Continental Opens New Headquarters
Continental Tire North America celebrated the grand opening of its new North American headquarters in South Carolina. CTNA held a special ceremony yesterday, attended by community leaders, customers and employees, to open the $11 million, 75,000-square-foot facility in Lancaster County, South Carolina. The company had been based in Charlotte, North Carolina, adjacent to its now-closed passenger tire plant there. CEO Matthias Schoenberg was joined by Fred Thomas, Lancaster County council member, to cut the ceremonial ribbon. “This move to South Carolina is just the next step in our ongoing effort to contribute to the North and South American markets, said Schoenberg. We are grateful to South Carolina for helping us develop this beautiful new headquarters. The Lancaster County Economic Development Corporation and the State of South Carolina were instrumental in the decision to move our headquarters. We appreciate their efforts on our behalf, and we look forward to a long and successful future in South Carolina. (Tire Review/Akron)
Continue ReadingBridgestone Rated Favourably in German Summer Tyre Tests
The Germans take their tyre testing seriously, and Bridgestone reports that its tyres have come out on top in the 2009 summer-tyre tests conducted by two of the country’s motoring publications. Two of Europe’s largest motoring publications, AutoBild and ADAC Motorwelt, have awarded the Turanza ER300 the top rating “very recommendable”, and a similar favourable result was also doled out by Auto Motor und Sport. Other Bridgestone products scoring the highest “very recommendable” rating include the Potenza RE050A (Gute Fahrt) and the Firestone TZ300α (ADAC Motorwelt).
Continue ReadingProtyre Urges Caravanners to Be Tyre Aware
Much has been said about the British making the most of their newly enfeebled pound by taking their holidays at home, and this means….gulp….that many of the approximately two million caravan owners nationwide may consider hitting the road this Easter. Many of these owners will set off without having carried out basic safety checks to ensure a trouble free break, says Protyre, the UK’s leading independent tyre dealer network.
Continue ReadingHofmann Monty Universal 2 Offers Tyre Changing Versatility
Hofmann, a brand within Snap-on Equipment, has introduced the new monty universal 2 ‘all-round’ roller type tyre changer. The new product enables lever-less tyre changing for all wheel variants, including run-flat and ultra high profile rims of up to 30” diameter and 17” wide. The company states that the aim of the monty universal 2 is to build on the popularity of the monty 3300 racing, a tough act to follow considering the 3300 is, according to Snap-On, Europe’s best-selling professional tyre changer. Chris Behan, general manager at Snap-on Equipment, comments: “With more and more cars on the road using run-flat and ultra high profile, high performance tyres, workshops need to keep ahead of the game with the right equipment to safely handle these rims without risking costly damage. The new monty universal 2 sets a new standard in addressing these challenges with built-in features that helps to ensure operator health and safety and easy tyre changing for all wheel types.”
Continue ReadingTruck Driver Dies In Roadside Tyre Explosion
A truck driver died when a tyre on his vehicle that he was checking by the side of the A14 in Suffolk exploded. Paramedics arrived on the scene but were unable to save the driver, who has yet to be named. The busy road, which is the main route from the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich to the Midlands, was closed to allow an air ambulance to land. A spokesman for the AA said: The main reason for a tyre exploding is either massive over inflation, and I mean when it is extremely over inflated, not just a bit. Or an under inflation, because then the tyres can get too hot. But it is very rare.
Continue ReadingMichelin Romania Plant To Resume Production
The Michelin Romania factory at Zalau, in Silvania, will resume production after an 18-day stoppage. The reason for the stoppage was given as an adjustment in tyre orders, due to the state of the market. The factorys 1,300 employees participated in training programmes during the shut-down. A spokesperson for the company said that the April work programme had not been finalised, but there are press reports that production could be halted for a week, most likely round the Easter holidays. Michelin Romanias marketing manager, Alina Ghica, is quoted as saying that Michelins sales for last year were up on 2007s figures, but she cannot make estimates for 2009, although sales for the first two months are believed to have increased, but at a lower rate of growth. Estimates are that the Romanian replacement tyre market increased by a minimum of eight per cent last year, rising to 2.2 million units.
Continue ReadingFire At Tyregenics Recycling Plant
The Tyregenics tyre recycling plant, near Port Talbot in Wales, has been hit by a fire, in which around 100 one-tonne piles of rubber pellets were ablaze. More than 60 firefighters and 19 appliances tackled the blaze, which was finally brought under control at around 1.00am this morning. No surrounding buildings were damaged, although local residents were advised to keep doors and windows closed because of the thick smoke. The plant recycles scrap tyres by turning them into rubber pellets and the cause of the fire is not yet known, although local police and fire incident officers are currently examining the site.
Continue ReadingToyo OE for New Mazda 3
Toyo Tire Europe reports that Mazda has selected it as tyre supplier for the new Mazda 3. Available across Europe from late spring, two different tyres will be fitted depending upon car specification. Models with 16-inch wheels will be fitted with the Toyo J48C in size 205/55 R16 91V, whilst those with 17-inch wheels will come with Proxes R32 in size 205/50 R17 89W TL.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop Performs Well in ADAC Tests
Goodyear Dunlop has reported that its portfolio has performed well in the ADAC 2009 summer tyre test, following the publishing of the results by the German Automobile Association. The report praises the Goodyear, Dunlop and Fulda brands from the Goodyear Dunlop portfolio. Representing Europe’s biggest market, Germany’s ADAC is particularly influential in helping customers decide which brand to purchase. Mark Davison, sales and marketing director at Goodyear Dunlop, said, “The huge efforts made in the field of development have once again been richly rewarded with these results. We will be circulating these results to our customers in the months to come, by way of our planned communication strategies.” The company was keen to highlight in particular the performance of the new Goodyear OptiGrip tyre, the Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response and the Fulda Carat Progresso.
Continue ReadingNew Web Site Set by Toyo
Toyo Tire USA has launched an all-new Web site – www.toyotires.com. Calling the move the “biggest facelift to date for the company’s online presence,” the revamped website is more user friendly and more complete than the previous version, Toyo stated. The site features new graphics, more detailed information on Toyo tire products, a tyre finder feature to allow consumers to select the right tyre for their needs (either OE sizing or plus sizing), inflation pressure data for thousands of vehicles, and a comprehensive dealer locator service. To encourage sharing of information on the website, a brand new “share this” feature is located on every page. Using it, a person can easily post a link back to a page on sites such as Facebook, Digg, Redditt, MySpace and Twitter. They can also share the link in an email, Toyo said. (Tire Review/Akron)
Continue ReadingBridgestone Launches New Hyper Sports Street Bike Tyre
One week before the final pre-season MotoGP test in Jerez, LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet and Pramac Racing’s Niccolo Canepa flew to the southern Spanish circuit of Almeria to support the media launch of Bridgestone’s Battlax BT-003. The tyre is designed to provide outstanding street and track day performance for all sports motorcycles from 250cc upwards, giving riders of all abilities the chance to experience the grip performance of Bridgestone’s MotoGP multi-layer compound technology. A range of 2009-specification street bikes from MotoGP manufacturers Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha were fitted with the BT-003RS tyres and used during the five days, alongside machines from BMW, Triumph and KTM.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Opens Giant Florida Distribution Centre
Bridgestone Americas opened the doors to its new 1 million square foot distribution center in Jacksonville, Florida. Calling it “state-of-the-art tyre,” the company said the new facility has a capacity of more than one million tyres and will supply tyres and automotive parts to customers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. It will also supply the entire U.S. with tyres produced in Latin America, and the eastern half of the U.S. with tyres from Japan and other Asian countries. Bridgestone Americas operates seven distribution centres across North America. (Tire Review/Akron)
Continue ReadingSri Lankan Retreader Becomes Newest TRIB Member
Sri Lanka based Roshan Tyre Retreaders has become the latest company to join the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB), bringing the organisation’s membership to nearly 500 members in 50 countries. “TRIB continues to grow internationally as more and more companies in the new tyre and retread industries throughout the world realise that TRIB is the only international retread industry association representing new tyre manufacturers, retreaders and tyre repair companies,” said TRIB managing director Harvey Brodsky.
Continue ReadingDana’s CTIS Celebrating Quarter Century
This year automotive component supplier Dana Corporation celebrates 25 years of supplying its Central Tire Inflation Systems (CTIS) to military and commercial vehicle customers. Initially developed for use by the US armed forces in 1984, Dana reports that it now supplies its CITS to OEMs in the North America and global markets. “Dana CTIS is selected by more military vehicle OEMs than all of the competitive systems combined,” said James Beverly, Dana’s chief engineer of advanced chassis control systems. “The product is used extensively by the US Army and Marine Corps, as well as NATO forces, and in a variety of commercial vehicle applications such as oil field exploration and construction.”
Continue ReadingMichelin’s Ardmore Plant Returning to Full Work Schedule Mid-April
Workers at Michelin North America’s Ardmore, Oklahoma passenger and light truck tyre facility will return to a full work schedule in mid-April, says company spokeswoman Lynn Mann. The factory has been operating at reduced capacity since last November, when approximately 240 employees were placed on eight-week furloughs. In February, Michelin announced plans to reduce production at the plant. The reduced work period ends on April 13, said Mann. Following this date, employees will return to normal work schedules.
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