Maxxis International has launched a new website, which the company says is designed to showcase the many facets of the growing brand. www.Maxxis.co.uk offers new functionality, as well as opening the door to anyone looking to find out more about the fast-growing tyre brand.
At present, Heuver Tyrewholesale is forming a customer support ‘expert team’ for the German speaking markets, and Gert Timmer, who currently manages the company’s agricultural business unit, will take on responsibility for the Bavaria and Austria regions as part of this team. He joins four other experienced customer support professionals in the new German markets team, and will be present with his colleagues at November’s Agritechnica show.
Effective 1 January 2014, Patrick Olney will take on the role of chief operating officer at TRW Automotive Holdings. In his new position, the current president of Volvo Construction Equipment will report directly to TRW Automotive chairman and chief executive officer John Plant. Olney will be based in Michelin, USA, and replaces Steve Lunn, who previously announced his intention to retire effective 28 February 2014.
Mitas AS has will continue to be able to produce Continental-branded tyres under licence until the end of 2019, following an extension of the company’s trademark licence for an additional five years. Mitas acquired the agricultural tyre business unit from Continental AG in 2004 and is currently producing Mitas- and Cultor-branded tyres as well as Continental tyres under licence.
As part of its efforts to build up its online presence, Giti Tire has appointed Neil Hendry to the newly created role of Internet Strategy and E-Commerce manager – Europe. Hendry is based at the company’s UK headquarters in Cheshire and responsible for the development of a coherent web and social media strategy to maximise internet presence throughout the continent
The Bandag brand is to be the only premium retread brand name used by Bridgestone in Europe. The company has decided to phase out the Bridgestone brand on its retreading products within our region as it considers Bandag to be the “world’s leading retread brand.” Therefore, current Bridgestone-branded pre-cured tread products will gradually be phased out in favour of Bandag-branded products.
The Russian city of Kaluga is home to several European vehicle manufacturers, including Volkswagen, PSMA and Volvo Trucks, along with suppliers such as Magna, Faurecia, Benteller and Gestamp. The name Continental now joins this list following the official start of production at the company’s new tyre factory in Kaluga on 29 October.
Michelin has won a tyre supply deal for the Teesport based Containerships fleet. With 60 6×2 mid-lifts, fleet engineer Gordon Aitchison says the results of a recent 1,000km trial have helped to identify significant annual cost differences of more than 20 per cent between four different 295/80R22.5 premium brand tyres.
Artic tyre and vehicle test centre Testworld has published a winter and studded tyre test database called safewintertyre.eu. The centre based in Ivalo, Finland has published the results of 128 tyres categories as studded, un-studded Nordic and un-studded mid-Europe. And while the first two categories are fairly specialised, the last contains one performance metric for 49 mainstream winter tyres. So far the tests are limited to what the firm calls “ice braking” metrics, which set the tyres against an as-yet unnamed standard reference tyre.
Petlas Tyres has added four sizes to its Petlas and Starmaxx brand truck and bus radial tyres. The additions are scheduled to be released by October 2013. According to the company, Petlas engineers started to develop the firm’s TBR tyre program in the first quarter of 2012. They new products are reportedly designed and produced with low rolling resistance, good fuel efficiency, durability and long life in mind.
In the USA, the Hercules Tire & Rubber company has announced the addition of four new 17-inch sizes to its ultra high performance, W-speed rated Raptis WR1 range. The Raptis WR1 combines sleek, modern aesthetics and exceptional steering response with a silica compound and an asymmetric tread design to deliver high-performance character all year round. The new sizes are:
Motorists are set to benefit from a more effective road network and will have a greater say in how their roads operate. Turning the Highways Agency into a government-owned company will improve efficiency and reduce running costs, with taxpayers expected to benefit from savings of at least £2.6 billion over the next 10 years.
During the third quarter of 2013, Titan International recorded net sales of US$497.5 million, a 22.9 per cent year-on-year increase, while net sales for the first nine months of 2013 were $1,669.2 million, 25.8 per cent higher than during the same period of 2012.
The Michelin share price dipped by more than four per cent following the announcement of the company’s results for the quarter ending 30 September. By 3:30pm Paris time, Michelin shares were trading for €76.47, down 4.11 per cent on the opening price.
The Tire Repair & Information Bureau reports that US-based company Tesco Italmatic LLC has signed an exclusive agreement with Germany’s Steinbichler to sell and service the company’s passenger car, light commercial vehicle, truck, aviation and OTR shearography machinery in the Americas. Tesco Italmatic is said to be “excited” to supply the retreading industry with the Steinbichler range.
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