Asia
The cat’s been out of the bag for a couple of weeks, but now it is official – as of next year, Pirelli will serve as official exclusive tyre supplier to the Formula One championship. The Italian manufacturer will supply all F1 teams from 2011 to 2013, and no additional funds are required in order to do so.
Germany is not just Europe’s largest single tyre market – sales of wheel balancing weights there account for a large proportion of the region’s total sales of this product, so a German market presence is naturally a very good thing indeed. Therefore it has understandably concerned UK manufacturer Trax JH Ltd that it has been unable to sell zinc weights into Germany since European directive 2000/53/EC came into effect on July 1, 2005. All this is set to change, however. Trax is tooling up to begin volume production of an innovative new steel wheel weight, and the company’s sights are firmly set on the German market.
Following the naming of key suppliers for its new 400 million euro butyl rubber plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island, Lanxess states that the facility’s project execution phase, in which the infrastructure necessary for the plant’s construction is being set up, is now in “full swing”. The current construction schedule calls for the plant to be ready in time for production to start in the first quarter of 2013.
The cat’s been out of the bag for a couple of weeks, but now it is official – as of next year, Pirelli will serve as official exclusive tyre supplier to the Formula One championship. The Italian manufacturer will supply all F1 teams from 2011 to 2013 and supply six types of tyre: four for dry weather, one for rain and one intermediate tyre.
Having opened late in 2009, Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ joint venture distribution and retreading facility, Dunlop Taikoo (Jinjiang) Aircraft Tyres Company Limited is expanding its sales department in anticipation of coming growth in Chinese aeronautics. The company has appointed Jenny Chen as a technical sales manager, joining the company from the Guangzhou office of P&R International, where for over four years she was business development manager with responsibility for the Chinese aviation marketplace. She is tasked with generating new business as well as providing account management to existing airline and MRO customers throughout China.
In June 2010, Pirelli launched its new Chinese logo at a ceremony in Beijing attended by automotive industry executives, celebrity guests plus Chinese and international media. Pirelli describes the event as a “truly historic moment” that serves “as a testament to Pirelli’s product superiority and continued commitment to the Chinese market.”
Tire Review reports that Goodyear has named Damon Audia, Scott Honnold and Jenny Wang to new leadership positions. Audia, senior vice president of finance and treasurer, was elected senior vice president of finance for the company’s Asia Pacific region, which is headquartered in Shanghai, China. Audia replaces Jenny Wang, who has accepted a new position in the company’s Asia Pacific operations. Honnold has been elected vice president and treasurer, replacing Audia. Honnold was previously assistant treasurer, responsible for Goodyear’s capital market activities.
Damon Audia, Scott Honnold and Jenny Wang have been appointed to new leadership positions in Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's finance department. Audia, senior vice president, finance and treasurer, was elected senior vice president, finance for the company’s Asia Pacific region, which is headquartered in Shanghai, China. Audia replaces Jenny Wang, who has accepted a new position in the company’s Asia Pacific operations. Scott Honnold has been elected vice president and treasurer, replacing Audia. Honnold was previously assistant treasurer, responsible for Goodyear’s capital market activities.
Chinese Industrial and OTR track and tyre maker Sihong Benteng Rubber Products Co, Ltd is reporting that it now has the capacity to produce 5000 off-the-road tyres/year. Situated five hours from Shanghai airport and 2 hours from Nanjing airport by car, the company reports that it is “mainly engaged in manufacturing various specifications [of] engineering tracks, agricultural tracks, OTR and bicycle tyres.”
According to company literature, Sihong Benteng holds a triple A (AAA) credit rating and is amongst the top 10 ratepayers in the Sihong Economic & Technological Development Zone of Jiangsu Province. Here, the company reports it manufactures 40,000 engineering, 15,000 agricultural tracks 5000 OTR tyres, and 3 million bicycle tyres a year in the firms 60,000 square metre production plant. These are subsequently sold under the company’s Threestone brand name.
As Reifen 2010 draws to a close, organising company Messe Essen is hailing the event as a great success after the company announced that provisional results for the 26th Reifen event show a record 600 exhibitors from 42 countries and over 18,000 trade visitors attended the tyre, retread and vulcanisation related expo. With guests from 127 countries, the fair also set a record also with regard to the internationality of the visitors.
60 per cent of Reifen 2010 visitors travelled to Essen from abroad. International visitors came primarily from Europe (75 per cent), followed by Asia, Africa, America and Australia. 88 per cent of the total visitors are said to have been decision-takers. And the statistics say the show was good for business too, with a third of the visitors having already ordered something and nearly half of the visitors having prepared deals which they want to complete after the fair.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems S.p.A. will announced worldwide price increases on its industrial and construction tyres, which from the 1 July will see price hikes of 7- 10 per cent in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa. The increase will be between 5 and 7 per cent in North and South America, according to Trelleborg’s Industrial Tires Business Unit. Trelleborg last increased this segment’s tyre prices 5 – 10 per cent on 1 March 2010, following an announcement on 13 January.
The news that Cheng Shin recently broke into Tyres & Accessories top 10 leading tyre manufacturers has drawn a response from Maxxis International representatives in the UK. According to the Maxxis statement, the company is continually looking to improve tyre performance and has now invested in a new, state-of-the-art private proving ground in China in order to allow it to “expand its already strong research and development capability.”
Goodyear has announced plans to close its Taoyuan factory near Taipei, Taiwan. The passenger car tyre plant will cease operations on July 31, 2010, a decision the tyre maker says it made in line with its global strategy of transferring production to lower-cost countries. Despite the ending of production, Goodyear states its commitment to Taiwan “remains unchanged”.
Wolfrace Wheels has published its new 2010 catalogue, this time in print and two types of virtual edition. The 2010 version of the Wolfrace is said to have already received “a huge amount of positive feedback,” say company representatives.
The brochure features Asia-Tec wheels for Japanese cars, lightweight wheels for your track car or Wolf Design products for SUVs. Some of the new product launches for this year include Wolfrace GB: Roma (a new five spoke 'retro' wheel in five stud fitments in a graphite/polished finish. Sizes 7×16, 8×17, and 8.5×18-inch); Wolfrace Eurosport: Assassin – a split five-spoke design finished in black with polished spoke detail in 6.5×15 and 7×17-inch; and Wolfrace Lightweight: Ultra-Lite – following on from the Pro-Lite, Ultra-Lite the new Lightweight wheel is available in three different colour finishes and in sizes 6.5×15, 7×17 and 7.5×18. The 17-inch version weighs just 8.1kg.
In China, Cooper Tire recently won three awards for its products and marketing campaigns. China's Auto Business Review magazine named Cooper Tire winner of the Creative Marketing Corporate Award for the 2009-2010 China Auto Blue Book, while Auto magazine conferred a 2010 Auto Ads Award upon Cooper Tire for its Cooper Knight campaign. Finally, China Motor Trend magazine named Cooper tyres as the editor's choice in tyre brands.
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