A Milan court has handed Pirelli chairman and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera a 20 month suspended sentence for receiving stolen information about Italian public figures during the time he was chairman of Telecom Italia. Judge Anna Calabi also ordered him to pay Telecom Italia 900,000 euros compensation.
Solideal UK reports that Camoplast Solideal is restructuring its global business to place a greater emphasis on the materials handling and construction markets. Therefore, as of 1 August a specialist account manager selling to only one market sector will replace current customer contacts. This means that customers who purchase both solid and construction tyres, for example, will now deal with two specialist account managers instead of just one, as may previously been the case.
The commercial availability of Sumitomo’s Enasave 97, albeit in small volumes, has demonstrated the feasibility of producing tyres containing very little in the way of fossil fuels. Introducing completely or nearly fossil fuel-free products in greater quantities is a goal held by all tyre majors, and Continental’s head of material and process engineering has shared some details about the German tyre maker’s progress in this direction.
On 16 July, Bridgestone’s domestic tyre subsidiary, Bridgestone Tire Japan, opened a new facility that integrates its Osaka Bandag retreading factory and waste tyre processing plant into a single location. The new 7,100 square metre plant takes in used casings collected from the within Osaka and Kyoto, Hyogo Prefecture, Wakayama Prefectures and has the capacity to produce 3,000 truck and bus retreads per month, including Ecopia retreads. This figure is 30 per cent higher than the combined output of the two previous facilities. Tyres not suitable for retreading are shredded and sold as fuel.
Goodyear has announced its plans to introduce a new generation of truck tyres, with two completely new ranges to launch onto the European market in September. Kmax and Fuelmax steer, drive and trailer tyres will focus on providing the manufacturer’s optimised longevity and fuel efficiency options respectively. Therefore the new tyres represent an interesting departure from other premium brand manufacturers’ portfolio strategies, taking the emphasis off the type of operation – long or regional haul for example – and put it on the fleet’s economic priority.
Supertracker has given wheel alignment support to West Midlands father and son driving team, Keith and Dylan Evans and their Subaru Legacy Estate in the annual Help4Heroes 4×4 European Rally 2013. The team was awarded Total Off-Road Magazine’s 'Best Non Land Rover performance', having been primed by Supertracker, which set up and adjusted the wheel alignment and sourced special Landsail tyres for the 14-day trip across a number of European countries, visiting numerous battle locations and memorial sites from WW1 and WW2.
Goodyear Dunlop Sava Tires has appointed Jože Stružnik its new sales director. Stružnik began in his new role on 8 July and primarily focuses on consolidating the tyre maker’s position as a leading tyre supplier to its Slovenian home market and nine further countries in the Balkan region. He replaces Tomaž Lanišek, who has left the tyre maker to take on the role of chief executive at Knauf Insulation’s Slovenian operation.
ACEA figures show that, in June, EU new passenger car registrations totalled 1,134,042 units, declining by 5.6 per cent compared to the same month last year. In the first half year of 2013, 6,204,990 new cars were registered in the EU, or 6.6 per cent less than in the first six months of 2012.
The Road Haulage Association is disappointed at the refusal by the Office of Fair Trading to consider an investigation into the issue of UK oil pricing. Such was the strength of feeling over high fuel prices that over 32,000 signatories, including FFUK supporters, members of the public and members of Parliament, added their names to the petition that was handed in to the offices of the OFT on Monday, 15 July.
Contract tyre manufacturer Enjoy Tyre Co Ltd appointed Rob Henderson as general manager for UK and Europe. Based in Hangzhou, China, Enjoy Tyre has been established for 23 years supplying its Rotalla car tyre brand across a number of global markets. The company reports that it is currently investing in the development of a new Routeway car tyre range for 2014 to add to its existing truck and bus radial range. According to the company, Enjoy Tyre intends to establish an increased trading profile across Europe and view Rob as the “perfect springboard” to achieve this objective.
The Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, formerly Burma, now stands amongst the ranks of the world’s tyre producing nations. The country’s first tyre factory, MEC Tire, officially entered operation on 1 May. The occasion was marked by ceremony attended by Myanmar commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, the commander of the Navy, commander of the air force and other military and government officials, along with representatives from Chinese rubber and tyre industry machinery supplier Mesnac, who set up the plant. The MEC Tire facility was Mesnac’s first overseas turnkey project.
The latest figures from Michelin show growth in Europe’s (including Russia and Turkey) tyre markets during June. Both the original equipment and replacement passenger car and light truck tyre markets enjoyed a year-on-year rise; original equipment markets were two per cent above those in June 2012, while the replacement market showed a three per cent increase. Year-on-year growth for Europe’s original equipment heavy truck market amounted to two per cent, with five per cent growth seen in the replacement market.
At first glance, sponges and in-car noise levels don’t seem to have much in common. Yet this springy material, much loved by those with a penchant for cleanliness, has found its way into a tyre Pirelli has developed for original equipment customer Audi, and the Italian tyre maker says the tyre reduces noise considerably.
Speaking at the inquest into a fatal coach crash caused by the catastrophic failure of a 19-year old tyre, Surrey coroner Richard Travers stated that he would ensure the DfT was officially informed about the dangers posed by aged tyres. The tyre responsible for the crash was older than the coach it was fitted to, had never been regrooved or retreaded, was purchased second hand by the coach operator – and was completely legal.
Trelleborg has been selected as the official partner for Massey Ferguson’s Super6 Demo Tour, a European wide road show across ten key markets presenting the Massey Ferguson tractor range. Trelleborg views the tour as an opportunity to strengthen further its strategic partnership with the leading tractor manufacturer, while taking the opportunity to showcase its latest product innovations. The tour’s latest stop is in Rome on 17 July with its interactive mobile stand, the ‘Blue Box’, displaying the latest Trelleborg innovations and digital services.
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