General Tire remains official tyre to US Jeepspeed series
General Tire will continue as official tyre of the Jeepspeed Desert Race Series after negotiating a new multi-year sponsorship deal. The Continental brand has served as official tyre to the series since 2008 and supplies its Grabber tyre to participating teams. It says the partnership “has allowed Jeepspeed to offer its competitors affordable racing within the Best in the Desert (BITD) Series, where budget-conscious racers can compete on the same race courses as the pros.” All Jeepspeed competition vehicles are fitted with Grabber tyres, in either 33 or 35-rim diameter. General Tire points out that the very same specification tyres are sold to the public.
Continue ReadingBank invokes 29.5% shareholding in India’s Falcon Tyres
The Singapore branch of Indian bank and financial services company ICICI Bank has taken a major share in Falcon Tyres Ltd after invoking pledged shares held by promoters. ICICI Bank took ownership of just over 22.85 million of the BSE-listed shares on 4 December.
Continue ReadingNew biomass facility aiding Bridgestone’s carbon neutrality goals in Costa Rica
In 2007, the Central American nation of Costa Rica set itself the goal of becoming the world’s first carbon neutral country, a feat it aimed to achieve by 2021. Bridgestone de Costa Rica (BSCR) has supported this ambition and set itself the goal of achieving C-Neutral certification by the Costa Rican government. It has worked towards this via a number of projects, including the installation of LED lights and solar lamps, switching to greener chemical products and implementing a carpooling programme. Last year it introduced nitrogen vulcanisation, replacing less energy-efficient hot water. As a result of these and other efforts, CO2 emissions at BSCR sank by 923 tons year-on-year in 2013, a 4.14 per cent reduction.
Continue ReadingHankook Tire renews German safety sponsorship, presents 2015 ‘ambassador’
At the Essen Motor Show, which concludes this weekend, Hankook Tire has announced it will continue as a main sponsor of the Tune it! Safe!, a German campaign that aims to ensure vehicle tuning enthusiasts keep their modifications safe and legal. The campaign is now in its tenth year.
Continue ReadingFive in a row for Bridgestone in Thailand’s ‘TAQA’ awards
On 1 December, Bridgestone Sales (Thailand) Co., Ltd was recipient of a ‘Thailand Automotive Quality Award’ (TAQA) – Outstanding Satisfaction for Tyre’ award, a distinction given only to companies who have received a TAQA award for five consecutive years. The award was presented by Pramode Vidtayasuk, Thailand’s Vice-Minister for Industry, at a ceremony in Bangkok.
Continue ReadingThe exceptions: what’s not covered by US tyre import tariffs
When is a tariff-able tyre not subject to an import tariff? When there are exceptions. With the latest round of US tyre import tariffs aimed squarely at imports of Chinese-produced tyres, it is useful to know what isn’t covered and why. Following the news that the preliminary ruling is effective 1 December 2014 and retroactive for 90 days prior to this date, further details of what is and what isn’t covered by the rules have emerged. But first a couple of clarifications. There are two categories of import duties that the US government has and is deliberating over. Details of the first – countervailing duties – have already been reported and preliminarily decided upon. All things being equal, the final verdict for these will be issued “no later than 6 April 2015”. Within 45 days after this, the US International Trade Commission will make its own decision about what anti-dumping import tariffs to impose. Therefore total tariffs could be very substantial.
Continue ReadingApollo debuts India’s largest loader tyre
The largest loader tyre produced in India to-date, the Apollo AWL 822, has been launched at the International Mining and Machinery Exhibition (IMME) 2014 show in Kolkata. The AWL 822 is a size 45/65-45 L5 tyre that contains 1,300 kilogrammes of rubber, 700 kilogrammes of carbon black and silica, 200 kilogrammes of nylon fabric and 300 kilogrammes of other rubber chemicals. The tyre is produced at Apollo Tyres’ Limda plant, in India’s Gujarat state.
Continue ReadingApollo Tyres ranked amongst India’s CSR leaders
Apollo Tyres says it is “a matter of great pride” for the company that it has been named the top automotive ancillary company and 24th overall in the ranking of corporate and social responsibility carried out by India’s leading business newspaper. Hailed as a ‘definitive listing’, The Economic Times’ ET Corporate Dossier, in cooperation with Futurescape and IIM Udaipu, has published its Indias Best Companies For CSR 2014.
Continue ReadingNew Bridgestone Brazil president to oversee growth projects
Fabio Fossen has been appointed president of Bridgestone Brazil, succeeding Ariel Depascuali, who is retiring after more than 15 years with the company. Fossen comes to Bridgestone from Coca Cola Femsa, and his main role will be to lead Bridgestone’s expansion and modernisation in Brazil.
Continue Reading‘UK Autodrive’ to lead the way on driverless car integration
Innovate UK has announced that ‘UK Autodrive’, a consortium of local authorities, the UK’s leading technology and automotive businesses and academic institutions, has won the UK Government’s £10 million ‘Introducing Driverless Cars’ competition. In short this means a semi-autonomous Range Rover research vehicle will now be used to test driver reactions on the roads around […]
Continue ReadingNew managing director at Pirelli Deutschland
Pirelli reportedly intends to more closely integrate its German business into the company as a whole, and therefore has formally named Daniele Deambrogio – who was previously based at Pirelli’s head office as country manager for Germany and commercial director for the Central European market – the managing director and chairman of Pirelli Deutschland GmbH. Responding to questions from our German sister publication Neue Reifenzeitung, Pirelli confirmed that Michael Schwöbel, who had been chairman of Pirelli Deutschland GmbH’s Executive Board since 2011, has simultaneously been appointed the business’s spokesperson.
Continue ReadingTyre and wheel data firm DriveRight partners with autoaid
DriveRight, a leading independent supplier of wheel and tyre data is partnering with autoaid, a German supplier of internet-based vehicle diagnosis software. DriveRight will now distribute autoaid’s products in the UK and New Zealand and function as the local point of contact for autoaid’s solutions. DriveRight, headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, and founded in 2001, is […]
Continue ReadingConti appoints Ralph Lauxmann as Head of Systems & Technology
As of 1 January 2015, Ralph Lauxmann will take over as head of Continental’s Systems & Technology in the Chassis & Safety division headquarters in Frankfurt. He will report directly to Frank Jourdan, head of the Chassis & Safety division and member of the executive board of Continental AG and functionally to Christian Senger, Head […]
Continue ReadingMRF to increase tyre production capacity – reports
Tyre major MRF Ltd is reportedly increasing tyre production capacity at its eight manufacturing facilities across the country as part of its capital expenditure plan. “The company, in line with its long term strategy, proposes to increase capacities across all its existing factories,” MRF said in its reply to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). According […]
Continue ReadingItaly’s M.I.G. joins Retread Tire Association
Italian retreading products manufacturer M.I.G. Srl is one of the latest companies to become a member of the Retread Tire Association. The company is one of five named in the RTA’s latest membership update; the others are US-based firms Carbon Activated Corp, Great Lakes Tire LLC and Smith Bros. Tire Service, along with Canada’s Jay Tomlinson Tires. Several other companies have also recently joined, however their identities have not been disclosed.
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