The Geneva Motor Show is now underway and Apollo Tyres has presented its brand-new Alnac 4G there. This tyre, the second 4th generation product from Apollo, is specifically designed for compact and mid-size car segments. The Alnac 4G will initially be available in 29 V and H speed rated sizes. Apollo shares that all sizes have a ‘B’ wet grip label rating and a ‘C’ rolling resistance rating; noise levels are 69db.
During a management meeting in late February, Marangoni CEO Massimo De Alessandri discussed the company’s recent performance. In terms of the economy, he described last year as a “very tough year in Europe and above all in Italy.” Despite these conditions, he reported a rise in profitability for the Marangoni group thanks to the performance of its core retreading and tyre industry machinery businesses.
Last May, Bridgestone celebrated the golden jubilee of its Bari passenger car tyre factory in Italy. There will be no diamond jubilee, however; on 4 March, Bridgestone Europe stated that the plant will be closed. Operations at the Bari facility are expected to cease within the first half of 2014, although the exact timing of the closure, along with terms and conditions, are yet to be discussed. Bridgestone says it is “immediately available to start the discussion to identify the best solution in order to minimise, as much as possible, the social impact of the decision on the approximately 950 employees involved, in line with the culture of the group.”
During the SIMA show, Indian tyre maker BKT gave an update of the company’s recent performance. Highlights covered including the firm’s average annual growth rate – this remains at approximately 30 per cent. BKT also claims to currently hold five per cent of the global market share in the off-highway tyre sector in speciality segments such as agricultural machines and equipment, earthmovers, industrial vehicles, ATV and lawn & garden applications. The company says it aims to double this market share by the end of 2014; at this time it plans to achieve a turnover of US$1.36 million, and a turnover of $2 billion by 2020.
Road safety organisation TyreSafe has made its PACT campaign the centrepiece of its updated 2013 materials aimed at publicising bike tyre maintenance. The organisation will work with tyre retailers, bike dealerships and other road safety professionals to help bikers stay safe on the road. PACT is an acronym, representing four key tyre safety checks: Performance, Air pressure, Condition and Tread.
Sailun Tyres has developed the services offered by its online order portal, with European customers now able to track containers and view order details. Each user can now access their own Sailun Order Dashboard, from which the new features can be accessed.
Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe has appointed Leszek Szafran as Director Retread Operations Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He will take over the position from Hubert Moquet, who retires after more than 34 years’ service with the company.
Yokohama Tire Corporation has announced what it calls key changes to its Consumer Sales division. These changes take effect immediately and include the addition of a new sales zone, along with several organisational changes. On the changes, Dan King, senior vice-president of sales and marketing for the Japanese company’s North American manufacturing and marketing arm, commented that “the geographical reorganisation offers the best utilisation of our resources and moves us closer to our dealers in order to better support them.”
Formula One’s teams have completed the third and final testing session in Barcelona prior to the season opening Australian grand prix. While times set by Mercedes teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso showed improvements on 2013’s second test at the same location, the weather in Spain was once again colder than anticipated, meaning that Formula One will enter the opening stages of the season with a degree of uncertainty about how they will perform on the new Pirelli P Zero slicks especially. However, lengthy practice in wet conditions during the first two days of the four-day meeting allowed teams more time on the Cinturato Blue and Green – wet and intermediate respectively – tyres, which could provide valuable data for the season ahead. While it is always a mug’s game to make too many predictions following practice, especially given the unpredictability of the first half of the 2012 season, the pace of Mercedes could shake up the established top three manufacturers.
On 1 March, Titan International announced its intention to offer through a private placement, subject to market and other conditions, US$275 million aggregate principal amount of its 7.875 per cent Senior Secured Notes due 2017. The tyre maker says it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay a portion of the existing indebtedness of certain of its indirect subsidiaries under the European credit facilities assumed as part of its acquisition of Titan Europe Plc in the fourth quarter of 2012. Any remaining net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include financing potential future acquisitions and the repayment of other existing obligations.
Directors at Goodyear Tire & Rubber have declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.73 per share of mandatory convertible preferred stock. The dividend is payable 1 April 2013, to shareholders of record on 15 March 2013. The payout represents an annual rate of $2.9375 per share.
At last week’s SIMA show in Paris, Alliance Tire Group launched three new patterns; the tyre maker says all three utilise state of the art IF and VF technologies, designed at the group’s research and development testing. ATG says its IF and VF products have undergone “comprehensive lab and field testing” and the range will be completed in the coming future.
Upon announcing the outcome of its 2013 summer tyre test, held in partnership with consumer foundation Stiftung Warentest, German motorists’ organisation ADAC noted that this latest test marks the 40th anniversary of its first tyre test. In 1973 – an “exciting time” for tyres due to the replacement of cross-ply with radial models – the ADAC used an Opel Rekord 1900 as a test vehicle to evaluate 25 tyres.
Toyo’s Proxes R888 will be the control tyre for the Toyo Tires BRSCC Porsche Championship. The partnership deal includes title sponsorship for the 2013 season, which will see Boxsters and classic 924s battling for supremacy on the UK’s finest circuits. Toyo says that the skills of the participating drivers will make for some close racing, and the emphasis will be placed on preparing talents for future motorsport series while keeping costs manageable.
Falcon and sister company Milltek are celebrating 30 years in business, with plans to commemorate the landmark in the companies’ marketing activities. Started by Phil Millington, who trained in one of UK’s first dedicated exhaust centres in 1970s Devon, both companies are still run by the founder. Making the move from retail to manufacturing suited Millington, and following the foundation of Falcon, the team grew, becoming one of the leading names in the Classic Car market.
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