Ceat gains Deming Grand Prize
The Deming Prize Committee has awarded its 2023 Deming Grand Prize to Ceat Ltd. The Indian firm is the first tyre maker in the world to gain this top Deming accolade, which is awarded for ongoing excellence in Total Quality Management (TQM).
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Toyo Tire releases latest Integrated Report
Toyo Tire Corporation has published its Integrated Report 2023, a document that provides information about the company’s financial performance and activities in other areas, including progress in Mid-Term ’21 Plan, the company’s mid-term business plan.
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Tyrepress.com receives over 300,000 pageviews in September 2023
For the second consecutive month, Tyrepress.com has achieved record traffic. Indeed, during September 2023, Tyrepress.com recorded 316,411 pageviews – a figure that puts the leading tyre industry news site alongside the biggest websites in the business.
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Micheldever renews GT Radial, Runway tyre brand exclusive distribution agreement
Giti Tire, the manufacturer of the GT Radial and Runway tyre brands has signed another exclusive distribution agreement with UK wholesaler Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS). The new four-year deal, which covers passenger car, SUV, 4x4 and light truck tyre segments in the UK and Republic of Ireland replacement markets, will run until 2026. The partnership commenced in 2010, meaning the latest EDA will take the relationship between the companies to 16 years. MTS has agreed to continue the expansion of the GT Radial Performance Centres (GTPCs) dealer programme, while jointly promoting Runway across its larger independent network. The distributor will also remain closely involved in product development.
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Kirkby Tyres warehouse, mezzanine expansion enables increased stocks of ATV, turf tyres
Kirkby Tyres’ investment in additional warehousing space at its central site in Speke, Liverpool over the past couple of years was recently completed, further extending its specialist mezzanine flooring facilities. This increase in warehousing footprint brings its total mezzanine facilities to 30,000 sqft. The space has been designed specifically to hold ATV and lawn & turf products. The wholesaler told Tyrepress that this has allowed it to invest in an increasing number of specialist sizes and deeper stock levels. The warehouse expansion project also included several sustainability measures recently recognised by ISO 14001 certification.
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Toyo renews Japan National Football Team partnership
Toyo Tires has renewed its partnership with the Japan National Football Team. The tyre manufacturer has supported the “Samurai Blue” since 2021. Toyo has released a TV commercial called “Blue, passionate, run” to mark the renewal. The video will be shown in subways and on television, the company said. Toyo added that it plans to follow the team to the next World Cup in North America in 2026.
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BA Bush & Son expands with Ipswich branch
Tyre retailer BA Bush & Son has expanded into a new county, opening a new commercial branch on the Bridge Trading Estate in Ipswich, Suffolk. As a result, the expanding company now has sites in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire (North, South and East Riding/ Humberside), County Durham, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The company also has sites in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire through its share of GT Wholesale.
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Shioiri leaves Yokohama Europe presidency
After three-and-a-half years as chairman of Yokohama Europe, Hiroyuki Shioiri will leave his European responsibilities on 1 November 2023 in order to return to Japan and become “Officer, Head of Corporate Planning Div., Head of Corporate Planning Dept.” Tyres & Accessories understands that Shioiri’s successor will be named on 9 October and that the change doesn’t impact Yokohama Europe chief executive Gregorio Borgo’s role.
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New warehouse, new tyre brand supporting MTS’s wholesale strategy
Bleak economic circumstances generally create brand strategy complications within tyre distribution. Drivers’ demand for lower priced tyres as cost-of-living pressures hit their pockets can alter the dynamics at play in wholesalers’ exclusive brand offerings, which are often pitched as premiumised products with additional benefits that make paying more than a budget price worthwhile. Yet down markets are also a time to build for the future, sowing seeds that will yield benefits when the outlook brightens. In the case of Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS), a new-build warehouse in Scotland to support its business growth north of the border and a newly added exclusive distribution deal with Petlas are two ways in which the company is building for the future and managing the current market situation. Tyres & Accessories asked Graham Mitchell, MTS wholesale director, about its exclusive brands, which also include parent company Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ Falken Tyres, General Tire, and GT Radial, as well as the development of its warehouse in Bellshill, Scotland.
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Michelin completes Flex Composite Group acquisition
Michelin completed the acquisition of Flex Composite Group on 27 September 2023 under the terms announced on 19 June 2023. According to the purchaser, “Michelin and FCG have thus created a leader in high-tech engineered fabrics and films”. The acquisition forms part of the Michelin in Motion 2030 strategy and is said to mark “a significant step forward in the development of the groups polymer composites activities”.
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Continental opens 13th German training centre in Gifhorn
Continental has opened its 13th training centre in Germany for employees in Gifhorn, between Hanover and Wolfsburg. The opening ceremony on 25 September, 2023, was attended by labour minister Hubertus Heil and the second chairperson of IG Metall, Christiane Benner. The company launched CITT (Continental Institute for Technology and Transformation) in 2019. The institute focuses on retraining and refocusing employees in a transitional economy – or in Conti’s words, “to strengthen the employability of individual employees.” CITT had trained 8,500 participants by the end of 2022, and Conti expects this number to reach 9,500 by the end of 2023.
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First Stop, ETB networks commence Customer Centricity Week
The First Stop and ETB Autocentres networks began their Customer Centricity Week on 25 September. Both networks plan to offer a ‘delightful experience’, targeting the generation of more repeat-business and an increase in recommendations. In order to achieve this, they have created a new customer framework to raise standards among staff with three objectives: gaining loyalty and recommendations from customers, to be customer-centric, and to create what it calls “the best customer journey in the automotive retail industry.”
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Bridgestone publishes 2023 Integrated Report
In order to “further deepen dialogue” with its stakeholders and to give them a “comprehensive understanding” of its approaches and initiatives for enhancing corporate value over the medium to long term, Bridgestone Corporation has published the Bridgestone 3.0 Journey 2023 Integrated Report. This document covers activities occurring between 1 January and 31 December 2022 and includes a range of facts and figures.
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Siemens MoU to aid Enviro’s European expansion plan
Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) and Siemens have signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding a collaboration to support the European expansion plan that Enviro announced together with Antin Infrastructure Partners earlier this year. Through the collaboration, Siemens’ “extensive experience in automation and digitalisation” will help boost the efficiency of Enviro’s production.
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Neptune Holding planning Cameroon’s first tyre factory
Neptune Holding Company, a Cameroonian owned enterprise, is leading a bid to build the country’s first tyre factory in Bomono, near the city of Douala. The Cameroon Tires Factory (CTF) project, as it is known, expects to create 2000 and 2500 direct jobs plus as many as 5000 indirect jobs and is being planned in conjunction with Black Donuts.
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