Manny Cicero Named Alliance President
(Akron/Tire Review) Manny Cicero, former president of both Denman Tire Co. and Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire’s OTR unit, has been named president of Alliance Tire USA.
Tag Archive for: Firestone
Falken Promotes Marriott to CFO
Product News(Akron/Tire Review) US tyre industry veteran Gil Marriott has been promoted to CFO of Falken Tire Corp. Marriott joined Falken in April 2001 as vice president of administration and treasurer. Previously, Marriott held executive posts with Bridgestone/Firestone and Yokohama Tire.
Bridgestone Heads onto the Field as Official NFL Tyre
Product NewsTyre sponsorship of motorsport events is nothing new but ‘official tyres’ are generally less common in sporting codes that don’t actually involve the use of cars. However the absence of vehicles has proven no handicap to the National Football League (NFL) in the US, who has signed Bridgestone up as its first “Official Tire of the National Football League.”
The multi-year marketing and promotional agreement between the NFL and Bridgestone Firestone North America will see the Bridgestone brand involved in a number of promotional opportunities including title sponsorship of the first regular season NFL game to be played outside of North America.
Under the agreement, BFNT and the Bridgestone brand will join with the powerful NFL brand through numerous exclusive promotional opportunities, including title sponsorship of the first-ever regular season NFL game to be played outside North America. The game, known as the Bridgestone International Series, will be played on October 28 between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium.
BFNAT Adds New LT/SUV Tire
Product News(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire has launched the Bridgestone Dueler A/T 695, a new all-terrain light truck/SUV line. Replacing the Dueler A/T 693, the tyre features Bridgestone’s UNI-T technology; a “two-in-one tread block design” for on-road stability and handling; silica-based tread compound for wet traction; open shoulder slots for water evacuation; and interlocking tread notches and off-shoulder tread blocks for mud and snow traction.
The tyre – R-, S- and T-rated – will be available in 21 sizes covering 15- to 20-inch wheel diameters, and has a 460 AB UTQG rating. The tyre also comes with a 50,000-mile limited treadwear warranty. All sizes carry the Bridgestone Platinum Pact 3-Year Replacement Limited Warranty and Buy & Try, 30-Day Guarantee.
Vintage Tyre Supplies – Supplying Vintage Tyres
NewsThe name says it all – just like that well known brand of paint they do “just what it says on the tin” Vintage tyre Supplies distributes one of the largest ranges of original equipment classic and vintage car and motorcycle tyres in the world. Pneumatic tyres have been with us now for almost 120 years and with our insatiable appetite for collecting old things the need for good quality authentic tyres is as strong as ever. Many readers will find it incredible to discover that it’s still possible to get a tyre for a vehicle manufactured when Queen Victoria was on the Throne! Even harder to believe is that it’s a British company that manufacturers them.
When Vintage Tyres was originally set up to fulfil the needs of the motoring enthusiasts, the founders could not have imagined that after almost 50 years the company would become one of the largest specialist distributors in the world. VTS still works closely with Dunlop but now also offers Avon, Michelin, Firestone, Vredestein and more recently their own brand Waymaster, together with a whole host of other smaller specialist brands. VTS have also been active in the re-development of many discontinued tyre sizes, such as the Dunlop Aquajet, the Michelin X and more recently the Avon Traction mileage. Managing Director Chris Marchant is also mindful of the need to also offer more competitively priced products, a gap that is filled with the company’s own Waymaster brand.
New First Stop Website
Product NewsBridgestone UK has launched a new first stop web site. The site, www.firststoppartners.co.uk, has been designed to cater for the growing number of independent tyre retailers signing up to the First Stop network – the loyalty programme of Bridgestone UK. It offers a host of interactive features, including downloadable brochures and guides, latest news, contact details for key First Stop personnel, and an online shop selling promotional products.
The site also boasts access to marketing tools, answers to technical questions, information on Bridgestone UK’s safety campaigns, and details of the company’s training and investment programs – as well as outlining all the benefits of being a First Stop member.
BFNAT Adds New On-/Off-Highway Radial
Product News(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire has launched the new Bridgestone L320 on-/off-highway drive radial. BFNAT said the tyre features a 31/32nds deep, aggressive block design for traction, tread life and retreadability, open shoulders for traction on soft surfaces, and stabilising tie bars for tread block stability and long-term traction.
Stabilising tie bars link adjoining tread blocks. As the tyre wears and becomes shallower, the tie bars become part of the tread pattern. This creates additional edges to “bite” into soft surfaces, further enhancing soft-surface traction.
The L320 drive has four steel belts and an all-steel casing, and will initially be available in sizes 11R22.5 and 11R24.5 sizes, both in G and H load ratings, and 12R22.5 in H load rating.
Rejection of TPMS Challenge Has Implications
Product News(Akron/Tire Review) It was a challenge that had to be made, but at least for now, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in mid-June regarding NHTSA’s rule on tire pressure monitoring systems will stand as originally written. The court ruled the petitioning parties – four tire companies, TIA and consumer watchdog Public Citizen – failed to establish their standing in the dispute.
The court, however, made no comment relative to the merits of their argument. The reaction from the tire industry and the companies that challenged NHTSA’s “final rule” on TREAD Act-mandated TPMS is predictable. “We are still studying the decision,” says a Goodyear spokesman. Goodyear, Bridgestone/Firestone, Cooper, Pirelli North America, the Tire Industry Association (TIA) and consumer group Public Citizen all challenged the NHTSA standard requiring factory-installed TPMS to notify drivers if tire pressure drops 25% below carmaker-set tire inflation pressures.
Goodyear’s comments are typical of the reactions from the other plaintiffs. A spokesperson for Cooper says that they are evaluating their options, and added, “We still believe that consumer safety would be enhanced if this rule was changed.” The other members of the challenge either didn’t issue a statement or were waiting for the next step in the process.
Bridgestone OE for New Hybrid Lexus in US
Product NewsBridgestone Turanza EL42 tyres have been selected by Lexus as OE for North American models of the company’s all-new LS 600h L luxury hybrid sedan. The specific tyre fitted as one of the options to the world’s first full V8, all-wheel-drive hybrid vehicle is the all-season Turanza EL42 in size P245/45R19 98V, a tyre Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire believes will deliver the sleek styling, low noise and outstanding performance in dry and wet conditions prerequisite on a vehicle that has a US market starting price in excess of $100,000.
The 2008 Lexus LS 600h L powertrain combines a 5.0-litre V8 petrol engine with two powerful electric motors that reduce emissions by 70 per cent compared with a vehicle fitted with a conventional engine – earning it a Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) rating. “Bridgestone Firestone is proud to support vehicles that minimise fuel use and environmental impact,” said Michael Martini, BFNAT president, Consumer OE Tire Sales.
Bridgestone Opens Largest Oceania Truck Tyre Store
Product NewsBridgestone has opened what they believe to be the largest truck tyre retail centre in the Australia/New Zealand region. The centre is operated by the company’s retail business, Bridgestone Select, and is located in the Adelaide suburb of Wingfield. The facility covers an area of more than 15,000 square metres and offers seven dedicated B-double work bays.
Manager of the new store, Justin Purdie, reports that the planning process for designing the Wingfield site was very thorough. “Because we can cater for all sizes of trucks up to and including road trains, we put a lot of work into ensuring access to the site is easy for all trucks. All of our bays are totally under cover and offer convenience without the hassle of uncoupling. There is no question that, with this facility, we can now maximise speed of operation and minimise down-time for drivers.”
Bridgestone Select outlets also stock a comprehensive range of products including Bridgestone and Firestone truck tyres and Bandag retreads.
BFNAT Donates Oklahoma City Land for School
Product News(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire plans to donate 60 acres of land in southwest Oklahoma City near its now closed tyre plant to the local school district, according to news reports.
The land donation to the 3,000-student Western Heights School District will allow the district to build a new elementary school bearing the tyremaker’s name. The site also includes a 40-acre nature preserve. BFNAT closed the plant last December, and was originally built in 1969 by the former Dayton Tire Co.
BFNAT Chairman and CEO Mark Emkes told local media that some equipment from the closed plant is now in use at other company manufacturing facilities, and that the plant site is up for sale.
Revised BFNAT Pay Plan Rejected
Product NewsWorkers at the Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire facility in La Vergne voted strongly against a revised contract with the tyremaker on August 23, placing a question mark over the future of the plant and its almost 1,200 non-salaried workers. Employees voted 488 to 225 against a proposal containing provision for an incentive-pay plan linking potential income with productivity.
“We are disappointed. We believe this vote was critical to the plant’s future,” Bridgestone spokesman Dan MacDonald said. “To be successful in a fiercely competitive global economy this plant needs to improve productivity. It is not at a level to make us globally competitive. We don’t set the rules, the marketplace does.” MacDonald added that decisions about the factory would need to be made “down the road.”
President of the local United Steelworkers branch, Gary Manning, said the vote against the contract was no surprise. “Workers didn’t have any real assurances that this would really protect the plant,” Manning said. “The biggest problem here was not knowing what the numbers (would) be, how much these workers would be expected to do and under what terms.”
BFNAT Breaks Ground for Largest Distribution Centre
Product News(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire broke ground for its one-million-square-foot distribution centre in Jacksonville, Florida, the company largest single distribution facility in the US. The groundbreaking ceremony included representatives of the city and county governments, as well as the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. As part of the celebration, BFNAT made a $5,000 donation to nearby Chaffee Trail Elementary School.
With a capacity for more than one million tyres – from small passenger to commercial truck tyres – the centre will supply tyres and automotive parts to dealers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, BFNAT said. In addition, the distribution centre will supply customers across the US. with imported tyres from Bridgestone/Firestone plants in Latin America, and the Eastern half of the US with tyres made in Japan and other Asian countries.
Tyre-Safety TV Ad Features Exploding Frogs
Product News(Akron/Tire Review – Detroit News) Federal officials seek to prompt motorists to check their tyres by unveiling a TV advertisement featuring frogs exploding on hot asphalt.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration released a 30-second public service message Monday that features a parody of a nature TV show.
A narrator with a British accent describes the “perilous journey” that frogs face crossing the road, especially on hot day. The video depicts eight frogs that appear to explode in a poof of smoke and fire on the asphalt.
“Although always a perilous journey, a trip across the road for our web-footed friend is especially unbearable during extreme summertime temperatures,” the narrator intones.
Anti-Dumping Probe Raises China’s Ire
Product News(Akron/Tire Review) China’s Ministry of Commerce has stated its “firm” objection to US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy charges related to tyres imported from that country.
The US Commerce Department, acting on unfair trade practices complaints by Titan International and the United Steelworkers – a complaint later joined by Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire and Denman Tire Corp. – launched a formal investigation. The tyremakers and union want the US to impose duties on China-made OTR tyres the US group claims are unfairly priced.
The Chinese government claims the investigation is “an abuse of World trade Organization rules,” and will hurt trade relations between the two countries.
