The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has appointed ex-Brisa and Bridgestone executive Hakan Bayman as president of Goodyear’s consumer tyre business in Europe, effective 1 July 2020. Bayman will be based in Brussels and report directly to Chris Delaney, president Goodyear EMEA.
Turkish tyre maker Petlas shares that its Explero PT411 A/S has gained 3PMSF certification, and is thus approved for year-round use in markets where specific winter tyre rules apply. All tyres in the all-season SUV range will henceforth carry the ‘snowflake’ symbol on their sidewalls.
In September 2019, Tyrepress.com broke the news that Yokohama is set to buy the ex-Pirelli industrial tyre business Prometeon. Back then, we reported that the deal was at an advanced stage and could be completed before the end of 2019. That clearly didn’t happen, but the deal is still live and the latest news is that it is nearing completion, but now also involves Aeolus Tyres.
Figures recently published by the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA) show that its members produced almost 242 million tyres in all segments of the replacement market in 2019, two to three per cent fewer than the 248 million tyres produced a year earlier.
Executives from Kordsa’s production facilities around the world came together at the annual Global Leadership Summit. In addition to reviewing 2019 and sharing 2020 goals, world-renowned speakers Peter Marsh, the author of The New Industrial Revolution, and Chris Barez-Brown, founder of Upping Your Elvis, were also present at the summit. Kordsa’s annual Global Leadership Summit, bringing together leaders from all production facilities around the world, took place in Istanbul on 7 January.
Recently founded retreading machinery supplier NeroForce (based in Leipheim, Southern Germany), has been appointed as exclusive European distributor of Akarmak machines throughout the continent.
Michelin is the most search tyre brand on Google in Europe, according to price comparison site Rezulteo. Rezulteo studied the popularity of tyre brands in Europe using Google search volume data for tyre manufacturers in each country from 1 August 2018 to 31 July 2019. The study took “brand name” + “tyre” queries in the official languages of each European country into account.
Demand for trailers grew by 4.4 per cent in Eastern Europe in 2018, according to the latest research released by Clear. The market has grown every year for the last six years, but that growth has been quite moderate. Nevertheless, trailer sales in 2018 were the third highest on record, only surpassed in 2007 and 2008. The forecast for 2023 is that registrations of new trailers will be heading towards an all-time record.
The third meeting of the PolynSPIRE project was hosted by Istanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters’ Association (IKMIB) and supported by the reinforcement leader Kordsa, one of the project partners. The General Project Meeting and Information Sharing Workshop of the PolynSPIRE project was held at the Izmit facilities of Kordsa in last May.
Kordsa recently received 2019 Pirelli Supplier Award. Having put sustainability at the heart of its activities since 2014, and seeing self-sustainability as the first step to sustainability, Kordsa requires its suppliers and business partners to operate in accordance with the principles in its Statement on Code of Business Ethics and assess their environmental and societal effects.
Lassa Tyres has reported that the brand has grown international exports by 60 per cent during the last five years. Top countries, where Lassa Tyres were sold during 2018 include Egypt, Italy, Germany, Austria, Ukraine and Morocco.
Cenk Alper has become chief executive officer of Sabanci Holding, the Turkish conglomerate behind tyre cord producer Kordsa and co-owner of tyre manufacturer Brisa. He succeeds Mehmet Göçmen, who held this position between 30 March 2017 and 31 July 2019.
Petlas has introduced four new run-flat sizes for its PT741 ultra-high performance pattern, namely,. Specifically designed for ultimate performance, PT741 offers an excellent combination of performance and safety (245/40R 20 Reinforced, 285/35R 18, 285/35R 19 and 225/35R 20 Reinforced). According to the company, Petlas run-flat are capable of distances up to 200 km without “any integrity problems”.
Operations have started at the recently-completed 3,500 square metre polyester line built at the Kordsa plant in Izmit, Turkey. Kordsa’s Tire Reinforcement business unit commenced work on the additional line in December 2017, and 100 million Turkish lira (£13.3 million) has been invested to provide an additional 7,000 tonnes of polyester yarn capacity. The project was carried out as part of plans announced in 2016 to invest $30 million in further capacity for Korda’s plants in Turkey and Indonesia.
Evonik reports that it has developed a new silica that it says is particularly suitable for use in truck and bus (TBR) tyres. In contrast to passenger car tyres, TBR tyres use mainly natural rubber, which, in combination with silane, places special requirements on the silica. With Evonik’s latest silica/silane development, fuel savings could be as high 8 per cent, the company said, which cuts costs and is better for the environment.
