ZC Rubber to expand capacity at Thailand plant
ZC Rubber will increase capacity at its Thailand plant, with the expansion online by the end of 2018. The company said the strategic expansion will include increased production of truck and bus, car and OTR tyres. ZC Thailand, the Thai subsidiary of ZC Rubber, opened in 2015 with a production line covering PCR, TBR, OTR and two-wheel tyres.
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Toyo to realise truck and bus tyre fuel efficiency gains through Nano Balance Tech
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co has achieved rapid fuel efficiency savings in its truck and bus tyre line-up through its Nano Balance Technology. The manufacturer has been advancing its indigenous rubber material development technology since 2011; the latest step forward is a new process development technology Toyo says will contribute to significant reduction in fuel consumption from “nano processing.”
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Michelin rolls out CrossClimate to light commercial segment
Michelin has launched a new CrossClimate tyre to take on the demanding conditions in which European van drivers increasingly operate. Having successfully rolled out the “summer tyre with winter capabilities” to the consumer market with two iterations of CrossClimates for cars and an SUV version, Michelin has extended the concept to light commercial operators with the Agilis CrossClimate. To mark its launch, Michelin demonstrated the tyre’s winter characteristics at a special test site in the French Alps. With the so-called Beast from the East providing the most extreme winter driving conditions the UK has seen in more than a decade as Tyres & Accessories goes to print, the appeal of products to handle such conditions while also suiting the mostly moderate climate in a market disinclined to fit winter tyres seems likely to receive at least a short-term boost.
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Cyber security comes to the fore
Bentley has been unveiling what it calls the first hybrid electric super-luxury car at the Geneva Motor Show. Other manufacturers (like Porsche) may disagree with this assertion, but the launch marks something of a landmark for the industry with more and more emphasis being paid to the new generation of electric and hybrid vehicles. Indeed, during the company’s latest financial results, Pirelli’s Marco Tronchettic Provera even spoke about the digitisation of the company’s business as if it is normal – something that was followed by the launch of Pirelli’s Cyber Car in Geneva at the start of March. In short, the Cyber Car system offers an OEM solution to send data from the tyres to the car and from the car to the cloud for the benefit of that particular driver as well as road-users in general.
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Falken increases load for commercial vehicle tyre range
Falken Tyre Europe is expanding its portfolio of truck tyres, adding new sizes to its already proven GI388 for regional transport and construction-site use, introducing new high-load versions for the RI151 bus tyre and the SI011 winter truck tyre. The brand is boosting the load index of its steer axle tyres for regional use, as well as introducing high-load and XL width versions in response to market demand. These high-load tyre models have replaced their normal load index predecessors to minimise confusion and the need for duplicate stocking.
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Apollo unveils Aspire XP summer car tyre
Apollo has launched the Aspire XP in a total line-up of 52 SKUs, replacing Apollos range of Aspire 4G and Apterra HP tyres. The new summer car tyre, which is available now, is being exhibited at the Geneva International Motor Show between 8 and 18 March. The Apollo Aspire XP is manufactured in Europe at the Apollo Vredestein plants in the Netherlands and Hungary.
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4×4 SUV tyre sector value up 18 per cent
In our February Car Tyre feature, Tyres & Accessories published some of the latest UK tyre replacement market trends data produced by GfK. That data suggested that SUV tyre sales data was a key driver of both increased rim size as well as volume and value growth in the market. This month, as part of our SUV tyres feature, we take a closer look at the trends in the 4x4 and SUV sector specifically and find that the trends are repeated and developed within the sector.
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Cooper’s high performance SUV tyres designed to meet fast-growing demand
Cooper Tire sees SUV tyre sector as “unequivocally the fastest-growing in the automotive landscape”, with company representatives pointing out that it therefore represents “a compelling aftersales opportunity for tyre makers”. Motorists in the UK have rushed from their conventional estates and saloons into the ever-growing range of SUVs that have flooded the market over the last 20 years.
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Is Continental about to break into PCLT tyre global big 3?
A glance at the archives of Tyres & Accessories’ global tyre manufacturer rankings reveals that the ‘Big Three’ are quite stable fixtures at the top of the table. However, new analysis from Astutus Research suggests that the perennial fourth-placed Continental Tire could be about to break the stranglehold of Bridgestone, Michelin, and Goodyear in the passenger car and light truck tyre segment (PCLT). According to Astutus’s latest report, the German manufacturer appears to have closed the gap on Goodyear, and is set to jump up a place in the rankings.
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Bridgestone, NRgene collaborate to sequence and assemble guayule genomes
Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) and NRGene, a genomic big data solutions company, are collaborating on research efforts to enhance the company’s US alternative domestic natural rubber breeding programme. They will be working in tandem to sequence and assemble multiple genomes of guayule, a rubber-producing plant indigenous to the hot, dry environments of the Southwestern United States and North Central Mexico, to develop new, high-yielding varieties. The first-ever, two guayule genomes have already been sequenced and completely assembled and a physical and genetic map are being developed which will provide a high level of accuracy and efficiency for breeding improvement.
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Continental shows new stud technology, winter tyres and autonomous driving capabilities at ContiTechnikForum 2018
From studs to autonomous driving technology and including the latest winter tyres available, Continental AG has demonstrated a range of innovations designed to move the company (and motorists) towards its Vision Zero goal. Indeed, “our goal is to achieve zero road traffic accidents”, Conti CEO Elmer Degenhart is on the record as saying, summarising what Continental is aiming to do.
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European award for Launch UK
Launch UK has been awarded the “Best Launch Business 2017” accolade by the brand’s European division. As the only genuine distributor of Launch products in the UK, the award for the Plymouth-based operation is in recognition of the high quality of its customer service and its commitment to supporting customers in all areas of business.
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Midwest to present informative Gates seminar
West Midlands based automotive parts distributor, Midwest Motor Factors, is hosting a free Gates technical seminar at GTG West Midlands, to equip customers with the latest Gates updates and insights.
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