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A settlement has been reached between Michelin North America Inc. and Tire Mart Inc. regarding alleged design patent infringements. Terms of the settlement, which centres on design patents for the BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM2, have not been disclosed.
Heuver Tyrewholesale has gone energy neutral. Thanks to the installation of more than 1,600 solar panels on the roof of its facility in Hardenberg, the Netherlands, a project undertaken as part of the expansion of warehousing space up to 43,000 square metres, the wholesaler’s energy is now supplied in-house. Or on-house, to be precise.
With the exception of agricultural tyres, sales of tyres produced by European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) members were generally stable in 2017. The ETRMA reports that its members sold 204,838,000 replacement market consumer tyres (passenger car, SUV and light commercial vehicle tyres) in 2017, 0.9 per cent fewer than a year earlier. Sales of original equipment consumer tyres (including in the Turkish market) were up during the year, increasing 0.7 per cent to 86,779,000 units in 2017.
After sitting 2017 out, Pirelli returns to the World Rally Championship this year, and brings all-new P Zero and Scorpion tyres with it. The first opportunity for us to see these in competitive action presents itself at the Rallye Monte Carlo tomorrow.
Stefano Sanchini has been appointed sales director for Bridgestone in the Middle East & Africa region. He joins Bridgestone from Goodyear, and although the tyre maker only recently announced his appointment, Sanchini has been with Bridgestone since August 2017.
Following its entry into the UK fleet market last year with through deals with several medium-sized operators, Apollo Vredestein has landed its first fleet agreement for 2018 with Heathrow-based aviation logistics specialist CCH Logistics. The yearly contract will include the replacement of all CCH vehicle tyres, which are currently “other OE and replacement premium brands,” with Vredestein products. Tyrepress.com understands that tyre fitting and maintenance will be carried out by local firm Tomato Tyres.
Vipal rubber announces that RubberVulk, distributor of the Vipal range of retreading and tyre repair products in Spain, will now also serve as its exclusive distributor in Portugal. RubberVulk will supply the Portuguese market with a range of more than 3,000 products both directly and via online orders.
Michelin has released an initial list of speakers who will take the stage at this year’s Movin’On sustainability mobility summit. The first ten leaders from the field of mobility to be named as speakers are:
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. reports that it yesterday launched and successfully concluded the placement of a 600 million euro bond loan. Placed with international institutional investors, the unrated bond loan has a five-year duration at a fixed rate. The tyre maker reports that at closing, the loan received total orders of 2.4 billion euros from approximately 280 international investors.
This year, the Falken tyre brand will serve as presenting partner for the Audi Nines, an annual invitational for some of the world’s best Skicross and Snowboardcross athletes. In 2018, the event comes to Sölden, Austria for the first time and will be held on 14 April.
A narrow footprint tyre is a good choice when working with potato crops, observes Michelin, and this is an opinion supported by Scotland’s James D Reid & Partners. Michelin shares that the Montrose-based potato farmer changed its tyre strategy four years ago and is now reaping the benefits, being on track to achieve 5,000 hours from its original Michelin AgriBib Row Crop tyres.
The C3 Aircross, a distinctive-looking compact SUV that Citroën brought to market late last year, is now available with Hankook tyres as original equipment. Hankook Tire shares that its Kinergy 4S all-season tyre has been approved for the C3 Aircross in sizes 195/60 R16 89H, 205/60 R16 92H and 215/50 R17 91H, and the Ventus Prime³ summer tyre in size 205/60 R16 92H.
Chinese bus fleet operator Guangzhou Jumbo Bus Co Ltd. intends to convert its entire fleet of LNG-powered buses to electric propulsion over the coming three years, and as it does so will exclusively shod its fleet with Hankook tyres. Jumbo Bus, which operates six city bus companies and a total of 4,500 buses, signed a memorandum of understanding with Hankook Tire this month covering the supply of tyres specifically developed for electric buses.
Creditors holding a 42.01 per cent share in Kumho Tire are going to look for a new owner – again. Some four months after Qingdao Doublestar Tire’s planned acquisition of the South Korean tyre maker collapsed, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the other creditors are said to be once more looking for an external investor.
Through the installation of six new testing machines at its Tire and Wheel testing lab in Suzhou, China, rubber and plastics testing and consulting service provider Smithers Rapra has increased the facility’s ability to server tyre and wheel customers. The new equipment is said to boost capacity at the lab by 35 per cent and broadens its testing capabilities to include cleated tyre and wheel endurance testing, wheel impact, salt spray and tyre air permeation tests.
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