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Zenises Group CEO, Harjeev Kandhari has denied rumours emanating from the Spanish market that Chinese tyremaker Doublestar has bid as much as 250 million euros for the company. Doublestar and Zenises entered into a European joint venture in October 2016.
In something of a coup for the French manufacturer, Michelin has regained both the global and UK crowns in Tyres & Accessories’ annual report on social media influence. Meanwhile, India’s largest tyremaker, MRF Tyres, will have surprised many by rising six places into third place on the global table.
Goodyear announced that it is equipping Tesloop, a city-to-city mobility service that exclusively uses Tesla electric vehicles, with wireless sensors in its tyres to improve overall tyre management and maximise uptime for its growing fleet.
Passenger transport operator Abellio has appointed Michelin solutions to supply, fit and manage its tyres on a cost-per-mile Effitires contract for the next five years. The company, which operates an 800-strong single and double-deck bus fleet, has returned to Michelin after moving to a rival manufacturer in 2012. As part of the agreement, Abellio will become involved in new product testing for Michelin to support the development of the company’s next generation of urban tyres.
Apollo Vredestein’s work to shift its Dutch brand’s replacement market focus to become an original equipment supplier has resulted in fitments on three major models. Vredestein, has been selected as a fitment on the Volkswagen Polo, Seat Ibiza and Ford EcoSport.
Hankook’s ultra-high performance flagship tyre, the Ventus S1 evo², will be fitted to the latest Audi RS5 Coupé as original equipment in 19 and 20-inch sizes. The tyre manufacturer has previously supplied the tyre to Audi’s TT RS in 2016. The RS 5 Coupé will use the newly developed V6 biturbo engine, which combines performance with greater efficiency. This suitability for everyday use is, Hankook states, reflected in the tyres, which are designed to provide sporty handling alongside driving comfort, and improved grip alongside durability.
Dunlop has extended its partnership with the BMW M235i Racing Cup, described by product manager Dunlop Motorsport EMEA, Alexander Kühn as “the perfect entry point into the VLN.” The Cup began in 2014 and regularly features more than 20 cars battling in the most heavily occupied and extremely competitive class in the VLN and the 24h race on the Nurburgring. All BMW M235i Racing cars have competed for four consecutive seasons on the toughest race track of the world, racing exclusively on Dunlop racing tyres in the dimension 265/660 R18.
Mercedes, led by Lewis Hamilton, took the top two podium steps at Monza’s Italian grand prix as nearly every driver chose a one-stop supersoft-soft strategy. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo adopted a different strategy, starting on a soft and moving to the supersoft for the second stint to move 12 places up from his starting position of 16th on the grid – the result of penalties. The Australian also set the fastest lap of the race, which was two seconds faster than last year’s equivalent, using the same tyres.
Some of the closest World Endurance Championship racing of the season was witnessed at the 6 Hours of Mexico, as Dunlop supplied the tyres to the winners of all three classes in which the brand was present. In addition all three steps on a GT class podium were claimed by Dunlop drivers for the first time since the WEC was formed in 2012.
Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) has launched what it terms “a major upgrade” to its TyreClick online retail site for independent customers. The company states that the upgrade represents one of the biggest and most significant investments in TyreClick since its launch in 2014, including a number of new design and user functionality features. The tyre wholesaler added that it would “never stop investing in its ambition to make TyreClick the best tyre selling site in the business” following the implementation of the new developments.
The Finnish District Court of Pirkanmaa has sentenced 10 former Nokian Tyres employees who transferred to the Black Donuts Engineering group of companies for “the violation and abuse of Nokian Tyres’ business secrets”. According to Nokian, the District Court convicted all the defendants. Eight defendants were sentenced to conditional imprisonment of 6–18 months and two received fines. The managing director and two other executives from Black Donuts Engineering Oy were sentenced to business prohibitions of 3–5 years in addition to imprisonment.
With a headline like that, you could be forgiven for thinking that this month’s column refers to the ongoing geopolitical sabre rattling taking place between China’s North Korean neighbours and the USA. However, as important as the hint of nuclear escalation is, here we focus on how the overheating Chinese tyre market is as close as it has ever been to boiling over. Two key subjects have raised the temperature in the People’s Republic during the last month or so: The European Commission’s (EC) decision to initiate an anti-dumping investigation against Chinese-produced truck and bus tyres; and the even more imminent effects of local environmental emissions investigations within China itself, which have led to the suspension and even closure of numerous businesses in the country (see below).
On one of the most demanding circuits for tyres Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won Formula One’s Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Sebastian Vettel after what was effectively a sprint race in the final laps. The race was turned on its head by a safety car on lap 30, which gave drivers the opportunity for a ‘free’ pit stop. Hamilton, in the lead, ran the soft tyre for his final stint, while Vettel went for the ultrasoft: theoretically more than one second per lap faster.
Pirelli has added the inaugural Suzuka 10 Hours to its portfolio of international GT races and championships. The race is scheduled for 23-26 August 2018. The race, featuring GT3 cars, will be the first-ever encounter between Japanese Super GT300 and international GT cars, all running on Pirelli P Zero tyres on one of the most exciting and demanding circuits in the world. Pirelli states that its association with the world’s most prestigious car brands, and premier championships such as the Blancpain GT Series, contribute to its global leadership in ultra-high performance tyres.
The latest round of the Pirelli-supplied Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup was won by the WRT Audi crew of Marcel Fassler and Dries Vanthoor, who stamped their authority on the 60-minute main race, having started from pole following success in Saturday’s qualifying race. The main race was extremely closely-fought, with the top six cars covered […]
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