2009 - Page 116 of 205

Maxxis Signs 3 Year Deal with Liverpool FC

Maxxis has announced that it will extend its brand awareness activities at Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC, following its tie up for the final stages of the 2008/09 Barclays Premier League. The company has concluded a deal which will lengthen the relationship by a further three years. As an Official Partner of Liverpool FC until the end of the 2011/12 season, Maxxis will be heavily involved with the club – one of the giants of the game – showing the company’s desire to further its commitment to football and sport in general.

Under the terms of the deal, Maxxis will be entitled to an extensive rights inventory, providing it with prominent exposure through a pitchside advertising presence at every home fixture (except Champions League matches) plus advertisements in This is Anfield (the matchday programme) and in LFC Magazine, the club’s weekly magazine. Maxxis will also feature on Liverpool FC’s own TV channel, LFC TV – which was launched in 2007 and keeps almost three million UK viewers up to date with the club’s activities. The brand will continue to advertise on one of the UK’s most popular football websites, www.liverpoolfc.tv.

2nd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

25-Year Colleagues Open New Gloucester Tyre Retailer

Product News

Former Ebley Tyre and ProTyre colleagues John Price and Chris Mullins have resumed a working relationship spanning almost 25 years by joining forces to open a new tyre retail centre in the heart of Gloucester’s busy commercial centre. The new venture, Chris Mullins Tyres, is a £250,000 investment in a 5000 sq ft centre specialising in car, motorcycle, 4×4 and van tyres on the city’s Bristol Road, a few hundred yards from the ProTyre centre which Mullins managed for 10 years.

The pair first met while working for the west country independent group Ebley Tyres in 1985 and their career paths ran in parallel when both moved on to ProTyre in the late 1990s. Price owned and managed centres in Gloucester, Bristol and Alcester before selling his interests in the company in early 2006, while Mullins looked after the flagship centre in Gloucester until late last year.

2nd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

GM on the Hook to Tyre Companies

Product News

With General Motors now in bankruptcy, details are starting to emerge about what the troubled automaker owes some of its key suppliers. According to reports, GM still owes Goodyear some $7 million, Continental AG some $15.5 million, and another $4 million to Bridgestone Americas. GM plans to pay all of its key suppliers in full, say reports. (Tire Review/Akron)

2nd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Mastercraft Tires Celebrates 100th Anniversary

Product News

In the US Cooper’s Mastercraft brand is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and the tyre-maker plans to use the milestone to reinvigorate the brand for future success. “Very few brands can say that they have been around for 100 years,” said Hal Gardner, Cooper vice president of marketing. “The Mastercraft brand has built a lasting commitment to quality, dependability and durability, and it’s that level of product dependability that has built trust with our Mastercraft dealers and consumers throughout the past 100 years.”

Cooper said it is implementing several programmes in honor of the milestone including the creation of a 100th anniversary logo, rebate programme and sweepstakes. For example, consumers purchasing four select Mastercraft Courser and Mastercraft Avenger tires between 1 June and 31 July can receive a rebate up to $50. A full list of eligible tires, rebate amounts and rebate forms are available at MastercraftTires.com. Consumers can also enter the 100 Days of Summer Celebration sweepstakes for a chance to win a Yamaha FX SHO WaveRunner with trailer, free Mastercraft tires for life and gift cards to Bass Pro Shops.

“The 100 Days of Summer Celebration is a tremendous opportunity to re-energize the Mastercraft brand and remind people of the quality that goes into each one of our tires,” said Gardner. “And going forward, we will continue to apply that same innovative approach to technology and marketing that has made us successful for a century.” (Tire Review/Akron)

2nd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyres & Accessories June 2009

News

June's issue of Tyres & Accessories is now available to download and for virtual reading. This issues' features include: Retail Chains & Buying Groups, Industrial Tyres and ATV Tyres:

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

We’re a Nation of Sun, Surf and Pasta Lovers, says Michelin

Product News

We dream – so a Michelin survey tells us – of living in a country that has Australia’s climate, Italy’s cuisine and American nightlife. Our ideal world would be one with the relaxed culture of Spanish life, Italy’s art scene, and a level of friendliness that only the Americans can deliver. In fact, the only part of Britain we’d like to have in our utopia is the architecture.

Michelin Green Guides gained this insight after surveying 5,000 adults. ”The study shows if we had our ideal place to live, we would opt for a mix of cultures and climates,” noted a Michelin Green Guides spokesman. ”The findings show just how cosmopolitan we have become and this is down to travelling more than ever before – not just in Europe but worldwide too.”

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Celebrates 120th Birthday

Premium, Product News

May 28, 2009 represented a special day in the Michelin calendar – exactly 120 years earlier the company was founded in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Situated on 12 hectares on Place des Carmes (named for a convent that formerly occupied the site), the company had only around 50 employees at the time. Two years later, the firm produced the first removable bicycle tyre, launching Michelin’s relationship with the pneumatic tyre.

Today, 120 years later, Michelin is still headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, but worldwide the company boasts 118,000 employees in 170 countries. Michelin states that, since its origins, the company has pursued the same vision of enhancing the mobility of people and goods. This vision, it says, is summed up in the company’s signature motto – “a better way forward” – which is featured on all its communication worldwide.

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1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Property Sales a “First Step” Towards New Goodyear HQ

Product News

A number of properties belonging to Goodyear Tire & Rubber in its hometown of Akron Ohio have been sold to Industrial Realty Group (IRG). These sales, comments Goodyear, represent a first step toward finalising plans for developing a new headquarters in Akron. The tyre major has signed a multi-year lease agreement with IRG and, as part of this agreement, will remain in its existing buildings until its new headquarters located adjacent to the company’s Akron Technical Center is completed.

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Payouts for Conti Clairoix Workers Agreed Upon

Product News

The union representing workers at Continental’s factory in Clairoix, France announced on May 31 that Conti management had agreed upon a minimum 50,000 euro per person payout in compensation for the facility’s closure. The company had originally offered a 17,000 euro compensation package, which the workers refused.

On May 29 Continental management offered the company’s 1,120 workers in France a pay-off starting at 50,000 euros, extending up to 100,000 euros for those working for the company for more than 30 years. Employees will receive their normal salary until October and 85 per cent of their pay until 2011 and an unemployment benefit equalling 75 per cent of their salary until 2014.

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Sri Lankan Transport Board Re-Opens Tyre Plant

Product News

Sri Lanka’s Daily News reports that the refurbishment carried out at a tyre rebuilding factory belonging to the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) is complete. The opening ceremony for the plant was held on May 30; the facility, which is located in Ampara, should help address the tyre needs of the SLTB’s own bus fleet.

This refurbished facility is to be complemented by two factories, located in the country’s Ekala and Matele regions, which will produce new tyres for the SLTB. The transport operator decided in early 2008 that it would produce its own tyres rather than import them – a plan made feasible by Sri Lanka’s import duties. The SLTB will save an estimated 20 per cent in costs by manufacturing its own tyres.

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Getting to Specifics

Product News

During this past year operating costs have, more than ever, become a prevalent theme within the materials handling industry. Awareness of the need to rein in these expenses wherever possible is strong, and efforts to this effect are being paired with attempts to maximise productivity. Such heightened sensitivity to costs has led to ever more operators carefully monitoring tyre costs over the entire life of the tyre in order to select the most cost effective tyre for each specific application.

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Beissbarth Easy 3D Aligner

Product News

The patented Easy 3D wheel aligner from Beissbarth is the first of its kind and, says the company, offers workshops a completely new 3D wheel alignment method, comprising highly accurate cameras and an integrated reference system to ensure reliable results. Classic features of the Easy 3D include easy use, reliable technology that is robust and easily mobile – suitable for use with any lifting platform or wheel alignment pit.

Using the Easy 3D, one workshop technician needs roughly seven minutes to carry out precise wheel alignment on a car. This represents a time saving of 50 per cent compared with conventional devices. Accuracy is ensured by the use of two high-precision cameras per wheel. The sensors can be positioned wherever convenient in the workshop without time-consuming calibration. The Easy 3D wheel aligner is suitable for aligning all types of cars, through to light transporters and commercial vehicles. The standard indicators enable vehicles with a wheelbase of up to 340 centimetres to be aligned. With the larger rear indicators available as optional equipment, vehicles with a wheelbase of up to 430 centimetres can be aligned.

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

GM Files C11, Chrysler Sale OK’d

Product News

Once mighty General Motors formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York this morning. The pre-packaged bankruptcy is expected to last 30 to 90 days, and GM will receive some $30 billion in US-guaranteed loans. GM is expected to emerge from bankruptcy considerably smaller, after shuttering or selling an estimated 14 plants as part of its bankruptcy. Debt-holders and the United Auto Workers will end up with a stake in the remaining company, while the US government will be GM’s largest owner.

Meanwhile, a federal bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of most of Chrysler assets to Italian automaker Fiat. The sale approval presumably clears the way for Chrysler to exit its own court protection within 60 days. Chrysler’s plan gives a 55 per cent share of the new company to a UAW trust for retirees, a 20 per cent stake to Fiat and smaller shares to the US and Canadian governments. Fiat’s share could grow to 35 per cent under the plan. (Tire Review/Akron)

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Headquarters Moving Forward

Product News

Moving forward on plans for its new world headquarters, Goodyear has sold some of its Akron properties to Industrial Realty Group (IRG).

In turn, Goodyear signed a multi-year lease agreement with IRG and, as part of that agreement, will remain in its existing buildings until its new headquarters located adjacent to the company’s Akron Technical Center is completed. In connection with the sales, Goodyear will record a non-cash, after-tax charge of between $40 million and $45 million in the second quarter of 2009. (Tire Review/Akron)

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

GM, Goodyear Shares on Rise

Product News

Following significant developments today for both companies, General Motors and Goodyear have both seen shares jump in value in US trading. Bloomberg says that GM moved up 19 per cent to 89 cents until trading was halted. Goodyear meanwhile rose 8.6 per cent, reaching $12.44. The company has announced following its sale of property in Akron, Ohio to Industrial Realty that it will “record a non-cash, after-tax charge of as much as $45 million in the second quarter in connection with the property sales.”

1st June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

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