Sentury is in the process of declaring its Spanish factory plans as a strategic industrial project with the government of Garcia, Spain. The tyre maker hopes that its plant in the As Pontes region of Garcia will be able to use this method to obtain fast-track approvals to speed up the entire project’s construction.
Pirelli’s new 18” Formula 1 tyres faced “one of the biggest tests” of their inaugural season in Spain as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen used a three-stop strategy to win and gain the championship lead. He alternated between the P Zero Red soft tyre, with which he started the race, and the P Zero Yellow medium, on which he finished it, handling a high-energy circuit and high temperatures with relatively high degradation. His team mate Sergio Perez and Mercedes driver George Russell, who also finished on the podium, both used a different three-stop strategy: soft-medium-medium-soft.
Grupo Andrés Neumáticos will once again participate in The Tire Cologne when it runs from 24-26 May 2022. Grupo Andrés, which has invested in a significant-sized stand for the event, will be located at stand E038 Hall 8 at the Koelnmesse Exhibition Centre.
Bridgestone has confirmed a second year of partnership with the Hawkers European Talent Cup (HETC). As of this year, the tyre manufacturer is also official partner of the Federation Française de Motocyclisme (FFM) and sole supplier for the Objectif Grand Prix (OGP), the French national championship dedicated to promising young riders. Bridgestone says it shares the passion for competition and performance that are the basis of motorcycle racing.
When the Motortec aftermarket exhibition takes place in Madrid (from 20-23 April), Grupo Alves Bandeira will present its range of Matrax brand tyres. According to the company, this is the first time that Matrax Tires have been displayed in Europe. In addition, Grupo Alves Bandeira will also use its presence at the Madrid event to present its AB and Matrax branded lubricants and batteries.
The evolution of its International Department is behind the recent growth in exports from Iberian Peninsula-based tyre distributor Neumáticos Andrés. Exports accounted for 25 per cent of its 2021 sales, with deliveries reaching customers in more than 30 countries around the world.
Bekaert considers the installation of a solar park within the grounds of its plant in Burgos, Spain a “significant step in progressing on the company’s sustainability ambition to reach Carbon Net Zero by 2050.” The facility at the Industrias del Ubierna SA (Ubisa) site will produce over 14 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 4,000 households.
Grupo Andrés recorded tyre-related sales of 219 million euros in 2021, despite the Covid-19-related complications of 2020. According to the company, the results confirm both Andrés Neumáticos’s position as “the undisputed leader in the tyre distribution sector in the Iberian Peninsula” and its ongoing strategy.
Hankook has announced the official opening of its newly constructed test centre on the premises of Applus+ in Idiada, Spain. All areas that previously had to be accommodated separately on the premises are now housed under one roof in the new workshop due to the constant growth in testing and development requirements over recent years.
20 per cent of Spanish tyre distributor Grupo Andrés’s sales are made outside Spain. And, with the company positioned as market leader in the Iberian peninsula along with investments in systems and infrastructure, sales are projected to grow.
Sentury Tire, the tyre manufacturer behind the global Landsail tyre brand, has outlined its plan to construct a 522.59 million euro car and light truck tyre plant in the Galicia region of northwest Spain. Qingdao Sentury Tire Co, Ltd’s board of directors approved the proposal to build capacity for 12 million high performance and light commercial tyres on a three-year schedule at a meeting in the last quarter of 2021, announcing this intention to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on 19 December. The company has implemented a 100 per cent owned subsidiary, Sentury Tire (Spain) Co, Ltd, via its Hong Kong trading company for the project, and wants to ramp up production in two phases; it expects the plant to reach 50 per cent capacity (six million tyres) after two years, with the second half added after three years. Sentury wants to achieve these milestones in 2024 and 2025 respectively, pending construction conditions in Spain and the availability of funding, which Sentury plans to self-raise.
The solar-powered Visitor Centre Building at Nokian Tyres’ Spain Test Centre has earned LEED v4 Platinum certification – the highest LEED certification level – for green building leadership. Nokian Tyres’ 300-hectare Test Centre is situated in Santa Cruz de la Zarza, a small town about one hour’s drive south of Madrid. The Test Centre includes 10 test tracks and the Visitor Centre. Inspectors highlighted the Visitor Centre’s innovation in design, energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality as key drivers of the high certification level.
Life for Tyres (L4T) Group has signed a ten-year offtake agreement with Spanish base oils supplier Nexolub to market oils extracted from end-of-life tyres processed at the plant it is currently setting up in Puertollano, Spain. The L4T facility is scheduled to be completed in December and become operational the following month with an annual capacity of 27,000 tonnes – a quantity equivalent to eight per cent of the end-of-life tyres generated in the country each year – it will be one of the largest facilities of its type in Europe.
Leading Spanish retreader Insa Turbo, which is part of the Soledad Group, has signed a collaboration agreement with Kraiburg Austria that leads to the use of Kraiburg retreading materials at the retreader’s Aspe (Alicante) factory. According to an Insa Turbo statement, the alliance includes a roadmap which “defines the gradual implementation of Austrian technology in the process of hot retreading and pre-curing of truck tyres.”
Pirelli
Grupo Andrés Neumáticos
Bridgestone
Matrax Tyres
Neumáticos Andrés
Photo: Grupo Andrés
Confortauto
Grupo Andres
Grupo Soledad