Standing Out From the Crowd
Fate SAICI is something of an anomaly in South America. While the tyre markets in every other country in South America are led by the regional wings of multinational corporations, Fate is Argentina’s largest tyre producer ahead of Bridgestone Firestone Argentina and Pirelli Neumaticos. Tyres & Accessories asked Fate’s Walter Hack what it is that sets the company apart and learnt of some developments within the company’s product portfolio.
Continue ReadingAnother Record Year for B-Quik
2005 was another record year for B-Quik, the Thailand based tyre and car services retailer. The company serviced over 200,000 customers through its total of 42 centres, four of which were new stores, opened during 2005. Despite the slightly declining aftermarket for passenger car tyres in Thailand (-1.2 per cent), B-Quik posted a 16 per cent increase in tyre unit sales. Total revenue increased by 19 per cent to a record amount of 826 million baht (£11.97 million or 17.5 million euros).
Continue ReadingApollo Acquires Dunlop International – Update
Further details of Apollo Tyres’ acquisition of Dunlop International (also known as Dunlop South Africa) have emerged. Firstly Dunlop Nigeria (estimated turnover of $65 million, £40 million) is not included in the sale. Apollo representatives gave no reason for this. Furthermore, the Indian company confirmed it would keep the troubled Dunlop Zimbabwe business. “Dunlop is the only tyre manufacturer in Zimbabwe and it is a profitable operation,” Apollo spokesperson Kankana Das told Tyres & Accessories. However in light of inflation rates as high as 800 per cent any profitability must be difficult to maintain. “Any operation can be profitable as long it is able to pass on price increases to cover the cost push. The Zimbabwe operations have been able to do this,” Das added.
Continue ReadingJax and Quick Fit Merge
(Brisbane/Australian Tyre Dealer) Two of the best-known names in Australian tyre retailing and associated services have joined forces to become a major power in the business. JAX Tyres was established in 1949 and Quick Fit Tyre Service in 1995, both proudly Australian owned. Combined, they have a current annual turnover of around $100 million.
Continue ReadingB-Quik – Tyre retail service Thai style
Here’s a question for you – which tyre retailer has 42 outlets in the capital and in November opened the 43rd on a Tesco hypermarket, making this the 10th centre on a Tesco forecourt? The answer is B-Quik, of Thailand and the capital city is, of course, Bangkok. For many people in Europe, the first they heard of the name was during the period when the Ford Motor Company was going through its “showroom to scrapyard” phase and it bought Kwik-Fit in Europe and B-Quik in Thailand.
Continue ReadingKazakstan President Visits InterKomShina
The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has visited InterKomShina JSC in Shymkent, South Kazakhstan. This company is engaged in the production of tyres for light vehicles and road freighters, agricultural machines and special equipment. InterKomShina claims to be the only tyre manufacturer in central asia.
Continue ReadingMichelin Rally Tyre Stolen
Michelin representatives have appealed for information regarding the whereabouts of a Michelin Z BTO, which they say was stolen from service facilities during the recent Rally Japan. The incident reportedly took place at the Obihiro service park during the night of 1 October. As you might expect the manufacturer was less the impressed. “The Michelin Group considers acts of this sort to be extremely serious and unreservedly condemns such acts of industrial and technological espionage,” an official statement said implying that the tyre was stolen by a competing manufacturer.
Continue ReadingChinese Retreading Market Presents World of Opportunity
While much has been made about the enormous potential of the emerging Chinese tyre market, the opportunities go further than this alone. For every tyre that is produced and used in the People’s Republic there is a potential money-making opportunity for the retreading and collection aspects of the tyre business. It is not overstating the situation to say there is huge potential for retreading in China. Currently around 265 million tyres are produced in China each year, across all segments. At the same time the domestic market’s 3 million vehicles currently demand 130 million tyres annually, according to a Hong Kong Trade Development Council report.
Continue ReadingIranian Tyre Industry Looks to Global Players
Iran’s vast oil-rich, semi-arid landmass stretches out across 1,648,000 square kilometres between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf in the south and the Caspian Sea in the north. Wedged between Iraq and Pakistan Iran is the 18th most populated country in the world with 67,503,205 inhabitants at the last count. Iran’s economy is marked by a great reliance on the oil sector, including petrochemical and natural gas.
Continue ReadingThe End is Near – Time for a New Beginning?
The problems Continental faces in the US are more or less ‘homemade’. The problem is there doesn’t appear to be any solution available unless you call a total tactical retreat from the biggest market in the world a solution. In the event that this happens, it is more than likely that the company would call such a decision to cease selling tyres in the US a “strategic withdrawl.” In 1987 the Continental group did not have the financial resources (and was later unwilling) to spend the amount of money necessary to build up the company’s Continental and General brands. Now the current management has to pay for all the shortfalls left behind by its forbears. Meanwhile, in the midst of all this the US-arm of the group’s tyre division is again going to the dogs with a loss of more than 100 million euros. Nobody believes that a turnaround will take place this year, even though CEO Manfred Wennemer and his colleague Martien de Louw have suggested time and again that it would.
Continue ReadingTyre Fill Industrial Espionage in South Africa
OTR tyre supplier the Roesler Group is considering legal action after allegations of industrial espionage were made against competitor, the US-based Carpenter Co, in South Africa. Tyres & Accessories has seen security tapes, which the Roelser group alleges show Carpenter Co executives, bribing their way into a Benoni, South Africa, tyre plant. Copies of the original footage are believed to depict executives touring the Quality Tyres facility and examining prototype technology the company was testing on behalf of the German-based Roesler Group. According to the recordings, two men spent 20 minutes on the premises taking photographs and touring the Benoni, plant before leaving.
Continue ReadingCooper’s newly-enlarged tyre and vehicle test centre features enhanced 4×4 capabilities
Across the Texas prairie, in a place where the staff occasionally encounter rattle snakes, Cooper’s 1000 acre Tire and Vehicle Test Center can be found. Originally constructed in 1999, the site has recently been upgraded through the addition of 4x4 and off-road testing facilities. Tyres & Accessories travelled to San Antonio to experience Cooper’s newly enlarged test centre first hand. The most recent developments at Cooper’s Tire and Vehicle Test Center (TVTC) prove that the $13 million it originally spent on the facility was just the beginning. Now the company has 4x4 testing capabilities and it is likely that there will be further additions in due course. For now the centre’s primary work is product testing and competitor benchmarking.
Continue ReadingMichelin Suffers Tyre Theft
Michelin recently suffered the theft of one of its tyres during a British Superbike Championship event. A police investigation showed that the theft of one of its most technologically advanced tyres appeared to have been professionally carried out. In an effort to safeguard its industrial secrets, Michelin is reconsidering its involvement in competitive race series’ outside the MotoGP World Championship.
Continue ReadingWTA Distributes Hanksugi Japan
World Trade Association (WTA) is an international tyre wholesaler, based in Coral Springs, Florida. The company deals in all brands of passenger car, high performance, light truck and truck tyres and has more than 30 years experience dealing in the global marketplace, shipping tyres all over the world. WTA is also the worldwide distributor for the Hanksugi Japan range of truck tyres, which are available in both bias-ply and radial construction. They are produced in Shanghai, with the manufacturing process controlled through the Sinochem International Company Limited.
Continue ReadingFirestone East Africa Becomes Sameer
The company formerly know as Firestone East Africa was given a new logo and rename Sameer Africa at a ceremony in Nairobi. The new company will operate as an independent tyre maker, according to reports by Nairobi’s The Nation newspaper.
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