Australia and New Zealand
In a first for Renault Sport in Australia, Bridgestone tyres will be fitted to the gloss black 18” Interlagos wheels of the company’s new Clio RS Angel & Demon. The RE050A UHP tyre has an asymmetrical tread that provides dynamic sporty handling and a quiet, comfortable ride according to the company.
The name Bob Jane has been one of the most recognisable in the Australian tyre trade for several decades. Now the 82 year old former racing driver and founder of the Bob Jane T-Marts fast fit chain faces restrictions on using the name he was born with.
Federal Tyres Australia has announced that it is the co-naming right sponsor of Miss Summernats in 2012, held at the annual Street Machine Summernats Car Festival. The Miss Summernats competition is one of Australia’s richest motorsports beauty contests, with $2,000 prizes up for grabs and an exclusive photo shoot for Zoo. “Federal Tyres Australia is thrilled to support Summernats 25 as naming sponsor for Miss Summernats,” said Mick Hart, sales and marketing coordinator at Federal Tyres Australia.
US-based company Koppers Holdings Inc. has announced the end of manufacturing at its Continental Carbon Australia plant in Kurnell, just south of Sydney. The carbon black facility is scheduled to end operations during the week of 5 December 2011 and preparations for closing the plant will be made over the coming four months. Koppers says the decision, which will affect approximately 65 employees, was taken as a result of an analysis of its manufacturing facilities; this highlighted a number of negative factors working against the Continental Carbon Australia plant, including the strong Australian dollar and raw material availability and cost.
TyreSafe Australia has been awarded Australasian distribution rights for the PressurePro TPMS system. The fleet tyre maintenance specialist says it will target mining, road transport and bus sector customers with the US-developed system. “We are proud to offer product and service for the PressurePro system,” stated TyreSafe Australia’s PressurePro executive David Horne. “They pioneered commercial and aftermarket TPMS in the US and have been global market leaders for the past 20 years.
A New Zealand coroner’s call for a nationwide ban upon winter tyres has failed to gain widespread support. Palmerston North coroner Tim Scott made this recommendation following an inquest into a fatal car accident involving a vehicle that was imported second hand from Japan with cold weather tyres fitted.
Tradefaire International, who distributes the BKT range in Australia, wishes to thank all those who contributed to its fundraising for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The company exhibited the Indian manufactured range at the recent Agquip Agricultural Field Days, which were held in the New South Wales town of Gunnedah between August 16 and 19. During the show Tradefaire handed out footballs and rugby balls for a gold coin donated, with 100 per cent of the money received going to the Flying Doctors.
With the start of the Rugby World Cup 2011 less than a month away, the host country’s governing body would be well advised to avoid any negative publicity. However the New Zealand Rugby Union finds itself in the news again for its continuation of a trademark dispute. And, as you may have already suspected, tyres lie at the heart of the matter.
Kumho Tyre Australia has appointed a new motorsport tyre distributor in the state of New South Wales. North Parramatta, Sydney-based Peak Race Tyres is now responsible for handling sales of motorsport tyres to competitors in track-based events around the state. Despite this arrangement, F-SPORT will continue to service major motor sport events around the country.
Major football teams such as Manchester United and Germany’s HSV have gladly taken on tyre makers as sponsorship partners, but unauthorised affiliation is another matter entirely. A tyre shop in Auckland, New Zealand discovered this recently when it fell foul of the New Zealand Rugby Union.
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Kumho has announced that it will use an “interactive display” including its “Invisible Car” at this year's Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne with a green influence after making its debut at last year's International Motor Show in Sydney. The exhibit will both allow visitors “to see the tyres as a starting point in building the car from the ground up” and convey “the message that a lower carbon footprint is something we should all be striving for,” according to the manufacturer. Kumho will emphasise its Ecowing low rolling resistance tyre, the Kumho Aroma tyre which is the world’s first scented tyre and the coloured Smoke Tyre at the event.
Bridgestone Australia has announced a price rise of all its products in the country by an average of five per cent from 1 August. Explaining the price hike, group chairman and managing director Nobuyuki Mieno said: “The current costs of raw materials such as natural rubber, oil derived materials and others are maintaining their recent historic high levels.”
Infrastructure and tyre usage in the Middle East is very similar to that in India, says Apollo Tyres, and this is the accepted reason why its products have enjoyed a high level of acceptance throughout the region. In total, the Middle East accounts for some 30 per cent of the Indian tyre maker’s export revenues, and in the last years it has built up a 23-partner distribution network there spanning 14 countries. Now, Apollo Tyres has extended its Middle East presence with the opening of its first office outside the company’s operations in India, the Netherlands and South Africa. This new Dubai-based office will serve as a hub for distributing Apollo’s India-manufactured tyres.
Australian firm Bears Tyres says its Tyre Tracker is now even more accurate than ever. The reason for this is, the company explains, is that users can now draw upon data gained over years in the field. Tyre Tracker collected data for a well-known Australian fleet operator over a seven-year period and Bears Tyres says this has provided the software system with enough data to see it used by any similar-sized fleet operator.
Kumho Tyre Australia reports critics had a surprise in store for them when the results of the annual Wheels Magazine Tyre Test were announced. The publication, which has provided Australian motorists with authoritative information for 58 years, gave the Kumho KU39 a ‘podium placing’ by ranking it a close third behind two much more expensive European tyres. Furthermore, Kumho notes, the KU39 “finished ahead of well established and respected Japanese brands in the gruelling and uncompromising Wheels test, making it arguably the best value performance tyre on the Australian market.”
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