Across the Atlantic they are called tires, while over here we use a “Y” and say tyres. This tag provides the latest tyre business news emanating from the United States of America (USA), whichever way you spell it.
Michelin is presenting a new airless solution for urban mobility and last-mile applications at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Visitors will encounter the prototype Michelin X Tweel airless radial for eCargo trikes fitted to the Coaster Cycles eCargo trike at its stand in the eMobility Experience as well as in the Test Track area.
Curtis Brison is the new president of Hankook Tire North America (formerly Hankook Tire America). He succeeds Sooil Lee, who remains chief executive officer of Hankook Tire & Technology. Additionally, Hankook Tire North America has promoted Robert Williams to senior vice president of Truck, Bus and Radial (TBR) sales and Jong Jin (JJ) Park to vice-president of marketing.
Hankook Tire & Technology is jointly showcasing its ‘i-Flex’ non-pneumatic tyre with Hyundai Motor Company at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022, which begins today in Las Vegas. The tyre will appear in Hyundai’s new Plug & Drive (PnD) Module, a modular platform based on robotics technology that enables mobility of traditionally inanimate things. Hankook says its i-Flex maximises the “characteristics and functions of the PnD module.”
Cerebrum Sensor Technologies was a new name to Tyres & Accessories when we came across the company at the end of December. but the company won a breakthrough award at the 2019 SEMA show and is working hard to market itself in the TPMS/smart tyre space.
Last month, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) – a Northeast Ohio-based future mobility business – announced a collaboration to test intelligent tyre sensors and prototype tyres on SARTA’s fleet of diesel and zero emission hydrogen fuel cell-powered (HFC) buses.
While tyre makers serving the UK and European markets typically cover replacement demand for electric vehicle tyres with energy-efficient products they also aim at ICE-powered cars, in North America Goodyear has introduced a replacement market tyre that’s specifically tuned for EVs. It has launched the Goodyear ElectricDrive GT in size 255/45R19 104W XL and intends to expand the line-up in 2022.
Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. will increase the dealer base prices on passenger car, light truck and commercial truck tyre patterns by up to 10 per cent. According to the company, the price increase is a result of continued increases in raw materials and logistics costs.
Half a year after acquiring Cooper Tire & Rubber, Goodyear reports reaching a “historic integration milestone.” It has begun producing Mickey Thompson ET Front tyres at its Innovation Center Manufacturing (ICM) facility in Akron, Ohio. These are the first Cooper tyres manufactured at a Goodyear facility in the USA.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber may soon be utilising carbon black produced from methane and/or biomethane in its tyres thanks to a new partnership with US-based clean materials firm Monolith. The two companies have signed a collaboration agreement and letter of intent covering the development and potential use of such products, which are made through a plasma-based methane pyrolysis process.
End-of-life tyre raw materials firm Bolder Industries has purchased a former Pyrolyx facility in the USA. It will retrofit the plant in Terre Haute, Indiana, which ceased operations in March 2020, with the Bolder Industries proprietary solution. Bolder will use the facility to increase its manufacturing capacity and commence production there early in 2023.
Sailun Tire Americas is recalling almost 85,000 tyres that, due to a manufacturing issue, may experience a belt separation. The Sailun, RoadX, Blacklion, Blackhawk and Ironhead brand tyres in question are ST235/80R16 and ST235/85R16 products with DOT codes 2020 through 4120.
Discount Tire, a leading independent tyre and wheel retailer in the US is acquiring Tire Rack, which is known for its tyre tests and is a “consumer-direct source for tyres, wheels and performance accessories”. According to the company, the investment is part of Discount Tire’s vision of creating an “Easy, and Safe omnichannel, B2B, and fleet customer experience”. The transaction is expected to close on 31 December 2021.
US motorsport entity the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) has bestowed Goodyear’s Stu Grant its 2021 Buddy Shuman Award. The general manager for global race tyres at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company gained this accolade at the organisation’s annual awards celebration on Saturday.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co’s Malaysian tyre factory has been under scrutiny for at least two years following questions relating to working conditions. At the end of November, US Department of Homeland Security officials interviewed local staff as part of investigations that “could lead to US prosecutions”, according to Reuters, which added Goodyear faces “related lawsuits and two ongoing investigations by regulators in Malaysia and the United States, each looking into potential exploitation of foreign workers.”
In response to the investigation and related reporting, Goodyear issued the following statement: “Goodyear takes seriously any allegations of improper behaviour and is committed to ensuring that our business practices and those of our associates, our supply chain, and our vendors adhere to both our policies and all applicable legal requirements.”
Magna Tyres
Cerebrum
SARTA
Tire Rack
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