![We’re going to need a bigger booth: ATS Euromaster to celebrate 50th at CV Show](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ATSE-CVShow2014.jpg)
We’re going to need a bigger booth: ATS Euromaster to celebrate 50th at CV Show
ATS Euromaster will mark 50 years in the industry on its largest ever stand at the 2015 Commercial Vehicle Show. Hosted at the NEC, Birmingham, ATS-E has exhibited at consecutive CV Shows for more than 10 years, and will occupy over 25 per cent more space than in 2014. Group Sales Director Peter Fairlie says the extra investment from the business is a combination of celebrating achievement, and growing confidence in the market.
Continue Reading![Hankook increases operating profit, sales](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/hankook-business-profit-graph-1.jpg)
Hankook increases operating profit, sales
On the back of an expanding original equipment portfolio and higher ultra-high performance tyre sales Hankook Tire has reported increased operating profits and sales in its third quarter, reversing a year-long downward trend. The manufacturer has global sales revenues of 1,250 million euros (KRW 1.72 trillion), with operating profit of 208 million euros (KRW 276 billion).
Continue ReadingGoodyear earns well in Q3, globally and in Europe
While many of the quarterly results released at the moment make for depressing reading, those published by Goodyear Tire & Rubber yesterday show that the US-based tyre maker is making even better than expected progress on the path back to financial strength. An obviously pleased Richard Kramer reported on 29 October that Goodyear “delivered outstanding earnings growth in the quarter and achieved a segment operating income margin of more than 11 per cent, the highest in more than a decade, despite an increasingly challenged global economy. The chairman and chief executive officer added that “these results reflect our focus on capturing the value of our branded products in the marketplace and continued progress generating cost savings through our operational excellence activities.”
Continue ReadingJob cuts continue at loss-making Titan
Titan International released its third quarter 2014 results yesterday, and in the words of chief executive officer and chairman Maurice Taylor, there were a lot of negatives to see. This is bad news for management, bad news for shareholders and, for many Titan employees, very bad news.
Continue Reading![Trelleborg partners new Farming Simulator 15 video game](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Cover_Farming-Simulator-2015.jpg)
Trelleborg partners new Farming Simulator 15 video game
Partnerships between tyre manufacturers and game software developers are nothing new in motorsport simulations. However the broad range of tyre applications is being increasingly matched – much to the chagrin of the #GamerGate campaign – by the breadth of subjects presented in popular video games. Popular franchise Farming Simulator completes the cross-platform release of its 15th iteration this week, and with a large increase in the range of machinery brands presented in-game, publisher Giants Software has upped the ante considerably. Agricultural tyre manufacturer Trelleborg has been selected as the in-game tyre supplier, a partnership that the manufacturer has pronounced itself “delighted” to “associate [its] brand” with. Trelleborg even announced its intention to use the game as part of its stand at forthcoming agricultural exhibitions.
Continue Reading![Mitas to announce PneuTrac plans, receives award for tyre/track ‘hybrid’](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/np-IMG_1282.jpg)
Mitas to announce PneuTrac plans, receives award for tyre/track ‘hybrid’
Although only a concept at present and “still some way off” from its commercial release, Mitas holds high hopes for the PneuTrac, a product it says combines the best of both worlds in traditional pneumatic tyres and rubber tracks. The Czech Republic-based tyre maker is carrying out intensive tests on a prototype PneuTrac fitted to an 18-inch rim, has begun dynamic testing using a 38-inch fitment and is planning to test a new, third size. Mitas says it will announce its plans for PneuTrac at the EIMA agricultural exhibition in Bologna, Italy at a press conference scheduled for 13 November.
Continue Reading![ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 certification for Sumitomo’s tyre factory in Brazil](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014_128_01.jpg)
ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 certification for Sumitomo’s tyre factory in Brazil
The Sumitomo Rubber Group’s first tyre factory in Latin America has been awarded both the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard and the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard. Certification of the Sumitomo Rubber do Brasil Ltda passenger car radial plant in Fazenda Rio Grande, Paraná state took effect on 30 September 2014. The accrediting body for both certifications was Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA).
Continue Reading![Michelin buffs away loss-making Laurent pre-cure business in Germany](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Laurent-Fuhrpark.jpg)
Michelin buffs away loss-making Laurent pre-cure business in Germany
Weak demand and aggressive competition has led to seven-figure losses at the Laurent Reifen retreading plant in Germany, and in response the Michelin-owned company has decided to close its pre-cure retreading operations and lay off almost a quarter of its workforce. But it is questionable whether this measure will suffice to halt the flow of red ink required to write the firm’s balance sheet in recent years; apparently the complete closure of the Laurent Reifen site near Berlin has already been internally discussed.
Continue Reading![Same time, different place – concurrent dates for ‘Reifen’ and ‘Tire Cologne’](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Reifen-2018.jpg)
Same time, different place – concurrent dates for ‘Reifen’ and ‘Tire Cologne’
Anyone thinking about taking in a tyre show in Germany four years from now will need to schedule their itinerary very carefully. It’s already been reported that current ‘Reifen’ show sponsor the BRV (the German Federal Association of the Tyre Trade and the Vulcanisers’ Skilled Trade) will, come 2018, trade its long-term partner for a new exhibition some 40 miles from the Essen exhibition centre. But what’s only now become clear is that Germany will not only host two tyre shows in the same general vicinity – both will also be held at exactly the same time.
Continue Reading![Point S to lose 12 outlets in Germany through Reifen Ihle sale](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ihle.jpg)
Point S to lose 12 outlets in Germany through Reifen Ihle sale
A week ago, Tyres & Accessories reported that German tyre firm the Reifen Ihle Group faced being broken up for sale some eight months after filing for insolvency. It has now been officially confirmed that the 12 Reifen Ihle outlets, which operate as part of the German Point S network, have been sold to Reifen Müller KG, a tyre business that operates 30 outlets in central Germany. Klaus Müller told our sister publication Neue Reifenzeitung that the 12 Reifen Ihle outlets “pass perfectly” to Reifen Müller. But while the outlets’ future is now secure, their days as part of the Point S network are numbered.
Continue Reading![Official opening for Bridgestone’s Vietnam plant](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/vietnam.jpg)
Official opening for Bridgestone’s Vietnam plant
A ceremony has been held to mark the official opening of Bridgestone’s latest tyre factory. The grand opening of the Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing Vietnam Limited Liability Company (BTMV) plant in Hai Phong City, Vietnam comes half a year after production of passenger car radials began there. The opening ceremony was attended by guests from the Vietnam government, Hai Phong City, the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, and representatives of companies from the automotive sector.
Continue Reading![Fleet Symposium brings stakeholders together](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/IMG_3082-e1414497519857.jpg)
Fleet Symposium brings stakeholders together
Just over six months since the last time Tyres & Accessories met Michel Rzonzef at the Geneva Motor Show, the Goodyear executive has switched segments. When we met before he was vice president of the Consumer Tire Business at Goodyear EMEA. Now he is vice president of Commercial Tires EMEA. So, with the move from consumer to commercial still relatively fresh, T&A took the opportunity to discuss the development and direction of the truck and fleet tyre business with Rzonzef during the course of the recent Goodyear Fleet Symposium in Brussels on 14 October. Henk van Tuyl, Goodyear’s director of regional technology - Heavy Tires EMEA, also joined in with the conversation.
Continue Reading![Giti’s European R&D centre ready for growing OE business](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/hartwig.jpg)
Giti’s European R&D centre ready for growing OE business
It’s been a year since Tyres & Accessories first met the recently-appointed head of Giti Tire’s new R&D Centre Europe. At the time, R&D director Stefan Fischer shared the tyre maker’s plans and showed off the still largely-empty premises where specialists would soon be hard at work. A lot has changed in 12 months: Upon returning to the Hannover, Germany-based facility, we saw it was well and truly up and running and, in the important area of original equipment development, even further established than originally planned.
Continue ReadingTyre business results flat at Trelleborg despite lower organic sales
Sweden’s Trelleborg AB has reported a 5.8 per cent increase in net sales in the third quarter of 2013, with acquired business contributing some two per cent towards this result. Company president and CEO Peter Nilsson commented that Trelleborg “achieved these healthy earnings despite weaker market trends for several market segments and thus a slight fall-off in organic growth.”
Continue ReadingMichelin reduces growth outlook, posts lower Q3 sales
In response to slowing emerging markets (excepting China) as well as economic and geopolitical uncertainties, Michelin has lowered its full-year volume growth outlook from three per cent to between one and two per cent. The French tyre maker says the market slowdown observed since the second quarter of this year continued into the third. In addition to contracting original equipment demand from emerging markets apart from China, demand also weakened in Europe, particularly for truck tyres. Overall sales volumes rose by one per cent during the third quarter, with price-mix effect a negative two per cent.
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