New Power Plant To Be Installed At Michelin UK Plant
London-PowerGen CHP Ltd is to construct a new £40million combined heat and power (CHP) plant at Michelins UK manufacturing site in Stoke-on-Trent. The building of the site is viewed by Michelin as a vote of confidence in the plant, which is at present shredding 473 jobs from its 2700 workforce. It is anticipated that the CHP plant will be operational by the end of 2001 and will meet Michelins energy requirement for at least 15 years, under a long term energy supply agreement.
Continue ReadingMichelin Strengthens Commitment to Truck Tyre Retreading
In the hot cure field Michelin is the European market leader with its product Remix. Recamic, Michelin’s cold cure process six years in the making, is still eyed with curiosity.In Europe Michelin has been a strong competitor for many years and has a current market share in truck tyre retreading of 23 p.c., which it intends to raise to 30 p.c. by the year 2005.
Continue ReadingReifen-Köhrich becomes Bridgestone Partner
Reifen Köhrich, the dealer which has ten outlets in Berlin, has chosen to become Bridgestones partner in the First Stop programme. The contract runs for ten years and was signed 14th March.
Continue ReadingGood News At Last For UK Car Industry
After the recent run of bad news in the UK car industry, there was good news when Vauxhall announced it was to invest £189 m in its British manufacturing operation, creating an estimated 500 jobs.
Continue ReadingQuality Awards For Three Goodyear Facilities
Three Goodyear plants have become the first sites in the world to be certified under the new global ISO Technical Specification 16949. The plants are Fulda (Germany), Amiens (France) and the Luxembourg Technical Centre. TS 16949 is expected to be recognised as a standard by all car manufacturers worldwide.
Continue ReadingMore Orders For Tyre Pressure Control Systems
Beru AG (Ludwigsburg/Germany) has announced growing demand for its tyre pressure control system. As well as the BMW 3, 5 and 7 series, Mercedes S- and AMG E-class and SLK and Audi A8, the tyre safety device is now also available as an option for Mercedes CL Coupe and Audi allroad Quattro, and from autumn for the BMW X5.
Continue ReadingService Makes The Difference: BRV Seminar At The “Reifen 2000” Exhibition
The slogan was Service Makes The Difference. Consultants MMS GmbH, together with the German dealer association BRV (which claims to be the centre of competence), organised this interesting seminar. Regrettably, representatives from only about 30 independent tyre dealers attended, with the majority of the 150 delegates coming from the tyre industry and their equities. Hubert Hannezo, Michelins Worldwide Marketing Manager for passenger car and light truck tyres, made a very informative speech and explained to the audience what is going on, for example, in the USA and what might become popular here very soon, and why. A totally new form of service is developing through the internet, and specialists from Continental enlarged on this in detail. Larry C. Morgan, a big tyre dealer from the USA, explained his growth philosophy. He is confident that his group will sell around ten million tyres a year from 2005 on. One of his statements was Bigger is better, only if big is better and If it is to be, it is up to me. Finally, keynote speaker Sir Tom Farmer used the opportunity to explain again what Kwik-Fit is, how it has grown, and for what it stands. One criticism of the seminar might be that there was no opportunity to ask questions, nor to initiate any discussion.
Continue ReadingLead Balance Weights To Be Banned?
A European committee has agreed on the final text of the End Of Life Vehicle Directive (ELV). One paragraph bans the use of lead in wheel balance weights, including coated weights, on new vehicles after 1st July 2003. It is unclear whether any ban would apply to the aftermarket. The ELV text has to be submitted to the European Parliament and then to the Council for final vote and adoption.
Continue ReadingSignificant Decreases For General Tire USA
A spokesman for Continental, in answer to a question from NEUE REIFENZEITUNG, agreed that the figures from General Tire for the first half of this year are significantly less than figures for the same period last year. Continental will officially release the half year figures on August 9th.
Continue ReadingDTM: Opel Changes To ATS
During a racing series, changes from one tyre or wheel supplier to another one are very rare. In the very popular German Touring Cars Championship (DTM – Deutsche Tourenwagen-Masters) Dunlop is the exclusive tyre supplier. Now Opel-Phoenix has decided to change from BBS wheels to conventional cast alloy wheels from ATS, so that the Bad Durkheim-based wheel manufacturer is now the biggest supplier of racing wheels in this series. AMG-Mercedes has also used ATS wheels since the beginning of the series.
Continue ReadingTougher Tyre Safety Rules First Proposed Two Decades Ago
The current Firestone recall has led to many in the USA calling for tougher standards in tyre testing. It has been revealed that, following the Firestone recall in 1978, new regulations were drawn up, incorporating more stringent safety criteria. However, the suggested changes were scrapped when Ronald Reagan became President as it was considered that their implementation would adversely affect the car manufacturing industry.
Continue ReadingETRA Conference Discusses Scrap Tyres
The problem of scrap tyres (or, as ETRA prefers to call them, post-consumer tyres) is one which affects every country where tyres are sold. ETRA, the European Tyre Recycling Association, is the only European organisation devoted exclusively to tyre and rubber recycling and in July, the association held a conference in the UK to discuss the scale of the problem, assess progress and look at possible solutions. ETRA regards post-consumer tyres as a readily available and inexpensive resource rather than merely a problem and the association is keen to get this viewpoint across to the industry, governments and the public. Around 2.5 million scrap tyres arise every year in the EU, of which 61% are re-used or recycled in some form. 39% go to landfill, which will be banned shortly. The conference programme was a full one, with a variety of speakers, including representatives from enforcement and licensing agencies, trade associations and those involved in developing new processes and uses for scrap tyres. Among the solutions discussed were rubberised asphalt, rubberised sports surfaces, the emotive subject of using tyres as artificial reefs and a method of using microwaves to break down tyres into their component parts. The effective and environmental disposal of scrap tyres is a problem for all parts of the industry and one which will become even more acute when landfilling of tyres is banned in a few years.
Continue ReadingRenault Recalls Kangoo Model
French car manufacturer Renault has recalled 25,000 of its Kangoo cars, equipped with Kléber tyres, due to quality problems with the tyres. It is expected that Kléber will release further details shortly.
Continue ReadingPrice Hikes Planned By Goodyear/Cooper
Goodyear and Cooper both plan price rises for car and light truck tyres in the United States. Price increases of around 5% are rumoured, mirroring Michelins proposed increases for the fourth quarter.
Continue Reading“Intelligent Tyre System” From Goodyear
Goodyear has unveiled an intelligent tyre system at a mining exhibition in the USA. The six tyres on a 240-ton truck are fitted with a transponder which measures temperature and pressure and transmits the information every three minutes. The data can be viewed in the cab or at a remote location and, should a tyre become hot, operators can adjust routes accordingly. Goodyear expects to have 250 transponders in service this year and full commercialisation early next.
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