Tag: investment
Transense confirms Bridgestone cooperation
In February, TPMS and sensor-maker Transense announced it had received an order for 50 of its iTrack II tyre monitoring systems for installation in mines in North America. On Tuesday 13 August the company confirmed that Bridgestone is the cooperation partner.
Quick Lane Reading invests £40,000 in MOT equipment
Quick Lane Reading, the tyre and autocentre chain’s first franchise branch, has made a £40,000 investment into new MOT test equipment.
Toyo investing 390 million euros in Serbia tyre factory
Toyo Tire Corporation has announced that it is investing 390.5 million euros in the construction of a new tyre manufacturing facility in Indijia City, Republic of Serbia. Construction of the Serbia plant will start in May 2020, with a view to initiating tyre manufacturing operations in January 2022.
TrustFord opens two more PartsPlus sites
TrustFord has opened two new PartsPlus sites as the dealer group nears the completion of its new wholesale parts network expansion. The new sites, in Hull and Lincoln, were both opened on 17 July by Stuart Foulds, chairman and chief executive of TrustFord, accompanied by Dean Kemsley, general manager, and members of the board. The openings follow investment in Ford’s Quick Lane tyre and autocentre chain and brings the total number of TrustFord-operated PartsPlus sites to 14 across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. A further site is due to open later this year.
Cooper investing US$4 million in Tupelo mixing
Cooper Tire & Rubber is investing a further $4 million into its plant in Tupelo, Mississippi. Local news sources, citing documents filed with the city said the money will be invested in upgrading the Tupelo plant’s mixing facilities.
Kobe Steel makes Germany-based Kobelco Europe its European HQ
Kobe Steel, Ltd. established Kobelco Europe GmbH (KEU) earlier this month to serve as the European headquarters for the Kobe Steel Group. Tsuyoshi Uesugi, will serve as managing director. According to the company, KEU has grown out of the existing Kobelco Machinery Europe GmbH (KME) which is based in Munich, Germany. KME was established in 2012 as a base for Kobe Steel’s Machinery Business in Europe, mainly the marketing of nonstandard compressors and tyre and rubber machinery.
Nokian Tyres: Investment in capacity, R&D on schedule
Plans announced over the past year and a half to extend the Nokian Tyres commercial factory in Nokia, Finland and construct a new R&D centre on the site are “taking shape on time”, reports the tyre maker. Nokian expects the R&D facility to be ready this year and for the factory to achieve full capacity in 2021.
Northvolt raises US$1 billion for Europe’s first gigafactories
Northvolt has raised US$1 billion of capital to build Europe’s first homegrown gigafactory for lithium-ion battery cells - Northvolt Ett, in Skellefteå, Sweden. At the same time, in cooperation with the Volkswagen Group, the company also announced plans to establish a second gigafactory with an intended location in Lower Saxony, Germany. The news of both factories was announced on 12 June 2019.
Conti investing 100 million euros expanding OTR tyre production in Portugal
Continental is investing roughly 100 million euros in the expansion of its Lousado, Portugal radial earthmoving and port tyres production facilities. As a result of the investment, the newly-expanded plant, which will continue to focus on production of tyres with diameters over 24 inches, more than 100 new jobs will be created.
Japanese giant Mitsubishi invests in UAE online tyre retailer
PitStopArabia.com, a UAE-based online tyre retailer, has announced that Mitsubishi Corporation has become a strategic partner and a shareholder in the company. The e-tailer described the investment as a "significant milestone" that will be used to bolster market share by expanding regionally. The value of the investment has not been disclosed.
Kerr’s Tyres & Auto creates 20 new jobs in £2.5 million investment
Northern Ireland’s Kerr’s Tyres & Auto is investing£2.5 million in a new company HQ, featuring a distribution centre and retail centres. According to the company, the expansion project will create 20 jobs, bringing the total number of employees in the company to over 100.
Horiba MIRA’s new £4m propulsion test centre
Horiba MIRA has opened a new Propulsion Test and Development Centre at its UK headquarters in Nuneaton. The centre has been specifically developed in response to the need for OEMs to meet ever-stringent emissions standards since the introduction of the Real Driving Emissions (RDE) test in 2017.
Hyundai, Kia invest 80M euros in Rimac, establish technology partnership
Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation have jointly invested 80M Euros in Rimac Automobili (Rimac) - the Croatian high-performance electric vehicle technology and sportscar company. The companies have announced a strategic partnership to collaborate on the development of two high-performance electric vehicles by 2020.
The growing influence of autocentres on tyre retail
In recent years autocentres have been selling more tyres than ever. At the same time, specialist tyre retailers – such as those featured on our annual table, have moved towards additional servicing and mechanical repairs in order to increase sales. This is especially the case at the top of the table, amongst the largest tyre retail chains where as much as 45 per cent of annual turnover is now made up of non-tyre sales.
New chapter in politics parallels new chapter in UK automotive manufacturing
As we all now know, Boris Johnson became the United Kingdom’s new Prime Minister on 24 July. The first thing he did was replace almost the entire cabinet, with a reshuffle of unprecedented proportions. Next, he gave his maiden speech on the steps of 10 Downing Street, with an address that sought to build a platform for economic and political optimism against the recent backdrop of Brexit stagnation. Not only will we leave the EU by 31 October, we are going to do it in style, he effectively said. In doing so, Boris – as he is affectionately known – revealed as much about the changing nature of the automotive manufacturing industry and its suppliers as he did about British politics.
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