In what it calls a landmark commitment, Tyre Stewardship Australia has announced that off-the-road (OTR) tyre importers Bearcat, Bridgestone Mining Solutions, Goodyear, Kal Tire, Michelin and Yokohama have committed to joining the voluntary Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme from January 2022.
In North America, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company recently launched its RT-3B bead-to-bead retread. According to the company, the new retread provides “all-around performance on an array of underfoot conditions for loaders and graders and complements its existing line-up of premium off-the-road (OTR) retread tyres.
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.
Camso has introduced the CWL 532 bias tyre in order to offer “off-road performance and optimal traction for compact loaders operating on mixed and soft surfaces”. It has been specifically designed to meet the requirements of compact wheel loaders in Japan, where these machines now constitute the third-most important segment of compact equipment in the construction industry.
June marks 50 years since Dublin business Auto Tyre Services was formed in 1971 by the late Kieran Maher. Kieran Maher remained managing director of the company until he passed away in 2017. Over the years, the company has retained a strong reputation for supply and service in the earthmover, implement, agricultural and industrial sector.
Roughly two years after he was appointed Ceat Ltd VP of marketing, Amit Tolani has been named chief executive of Ceat Specialty, effective 1 June 2021. Ceat Specialty has its EU office in Amsterdam and has been serving European farm and OTR tyre customers since 2017. Tolani joined Ceat in 2004 and has served in various roles across sales, marketing and supply chain functions. Prior to his latest appointment, he was the chief marketing officer of CEAT.
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.
The growth of the construction and industrial sectors is currently faster than any other part of the private sector economy, says Kirkby Tyres, Speke-based distributor of OTR tyres. In order to support this growth, Kirkby adds that it is positioning itself to supply a comprehensive line-up of tyre patterns and applications to serve its customer base. While this growth is encouraging, wholesalers must contend with the unprecedented challenges currently affecting global supply chains, including long production lead times and increases in raw materials and shipping costs. Kirkby marketing director Michael Rosenthal tells Tyres & Accessories that these challenges are presenting a bottleneck to economic recovery. The wholesaler says it is working to reduce the impact of these challenges and support its customer base by replenishing its stockholding continuously and holding good stocks of the most common OTR tyre sizes.
The off-the-road (OTR) segment is historically strong for Triangle Tyre. The China-based brand has recorded sustained and continuous growth around the world since it produced its first radial OTR tyre in November 2002, gaining a stronghold in the sector in Europe. The tyre-maker has achieved this by securing original equipment fitments with a wide range of manufacturers, demonstrating its ability to produce tyres for many OTR specialisms; it is a global supplier to Caterpillar, as well as supplying such construction and mining equipment makers as Komatsu and Liebherr. It has also built a network of professional distributors across Europe.
Continental has launched the CompactMaster AG, a new telehandler and skid-steer loader tyre. According to the company, the tyre is the first to be designed with a new Turtle Shield tread layer and twisted steel belt. It is capable of operating at speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour. And, compared to a standard agricultural tyre pattern, the new lug design of the CompactMaster AG tyre provides five per cent more surface area.
With 150 years in the business, Continental may well just be the oldest firm in existence still making tyres today. The company has been offering solutions since the days when horsepower was indeed horsepower, but Continental’s off-highway tyres are a much more recent addition – it’s only a little under a century since the first products came to market. As its celebrates its sesquicentennial jubilee, Continental looks back over its activities in this sector from the very earliest days.
Goodyear
Triangle Tire Europe
moveero
Camso
Auto Tyre Service
Ceat
Continental