Indian tyre manufacturer GRL is best known for bicycle and two-wheel products, but at Tyrexpo Asia, the company is showcasing its recent strategic investment in off highway tyres. The company is manufacturing tyres covering agricultural, industrial and construction applications.
India’s BKT is exhibiting its latest high speed crane and forklift tyres at Tyrexpo Asia 2013. The 445/95 R25 Airomax AM27 pattern for high speed crane fitments and the Maglift STF solid range for forklift trucks debuted at the show, along with the recently introduced Container King 18.00-25 tyre popular in Asian ports.
China’s fifth largest tyre manufacturer by sales, Aeolus announced its entry to the southeast Asia passenger car market on 20 March with the launch of a complete range of PCR tyre products. The new venture comes on the back of the construction of a new car tyre manufacturing plant in Jiaozuo; the 625,000sqm factory is capable of manufacturing six million tyres a year. Aeolus is exhibiting its new tyres at Tyrexpo Asia 2013 in Singapore.
Goodyear has revealed details of its latest efforts to take a lead in the post-labelling era of tyre development, refreshing its passenger car range with the launch of the Efficient Grip Performance. While the tyre is inched out of the highest possible European Tyre labelling score (AA), with the 205/55 R16 tyre scoring AB 68dB it is not far away at all.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has delivered the latest UK budget including the cancellation of planned fuel duty increases. Other key points include confirmation that the income tax threshold will be raised to £10,000 by next year and the first £2000 will be taken off all employers’ National Insurance bills. Growth is forecast to be 0.6 per cent this year, with £3 billion promised for infrastructure investment as a way of improving this. Beer duty will be cut by 1p a pint.
Yokohama has a wide range of 4×4 tyres in the aftermarket, with recent original equipment deals testament to the brand’s on and off-road credentials. The Advan ST ‘MO’ is an OE fitment for Mercedes-Benz and the 2013 Toyota Rav4 sports the new Geolandar G91AV pattern as original equipment.
Bridgestone’s Dueler 4×4 tyre range is designed to meet the various applications of drivers in the segment on and off-road. The Dueler A/T 694, a rugged all-terrain tyre delivering both on and off-road performance is described by Bridgestone as the frontrunner in responding to growing demand among urban drivers seeking robust all-surface tyres.
Rema Tip Top GmbH has announced the departure of Michael Schwämmlein, global director of the Automotive business unit, from the company. Details of Schwämmlein’s and Rema Tip Top’s parting of ways have not been given and Rema Tip Top has yet to announce a successor.
Chancellor George Osborne chose budget day to join the twittersphere, using his maiden post to say: "Today I'll present a Budget that tackles the economy's problems head on helping those who want to work hard & get on." But what is this likely to mean for those of us that are hard working?
SEMA has appointed Mike Spagnola into the newly created position of vice president, OEM and product development programs. The move, which is effective immediately, see Spagnola bring with him 40 years of specialty auto parts experience, including more than 20 years of product development and project vehicle work.
The Independent Garage Association (IGA) is outraged by recent Citizens Advice findings suggesting that independent used car dealers and garages are the top cause of consumer complaints. The IGA has been in contact with Citizens Advice to try and establish how this information is gathered and what evidence is provided to verify a complaint. However, despite numerous attempts to gain this information, Citizens Advice is yet to provide it.
The proposed four year contract for three of Titan International’s factories in the US has been accepted in votes held by the United Steelworkers union. Union members at the company’s Des Moines, Iowa, Freeport, Illinois and Bryan, Ohio plants voted in favour of an agreement that the USW says offers workers “wage and benefit improvements and a variety of contract language enhancements, most notably around the issue of forced overtime.”
Micheldever’s retail director has called the shortlisting of four Micheldever/Protyre tyre centres in the annual Motor Codes Garage of the Year competition as a “fantastic achievement.” The entries represent the largest number of finalists from an independent tyre centre group; the Micheldever locations shortlisted in the independent garages category are Micheldever Station (near Winchester), Harris Brothers (near Swansea), Thistlewaites Tyres (Bolton), and Barry and Wilkinson (Winsford, Cheshire).
Although it boasts dimensions similar to those shown on recent Bridgestone and Michelin concept tyres, the latest Waymaster product released by Vintage Tyres is strictly old school. The new Waymaster Thirty features a tread pattern the classic tyre supplier describes as “recalling a bygone era”; the WM30 pattern harks back to the late 1920s, a time when tyre design moved on apace as designers sought ways to overcome the inherent instability and road noise associated with “block” tread patterns and create tyres suitable for the next generation of quality cars, such as the “Silent Sports Cars” soon to arrive from Bentley, Lagonda and Rolls Royce.
In developing its latest tyre for Nordic winter conditions, Bridgestone says it aimed to meet the challenge posed by increasingly strict environmental regulations on tyre studs. The all-new Blizzak SPIKE-01 replaces the Noranza 2 EVO and features studs that incorporate a “square-shouldered, round pin with revolutionary cross-edge to maximise edge and scratch effect while minimising road wear and associated dust pollution.” According to the tyre maker, preliminary internal tests already reveal the superiority of the Blizzak SPIKE-01 stud’s multi-directional biting effect on ice and snow and its retention rate over the lifecycle of the stud and tyre compared to on the predecessor tyre. Side-by-side tests of the new and previous generation tyres conducted in Sweden using size 205/55 R16 tyres fitted on a VW GOLF 2.0tdi also showed a 20 per cent better performance on ice and five per cent better performance on snow for the Blizzak SPIKE-01.
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