Rosneft reaches for Pirelli – but the power stays with Marco Tronchetti Provera
Working on a share price of €12, which translates into a market capitalisation of €5.8 billion, Pirelli boss Marco Tronchetti Provera has arranged the sale of 13 per cent of all Pirelli shares to a majority state-owned Russian energy giant. With this transaction, Rosneft is set to become the largest single Pirelli shareholder. But even though his own shareholding will reduce to less than five per cent when the ink dries on the deal, Tronchetti will retain more or less free rein at Pirelli. While some market observers currently fear that the political situation in Crimea and the Ukraine may harm the deal, and others set their hopes upon the introduction of sanctions against Russia getting in the way, this article focuses on other questions – who Pirelli actually belongs to, who has the say at Pirelli, and how it is possible to control the Pirelli Group despite only having a minority shareholding?
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Dunlop, HiQ continue BTCC sponsorships as 2014 season launches
The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship 2014 has launched at Donington Park, with a 31-car grid, running entirely to NGTC (Next Generation Touring Car) specifications for the first time. The Goodyear Dunlop Group has extended its partnership with the BTCC, continuing its title sponsorship and exclusive tyre supply. The latest multi-year deal continues Dunlop’s association with the series, started at its inception in 1958. Fast fit network HiQ will continue as Team Championship sponsor.
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Rosneft buys 13 per cent of Pirelli
Russian oil major, Rosneft has bought into Pirelli, taking control of 50 per cent of the holding group controlling Pirelli and a 13 per cent share of the tyre maker itself. The purchase makes the Russian group the largest single shareholder in Pirelli. The deal is being characterised as a solidification of the company’s partnership with Rosneft in Russia, which is seen as a access route to the emerging market for the tyremaker. However, Pirelli’s share price had fallen 2.24 per cent in response to the news (correct at time of publication).
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Hankook gains European funds for second Hungarian plant
The European Commission has authorised €57.9 million of regional investment aid for Hankook Tire Hungary Manufacturing and Trading Ltd. This will be used to erect a second greenfield facility alongside Hankook’s plant in Rácalmás, which entered production in 2007. The new consumer tyre facility will produce ultra-high performance tyres, sealant and run-flat tyres, and these products will be sold globally.
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Cooper signs as sole tyre supplier for World RX
This year marks the debut of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, and Cooper Tire Europe has been appointed exclusive tyre supplier. Under the terms of three-year agreement signed with the ‘FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy’, or World RX for short, Cooper will supply tyres to drivers for all 12 rounds of the 2014 season and also over the coming two years. This year’s championship begins at the Pista Automóvel de Montalegre in Portugal on 3 May.
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Older, greyer and growing in number – the SMMT studies the UK car parc
The cars on our roads are getting older, and there are more of them as well. According to the findings of the largest-ever census of UK car ownership carried out by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the country’s car parc rose by around 436,000 units, or 1.4 per cent, to reach a precise total of 31,917,885 cars in 2013. The ‘Motorparc’ study also identified that the average age of cars in the UK has risen by a year over the past decade; average car age is now 7.7 years old, and in 2013 there were 2.06 million cars over 12 years old on the road, 11.3 per cent more than in 2012.
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Dmack, Tänak speed impresses in Mexico
Dmack’s drivers have shown excellent pace among WRC 2 runners at Rally Guanajuato Mexico. Estonian Ott Tänak set fastest times on every stage he completed at round three of the FIA World Rally Championship, but missed out on victory after an early accident. Heading the Drive DMACK World Rally Team, Tänak set the second fastest overall time on the opening run through the Monster Street Stage in front of tens of thousands of spectators on Thursday evening.
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Pirelli expects 2-3 pit stops in Melbourne F1 season opener
Pirelli is beginning its second three-year stint as Formula One’s exclusive tyre supplier in Melbourne, Australia this weekend, having deemed its new P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft compounds the best suited to the street circuit. Slightly harder and more durable than their equivalents last year, Pirelli believes the tyres will offer decreased degradation, having supplied the new tyres to three winter tests in Spain and Bahrain, but conservatively predicts that most cars will stop two-to-three times.
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Bahrain, Barcelona, Silverstone in-season tests agreed by Pirelli, F1 teams
Pirelli, the 11 Formula One teams and the FIA have agreed the schedule of the new dedicated tyre testing days (one per team) that each team will undertake within the existing 2014 in-season test calendar. Caterham, Mercedes and Williams will test in Bahrain; Sauber, Toro Rosso, McLaren and Force India in Barcelona; and Ferrari, Lotus, Red Bull and Marussia at Silverstone.
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Bridgestone specialist urban bus tyre available from April
Bridgestone’s newest passenger transport commercial vehicle tyre, the U-AP 001, will be available in the UK from April. The urban bus and coach specialist product, designated by the first letter in its name as part of Bridgestone’s new nomenclature convention, is an all-position tyre developed for city environments. The manufacturer has also upgraded the load capacity of its European M788 Evo tyre, the “backbone” of its bus and coach tyre offering, in order to cope with the heavier weight of Euro VI vehicles.
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Clever tyres – how tyres, TPMS and RFID are combining
After a century of development, tyres are getting cleverer than ever. Now they are beginning to think for themselves – or at least feed back information automatically. For much of the history of tyres, research and development focused on materials, compounds, construction and processes – all things that have brought tyre technology to where it is today and will take it through tomorrow and beyond. What’s different now is that in the last couple of years we have seen the rise of “clever” tyres, intelligent tyres, even cyber-tyres – call them what you will. The point is that these products are seeking to transform the tyre from being a passive component that runs fine as long it has tread remaining, is cared for correctly and avoids sharp objects. Now it is becoming an active part of modern connected vehicles, providing feedback as to the tyre’s type, state and even environmental conditions. All this is exchanged with the vehicle’s on-board computers in order to optimise performance. In the case of passenger cars this means sharing such data with ABS and ESP, helping the car “feel” the road and conditions.
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Michelin launches Alpin 5 winter tyre
Michelin launched its latest winter tyre, the Alpin 5, at an event held in and around Innsbruck, Austria, a city within sliding distance of some of Europe’s finest winter sports holiday resorts. The tyre has been developed out of research that undertook the task of better understanding the winter tyre’s usage and in a sense the unseasonably warm weather in early February during the launch helped to illustrate Michelin’s “one season, one tyre” point.
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Yokohama launches “A” wet braking rated eco-tyre in Geneva
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has used its presence at the Geneva Motor Show as the launchpad for three new production tyres (one summer and two winter) as well as the showcasing of its Aero Y electric vehicle and associated BluEarth EV concept tyre. At the centre of the launch was a new edition to its fuel-efficient BluEarth tyre brand for passenger cars in Europe and Asia, which will be introduced from this spring. Most BluEarth-A sizes have been awarded the European C grade for rolling resistance and A for wet performance when it comes to labelling.
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Cooper adds new sizes to A-rated Zeon CS Sport UHP tyre range
Cooper Tire Europe has announced an extension to its range of Zeon CS Sport UHP tyres. The five new sizes – four XL and one standard – are all rated A for wet grip on the EU tyre label, meaning that the CS Sport range continues to offer an A-rating across all sizes and speed variants.
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Pirelli announces tyre allocations for first four F1 grands prix
Pirelli has announced its first batch of 2014 season Formula One tyre compound allocations following the conclusion of its preseason testing schedule in Bahrain. The P Zero White medium tyre and the P Zero Yellow soft tyre will make four and three appearances respectively, while the P Zero Orange hard tyre will come into play in Malaysia only. The softest tyre in the range, the P Zero Red, designed to be at its most effective on the more twisty circuits made from public roads, will not be used until later in the season.
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