Off-highway tyre specialist BKT has extended the availability of its range in Canada through a new supply alliance with Fountain Tire. Effective immediately, Fountain Tire will have full access to BKT’s OTR product line-up for sale through its more than 160 locations across the country.
moveero (the new name for GKN Wheels) has appointed Hugo Burgers to the position of chief sales officer (CSO). Effective 1 September 2021, Hugo joins the business with experience of senior level appointments in businesses across the off-highway industry, including at Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (where he was sales director/head of Europe West for four-and-a-half years), Warn Industries and John Deere.
Apollo Tyres (UK) has appointed a new specialist to oversee sales of its growing off-highway tyres (OHT) range and support existing and new customers. Darren Longstaff becomes Apollo Tyres’ OHT Specialist and brings over 35 years of experience in the tyre industry.
With an additional investment of US$171 million, Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. intends to more than double the production capacity for off-highway tyres at its Visakhapatnam plant in India. The new plant is scheduled to begin operations in the first quarter of 2023 with a planned daily production capacity of 55 tonnes; this extra investment will lift daily capacity to 123 tonnes during a second project stage, which is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2024.
Yokohama Off-Highway Tires has announced further price increases for its brands in Europe. These will take effect next month and see prices for Alliance and Galaxy tyres rise by around five per cent. The manufacturer says this increase comes at a time when the costs of raw materials and freight rates “continue to rise at a dramatic pace on the global commodity markets.”
Mahansaria Tyres Private Limited (MTPL) has made an agreement in-principle with Tyres International Inc (TI) to buy a majority stake in the US-based tyre wholesaler. According to MTPL, the move is the latest part of its bid to build a global, market leading off-Highway tyre business and the first part of MTPL plans to build its distribution network in North America.
BKT is introducing a new range for loaders and telehandlers that operate in road maintenance or waste material applications. It says it specifically developed the all-steel radial BKT Skid Max SR-Skidder for use in “extremely heavy work environments and on hard surfaces.”
Specialist off-highway tyre maker BKT has gained ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certification for the tyre testing and calibration capabilities within the laboratory at its Bhuj plant in India’s Gujarat state. Certification was awarded by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) according to international standards.
TVS Srichakra Ltd., the two- and three-wheeler as well as off-highway tyre manufacturer, is planning a 10 billion rupee (£102 million; 112 million euro; US$135 million) investment programme. According to the company, the investment will increase two- and three-wheeler tyre production capacity by 25-30 per cent and double of off-highway tyre capacity from current levels.
Goodyear has launched a new off-highway tyre, the RH-4A+. The newest addition to its off-highway large haulage product line is engineered to deliver a lower operating cost per hour and higher productivity on hard rock surfaces. The tyre features an extra-deep E-4+ tread depth with a high net-to-gross tread pattern and optimised footprint pressure to help provide long hours to removal.
Camso, the off-road tyre specialist acquired by Michelin in 2018, has grown its off-highway transportation tyre service and distribution presence in North America with the acquisition of two material-handling solutions businesses from Metro Industrial Tires. These businesses are based in Chicago and provide service to the market via their own press truck fleets.
BKT says it is “ready to take up the challenge” of developing tyres for the coming generation of self-driving and electric off-highway vehicles. The tyre maker is already addressing changes within the agricultural and construction sectors with a range of solutions, drawing upon its almost 30-year experience and in dialogue with end-users.
moveero
Goodyear
BKT