Yokohama’s Chelsea shirt deal worth up to £200 million
Yesterday evening, Chelsea Football Club signed what is said to be the second most valuable shirt sponsorship deal ever in English football when it entered into an agreement with Yokohama Rubber. According to The Telegraph, the deal is worth almost £40 million a year, a figure that puts it second only behind Manchester United’s sponsorship agreement with Chevrolet. The tyre maker has signed up with Chelsea FC for a five-year period that gets under way in July 2015, and in addition to the Yokohama logo’s presence on the shirts worn by Chelsea FC teams at all levels, Yokohama Rubber will gain representation through stadium branding and various advertising and promotional materials.
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4×4 or SUV tyre sector?
During the course of the last decade, the 4x4 vehicle sector has rapidly evolved out of its utilitarian roots and – thanks to the advent of the Sports Utility Vehicle or SUV – become a distinct category of often luxury road-going cars. The speed of this evolution has increased thanks to the arrival of the Crossover Utility Vehicle or CUV. In-turn these changes necessarily impact the make-up and even the definition of the 4x4 tyre market. All this has been further impacted by the European legislation putting pressure on reducing noise levels produced by out-and-out off-road tyres in particular. The result is a market that is now much more SUV than off-road or even mixed-use driven.
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Goodyear charged, fined $16 million over African bribes
On 24 February, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when its subsidiaries paid bribes in order to secure tyre sales in Kenya and Angola. Goodyear has agreed to pay more than US$16 million to settle the SEC’s charges.
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Agreement on Genan’s future now in place
Danish pension fund PKA, accountancy firm Deloitte and a group of four bank lenders have signed an agreement to secure the future of tyre recycling company Genan. This agreement aims to safeguard jobs and ensure Genan’s continued existence. At the same time, a new chairman of the Genan Board of Directors has been instated.
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Dunlop launches SP 344* 17.5” Truck Steer regional commercial vehicle tyre
Dunlop has introduced the new SP 344*, renewing its SP 344 regional haul steer tyre range in 17.5” rim sizes. The latest generation of the series is designed for demanding delivery and regional haul service requirements. Dunlop says the new iteration features increased robustness combined with good mileage, even wear, excellent handling and wet braking performance.
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UK amongst the largest 4×4 tyre markets in Europe
The UK is the second largest 4x4 tyre market in Europe, according to the latest data provided by well-known market researchers and tyre market analysts GfK. During recent discussions with GfK automotive account director Kevin Glynn, we learnt that the Italian 4x4 tyre segment is top of the pile and still growing, the UK’s share of this business is second-place but flat, and Germany takes the bronze medal in this respect, but is growing at nearly ten times the rate of the Italian 4x4 tyre market.
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‘When function meets shape’ – Michelin brings prototype LifeBib tyre to SIMA
One of the products Michelin is showing at SIMA 2015 is its concept LifeBib. The tyre maker has brought a prototype VF 710/70 R42 LifeBib tyre to the Paris agribusiness fair and is promoting it as a tyre that can be used throughout the crop cycle, from sowing to harvest.
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Premium tyre makers top ADAC 2015 summer tyre test – eco tyres compare poorly with non-eco counterparts
German motoring association ADAC and consumer organisation Stiftung Warentest have jointly tested 35 size 185/60 R14 H and size 205/55 R16 V tyres for their latest summer tyre test. The second-mentioned size is the country’s most-sold tyre size for mid-class cars, and the ADAC notes that four pairs of these 205/55 R16 V tyres were evaluated as part of the test. Each pair was an eco/comfort product from the same manufacturer, and placing them back to back gave an additional insight into their respective strengths and weaknesses.
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Deruibao Tire enters ‘restructuring’ proceedings
Chinese tyre-maker Shandong Deruibao Tire Co., Ltd. has entered “restructuring” proceedings, according to Chinese news sources. China News reported that on 7 February Deruibao Tire applied to its local authority, the Guangrao Economic Development Zone Management Committee Council, asking for the government to restructure the business – making a sale of the tyre manufacturing operation a distinct possibility.
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Wandsworth Council green lights London Formula E circuit
The London finale of the all-electric FIA Formula E Championship has received planning approval from Wandsworth Council. The race will be held on 27 and 28 June within the grounds of Battersea Park, a location which should, in the middle of summer, present an appropriately effulgent capital for the end of the series’ first season. An additional race will also be added to the London ePrix, increasing the inaugural calendar by one additional race to 11. Series founding partner Michelin will provide control tyres for both rounds, continuing in its role as Formula E official tyre supplier.
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Tyre suppliers face varied winter conditions on Rally Sweden
Round two of the 2015 Rally World Championship provided testing conditions for the four tyre suppliers – Michelin, Dmack, Pirelli and Hankook – allowing tyre characteristics to take centre stage. Ice, fresh and melting snow, mud and frozen dirt, meant that studs were employed for winter traction - 384 in each Michelin X-Ice North 3, for example. However, this meant that carrying extra tyres made for faster running, Jacques Morelli, manager of Michelin’s World Rally Championship programme, explained.
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Lincolnshire dealer convicted for supplying unsafe part worn tyres
Lincolnshire part worn tyre retailer Luke McKenzie faces up to 12 months in prison along with a £20,000 fine after being found guilty of supplying unsafe part worn tyres to the public. The jury at Lincoln Crown Court unanimously found defendant Luke McKenzie, trading as Moss Tyres in Grantham, guilty on 16 accounts of being in possession to supply dangerous products, namely unsafe part worn tyres, to consumers after one hour’s deliberation. McKenzie also pleaded guilty on two other accounts – one account of supplying a spare tyre of the incorrect size during a Trading Standards test purchase operation; and one account of providing false information stating that that tyres fitted by the business had been balanced when they had not.
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Reifen organiser extends Rubber Tech Europe, announces Future Tire Conference
Having made its debut in 2014, Messe Essen and the Chinese United Rubber Corporation (CURC) have extended the contract for Rubber Tech Europe up to and including 2020. Rubber Tech China, the Asian predecessor to Rubber Tech Europe, has been held annually alongside Reifen China since 2007, with the former taking three halls at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre to the latter’s one. The new agreement will give Rubber Tech Europe, which started with a space in hall six in Essen’s Reifen 2014, the chance to develop into a more substantial component of the biannual event, with the backing from Messe Essen for the next three Reifen shows. The show within a show is one part of Messe Essen’s strategy to centralise international partnerships within its tyre show operations ahead of the BRV-backed The Tire Cologne show, to be held at Koelnmesse in 2018. The company has also developed links with global aftermarket series, Automechanika.
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Kumho relaunches UK truck and bus tyre business
Having previously been a relatively influential part of the UK truck and bus tyre business, Kumho has spent the last year or so rejuvenating its distribution, products and personnel in this area with a view to relaunching this part of its portfolio in line with the growth of the wider company. That’s why Tyres & Accessories visited the company’s large Lutterworth, Leicestershire distribution centre in February in order to learn more.
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MWSD welcomes DfT report, questions overall findings
Motor Wheel Service Distribution (MWSD) has welcomed the Department for Transports report into wheel safety and the governments classification of CV wheels as safety critical. However the company remains sceptical of the report’s findings and industry awareness of the issue. MWSD has long campaigned for legislation requiring operators to carry out more stringent checks on commercial vehicle wheels to be introduced.
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