Tyres In Motorsport
For companies such as Michelin, motorsport plays a very important role in the development of the tyres eventually sold to the public – even if they are very different from those used on the track. Involvement in motorsport has two obvious benefits; publicity and proving technological superiority. There are other benefits though; it offers an extreme training ground for skilled engineers, developing team skills and experience at the limits of tyre technology, and knowledge which cannot be gained elsewhere. Products developed for the race track will never find their way directly on to road-going vehicles. However, many elements of motorsport tyres have found their way into commercial tyre products – compounds, Kevlar and Aramid fibres – whilst rally events supply information about tread design, puncture resistance, rubber hardness and thermal resistance. Motorsport also offers a test bed for simulation procedures. Development is tried out on the virtual test bed and trial tested in the most extreme conditions imaginable. From a tyre manufacturers point of view motorsport is about getting a set of tyres to complete the race and cross the line in first place – the rest of the car is only a means to that end. The tyre must be designed to last for the duration of the race. It therefore can and will have a completely different set of design criteria from a road tyre, which has to undergo 25,000 miles and more of driver abuse, function in many weather and road conditions, and give warning when approaching their limits. The race tyre is designed to carry out a single race at maximum power for the duration of its working life. Read more about this topic in the December issues of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG or TYRES & ACCESSORIES.
Continue ReadingShare Movements In The Tyre Industry
In the last few months Michelin, and to a lesser extent, Goodyear, have seen a growth in shareholders, although this has not helped to boost their share prices. The clear winner in terms of price gain was Pirelli. The shares of Continental, Bridgestone and Cooper were not in demand – surprisingly in Coopers case, as the company made a profit like in the year before.
Continue ReadingSpirit of Goodyear
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company will call the newest Blimp Spirit of Goodyear in order to honour its 100,000 employees world-wide. The replacement of the former Blimp became necessary because the Spirit of Akron crashed at the end of October.
Continue Reading‘Show Me The Logo’
Michelin has embarked on a major new marketing programme that is designed to further enhance their position as the leading tyre brand in the UK. The campaign involves a series of television commercials using the catchphrase Show me the logo which will centre around customers demanding the Michelin brand when purchasing tyres.The campaign will be supported through dealership promotion.
Continue ReadingBMW US Factory Expands
The BMW factory at Spartanburg (South Carolina), in which in addition to the Roadster ever more X5 off-road vehicles are produced, will soon face production capacity problems. A higher vehicle output could also benefit American wheel suppliers such as Superior Industries or Alcoa/Reynolds.
Continue ReadingSpeedline As An Aftermarket Brand
Speedline is a well-known producer of light alloy wheels for original equipment. However, the Italians want to improve their position in the aftermarket and thus a sales company has been formed for Germany in Ravensburg: SL Corse.
Continue ReadingMichelin Results 1999
Consolidated net sales of the Michelin group climbed to EUR 13.763 million in 1999. Successful areas were North America (+12%), Asia-Pacific, with the exception of Japan, (nearly +9%) and, despite economic problems, South America (+6%). Europe (+1%) remained stable.
Continue ReadingISO 14000 Certification For SUOFTEC
The joint-venture aluminium wheel plant SUOFTEC of Superior Industries (Van Nuys/USA) and Otto Fuchs Metallwerke (Meinerzhagen/Germany) in Tatabanya (Hungary) has been awarded the ISO 14000 certification for Environmental Management Standard.
Continue ReadingContinental Changes Agricultural Tyre Organisation
Werner Flebbe has been made responsible for Continentals entire agricultural tyre business. Marketing and sales worldwide will be managed by Thorsten Bublitz and OE business worldwide by Fritz Reupert. Reuperts successor for aftermarket business is Rainer Lüpkes.
Continue ReadingSuccessful 1999 Year for ContiTech
The ContiTech division of Hanover-based Continental AG experienced the most successful business year of its history in 1999, according to the company.The year 1999 marks a big step forward – in results, globalisation and concentration on core businesses, was the way the year was summed up at a press conference by Manfred Wennemer, board member of Continental AG with responsibility for the ContiTech division and chairman of ContiTech Holding GmbH. In 1999 ContiTech increased its turnover to 1.72 billion Euro (previous year: 1.70 billion Euro), a plus of 0.7 p.c. This would have been about 2.5 p.c. but for changes in the contributing units,some of which were sold. Turnover per employee amounted to 112,000 Euro, approximately four per cent higher than the 107,000 Euro of 1998. In non-automotive sections the general economic situation led to some decline, but business with Europe’s car makers was approximately four per cent above the previous year’s level. The 1999 ContiTech turnover was made up about 64 p.c. in the automotive sector and 36 p.c. outside it. Operating profit (EBIT) also improved. The strong growth can be attributed, among other things, to a significant reduction in the extraordinary items and reserves for restructuring, which had depressed the 1998 result. On the contrary, the 1999 year saw one-off profits, especially from sales of individual segments. Wennemer emphasised that these positive effects on the results were caused by ContiTech’s restructuring measures. Read more in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG 5/2000.
Continue ReadingPrototype Wheel By Bridgestone And Topy
Tyre producer Bridgestone and wheel producer Topy Industries (both Japan) have announced the development of a prototype wheel for automobiles that contains a special rubber between wheel rim and disc to reduce noise and increase comfort.
Continue ReadingTruck Tyre Retreading By Michelin
Michelin has long been established as a leader in the European truck tyre retreading market with its famous Remix process, but now the French company has turned its attentions to the US retreading market, where it is causing quite a stir. The size of the market is enormous; according to the Tire Retread Information Bureau, in 1999 there were 18.1 million large truck retreads sold, compared with 15.7 million new truck tyres, and Michelin has announced its intention to double its market share, from 10.2% to 24.6% by the year 2002. The company has done this not through using the Remix process, but by cold cure retreading, forming Michelin Retread Technologies Inc. (MRTI) and signing up licensees. By March, Michelin had 37 such franchisees signed up and expects this figure to increase to fifty by the year end. As a comparison, Goodyear has some 167 truck tyre retreading partners in North America. Michelin’s cold cure retreading process is called Recamic and it uses rubber produced by Michelin. Like Remix, Recamic is promoted as a premium product. For those retreading partners who may be looking for something a little cheaper, Michelin produces Newlife, a less expensive alternative. The article in May’s TYRES & ACCESSORIES examines Michelin’s commitment to retreading, both in Europe and outside, and looks at the retread market itself.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Joins RubberNetwork.com
Bridgestone Corporation, the worlds largest rubber company, wants to join the electronic marketplace RubberNetwork.com as the seventh member of the group.
Continue ReadingOfftake-Agreement Between Tofan And Cooper-Avon
Tofan Grup (Romania) is producing car tyres for Cooper-Avon at its Danubiana plant (Bucharest).
Continue ReadingHonda Cuts UK Components
Honda is to reduce the numbers of components sourced in the UK. The ultimate aim is to have a 50/50 split between UK and mainland European-produced components (the current ratio is 75/25). Suppliers have also been asked to be more competitive. Currency fluctuations and the weak Euro were blamed for the move.
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