Infinity Aims to ‘Go Deep’ with Fast Growing ‘Premium Budget’ Strategy
When Al-Dobowi Group executives Surrender Singh Kandhari and his son Harjeev Singh Kandhari founded Infinity tyres six years ago, they probably didn't envisage how quickly their ambitious plans would come to fruition. What began with a series of informal meetings with key employees and potential suppliers in 2004 has since grown into an international exclusive/private brand operation present in 60 countries around the world. The kernel of a concept the Kandharis planted back then has developed through key partnerships with Chinese supplying manufacturer Shandong Linglong Co., Ltd. (see following article for more on this company's latest developments including its plans to construct a $200 million proving ground) and key distribution partners in Europe and Africa. With the recent addition of a Canadian distribution arm last year and with fledgling partnerships in both the Russian and Ukrainian markets, the company's global ambitions are clear.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop Names George Rietbergen As New UK MD
Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe has appointed George Rietbergen as managing director UK and Ireland. Rietbergen will move to Birmingham to take over from Mark Brickhill, who has been promoted to vice-president of the company’s Consumer Business Unit EU. The appointment means Rietbergen is Goodyear Dunlop UK and Ireland’s third managing director since 2004.
Continue ReadingYokohama Aero Tyre Equipment Heading to UK Following DATL Acquisition
Testing and manufacturing equipment made available following Yokohama Rubber’s decision to withdraw from the aircraft tyre from the aircraft business has been acquired by Dunlop Aircraft Tyres. The Birmingham based manufacturer has signed an agreement to purchase several pieces of radial and crossply tyre manufacturing equipment including an additional dynamometer. These products should enable Dunlop Aircraft Tyres to expand manufacturing capacity and enable the company to offer new products, such as radial main tyres for the Boeing 777.
Continue ReadingFederal Tires Presents YouTube Portal to Online Advertising
Federal Tires has debuted a new series of videos on YouTube. The Taiwanese manufacturer hopes to utilise what it calls “the social media communication approach” as a premier platform for the distribution of its “high quality footage of events in all forms of motorsports.” This is the beginning of a new marketing strategy for Federal in 2010, in which it seeks to increase its “presence in an increasingly competitive and crowded web space”. The tyre-maker says it will encourage visitors to interact with the brand either through submitting ideas to suggest product improvements, or spreading the word about Federal virally using self-generated content.
Continue ReadingKwik-Fit to Sell Insurance Business for £200 million
Ian Fraser, CEO of tyre retail giant Kwik-Fit is preparing to sell its insurance wing for in excess of £200 million. According to a report published in the Sunday Times on 14 February, Kwik-Fit has hired bankers at Credit Suisse to carry out a review of Kwik-Fit Financial Services. The report points out that a sale of the operation would help Kwik-Fit cut its debts of around £822 million.
Continue ReadingKwik-Fit Establishes Russian Tyre Retail Franchise Partnership
On 10 February Kwik-Fit Group announced that is has entered into a Frachise agreement with the ROLF Group, one of Russia’s leading automotive businesses. According to the company, the Russian centres will be established under a new brand – ‘White Service’ - for which Kwik-Fit has established a dedicated support team. As well as providing on the support “on the ground” in Russia, Kwik-Fit is inviting White Service managers to visit the UK to shadow their UK counterparts and share expertise. Prior to this deal Kwik-Fit gained similar experience with over 200 existing franchise outlets across eight countries.
Continue ReadingRinspeed Offers a New Definition of Commuter Car
Rinspeed, the company that created the Squba, a car that works underwater, has unveiled its latest concept vehicle; the UC? Making its debut at Geneva, the UC? is all-electric, has two seats and a unique train loading system that allows the car to easily fix into a train carriage for longer, inter-city journeys. Its more than that, though - Rinspeed calls it a new mobility concept. The idea of the tiny car is to make emissions-free journeying as easy as possible, regardless of distance. The car itself only has a 65-mile range, which is enough for day-to-day commuting but not much else, so theres an internet connection that allows drivers to book the car onto a train to cover city-to-city distances.
Continue ReadingTranslogik Signs Exclusive Tyre RFID Deal With Qingdao Mesnac
Transense has announced that its sensor sales division, Translogik RFID Limited, has signed an exclusive global distribution agreement (excluding China) with Qingdao Mesnac Co. Ltd. for its range of RFID products. The tag has been developed to be embedded within the tyre during the manufacturing process, where it will last the lifetime of the tyre, or alternatively in a patch which attaches to the tyre wall, as an aftermarket solution.
Continue ReadingAl Saeedi Adds New Gallant Truck Tyre Size
Al Saeedi Automotive TRD Co (LLC), the exclusive distributor of Gallant brand truck tyres in the Middle East and Africa, has added 1200R24 20PR GL 885 to the range of sizes it offers. The new tyre is described as an all-position radial optimised for highway and on/off road applications. According to the distributor, the special features of this tyre include ultra-high tyre bead structure and a lateral block shoulder. “These features help enable lower heating, wear resistance, extended mileage and high speed durability,” company representatives explained. Further new sizes are expected to be added to the range with Al Saeedi reporting that Gallant is “currently in the process of manufacturing a complete range of truck and bus radials.”
Continue ReadingVredestein and Carlsson Announce Cooperation
Details of a cooperative partnership between Vredestein and vehicle manufacturer Carlsson were announced on January 11. Upon announcing the commencement of the collaboration, Vredestein Germany managing director Michael Lutz stated “in Carlsson we now have a strong partner in the field of premium styling. Carlsson is one of the best car tuning manufacturers anywhere in the world. Above all, the Carlsson name stands for elegant and exceptional design, high-torque engines and innovative German quality engineering for Mercedes cars.”
Continue ReadingEgypt to Support Tyre Exports With New Plant
Egypt is planning to establish a new passenger car tyre factory at a cost of 600 million Egyptian pounds. The state news agency MENA reports the plant will be built in El-Amerya, west of Alexandria, and will be ready to start production in two years. According to MENA, the factory’s annual capacity will be one and a half million units.
Continue ReadingChinese Market to be 30% of Cooper Sales
Reports indicate Cooper Tire & Rubber wishes to increase the share of its global sales generated in China from 25 to 30 per cent in the next three years. "That's our minimum target,” said Allen Tsaur, general manager for Cooper Tire's Asia operations during an interview with Reuters. “The Chinese domestic market is explosive and the pie is expanding. We have to grow fast to keep up the pace.”
Continue ReadingZeetex Brand Out in Force at Reifen China
The Zeetex tyre brand, which is produced exclusively for Dutch wholesaler S&H Tyres and Dubai based Zafco, was out in force at November’s Reifen China show. In addition to the company’s large and unmissably coloured orange and black stand, S&H Tyres chose a prime location near Reifen China’s main entrance and opposite the thoroughfare between this and the popular China RubberTech exhibition. With arguably the biggest stand held by a European company at the show, Tyres & Accessories asked one of the company founders Siem Klapwijk the obvious question – why? The reason S&H’s management is happy to invest so much in exhibiting in China is because the company, which already sells significant amounts of tyres in the western European countries, is growing fast and becoming increasingly international. Currently the UK and Germany are seen as key markets, however, while this is likely to continue, the company’s 2010 forecasts would seem to suggest that new markets will be needed in addition to sales growth from existing customers. During the course of 2010, S&H expects to sell 2 million passenger car tyres and between 500,000 and 600,000 truck and bus tyres around the world.
Continue ReadingApollo’s Passenger Tyre ‘Grand Masters’ Meet in Beijing
Some 186 Apollo Tyres dealers assembled in Beijing on the first weekend of December for the tyre maker’s “Grand Master Business Partners” meeting. A total of 170 India based partners and 16 international dealers, all of whom exceeded their projected passenger car tyre sales targets over the last twelve months, attended a three-day meeting with company officials in the Chinese capital. Apollo’s strategy for the coming year was shared with the partners, including specific plans and products relating to the passenger tyre segment. The ‘Grand Masters’ were also invited to give their own specific feedback.
Continue ReadingGajah Tunggal Looking to Fill US Market Void Left by Tariffs
Indonesian tyre maker PT Gajah Tunngal is hoping to take advantage of US tariffs against Chinese made consumer tyres. The Jakarta Globe reports company director Catherine Widjaja as saying “we are looking to see if we can fill the void left after the US hiked import tariffs on Chinese tyres.”
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