MRF Strikers Plan New Protest Strategies
Striking workers at tyre MRFs Arakonam and Puducherry plants in India are considering surrendering their important ration and voter identify cards in protest against a wage agreement signed with a rival labour union. The worker’s sit-in strike began on May 9 and led to a lockout being declared at the Arakonam site on May 17. Production at both locations has come to a complete halt as a result of the industrial action.
Continue ReadingBush Tyres Opens New Bourne Retail Branch
BA Bush & Son and its wholesale operation B.A.B. Distribution (a member of the wholesale group Grouptyre) has invested in a new retail facility. At a time when many businesses are contracting, the family concern, which this year marks 60 years in business, is celebrating by opening its 14th tyre retail depot in Bourne, Lincolnshire, at the end of April. The expansion is set to continue in July/August when the company is scheduled to open a new, purpose-built tyre retail centre in Spalding. According to company representatives, branch number 15 is “absolutely state of the art” and even has its own bridge. “We always aim to reinvest profits in the company and are taking advantage of economic conditions to implement an aggressive growth strategy designed to increase our market share throughout Lincolnshire, Humberside and East Yorkshire by providing unrivalled levels of customer service,” said director Tom Bush, adding: “For many years we have met the needs of customers in Bourne from our Boston and Sleaford branches, so it was logical to develop a stand alone facility, albeit linked to and fully integrated within our retail operation, which would enable us to provide a more comprehensive and better quality of service to customers in this area.”
Continue ReadingNew Equipment Enhances Marangoni’s Approach to Tyre Testing
Testing new products, verifying their conformity to international approval standards and the development of new solutions, notes Marangoni, are essential elements in the research performed by leading tyre manufacturers. To help it carry out these activities in the most scientific and detailed manner possible, the Marangoni Research & Development Centre in Rovereto, Italy has implemented a new tyre tester it calls Ruota Strada. This new unit is set up for the indoor testing of all types of tyre, including passenger car, industrial, earthmover and high performance products.
Continue ReadingConti to Buy Parts of Schaeffler?
It appears the tables have turned for Continental and Schaeffler. According to Reuters, sources with “knowledge of the matter” report Schaeffler is considering a plan to sell a large piece of its business to Conti in order to address its sizable debt. The ball bearing manufacturer is struggling with debts of close to 11 billion euros and has announced plans to reduce annual labour costs by 250 million euros – a sum equivalent to the laying off of 4,500 employees.
Continue ReadingBarry Stocker New TRA President
TRA has elected Barry Stocker as its new president, at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 20 May. During the AGM, the association also elected a new vice president/treasurer to succeed the existing appointees whose terms of office fall vacant under the association’s rules. Keith Rodgers, managing director of Saltire Recovery Limited was elected to this position. Both the president and vice president/treasurer are set to serve two-year terms of office.
Continue ReadingAutomechanika Shanghai
Automechanika Shanghai, reputedly Asia’s largest automotive trade fair and the organiser’s second largest Automechanika fair, will take place from 9 - 11 December 2009 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre. This fifth edition of the fair is organised by Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co Ltd and the China National Automotive Industry International Corporation (CNAICO). In line with the product profile of the global Automechanika brand, the event will encompass a broad spectrum of products and services for the automotive original equipment and aftermarket. Products on offer cover the sectors Parts & Systems, Accessories & Tuning, Repair & Maintenance, IT & Management to Service Station & Car Wash. In 2008 Automechanika Shanghai had a record number of 1,982 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions showcasing their products in eight halls covering 92,000 square metres. The show attracted more than 30,800 visitors from 104 countries and regions and half of the buyers had full purchasing authority. The number of exhibitors and visitors were up to 59 per cent and 41 per cent respectively.
Continue ReadingChinese Passenger Car Tyre Replacement Sales up 31%
Emerging tyre markets led by China are bucking the downward sales trends encountered in the European and US markets. According to Michelin’s latest market figures, Chinese passenger car replacement tyre sales have grown significantly (up a huge 31 per cent in the circumstances). At the same time Chinese truck tyre replacement market is said to be flat year-on-year, compared with massive falls in the West. South American tyre sales, on the other hand have not faired so well. In Brazil sales of original equipment truck tyres are 30 per cent lower than last year, according to the data, which also points out that this reflects on the heavy cuts that have been made to new truck tyre production. As far as the Brazilian replacement tyre market is concerned, truck tyre sales are said to have declined approximately 20 per cent year-on-year.
Continue ReadingEvent Mobile Tyres Reports 10,000th Happy Customer
Online and mobile tyre fitting business Event Mobile Tyres has reportedly received over 10,000 positive testimonials on its website. The company broke the 10,000 mark prior to going to press with the news, so the running total is understood to be in excess of 10,313. Speaking to Tyres & Accessories, IT and marketing manager Dave Jones explained that despite having had so many customers satisfaction rates remain very high. In real terms this means there have only been six or seven negative comments compared with five-figures of positive responses. Here’s what the 10,000th happy customer, Andrew Sturgeon, said: “Competitive prices and friendly, helpful staff mean I dont waste time searching the web because there seems little point in going elsewhere. Above all they keep you informed so you dont waste time waiting. Now been using them for five years.”
Continue ReadingMonaco GP Grip “Main Challenge” for Bridgestone Tyres
Bridgestone is to exempt the Monaco Grand Prix from its Formula One race tyre allocation policy of varying the compounds used by at least two degrees in an effort to attain more grip on the slippery streets of Monte Carlo. The company announced that it is bringing its soft and super soft Potenza slicks to the event, which begins officially with practice sessions on Thursday. Bridgestone will also debut a new softer compound intermediate tyre, designed to deliver more grip in the wet. It will be used for the remainder of the 2009 season. Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone’s director of motorsport tyre development, appears ready for the difficulties posed by the street race in Monaco: “Finding grip will be the main challenge... This is a very interesting circuit, and one where the track is made of many different types of surface as well as there being public road markings on the track. Also notable is that F1 does not run on Friday, so the track conditions can change quite a lot between Thursday and Saturday. When there is no racing taking place, public vehicles and also people use the track. This makes it difficult for rubber to build up and the surface can become dirty again, which does not help the track surface develop well for racing.”
Continue ReadingGITI Eyeing European OE Business
In order to strengthen its place in the lucrative European replacement market, and with a view to positioning itself for OE contracts, GITI Tire has invested significantly in the expansion of both the company’s main R&D centre in China and the development of a world-class European Technical Centre (ETC). The ETC is based at the renowned MIRA Ltd. facility near Birmingham in the UK where company representatives emphasised that they are already making thorough use of state of the art test facilities a highly experienced test engineers. For the team, which is led by experienced tyre R&D expert Eddie Young, the first step was to undertake an extensive benchmark programme in order to gain a full understanding of the main competitor’s current performance levels and strengths and weaknesses with the clear objective of designing and engineering GITI products to reach and even surpass these premium competitor’s performance levels. And when you consider that the global R&D is both international in its representation and comprised of technicians who have previously worked at the highest levels of leading tyre brands, you can understand why the bar has been set so high.
Continue ReadingBridgestone-Firestone Receives State Funds for Job Retention Project
A grant of US$1 million is to pay for repairs on roads around the company’s Bridgestone Firestone Tech Center in Akron, Ohio, the Akron Beacon Journal reports. The city of Akron will use the state provided Road Development Grant in support of the Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire LLC job retention project. According to a news release from the Ohio Department of Development, this $11.5 million project will support the retention of 1,000 jobs. The grants, administered by the Ohio Department of Development, was approved by Ohio’s State Controlling Board.
Continue ReadingFourth Michelin Sustainable Development Report Published
Michelin has released the fourth edition of the Michelin Performance and Responsibility report, its document outlining the company’s commitment to balanced development. This year the report is organised around the five stages in a tyre’s life: design, raw material purchases, manufacture, sale and use, and end-of-life recovery. The information contained within the document, says Michelin, comes from lifecycle analyses conducted to measure the tyre’s environmental impact, and its objective is to demonstrate that this commitment to responsible development is fully integrated into all Michelin projects and initiatives.
Continue ReadingMichelin Retains Interest in Conti’s Tyre Division
Michelin has once again signalled its interest in rival Continental’s tyre division, reports Reuters Germany. Michelin Group managing partner Michel Rollier is quoted as commenting at the company’s May 15 Annual Shareholders Meeting “we won’t remain on the sidelines during discussions about Continental.” He added that Michelin was not currently engaged in any talks with the German company. Conti has declined to comment on the matter, and Reuters quotes a person familiar with the situation as saying “nobody is working towards a sale of the tyre business.”
Continue ReadingTyres Burn in Paris as Conti Protests Continue
The air around the Place de la Bourse in central Paris, previously home to the French stock market, was heavy with the stench of burning tyres on May 18. Hundreds of Continental employees, together with representatives from the CGT union, congregated at the historic trading site and vented their emotions ahead of planned talks on the closure of Conti’s Clairoix factory.
Continue ReadingBridgestone’s Poland TBR Facility Officially Opened
A traditional “kagami-biraki” sake barrel breaking ceremony attended by more than a hundred guests and a guided factory tour has marked the official opening of Bridgestone’s new 200 million truck and bus radial facility in Stargard, northwest Poland. Senior company management including Bridgestone Corporation CEO Shoshi Arakawa and Bridgestone Europe CEO Toru Tsuda presided over the May 18 events and played host to numerous local, regional and national officials such as Mrs Grazyna Henclewska, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Economy, Mr. Tanabe, Japan’s Ambassador to Poland and Mr. Husejko, Marshal of West Pomerania.
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