Bridgestone updates mild on/off segment tyre range
Bridgestone EMEA has announced the launch of its latest tyres for fleets operating across both on-road and off-road environments, the Bridgestone M-Steer 002 and Bridgestone M-Drive 002. Both tyres will be available across Europe from January and address the core demands of trucks within the mild on-/off-road segment.
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G.M.P. Group aiming for international expansion through Reedijk acquisition
In a strategic move aimed at enhancing its presence in European markets and driving growth on a global scale, Italian alloy wheel manufacturer G.M.P. Group has acquired Netherlands-based tyre distributor Reedijk Wheels and Tyres Group. For Reedijk, this development represents “the next step in the development of a historically profitable collaboration between the companies” that began back in 2007. G.M.P. Group intends to use the acquisition as a vehicle for relaunching its Antera wheel brand.
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Kenda Europe establishes Powersports team for two-wheeler market growth
Kenda Europe is expanding its European activities in the powered two-wheeler segment with the formation of a dedicated Powersports team. Leading this initiative is Shaun Jones, who currently serves as Segment Director for Trailer & Caravan. Jones will transition into his new role in January 2025 and will collaborate closely with Kenda’s global Powersports teams in Taiwan and the United States, as well as the European Specialty unit, to drive growth and innovation in this market.
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Basketball – Kumho Tire USA begins partnership with Atlanta Hawks
A new multi-year partnership with basketball team Atlanta Hawks will see Kumho Tire U.S.A. gain an in-arena and broadcast presence with its “local” team. The partnership begins this season and additionally covers social activities and community engagement events, including supporting charitable causes as well as opportunities to recognise and honour local citizens as honorary “captains” of the NBA team for an evening.
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Goodyear appoints Sautereau Communications Manager Europe South
Judith Sautereau is Goodyear’s new Communication Manager Europe South. In this role, she takes responsibility for leading Goodyear’s external and internal communications activities throughout France, Italy, Iberia, and Greece, to support sales and marketing initiatives for all lines of businesses and manage Goodyear reputation. Sautereau will be based in Paris.
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Cimcorp enters UK market
Finnish automation specialist Cimcorp is expanding its footprint in the UK. Announcing this development, Jarkko Hakkarainen, Head of Operations for Cimcorp’s European region, explains that while the main focus is to “ensure the success of our new projects,” the company is also studying future opportunities in the tyre industry, where Cimcorp aims to enhance its competitiveness through ongoing conversations with key players. Hakkarainen recently relocated to the UK to support Cimcorp’s expansion.
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Stalking horse – ATD enters asset purchase agreement with lender group
American Tire Distributors, Inc. (ATD) announced on 27 November that it has made a preliminary agreement to sell its assets to a buyer backed by some of its major lenders. Specifically, the company has entered into a ‘stalking horse’ asset purchase agreement (APA). The lenders supporting the buyer entity include investment groups and funds managed by companies like Guggenheim Partners, KKR, Monarch Alternative Capital, Sculptor Capital, and Silver Point Capital. In a statement announcing the transaction, ATD collectively refers to these lenders as the ‘Ad Hoc Lender Group’.
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Guizhou Tire commences 3rd phase of Vietnam factory project
On 25 November, Guizhou Tire held a ceremony to mark the start of work on the third construction phase of its Advance Tyre (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. plant. Local government officials attended the ceremony together with counterparts from China and company management. When complete, the expansion will add 6 million semi-steel radial tyres to the plant’s annual production capacity.
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Auf Wiedersehen, non-PET
Continental is increasing the proportion of recycled materials in its tyres by converting more of its manufacturing facilities to use polyester fabric made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. This increases the recycled content of many tyre lines by an average of three per cent. After presenting this ContiRe.Tex technology for the first time at the end of 2021, the company began using it on a small scale at its tyre plants in Lousado, Portugal, and Otrokovice, Czech Republic the following year. It recently extended this to plants in Korbach, Germany, and Sarreguemines, France, which both now use recycled PET bottles in series production.
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New all-terrain tyre – Petlas Peaklander A/T
With the new Petlas Peaklander A/T, Petlas Tire Corporation has launched an all-terrain tyre that it designed to “deliver balanced performance on and off the road” as well as “exceptional durability, comfort, and safety for drivers who demand versatility in every journey.” Peaklander A/T is available in three sizes, LT265/70 R16, LT265/70 R17, and LT265/60 R18.
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Goodyear partners with Krone Trailer for TPMS integration
Thanks to a new collaboration between Goodyear and Krone Trailer, fleet managers are now able to seamlessly integrate their Krone trailer fleets with the plug-and-play Goodyear TPMS Connect system without the need for additional hardware installation. With this integration, European fleet customers will be able to access all the benefits of Goodyear TPMS without the need for new hardware installations, ensuring they are equipped with Goodyear’s latest tyre monitoring technology from the start.
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Nexen Tire names John Bosco Kim CEO
Nexen Tire has announced the promotion of five executives, including that of John Bosco (Hyeon Suk) Kim as Chief Executive Officer. He has taken on this position as of 1 December 2024 and serves within the team led by Travis Kang, who will continue in his role as Global CEO and Vice Chairman. Announcing these appointments, the company says it has “selected next-generation leaders who have achieved demonstrated success in key business areas such as sales, production, and research and development.”
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Yokohama ATG demonstrates agri tyre technology in Merseyside field demo day
Yokohama-ATG took its agricultural tyre technology on the road in the UK at the end of October, on Merseyside farmer, blogger and Alliance influencer, Olly Harrison’s fields. Hosting farmers from across the UK as well as Alliance distributor Kirkby Tyres, the day gave the manufacturer’s European technical team the opportunity to demonstrate live the technological benefits of the Alliance branded agricultural tyre range.
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Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport tyres OE on new Kawasaki Ninja
Bridgestone Corporation will supply Battlax Hypersport S23 tyres as original equipment for the new Ninja 1100SX made by Kawasaki Motors, Ltd.
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Hankook launches new AI-enhanced Ventus evo ultra-high performance tyre
The fourth generation in the Hankook Ventus evo range of ultra-high performance tyres harnesses an Artificial Intelligence-enabled mixing process to “overcome traditional trade-offs”. Announcing the new product, simply known as the Hankook Ventus evo but carrying the new product number K137, Hankook said the tyre “combines outstanding wet grip with impressively low rolling resistance and high mileage.” Longevity, Hankook says, has been boosted by a whopping 32 per cent. The manufacturer also called the new Ventus evo’s development “a perfect example of AI-assisted development,” increasing its flexibility to all summer road conditions with a six per cent boost in dry braking in addition to better performance in the wet. By the end of 2025, Hankook says the new Ventus evo range – including the Ventus evo SUV – will be available in 94 sizes for a particularly wide range of vehicles.
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