After more than seven decades in operation, the Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (YRC) plant in Hadera, Israel will stop producing tyres by the end of this year. The tyre maker announced today that it will cease operations at the former Alliance Tire Group (ATG) facility as it is becoming increasingly uncompetitive against plants in the Asia region.
Heavy equipment manufacturer Manitou has homologated the Alliance 585 tyre range as an option for its MLT NewAg telehandlers. The Alliance 585 is now available from the factory on MLT NewAg and NewAg XL ranges in size 460/70R24.
Yokohama Rubber’s off-highway tyre business, Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (YOHT), has unveiled a new corporate identity and corporate logo. The tyre maker says this new identity draws on the company’s century-old legacy while underlining YOHT’s own distinct space in the off-highway segment. As a result, the ATG trademark was phased out around the world as of 1 January 2021.
During the summer Alliance Tire Group began showing off its Alliance Agri Star II and 372 Agriflex+ VF lines. The first of these debuted at the LAMMA show in January, but both tyres came to market during the first corona lockdown. Tyrepress.com saw these products in action on a farm in Germany a couple of months back, but the UK’s second lockdown put paid to plans for a real-world 372 VF launch over here. So instead of togging up in extra-thick jackets and pulling on our wellies, on 1 December we headed over to the virtual farm and caught up with ATG and Kirkby Tyres, who exclusively distributes the Alliance brand in the UK and Ireland.
Today Yokohama announced that it is consolidating its OTR tyre businesses into Yokohama Off-Highway Tires, which could be read as a prelude to the announcement Yokohama’s bid for the Prometeon tyre business. Roughly a year after the story broke, Yokohama’s bid for Prometeon isn’t the best kept secret in the tyre industry. Tyres & Accessories first heard talk of Yokohama’s bid for the ex-Pirelli industrial and commercial vehicle tyre business back in July 2019. The news was reported world-wide after we broke the story in September 2019, followed days later by third-party confirmation from the Chinese side of the deal. At that time, the deal was set to go public by the end of 2019. A few months later at the start of 2020, the timeframe switched to an end-of-first-quarter 2020 deadline. Then the coronavirus pandemic happened. And in the months that have followed things have gone quiet. So, where is Yokohama’s bid for Prometeon up to? The latest news is that deal is still on-track, but that there have been a few changes along the way. Here, Tyres & Accessories brings an update on the status of the acquisition and offers a different view on the deal by looking at it from a South American perspective.
The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. is consolidating its various off-highway businesses into a single entity. The new division – Yokohama Off-Highway Tires – will include Alliance Tire Group (ATG), which Yokohama bought four years ago and Yokohama’s off-the-road (OTR) tyre businesses across the globe. The move can also be interpreted as a prelude to the announcement of the result of Yokohama’s bid for the Prometeon tyre business, talks about which got underway last year.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. is set to build a new plant at Atchutapuram Industrial Park, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India to expand ATG’s (Alliance Tire Group) tyre production capacity. The new plant will have a daily production capacity of 55 tons (rubber weight), with planned capital investment totalling US$165 million. Construction will start in the third quarter of 2020 and the new plant is scheduled to come on line in the first quarter of 2023.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd’s first half 2020 profit might have declined 92.5 per cent compare with the same period of the previous year to 1.3 billion yen (£9.321 million; 10.322 million euros, US$12.220 million), but the company did remain profitable as all tyre manufacturers have faced serious headwinds due to coronavirus. Operating profit fell 86.8 per cent to 2.9 billion yen. And salves fell 20.6 per cent to 247.1 billion yen.
The new Galaxy Mighty Trac ND is a freshly-developed L-4 tyre for skid steer loaders, which is designed to equally excel “on hard surfaces like roads or paved farm yards as well as sticky mud, loose sand, or snow”. The Galaxy Mighty Trac ND is available in sizes 10-16.5NHS and 12-16.5NHS. A 14-17.5NHS variant is currently under development.
From the start of 2020, all Galaxy solid tyres come with a five-warranty. Announcing this extended warranty, Alliance Tire Group (ATG) comments that the Galaxy solid range thus enjoys “one of the longest warranty periods in the industry.”
Alliance Tire Group (ATG) has expanded the Galaxy Yardmaster forklift tyre range with the addition of higher ply rating tyres for five key sizes. The new additions are sizes 21X8-9 (16 PR), 7.00-12, 7.00-15 and 7.50-15 (all 14 PR) and 250-15 (20 PR).
Last year, Alliance Tire Group (ATG) launched the Alliance 585 for telehandler, backhoe and compact loader applications. The tyre maker reports that the initial size 460/70R24 tyre is already a bestseller within its range – and it has now added an extra five Alliance 585 sizes.
STARCO has taken on distribution of the Alliance and Galaxy agricultural, forestry and construction tyre lines in Switzerland under a newly-negotiated agreement with Alliance Tire Group (ATG). As authorised partner for the representation and distribution of Alliance and Galaxy tyres throughout this market, STARCO will provide its warehouse and distribution facilities as well as its expertise and skills in order to make ATG’s products more accessible to Swiss customers.
Alliance tyres – you’ll find them where even mountain goats don’t dare to tread. Together with German distributor Bohnenkamp, ATG has helped its tyres reach new heights by sponsoring an expedition upon the highest active volcano in the world, Ojos del Salado. The expedition team, driving Mercedes-Benz Unimog U5023 trucks fitted with Alliance tyres, reached an altitude of 6,694 metres during their quest to install life-saving solar-powered emergency radio communication systems in high mountain shelters. This feat broke the previous truck and car altitude records.
Agricultural and construction machinery manufacturer Manitou has bestowed a Best Competitive Performer Award 2019 upon Alliance Tire Group. The tyre maker says the award recognises its “excellent cooperation and consistent performance on diverse levels from the development and testing to the procurement and service phase.”
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