The seat left vacant on Lanxess AG’s Supervisory Board by the recent death of Ulrich Middelmann has been filled by Claudia Nemat. Announcing Nemat’s appointment, which takes immediate effect, Board head Rolf Stomberg said “We welcome Claudia Nemat in her new role and look forward to working closely together with a well-renowned expert for the high-tech industry and corporate leadership.”
WRC competitors will be able to select tyres from an additional manufacturer in 2014 after Pirelli registered as an official supplier to the Championship. The FIA confirmed on 1 August that the Italian manufacturer will join existing suppliers Michelin, Dmack and Hankook, who continues to supply tyres to Junior WRC.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has released its CSR Report 2013. At this stage it is only available in Japanese; the English-language version will be available at a later date. The report is available for download at srigroup.co.jp/csr. In addition to publishing its CSR Report, the company has updated its Japanese CSR website with detailed CSR guideline information.
Falken Tyre Europe is sponsoring a ‘rally with a difference’ this month. Yesterday, cars competing in the Black Sea Circle rally headed off from Berlin, and Falken says this – Europe’s most eastern rally – is “about driving the way it used to be.” The rally route takes competitors around the Black Sea as far as Odessa, a total distance of 7,000 kilometres (4,350 miles).
Reporting its second quarter and first half results, Executive Board chairman Dr. Elmar Degenhart cautioned that the stronger development seen in the second quarter shouldn’t be viewed as a turnaround; rather, sales developed better due to seasonal and technical factors. The European market – where Continental makes 55 per cent of its sales – was described as unstable, and following what the company calls “modest development” in the region’s replacement tyre market in the first half of the year, Continental states its previous estimate for the segment “no longer seems possible.” It now anticipates an “increase of one per cent at best.” The company also said growth in the Asia and NAFTA regions is “also expected to diminish as the year progresses.” As a result, Continental has decreased its full-year forecast from growth of five per cent to four per cent, or “around €34 billion”.
Barbara Klaus, an Austrian driving a New Holland tractor mounted with Mitas tyres, recently won the conventional ploughing world championship held in Olds, Alberta (Canada). Her teammate Margareta Heigl won the silver in reversible ploughing driving a Steyr tractor. John Whelan of Ireland won the reversible ploughing category.
July's Tyres & Accessories is now available online. This issue includes features on Tyre Manufacturing, Batteries and Previews the forthcoming NTDA TAFF Awards. Subscribers can view this online by clicking more below.
April's Tyres & Accessories is now available to online subscribers via our e-paper format. This issue contained features on wholesaling, wheels and previewed May's Autopromotec exhibition.
Winter and all-season tyres will be the fitment of choice in the coming winter for 3.1 and 1.2 per cent of visitors to Tyrepress.com, a poll conducted on the homepage has revealed. The July Question of the Month reflected results very close to the figures quoted in Tyres & Accessories’ Winter Tyre feature, available in the August magazine soon. Market analysts GfK said that its sell-out data showed winter tyres making up 3.5 per cent of the November 2012 – February 2013 PCR market, while all-season accounted for 2.0 per cent in the period. Other research in the feature suggests all-season tyres are something of a hidden strength in the UK – subscribers can read more by following the links in the full story below. Meanwhile, the August Question of the Month asks whether tyre age should be part of the MOT – go to the Tyrepress.com homepage now to have your say.
Research conducted among 625 motorists from vehicle remarketing company, British Car Auctions (BCA), reveals that 23 per cent of motorists have ignored red warning lights on their dashboard, choosing to continue driving before addressing the problem rather than stopping as soon as safe to do so. And whilst over half said they would stop immediately and call for assistance a small minority (5.5 per cent) said they would deal with it when they had time with some hoping it might just go off of its own accord! When it comes to amber advisory warnings, 36 per cent of motorists who responded to the BCA research said they had ignored amber advisory dashboard warnings and did not respond to them with any urgency. Over half (59 per cent) of those polled would continue on to their destination if an advisory light appeared and then address the problem. The research does not reveal how many – if any – of the warning lights were related to TPMS and runflat tyres.
While we have become accustomed to technological advances driving changes in mature markets, Automotive part supplier First Line, owner of the Borg & Beck brand of braking systems, comments that a more retroactive potential change in the brake market is being driven by automotive ecological and economic considerations. The company says that in recent years, braking technology has remained fairly stable with no great evolutionary advances, which means the biggest change in the market continues to be the growth of the drum/shoe combination as the rear brake solution for many small cars.
TyreSafe has voiced its approval of new advisory messages shown on UK roads. The Highways Agency is displaying the slogan ‘safe tyres save lives’ on its overhead electronic advisory signs in bid to help reduce the number of tyre related incidents occurring on the nation’s road network. The Highways Agency’s choice of message may have been prompted by the more than 2,500 tyre related breakdowns reported by the agency in May and June alone.
As mentioned on 30 July, Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s second quarter net earnings per share of US$0.67 were markedly above the average analyst estimate. Deutsche Bank Equity Research Automotive comments that Goodyear’s Q2 operating earnings per share of $0.76 were a full $0.32 cents per share above its own prediction.
Birla Tyres says it is ready to get its passenger car tyre factory project back on track, and the Indian tyre maker also intends to target export markets, including Europe, with its agricultural and other niche products.
Titan International has announced the appointment of Peter McNitt, vice-chair of BMO Harris Bank, to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
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