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Reifen Essen Visitor Numbers Reach New High

Arguably the world’s largest tyre trade exhibition, Reifen Messe Essen 2006 was the biggest show in the history of the exhibition. The 24th show since the exhibition premiered in 1960, this year’s event attracted 17,100 tyre specialists (up 8 per cent) from over 80 countries, according to the organisers. In amongst the 473 suppliers (up 15 per cent) from 42 countries, a handful of UK wholesalers (Bond International, King’s Road Tyres, Kirkby Tyres, Treadsetters, and North West Tyres) led the way for the 22-strong British company contingent.

30th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Kyoto Japan Wants to Improve European Standing

Kyoto Japan Tire Corp. Ltd. was right on time to launch two new products at this year’s Reifen exhibition. The Chinese manufacturer which is headquartered in Japan (and used to have production facilities in Japan as well) was exhibiting in Germany for the second time now and has put a lot of faith into its two new tyres. First there is the “Kyoto Maxima 714” which will be settled in the high performance tyre segment, explains Dagmar Ochmann-Klimkowski who is running Kyoto’s European Office.

28th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres “Disappointed at Misleading Story”

A story in the Business Standard in India, and mentioned on this website yesterday, has provoked a reply from Mr. Sunam Sarkar Chief, Corporate Strategy & Marketing for Apollo Tyres. The headline was “Apollo Tyres to Stop Making Radials in India” and Mr. Sarkar has written to the publication, saying he was “quite disappointed” in the story, which he describes as “misleading in the way it represents the facts” and with a headline that is “completely erroneous.” Mr Sarkar goes on: “There is no plan to stop making radials in India, rather we are increasing capacity. The specific fact that we discussed was the possible sourcing of low volume products from our South African facilities, so that our plant in Baroda can produce more of the high volume sizes. “The quote that ‘Apollo currently manufactures 200 radial tyres a month’ is completely untrue. We are currently manufacturing more than 7,000 radials per day, with plans to increase to 10,000 radials per day very shortly. While it is correct that we are exploring the replacement of South African manufactured cross-ply tyres with Indian ones, the important aspect of that strategy that does not come through in the story is that this production in South Africa will be replaced with increased production of truck radial tyres.”

23rd June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres to Halt Indian Radial Production

Apollo Tyres is planning to import radial tyres for luxury cars like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen from the company’s manufacturing facility in South Africa, rediff.com has reported. The local business news source reports that Indian radial production could halt at some point in the coming months.

22nd June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop International and Apollo Executives Face-to-Face

Following Indian manufacturer, Apollo Tyres’ announcement that it has officially completed its acquisition of Dunlop International (DI) Tyres & Acccessories’ Southern African editorial partner, SA Treads, flew to DI’s headquarters in Durban to interview CE Mike Hankinson, MD Pierre Dreyer and Apollo joint managing director and CEO, Neeraj Kanwar.

20th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Three Decades of Processing Experience

Eldan Recycling A/S Denmark has been recognised as a leading supplier of Tyre Recycling Plant and Equipment for over 30 years. The company first manufactured a Rasper model 800 in 1970 to process car tyres into 20 mm chips to feed into a boiler to heat a commercial Greenhouse in Denmark.

Since that time the company has expanded from a small family run business into a large manufacturing company employing over 100 people, however, it has still managed to retain the personal touch often lacking with larger companies.

16th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Brand Overhaulin’

The biggest news from Cooper’s Reifen Essen stand was the US-based company’s decision to launch run-flat technology into the European market. At the same time Cooper’s large open-plan stand showed that the company is continuing to invest in raising its profile by modernising its brand image. Tyres & Accessories met with Cooper president, chairman and CEO, Tom Dattilo and found out more about how the brand re-launch is going and what the strategy behind the company’s run-flat launch is.

16th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres Considers More EU Acquisitions

Apollo Tyres, is reportedly planning acquisitions in Europe and South East Asia in the current financial year. “We will be interested in acquiring companies that will synergise the group’s expertise in the areas of manufacturing, overseas markets and new technology,” Neeraj Kanwar, joint managing director, Apollo Tyres, told India Business Line.

Acquisition will also be a strategy to increase the proportion of radialisation in the company’s truck and passenger car tyres. In January, the company acquired South Africa-based tyre manufacturer Dunlop Tyres international, a radial tyre manufacturer for roughly £36 million, 50 million euros.

15th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

ECI International – Three Shows, One Company

ECI International are regular exhibitors at Essen and this year the company had no fewer than three of its own shows to promote – Tyrexpo Africa (Johannesburg, September 2006), Brityrex International (Manchester, May 2007) and Tyrexpo Asia (Singapore, September 2007).

So how was the Essen exhibition? ECI International managing director Paul Farrant was delighted with the response, saying: “Reifen 06 was tremendous for us, as it always has been in the past, but this time, with three shows to promote, we were kept busy from start to finish.”

14th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear First Supplier of RunOnFlat Tyres for Ford’s New MPVs

Goodyear reports that it is proud to be the sole supplier of RunOnFlat tyres to Ford in the ramp-up to the launch of the manufacturer’s latest MPVs: the Galaxy and the S-MAX. In the design of its new cars, Ford has paid great attention to detail. The S-MAX matches sports style and driving pleasure with flexible and spacious accommodation. The larger, more luxurious Galaxy is slightly bigger than the model it replaces.

9th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Dartford Dealer in Charity Challenge

A big-hearted Dartford tyre dealer is gearing up for the challenge of a lifetime in aid of charity. Paul Vanner is joining 99 other people from across the UK in a project called Riders for Health, which aims to provide remote African villages with motorbikes, which are vital to enable them to obtain medical supplies from towns often hundreds of miles away.

6th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Nigerian Government Joins IRSG

International News, Product News

The International Rubber Study Group has announced that the Government of Nigeria is now a member of the Group. “Rubber production [in Nigeria] has been established on a significant scale since the 1940s. Rubber area increased in the early stage, but due mainly to the higher oil price, the area has been declining recently. Despite declining, Nigeria may still have the largest area under rubber in Africa at an estimated 145,000 hectares and hence a high potential for the future. NR consumption is relatively small and stable at about 16,000 tonnes a year, while SR consumption is about 5,000 tonnes per year,” the IRSG reported in a membership statement.

5th June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Delphi Strengthens UK Commercial Team

Delphi has announced the appointment of Brian Lavery as commercial director for Delphi Product & Service Solutions in the UK. Based at Delphi’s UK headquarters in Warwick, Lavery will be responsible for ensuring the company’s sales and market share targets are met. He will report to Gael Escribe, sales and service director, Delphi Product & Service Solutions, Europe.

1st June 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres Ltd Concludes Acquisition of Dunlop South Africa

Apollo Tyres Ltd has formally concluded the process of acquiring Dunlop Tyres International (Pyt) Ltd (Dunlop South Africa) in a £36 million all cash deal. Apollo’s board of directors had approved this acquisition on January 31, 2006, at a board meeting in Mumbai, India. All regulatory approvals in India and South Africa alongside the transfer of shares have already been completed.

25th April 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Russian Market Gains Additional Brands

At first sight it is difficult to tell whether the Tires & Rubber show, held for the ninth time in Moscow recently, is a show for the industry or the trade. Compared with the number of new tyre manufacturers, material suppliers, machinery and equipment providers, the tyre trade seems to have gained some ground at this year’s show compared to 2005. This statement applies to Russian as well as European companies.

For example this year Dutch company Van den Ban Autobanden was exhibiting in Moscow for the very first time. The goal was to introduce the company and sound out the market. “First we want to present ourselves here,” explains commercial manager Cyril Versteeg in an interview with Tyres & Accessories. In fact, there have been business contacts with Russian companies in the past but Van den Ban concentrated mainly on the Eastern markets of the recently enlarged European Union. “These markets are more accessible,” Versteeg adds. At Van den Ban’s headquarter in Hellevoetsluis there are sales personnel that speak all the local languages of these markets, he adds.

21st April 2006/by Tyrepress Editors