The winners of the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2014 have been announced, and Continental has walked away with awards in two of the five regular categories. In addition to being named Tire Manufacturer of the Year, the German firm was recipient of the Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year award for its ContiLifeCycle facility in Hannover. Other winners included Bridgestone, VMI and Sumitomo Rubber Industries. The awards were presented at a gala dinner held during this week’s Tire Technology Expo in Cologne.
Momo aims to generate international interest in 2014
Momo Tires is planning to generate more international interest in 2014, with the news that it is participating in three different trade fairs this year. The first will be the Tyre & Rubber Indonesia, which will take place from 19 – 22 March 2014 at JIExpo Kemayoran Jakarta.
Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems (BMTS) has founded a wholly owned subsidiary in the People’s Republic of China. The company will be called Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. and the HQ is currently being built on the Mahle premises at the Shanghai location. In a first stage it will mainly produce turbochargers for petrol engines destined for the Chinese market in a new building covering 5,000 square metres.
Schrader TPMS receives Frost & Sullivan’s 2013 price performance award
Schrader International, the leading global manufacturer of sensing and valve solutions, was presented with Frost & Sullivan’s 2013 North American Price Performance Value Leadership Award in Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) in early February. Frost & Sullivan recognized Schrader as the best-in-class leader for the design and manufacturing of valve and sensing technologies for TPMS, in both the original equipment and aftermarket channel
Univergomma and Momo Tires report double-digit growth
Italian tyre wholesaler Univergomma and the company’s Momo Tires exclusive brand reported a 19.8 per cent increase in sales volumes. According to Alexandra Peccia, head of marketing and public relations at Univergomma the impressive growth came despite the tough socio-political climate that is going through Europe and especially through Italy. Sales (in terms of value) were up 14 per cent year-on-year, confirming an initial profit margin exceeding 22 per cent and an EBITDA margin of 5.47 per cent.
Report: Passenger car tyres dominate Iran with 70% market share
According to the recently published report by TechSci Research “Iran Tyre Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2018”, the tyre industry in Iran is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 7 per cent during 2013-18, in revenue terms, as a result of continuous increase in tyre demand from OEMs and replacement market. One of the major reasons for growing OEM demand can be attributed to the fact that more than 50 per cent of the total fleet of automobiles in Iran is over 25 years of age. Furthermore passenger car tyre sales are already dominant in Iran, with a market share estimated at 70 per cent.
Spanish tyre brand Membat will make its debut appearance in South Africa at the Tyrexpo Africa exhibition, which is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg between 4 and 6 March. Membat is a budget consumer tyre brand that was launched in 2012; Membat shares that since that time the brand has quickly established itself in numerous European, American and Asian markets.
US-based retreading advocate the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB) launched its redesigned website at www.retread.org. TRIB says that enhancements to the site will continue to be rolled out in 2014, including additional features for the benefit of TRIB members.
Although Heuver Tyrewholesale experienced a “slow and somewhat difficult start” to 2013, the Netherlands-based wholesaler says it ended the year with a healthy balance sheet. This positive performance was aided by improvements to the company’s website and online shop – Heuver says online turnover again increased compared with recent years. Changes in the Benelux and German markets also benefitted customers by enabling them to place more regular orders for smaller quantities of tyres.
Yokohama Tire Corporation has entered a multi-year contract to sponsor a US-based Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournament. The tournament will become known as the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic and this year will be held in Prattville, Alabama between 18 and 21 September.
Hankook working towards 100% direct distribution in Australia
By the middle of this year, Hankook Tyre Australia will distribute its products directly to retailers throughout the country. The company previously used a number of state-based distributors to supply the Australian market but began consolidating these operations some years ago. Now all regions aside from Western Australia are supplied directly from Hankook, and between now and 31 May 2014 Hankook Tyre Australia will “work closely” with local distributor Koast Tyre in this remaining market towards “a seamless transition” to direct distribution.
Apollo Tyres says yes to Eastern Europe, Asia, and no to China
It appears to be a case of once bitten, twice shy for Apollo Tyres. Following its experience with Cooper Tire & Rubber, and particularly its joint venture subsidiary Cooper Chengshan, the Indian tyre maker seems ready to give China a wide berth for the time being.
Gert Wendroth has been appointed president of Nynas AB, effective 1 March 2014. He will replace Staffan Lennström who is retiring. Gert Wendroth has a thorough background in the oil industry. His latest position was as CEO of H&R AG, a German listed company operating two base oil refineries in Germany and a number of blending and filling plants for specialty products around the world. Before that he has held various management positions in the Royal Dutch / Shell Group with a strong focus on B2B sales and marketing.
Schrader International has appointed Aaron Nelson as its new regional sales manager in Western Canada. Nelson brings nearly a decade of experience working with automotive and diesel performance products. Based in Edmonton, Nelson’s responsibilities include assisting Schrader customers with their TPMS programs and driving sales growth throughout Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Tyre market revenues in Mexico grew at around 19 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2009 and 2012, according to a report published by Research and Markets.
The combination of Mexicos relatively cheap skilled labour, proximity to the United States, membership of NAFTA and 12 free trade agreements with worlds growing economies such as EU, Japan, Canada, and the United States, are said to have made the country “an ideal production centre for automobiles and components”. However the report also suggests that the automobile population in Mexico is underperforming with only 275 cars per 1,000 people as of 2012.
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