-pneumatic tyre technology. It is working with vehicle manufacturers to produce shape memory alloy tyres for cars and has launched a second generation of its airless bicycle tyre. In addition to developing products for use here on Earth, STC intends to send tyres to the Moon as part of NASA’s Project Artemis.
Prometeon Tyre Group has appointed Ali Yilmaz as the new managing director for the UK, Ireland and Nordics, effective from 1 January 2023. The move sees Yilmaz promoted from commercial director to the leadership role of the cluster, replacing interim MD Francesco Antonacci.
Players of the rFactor 2 motorsport simulation will benefit from a partnership between Studio 397 and Goodyear. The tyre maker is helping the Studio 397 physics team understand the very deep and complex construction and reactions of racing tyres. The Netherlands-based video game developer says it has benefitted from “an exceptional collaboration and sharing of data and insight of late.”
Halfords Group plc (Halfords)’s third-quarter 2023 trading update for the 13 weeks to 30 December 2022 show that group revenue grew 38.3 per cent and like-for-like group sales were up 12.6 per cent compared with 2020 levels. Other headlines included the news that Halfords’s services business represents 50.3 per cent of group revenue, and B2B, which includes the Avayler system 28.2 per cent. At the same time, Halfords hailed its “strong Commercial Fleet performance”, with this part of the business growing 138 per cent year-on-year. However, the company reduced its full-year 2023 underlying profit before tax (PBT) guidance from £60 million to £50 million.
The European Commission has provisionally recalculated anti-Chinese-produced truck tyre import tariffs to between €21.12 and €61.76 per tyre, equating to a reduction of between 0 and 51 per cent, depending on the manufacturer. Consultation on the provisional recalculation is now open until 23 January, before the final determination will be made on 25 January 2023.
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S. Hermann & F. Richter; Pixabay