Kings Road Tyres builds brand portfolio, fleet in year following sale
At the beginning of 2014, Kings Road Tyres entered a new era. A controlling interest in the wholesaler was purchased by a group involving Chinese European and North American interests, and involving the Sailun Group “indirectly”. Following its sale, the existing management team, led by Adrian Bader, has overseen the development of its brand portfolio, with an increased involvement in the passenger car segment for the commercial vehicle tyre specialist heralded by an agreement to distribute Aeolus-branded PCR and 4x4 products. KRT says this deal, launched at October’s Brityrex show, alongside other investments in its brand portfolio and business infrastructure is setting up leading UK tyre wholesaler Kings Road Tyres (KRT) for a sustained period of long-term growth.
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GT Radial to make Euro Bus Expo debut
Early next month Euro Bus Expo 2014 is coming to the NEC Birmingham, and GT Radial will attend the show as an exhibitor for the first time. A range of products aimed at the passenger transport segment will be on display at the GT Radial stand, with the GSR225 Combi Road and GAU861 all-position urban city-bus tyres heading a comprehensive portfolio.
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Toyo Tires partnering Leicester City
Leicester City Football Club has announced that Toyo Tires will be joining the Foxes as a Club Partner for the 2014/15 season. Toyo Tires’ club partnership will see the Japanese company enjoy a “considerable commercial presence” at King Power Stadium, while their branding will also be visible on City’s first team training wear. Keishi Inoue, managing director of Toyo Tires UK, said: “Our partnership with Leicester City starts at a great time, because it provides a fantastic opportunity to grow our brand with a genuinely aspirational club on one of the world’s biggest sporting stages – the Premier League.
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Groundbreaking held for Hankook’s US tyre plant
Construction work has officially begun on Hankook Tire’s new factory in the United States following a groundbreaking ceremony held at the plant site in Clarksville, Tennessee on 9 October. The new facility, which is expected to begin operation in 2016 and will reach a production capacity of 12 million units, is Hankook’s eighth production facility worldwide and first in North America.
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Goodyear suggests tyre label incentives, mandatory truck TPMS
Goodyear today published a whitepaper culminating in recommendations including incentives for truck fleets to purchase high label-rated tyres and the mandatory fitment of TPMS in commercial vehicles in a way similar current rules for passenger cars. Other recommendations include: offering incentives for fuel efficient fleets; clarity on reforms to rules related to weights and dimensions of commercial vehicles; further guidelines on cross-border operations of larger vehicles; more support to make the most from new telematics technology like harmonized standards for telematics; and extra support from regulators to the road fleet sector to attract and retain skilled drivers.
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Continental furthers Asian football activities with Chinese sponsorship deal
Football is Continental’s chosen brand promotion method in many parts of the world, and its involvement in the game has been extended by its entry into a four-year collaboration with the Chinese Football Association. This deal with the CFA was announced at the start of Continental’s AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia Trophy Tour on 26 September. Continental states that this new agreement, along with its AFC Asian Cup 2015 sponsorship, represents a specific focus on the Asia Pacific region.
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Tyre unit sales stabilised amongst ETRMA members during Q3 2014
Unit sales for tyre makers belonging to the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association were stable in on-road segments during the third quarter of 2014, while the agricultural segment experienced a year-on-year decline. Unit sales of passenger car tyres increased 1.4 per cent to 58,409,000 pieces, a development the ETRMA attributes to a growth in new car registrations. Commercial vehicle tyre unit sales remained relatively flat, declining only 0.23 per cent to 2,552,000 pieces, while two-wheeler tyre sales were up 0.90 per cent to 1,797,000 units. The only area of the market where ETRMA members saw major movement was in the agricultural segment, and this was movement of the unwelcome variety, as unit sales dropped 8.97 per cent to 386,000 pieces.
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Western Europe launch – development of Starco’s solid forklift tyre ranges continues
Although at three years of age Starco’s solid industrial tyre production plant in Sri Lanka is still a relative infant, initial targets set for the facility have already been reached and the company is now looking ahead to the next milestones. This sort of success doesn’t occur by accident, and the good experiences Starco has enjoyed so far in Sri Lanka are the result of planning that began long before the plant was even set up. Tyres & Accessories recently met a key figure Starco assigned to implement the solid tyre project, and learned a little more about the factory and the products being made there.
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Bridgestone gains BMW supplier award for ologic technology
Pirelli received one, and so has Bridgestone: The tyre maker is the new owner of a BMW Supplier Innovation Award 2014. Bridgestone was awarded in the ‘Efficient Dynamics’ category in recognition of the ologic technology it developed for the BMW i3. The honour was presented to Bridgestone Europe’s CEO and president, Franco Annunziato, by Gerhard Kurz, BMW’s senior vice-president Purchasing Driving Dynamics, at an official ceremony in Amsterdam on 1 October.
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Chengshan to buy out Cooper for US$286 million
Chengshan Group Company Ltd. intends to acquire Cooper Tire & Rubber Company’s 65 per cent ownership in the two companies’ Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Company Ltd (CCT) joint-venture. Owing to the fact that the purchase offer is based on a pre-agreed “call option”, which itself is priced on the back of an agreed valuation of US$440 million, this means Chengshan has agreed to pay roughly US$286 million for the company. Coopers share price fell a dollar from around $29 to roughly $28 in response to the announcement.
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Pirelli wins BMW Supplier Innovation Award
Pirelli has been presented with the 2014 BMW Supplier Innovation Award, a prize that the German manufacturer gives to its most innovative suppliers every year. The Italian tyre firm was awarded the ‘best innovation in quality’ prize at a ceremony held yesterday in Amsterdam, for its Real Dynamic Curing technology: used in the tyre vulcanisation process.
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