In the medium to long term, demand for passenger car radials in China is expected to increase. To meet this growing demand, Bridgestone announced on April 13 that it will increase production capacity at its Bridgestone (Wuxi) Tire Co., Ltd. facility in China’s Jiangsu Province. The company reports that it will receive government funding to facilitate a capacity increase at the five-year-old plant.
Production has officially commenced at Kenda Rubber’s new facility in Tianjin, China. Approximately US$23 million has been invested in this first phase of the project – a total of $200 million has been set aside for work at Tianjin. The second phase is set to be launched in July.
During the past 25 years Evergreen Global has developed from a small Singapore based wholesaler into a well-known truck tyre supplier offering its own brands, “United”, “Global Star” and “Matrix”. The next stage in the company’s development, outlined general manager Lancy Nazareth during Tyrexpo Asia, is to establish a presence in the European market.
Since the early 1980s, when company founder Ram Niranjan Jatia moved his business – which in those days dealt exclusively with the yarn trade – from Mumbai to Singapore and entered the tyre business, Evergreen has seized the opportunity to set up branch offices in numerous global locations: Today the company’s network of offices includes sites in Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, Dubai, India and Brazil.
Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. has introduced a new Toyo Open Country H/T with “Tuff Duty” in the US. According to the company the tyre is engineered for high torque diesel pickup trucks that tow trailers or occasionally haul heavy loads. The Open Country H/T with Tuff Duty is an extension of the company’s flagship Open Country H/T for light trucks and SUVs. The tyre is available in five 16- to 17-inch sizes for Chevy, Ford and Dodge 3/4 and 1-ton pickups. All are load range E.
Kei Racing has released a new wheel design aimed at the “modified market.” The Tachi (pronounced Tar-Chee), is said to be named after a deadly instrument favoured as the weapon of choice for many Samurai warriors in feudal Japan so, say company representatives, “it’s highly appropriate for Kei’s cutting-edge wheel technology and design.”
The new Japanese design features a matt-gunmetal finish and uses a strong and a simple 10 spoke design to offer good looks with wide calliper clearance for brake cooling. Size wise, there’s something for everyone, with 15 x 6.5, 17 x 7 and 18 x 7.5 all available in a huge array of 4 and 5 stud patterns, covering nearly all core Jap, Tuner and Euro cars. The 15-inch variant is set to retail at just £86.69 each. While the 17 and 18-inch wheels come with £122.50 and £150.34 price tags respectively.
Tire Group International (TGI) has announced the hiring of Orlando Delgado as senior vice-president of business development. Delgado re-joins TGI with “over 20 years of international market experience with emphasis on Latin America and the Caribbean.” Prior to joining TGI, he spent several years as director of logistics for a world leader in the design, manufacturing and marketing of toys and family products. According to a company statement, TGI hopes Delgado’s expertise in Latin American and Caribbean markets will allow the tyre wholesaler to reach its strategic objective of continuing to open sales offices throughout the region.
Goodyear UK is to replace 13 sizes of its DT818 A8/B radial drive farm tyre range with a high speed version in during 2009. The new version, called DT818 HIGH SPEED, means the tyres are D-rated and can operate at speeds up to 70 km/h or at inflation pressures as low as 0.6 bar. Even at lower operating speeds and for tractors that have a top speed of 30, 40 or 50km/h these tyres can carry up to 9.5 per cent more load at same inflation versus conventional DT818 tyres. Furthermore, DT818 HIGH SPEED can carry the same loads as DT818 at lower inflation pressure thereby, elongating the footprint generating more traction and pull so that work gets completed faster and at lower cost.
The upgraded tyres will be introduced to the market in two phases. The first six sizes to change, in the first half of 2009 will be:
• 650/65R42 165D/168A8
• 650/65R38 157D/160A8
• 600/65R38 153D/156A8
• 540/65R30 143D/146A8
• 540/65R28 142D/145A8
• 480/65R28 136D/139A8
Followed by a further 7 sizes in the second half of 2009:
• 540/65R38 147D/150A8
• 600/65R34 151D/154A8
• 540/65R34 145D/148A8
• 540/65R24 140D/143A8
• 480/65R24 136D/139A8
• 440/65R28 131D/134A8
• 440/65R24 128D/131A8
Watts Industrie Reifen, the German subsidiary of Watts Tyre Group has announced the acquisition of Profix GmbH at the end of March. Current Profix director Volker Scholze will join Watts Industrie Reifen and manage operations from the tyre service and distribution business’s Zittau office. Profix manager Udo Rottke will also join Watts as tyre services manager responsible for the mobile fitting service across the country.
Natural rubber production is expected to fall by around 2.2 per cent during the course of 2009, following a 0.4 per cent dip in 2008, according to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), which represents 94 per cent of global production. According to the latest monthly report published by ANRPC all natural rubber (NR) producing countries have entered into a “declining phase.”
Thailand, which is the largest NR producing country in the world and is said to account for around a third of global supply, saw production drop 13.9 per cent year-on-year in the first two months of 2009. Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand predicts that 2009 production levels will by 0.5 per cent compared with from 2008, making it the market least affected by the apparent global decline.
Maxxis has partnered with Max Power in an affiliation programme that gives the company opportunities to promote its range to the lucrative tuning, styling and performance sector. The deal, which officially began in March 2009, will see Maxxis support a series of Max Power tyre features, raise its profile through branding on the magazine’s website and provide product for testing and subsequent reporting in the popular ‘Max Garage’ pages. Maxxis will also sponsor the ‘InGear’ tuning section and the two companies will collaborate at four major performance/tuning shows throughout the year: the International Styling and Tuning Show (April 11-12), the UK Modified Nationals Show (May 23-24), the Modified and Performance North East (July 19) and Ultimate Street Car (August 1-2).
The Maxxis Babes will be in attendance at these events and Maxxis will also be taking along its new hospitality facility. Featuring a striking Maxxis livery, the glass-fronted trailer unit incorporates a 12.5m x 8m awning, a separate stage area, kitchen and an upper deck – which will be dual-branded to reinforce the partnership – where guests can enjoy great views of the action.
HiQ is set to offer two new innovative automotive accessories for customers. The HiQ network will soon offer high performance eco-friendly lamp bulbs and tyre pressure monitoring systems to motorists across Britain. HiQ retail support manager Paul Michell decided to bring the items into stock after identifying the demand for such items following meetings with centre managers and their customers.
The Phillips energy saving bulbs are guaranteed to last for 12 months, offer up to 20 per cent energy savings and will be available to purchase online shortly. The tyre pressure monitoring systems, produced by tyresure, not only advise motorists if their tyres are losing pressure, but also monitor tyre pressure without the need of a gauge.
A former Police inspector faces a year in prison for his role in the dumping of 175,000 tyres. Geraint Evans, who retired from the Police in 2005, was one of three people sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on April 8 for illegally disposing of tyres at sites in England and Wales. Also sentenced were Norman Cassidy, who received an eight-month prison sentence, and Evans’ partner Marilyn Hanks, who has been ordered to perform 240 hours of community service.
“You are thoroughly unscrupulous men with no regard whatsoever for the financial consequences of those you exploit,” commented Judge Stephen Hopkins QC, referring to Evans and Cassidy. “You were deliberately dealing in waste without a licence for purely financial reason and it’s had a substantial impact on the community.”
It appears as if Pirelli is seeking further voluntary redundancies amongst it production staff in Carlisle. The company has confirmed this in a statement, however at this stage it is not clear how many positions will be cut.
Pirelli says it has informed senior trade union officials at both its Burton on Trent and Carlisle plants that it is willing to consider voluntary redundancy applications from production workers and supporting services. Information about the cutbacks was given as a second five-day shutdown, the result of falling demand, began on April 8.
Times are hard; for some they are even too hard. During the prevailing financial and economic crisis plenty of steps need to be taken if a company wants to successfully weather the hardships involved. In an exclusive interview with Tyres & Accessories, Massimo De Alessandri, CEO of the Marangoni Group, explains how his company is facing the current situation, why its prospects are quite good, and why there won’t be any long-term damage to the group.
TYRES & ACCESSORIES:
The economic environment in Europe has been difficult in recent months, to say the least. How has the Marangoni Group been affected by this?
Market analysts are predicting tyre industry sell-in sales volumes will improve sharply in the second quarter of 2009. Morgan Stanley experts explained in an investor’s note issued on 9 April that production cuts of between 40 and 60 per cent in OE and 10 to 40 per cent in replacement tyre production in January and February were “far more draconian than anticipated,” but nonetheless “deliberate and forthright” action. “We estimate Michelin’s sell-in tyre volume through the first two months of the year has declined approximately 20 per cent, assuming constant market share. Simply put, we believe this pace of volume decline is not sustainable,” the analysts commented.
The theory is that dealers that de-stocked tyres rather than purchase additional products at the beginning of 2009 are currently, or will soon, run low on inventory and therefore tyre factories must start running again. “We forecast Michelin tyre volume down 6.6 per cent for the full year, implying rest-of-year volumes down 3.9 per cent. At a minimum, we expect the extraordinary pace of volume decline to diminish sharply and soon.”
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