Continental has appointed ex-Bridgestone Europe communications vice-president Des Collins head of its new Liaison Office for Public Affairs in Brussels, Belgium. This new office in the European Union’s political capital opened on 1 August, and Collins takes responsibility for representing the legislative and regulatory interests of both Continental’s Rubber and Automotive Groups.
On 30 July, Infineon Technologies reported its receipt of a 2011 Technical Development Award from the automotive system supplier Denso Corporation. Denso recognised Infineon for its development of a specific tyre pressure sensor chip that enables Denso to realise a more cost effective system and which supports built-in autolocation. Infineon’s TPMS sensors support direct systems, where the tyre pressure is measured inside the tyre and the pressure value is transmitted via RF to the receiving unit of the car. In this regard, autolocation means that the system automatically correlates the four received pressure signals with the appropriate four tyre positions.
On the back of its second quarter results, which nearly matched those attained in the first quarter, Continental sees itself “on track for another record year.” Commenting on the German tyre and automotive supplier’s performance to 30 June, Executive Board chairman Dr. Elmar Degenhart stated “based on the successful first half of the year, we are confident that we will comfortably achieve the goals we have set for the year. Nonetheless, we must continue to keep a close eye on the uncertainties on the global sales markets, the difficult economic situation in some European Union member states and the slowdown in global economic growth.
Scottish braking firm Alba Diagnostics was established in 1991, designing and manufacturing professional garage equipment. Developing from a two-person operation, Alba became the manufacturer of what it says is the world's number one brake fluid tester. The company has recently been talking up the benefits of offering customers free brake fluid checks using the Alba Diagnostics brake fluid tester. This is a boiling point tester; the only approved way to test brake fluid.
A report in the consumer press claiming that a rise in BMW thefts can be attributed to aftermarket technicians – courtesy of a European Union regulation – has been branded as “outrageous and wholly inaccurate” by HiQ. The company’s fast fit manager, Stuart Carr, has joined the Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation in refuting claims that a recent rise in BMW thefts is linked to the independent automotive aftermarket.
To accommodate the company’s growth in Asia, Continental has opened a new research and development centre in Singapore. The facility, which covers a floorspace of some 10,170 square metres, houses around 650 employees from the company’s Tire and ContiTech divisions and the Automotive Group’s interior division. Continental invested S$36 million (£18.4 million) in setting up the new seven-storey centre.
Independent wheel and tyre data provider DriveRight is the latest firm to sign up as a TyreSafe member. Although membership serves as official confirmation of DriveRight’s support, the company has been involved with TyreSafe for some time and supplies the data that goes into the safety association’s tyre pressure app. The app provides users with the correct tyre pressure for their car simply by entering their registration number and is, by the way, is available at the TyreSafe website or via the iTunes store.
After completing a three-year course, 24 apprentices recently entered permanent employment at Halfords Autocentres. Each apprentice has gained NVQ Level 3 in light vehicle technology and a full-time job at Halfords Autocentres after successfully completing the course. This is good news for them, but also points to the fast rate of growth in the network.
It’s sometimes said that good employees are worth their weight in gold, and at Continental this may well be literally the case. The German tyre maker and automotive component supplier encourages those working at its 126 global locations to submit ideas on how efficiency and cost effectiveness can be boosted, and last year some 310,000 of these employee-driven suggestions were implemented. These ideas, says Continental, saved the company almost 120 million euros.
Brembo has won the Best Brand award from Sport Auto, a German magazine dedicated to sports cars, for the sixth time. The Sport Auto Award 2012 recognised the best accessories in 12 categories including brakes, wheels, exhaust systems and sports seats.
Hankook has confirmed its return as associate sponsor for the 2013 What Car? Car of the Year Awards and continued sponsorship of the ‘Ultra Low Carbon’ award, which was won by the Kia Rio in 2012 – a car that boasts Hankook’s Kinergy Eco in size 185/65 R15 88H as an original equipment fitment.
To demonstrate its various solutions for electric vehicles, Continental has converted a bog-standard Renault Megane to a prototype electric vehicle. Around 40 components the company produces for electric vehicles have been integrated into the Megane, including the motor, battery, power electronics, displays and controls, all the peripheral devices for propulsion and charging and – most importantly for us – Conti.eContact tyres. Most of components used are already on the market or are ready to go into production.
Indian manufacturer Metro Tyres aims to significantly increase its share of India’s motorcycle tyre market and is considering entering the passenger car tyre segment after 2015. Managing director Rummy Chhabra disclosed this information to news agency the Press Trust of India while outlining the company’s investment plan for the next few years. PTI has not given any specific information on Metro’s intended activities within the passenger car tyre business, such as the extent, if at all, technology partner Continental will be involved.
India’s tyre industry may be in for a lacklustre few months, reports The Economic Times. According to the financial daily, Indian tyre industry organisation the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association expects orders from original equipment customers to be lower until about October. Association director general Rajiv Budhraja said the ATMA is “concerned about the falling orders from different manufacturers.” In May 2012, car sales grew a modest 2.78 per cent and truck and bus sales dropped 11 per cent. “The weak consumer sentiment in the market has further impacted prospects with some significant drop in demand from the replacement market," Budhraja added.
In line with its plan to continue the strategic growth of its business Manbat, the UK's largest battery distributor, has set its sights on Europe as its makes its debut appearance at Automechanika, Frankfurt this September, promoting its three key battery brands of Numax, Lucas and VARTA to the European aftermarket.
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