The US based Rubber Manufacturers Association has announced the dates for its ninth annual National Tire Safety Week. In 2010 the event, an initiative of the RMA's "Be Tire Smart – Play Your PART" programme, will be held between June 6 and 12.
Thailand-based Vee Rubber launched three new tyres at the SEMA Show: Vitron, an all-season high performance tyre; Winter Season III, a studdable snow tyre; and Taiga Ice Axe, a studdable light truck snow tyre. The new lines are part of the company’s growing presence in North America. Sold through regional wholesalers and large tyre dealerships – those with 20-plus locations – Vee estimates it will sell six times as many tyres as in 2008, said Patrick Hyland, the company’s sales and marketing manager.
Triangle chairman and CEO Ding Yu HuaTriangle Group chairman and CEO Ding Yu Hua brought his message of industry working for a greener earth to the SEMA Show, issuing a challenge to the tyre industry to help the world move from an “industrial civilisation” to an “ecological civilization.” To do that, Ding said, industry need to adopt principles to lessen their impact on the environment and do more to reduce, recycle and reuse materials used in production and the final products themselves.
So now that Bridgestone has opted out after the 2010 season, which company will step up to supply race tyres for Formula One?
News from the SEMA show in the US indicates that South Korea’s Daewoo International wishes to bring its own home brand tyres to market. The company has developed its own tread patterns and owns the moulds and plates used in production, however the tyres will reportedly be manufactured in China by several manufacturers, including Triangle Tyre. The company is looking to distribute the range internationally.
Next January Goodyear Tire & Rubber will cease offering its “Republic” associate tyre brand in North America. In hand with the dropping of Republic, the US tyre major will increase the profile of its Kelly brand through new products and making the range available to all dealers in its distribution network. Ditching the Republic brand also will reduce manufacturing complexity, Goodyear reports.
This year Automechanika Shanghai takes place between December 9 and 11 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China. Despite the global recession, organiser Messe Frankfurt reports the show has already set a new record with over 2,200 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions, including Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UK and USA. As a result, the exhibition space has expanded to nine halls, with a total of more than 100,000 square metres.
According to the Pirelli Group, the first nine months of the 2009 fiscal year delivered “positive” operating indicators that are “overall in line with what was set out in the 2009-2011 industrial plan.” The company forecasts that, barring unforeseeable events, it will in the full year 2009 reach the targets identified in the plan presented last February, and due to Pirelli Tyre’s positive performance may even surpass these targets.
China is the world’s largest consumer of rubber, and growth in the use of compound rubber – a substance containing 99 per cent natural rubber but attracting 15 per cent less tax than its pure 100 per cent counterpart – is colossal. This year the country is expected to import 950,000 tons of compound rubber, a leap of almost 71 per cent from last year. Many rubber exporters in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia are now focusing on producing compound rubber more to take advantage of China's import duty structure. "Compound rubber import volume was increasing in recent years because the customs tax was lower than [for] natural rubber," the China Rubber Research Institute said in a report prepared for an international conference in Vietnam.
Vietnam Business Finance News has reported the opening of Michelin operations in Vietnam. The website states the French tyre major is establishing a presence within the country in order to take advantage of Vietnam’s rapidly increasing demand for radials.
Audi has chosen Toyo’s Proxes T1-AO as an original equipment fitment on its latest model S6. The tyre is supplied to the 5.2 litre V10 four wheel drive Audi in size 265/35 ZR 19 98Y in European, US and Asian markets
At the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) Show in Las Vegas, Pirelli Tire North America unveiled its newest ultra-high-performance tyre – the P Zero Trofeo. The Trofeo is a D.O.T. (Department of Transportation) approved state-of-the-art track tyre aimed at serious driving enthusiasts.
Trofeo's asymmetrical tread features two wide central ribs, large tread blocks, an inner area with greater groove density and an outer area with a pattern derived from asphalt rally applications. The P Zero Trofeo is designed to give the best of both worlds: a fast track tyre that gives racers the flexibility to drive on the street to and from the track.
If you want to make your car stand out from the crowd – particularly at night, then a new product from the USA could be right up your street.
MotionLite (patent pending) is an innovative, high-quality, wheel illumination system that does what no other product can; it lights up a vehicle's wheels from the outside.
Said by the makers to be easy to install, the electric system includes strobe and morph functions and is remote control operated, allowing users to switch between seven colours while in motion. MotionLite does not attach to or affect the look of a car's wheels.
Pirelli Tyre has underlined its commitment to the truck tyre sector with the launch of a new tyre aimed at the regional sector of the European market. Called the R:01 Series, it has been developed by Pirelli's research centres to meet the requirements of professional operators in terms of mileage yield, reduced fuel consumption, retreading potential and respect for the environment.
Other Pirelli products in the truck sector include the H88 Amaranto and G88 series, developed for long distance transport and for construction vehicles respectively and the TS:01 series. These four products extend the Pirelli range designed for transport professionals in order to cover 80 per cent of the European market in those sectors with greater growth trends.
Federal has introduced the 595RPM; the company's first ever asymmetric tyre engineered particularly for passionate driving enthusiasts and aimed at drivers of sports sedans, providing new levels of performance and luxury. Development of the 595RPM utilised computer simulations in a range of conditions to optimise a rounded tread profile for a quiet and pleasant ride.
Four drainage grooves provide improved stability, while maintaining a consistent footprint in wet. The asymmetrical tread pattern enhanced within the inner and outer shoulder areas ensures a smooth pace, with efficient water displacement to reduce the risk of aquaplaning and decrease rolling noise without affecting controllability.
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