Bridgestone Archives - Page 198 of 275 - Tyrepress

Based in Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.

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Making the Right Impression

All ten of the world’s top ten tyre manufacturers were present in China in some shape or form by 2005, and each of these global giants has its own big plans for this market. Michelin intends to increase its car and light commercial tyre market share to 4 per cent of its worldwide sales by 2010 and to double this share again within another decade, and Bridgestone’s mid-term target in China is to grab a 20 per cent market share in 2008.

So the obvious question for local tyre manufacturers in China is what place do they have in this huge and growing market? The OE market is dominated by the international brands that have a long history of cooperation with global vehicle manufacturers, making it a market that local tyremakers have difficulty penetrating. This leaves the aftermarket as the main avenue for pursuing sales, and this sector poses its own set of problems for Chinese manufacturers.

30th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

MotoGP to Remain a Multi Tyre Series

The spectre of a single tyre rule that has lingered over MotoGP since late September has evaporated. On October 24 series organiser Dorna Sports withdrew the single tyre championship proposal from the Grand Prix Commission.

Originally suggested by Dorna’s Carmelo Ezpeleta at the Japanese Grand Prix on September 22, the proposal was not well received by many riders, including high profile current champion Casey Stoner, who believed such a plan would change the entire nature of the series. The idea also apparently failed to capture the enthusiasm of both Bridgestone and Michelin.

24th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

MotoGP Tyre Decision Delayed

The ongoing discussion about MotoGP’s 2008 tyre regulations look set to continue, following the delay in a final decision on a control tyre for next season. A decision is now expected to be formulated by Tuesday 24 October. Following intense discussions, an official announcement by the Grand Prix Commission, which comprises representatives of FIM, MSMA, IRTA and Dorna, is expected by Friday 26 October.

“Since Motegi there have been many developments and positive developments, but they are not finished yet. The feeling is good because we think some small changes need to be made and they will be confirmed by Wednesday,” said Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, perhaps hinting that a large charge such as to a single supplier may be ruled out.

22nd October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone to Attend 40th Tokyo Motor Show

The Tokyo Motor Show, acknowledged as one of the motoring world’s “big five” shows (along with Detroit, Geneva, Frankfurt and Paris) gets underway on October 24. The 2007 exhibition, the 40th Tokyo Show, runs until November 11 and has attracted numerous top name exhibitors, including Japan’s – and the world’s – largest producer of tyres.

Bridgestone will present a stand focusing on the theme of “The Environment and Safety”, and will introduce tyres and related activities supporting these concepts. The environmental emphasis will include a display of various eco-products, beginning with ECOPIA, an environmentally friendly fuel saving tyre, and NanoPro-Tech, a material technology that boosts environmental performance in tyres by reducing rolling resistance. NanoPro-Tech was first seen in the Blizzak Rev02 pcr studless tyre released in 2006, and is now one of Bridgestone’s core technologies. The company will also introduce a variety of its environmental activities using display panels.

18th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Modern Tyre Marks Tyre Safety Month With Charity Tyre Checks

Northern Ireland’s largest independent tyre retailer, Modern Tyre Service, has held a press conference at Belfast Castle in which the company detailed its support for tyre safety month. Modern Tyre Service is offering motorists throughout Northern Ireland a tyre safety and pressure check completely free of charge at any of its depots from Monday 15th of October to Friday 26th October. In addition to this they will be carrying out supermarket checks at Quays Shopping centre in Newry on Monday 22nd, Sprucefield Shopping Centre in Lisburn on Wednesday 24th and at the new ASDA store in Enniskillen on Friday the 26th.

As well as having the piece of mind of getting a free tyre inspection, Modern Tyre Service will donate £1.00 for every tyre check carried out to Cancer Research as October is also Breast Cancer Awareness month. Participants will be entered into a super free prize draw with the opportunity to win some Bridgestone Merchandise.

15th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone New Truck Tyre Segment Market Leader

The 1.2 million tyre strong UK commercial vehicle segment has a new market leader. Speaking at Bridgestone UK’s Truck Point annual dealer conference, commercial director Greg Ward told delegates that Bridgestone’s truck and bus market share had grown 2 per cent on last year’s total to 28 per cent, overtaking previous market leader, Michelin. Goodyear’s share stands at 20 per cent, while Continental is estimated to hold 9 per cent of the market. The remaining 16 per cent is held by various “other” manufacturers.

According to Ward, Bridgestone’s progression comes on the back of major fleet gains and strong service performance in recent years. It is understood that Michelin’s share is strong in terms of public service bus contracts, but the commercial truck fleet side of the operation has been losing ground to its competitors. Other conference topics included exclusive news of around £2.7 million worth of truck fleet gains, and the awarding of LRPA expert dealer status to 49 truck point dealers.

15th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Stoner Unhappy About MotoGP Single Tyre Proposal

The recent suggestion from Dorna that a one tyre rule should be adopted for MotoGP in 2008 has been met less than enthusiastically by current world champion, Australia’s Casey Stoner. The Bridgestone shod rider recently made public his feelings about the proposal made after a season in which the Japanese tyre major dashed Michelin’s long enjoyed winning streak.

“There has been one [bad] season and now everyone wants to jump ship,” Stoner said. “This is a prototype championship. These bikes are built just for this championship and these tyres are built just for this championship. If we bring in a single tyre rule, then you bring in single manufacturer bikes, and then it’s the R6 Cup.”

12th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Ranked 5th in J.D. Power Survey

Hankook Tire recently announced that it has ranked fifth in the mass market/non-luxury segment of J.D. Power’s ‘2007 OE Tire Customer Satisfaction Study’. The manufacturer attributes this respectable placing to the company’s increasing focus on quality service and production, and its consistent investment of approximately five per cent of annual revenue into R&D.

Hankook Tire scored 810 out of 1,000 points, outperforming Bridgestone, Dunlop, Yokohama and Continental. The study measures overall customer satisfaction with their original equipment tyres, examining five key factors: wearability, appearance, traction/grip, ride and handling. Rankings are based on owner experiences with their tyres during the first year of ownership. Hankook Tire jumped its rank for third consecutive year; escalating from tenth in 2004 to eighth in 2005, sixth in 2006 and fifth in this year.

12th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric Wins Autocar 2007 Tyre Test

The Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric has been declared ‘Best Tyre’ by Autocar magazine, just a month after the new tyre’s domination of the Evo Magazine tyre test. Autocar tested Goodyear, Michelin, Continental, Pirelli and Bridgestone tyres on both front wheel drive and rear wheel drive cars. The Goodyear was the clear overall winner after winning in both categories.

The renowned UK weekly magazine had chosen the 138bhp Mondeo TDCi and the 268bhp Mercedes C350 to give a comparison between a typical large family car and a powerful rear wheel drive sports saloon respectively.

11th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

ING Renault F1 Switches Support Fleet to Bridgestone

ING Renault F1 Team, 2005 and 2006 world champions, have converted their entire fleet to Bridgestone tyres. This means the Warwickshire-based tyre giants will now supply tyres for not only the team’s Formula 1 cars but also all the team’s support vehicles. Last season, Bridgestone supplied a number of F1 teams with tyres but this year saw the remaining teams also transfer to Bridgestone. As a result many team support vehicles are now following suit, converting to Bridgestone tyres from other leading brands.

Truck Point dealer Tructyre fitted over 300 new tyres to the Renault F1 Team fleet mainly utilising Bridgestone’s latest generation of highway tyres encompassing the R249 steer-axle, M749 drive-axle and R168 trailer-axle. Tructyre was recently awarded Expert Level recognition by Bridgestone UK for their high levels of customer service and administration to fleets.

10th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Promotes Marriott to CFO

(Akron/Tire Review) US tyre industry veteran Gil Marriott has been promoted to CFO of Falken Tire Corp. Marriott joined Falken in April 2001 as vice president of administration and treasurer. Previously, Marriott held executive posts with Bridgestone/Firestone and Yokohama Tire.

9th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Starts Run-Flat Mass Production in South Africa

Bridgestone Corporation has announced that Bridgestone South Africa (Pty) Ltd., has started the mass production and shipping of run-flat from its Brits, factory. Bridgestone South Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd. is a holding company which is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation for South Africa. The factory will produce 205/55R16 Turanza ER300 tyres for use on new BMW 3 Series automobiles produced in South Africa.

The Brits Plant started operation in 1971 with the production of radial tyres for passenger cars, light trucks, and trucks and buses, predominantly supplying the South African market. With the start of run-flat production and shipping at the Brits Plant, Bridgestone Group now boasts a “quadripartite production system” of run-flat tyres spanning Japan, the United States, Poland and South Africa. A special ceremony was held at the Brits Plant on September 13 to celebrate the start of mass production and BMW approval.

8th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Heads onto the Field as Official NFL Tyre

Tyre sponsorship of motorsport events is nothing new but ‘official tyres’ are generally less common in sporting codes that don’t actually involve the use of cars. However the absence of vehicles has proven no handicap to the National Football League (NFL) in the US, who has signed Bridgestone up as its first “Official Tire of the National Football League.”

The multi-year marketing and promotional agreement between the NFL and Bridgestone Firestone North America will see the Bridgestone brand involved in a number of promotional opportunities including title sponsorship of the first regular season NFL game to be played outside of North America.

Under the agreement, BFNT and the Bridgestone brand will join with the powerful NFL brand through numerous exclusive promotional opportunities, including title sponsorship of the first-ever regular season NFL game to be played outside North America. The game, known as the Bridgestone International Series, will be played on October 28 between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium.

5th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Micheldever: Focused on Independent Tyre Retailers

Despite broadsheet gossip that Micheldever was bidding to buy National Tyres at the end of the second quarter, Micheldever executives remain clear that their focus is on selling to independent dealers and that any such speculation was completely unfounded. Instead they would much rather that attention fell on pioneering developments such as the release of the first all-terrain 4×4 tyre in the world capable of H-rated performance with an 18-inch diameter – 255/60hr18 General Grabber AT2.

Micheldever Tyre Services’ core strategy remains the same as ever, according to wholesaler director, Alan Baldwin. And the company continues in it clear mandate to provide “the widest possible range of products at the most competitive prices to the independent tyre retailer.” Further significant investment has been made by the company in additional warehouse capacity and delivery vehicles, says Baldwin, explaining that the company runs eight strategically positioned warehouses that hold the largest multi-brand tyre stocks in the UK.

5th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Ten out of Ten

Describing itself as a “first-choice trade source for the marketing leading Bridgestone’s tyres and the only business in it’s field to offer freephone ordering,” Bike Tyrestore is currently the leading motorcycle tyre wholesaler and boasts having “the zippiest sales team and most advanced Call Centre order handling technology.” The Birmingham-based company recently supported this by announcing that the results of its annual customer survey were top second to none. According to Bike Tyrestore representatives the company was awarded an overwhelming 10 by customers rating from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent).

The company’s “your online warehouse” system is also increasingly popular and allows customers registered for this to check stock availability, their own unique cost prices, and also place orders 24/7. Standard trade prices and product details are contained on a CD which is quick and convenient to use, backing up the online warehouse facility.

3rd October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors