People, profit & planet – Michelin talks manufacturing in Western Europe
Several weeks ago, prior to visiting the Michelin plant in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, I witnessed the partial demolition of what until recently was one of the country’s most modern and efficient power plants. Capable of satisfying almost the entire electricity requirements of neighbouring Hamburg yet decommissioned after less than seven years in what the local Environment Minster called a “symbolic” gesture, the blasting of the 3-billion-euro plant’s chimneys delivered a depressing reminder of the challenges that tyre makers and other manufacturers face in Western Europe. Perhaps the Michelin team could restore some lost optimism.
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Toyo Tire moving east – job cuts in Western, Southern Europe
At a Board of Directors meeting held today, Toyo Tire Corporation approved plans to discontinue the business operations of its European sales subsidiaries, transferring these to a newly established company. From January 2025, Toyo Tyre (UK) Ltd. and three other sales subsidiaries will “successively cease their business activities.”
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Sustainability in the usage phase: details of Michelin’s whole life tyre strategy
Picking up on our earlier first-look relating to Michelins whole-life sustainability strategy and previewing the extended and more in-depth take we exclusively provide in our forthcoming Trends & Facts premium supplement, here are some further details Tyres & Accessories gleaned during a recent visit to the French tyre majors headquarters. The wider context is necessary to understand why Michelin cares so much about both tyre wear and whole-life performance. And that was something that Gary Guthrie, SVP Automotive Global Brands Business Line at Michelin made the focal point of his presentation at the company’s global headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France:
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New role & responsibilities – Interview with incoming Yokohama TWS President Elio Bartoli
From next week, Elio Bartoli will take on the role of President at Yokohama TWS. He spoke with our Italian sister publication PneusNews.it at the EMIA 2024 agricultural machinery show in Bologna earlier this month about this upcoming remit, the products displayed at the company’s Trelleborg- and Mitas-branded show stands, and much more.
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Full capacity test – Pyrum Innovations closer to concluding expansion project
For the first time, Pyrum Innovations is operating all three production lines at its main site in Dillingen/Saar, Germany. The thermolysis waste tyre recycling specialist reports that the new TAD 2 and TAD 3 lines have been running alongside the original TAD 1 line since last weekend and will operate in unison for a week before TAD 1 is closed down for scheduled maintenance.
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Nokian Tyres secures zero CO2 energy for Romania plant
With the signing of a long-term contract with renewable energy provider Enery, Nokian Tyres has ensured a supply of zero CO2 emission energy for its new passenger car tyre production facility in Romania. The contract is valid for 11 years from 2025 and additionally provides a framework for Enery to construct a new solar power plant in southern Romania.
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Sinochem subsidiary Guilin Lanyu begins civil aircraft tyre production
Major tyre industry player Sinochem Holdings claims a superlative with Guilin Lanyu Aviation Tyre Development Co., Ltd., announcing that its subsidiary began operation as China’s first major civil aircraft tyre production line on 23 November 2024. Sinochem may need to further elucidate its use of the word ‘first,’ however, as Sentury Tire has been talking about producing aircraft tyres for civil applications for some time now. Semantics aside, Sinochem shares in a statement that the Guilin Lanyu plant in southern China has a capacity to produce 100,000 civil aircraft tyres annually, a quantity sufficient to meet 40 per cent of the country’s current demand for these products.
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Trump set to impose extra 10% tariffs on all Chinese goods, 25% on Mexico imports
Donald Trump appears to be making good on his promise to impose tariffs on products imported into the USA, having said he will impose tariffs of an extra 10 per cent on Chinese goods as well as tariffs of 25 per cent on all imports from Canada and Mexico.
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Progress for Pyrum Innovations despite another quarter in the red
There’s no doubt that tyre makers are finding sustainable raw materials increasingly attractive, but the road to monetising such a product can be long and frustrating. Pyrum Innovations has been actively developing its thermolysis technology for 16 years now, and during this time attracted the attention and favour of major tyre industry players. This hasn’t prevented the Dillingen, Germany-based company from posting another net loss in the first nine months of 2024.
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Apollo Vredestein debuts new products, discusses market trends
Domenico Gatti has been Cluster Director for Apollo Vredestein’s South West Europe business since 2021. Our Italian sister site PneusNews.it caught up with him at the EIMA show in Bologna earlier this month and discussed the company’s agro-industrial business, as well as wider topics such as the car and truck markets and the current crisis within the automotive sector.
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Solar farm aiding Maxion Wheels’ Chihuahua plant
Maxion Wheels has integrated solar power into its light vehicle aluminium wheels facility in Chihuahua, Mexico, following the launch of its own 499 kW capacity photovoltaic system that can deliver an estimated annual generation of 960 MWh. By reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 420 tonnes per year, equivalent to the annual growth of 6,930 trees, the solar farm will supply around two per cent of the plant’s annual energy needs.
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Bridgestone expanding high rim tyre capacities in Japan
Bridgestone Corporation is investing to expand capacity at three of its passenger car tyre production facilities in Japan. With a total investment of approximately 27 billion yen (£139.1 million) in the Hikone, Tosu and Tochigi plants, the company will boost capacity for Enliten and larger rim diameter tyres. Bridgestone will lift overall production capacity by around 3,000 tyres a day, mainly in the 20-inch and larger size category where the company anticipates growing demand. It will start work on the project early in 2025 and plans to complete it by the end of 2028.
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Kumho Tire announces 36% expansion for Vietnam plant
At a meeting with local government officials on 13 November, Kim Hyun Ho, General Director of Kumho Tire Vietnam, informed that the Kumho Tire subsidiary intends to invest US$300 million to increase the plant’s passenger car and light truck tyre production capacity by 4.5 million units a year, to a total annual capacity of 17 million tyres. This 36 per cent capacity increase, phase 3 of expansion at the 2007-opened plant in Binh Duong Province, will bring total investment in the facility to $908 million.
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Pyrum gains Continental rCB delivery approval
Following an audit, Continental has given Pyrum Innovations unlimited delivery approval for recovered carbon black (rCB) supplied from its pyrolysis plant in Dillingen/Saar, Germany. Pyrum CEO Pascal Klein views this authorisation as “the cornerstone for a significant increase in sales next year.”
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Kumho hosts “Bloc Meeting” conference in Germany
From 18 to 20 November, Kumho hosted its annual European Bloc Meeting at the Kumho Tire European headquarters in Offenbach am Main, Germany. “…it was a fantastic opportunity to build on the successes of the last meeting and develop new ideas for 2025”, company representatives wrote in a social media post published on 20 November 2024.
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