Cappoquin selects Bridgestone
Bridgestone Ireland has gained a new fleet to be supported by the company’s Truck Point network. Cappoquin Transport Ltd, based in Cappoquin, Co Waterford, offers nationwide delivery service.
Based in Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.
Bridgestone Ireland has gained a new fleet to be supported by the company’s Truck Point network. Cappoquin Transport Ltd, based in Cappoquin, Co Waterford, offers nationwide delivery service.
American tyre news source Tire Review has broken the news that Bridgestone Americas is to resurrect its Dayton medium truck tyre brand. The manufacturer discontinued the brand on the first day of 2011, and was said to have distributed its remianing inventory in the second half of 2010. Bridgestone issued its own statement on Daton confirming that "renewed interest from drivers, small fleets and managers" had led to the revival of the US manufactured product.
Nine times world champion Valentino Rossi has extended his agreement with Bridgestone Europe to act as motorcycle tyre development adviser. As under the previous agreement, Rossi and the tyre maker will work together to, in Bridgestone’s words, “promote the passion of motorcycling to bikers and enthusiasts throughout Europe, directly supporting the Bridgestone ‘track to street’ concept.” Rossi will act alone as a professional rider; his MotoGP team and sponsors are not involved in the deal.
According to US media reports, Bridgestone Americas intends to increase production of giant mining tyres. Bloomington, Illinois-based newspaper the Pantagraph writes that the Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations factory in the jauntily-named town of Normal will benefit from two expansion projects; these will increase production by around 30 per cent and increase the factory’s workforce by more than 80 employees.
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations has supplied Firestone tyres to the IZOD IndyCar Series since the league began in 1996, and the tyre maker recently announced it will remain the series’ sole tyre supplier through the 2018 race season. “Firestone performance and safety have been synonymous with IndyCar racing for more than 100 years,” commented Al Speyer, executive director, Firestone Racing. “We are excited about the opportunity to continue the on going success of this series by extending the Firestone brand’s history in the sport through the 2018 season. We treasure the relationships we have fostered with the league, drivers, owners and various other partners involved with the sport through the years, and look forward to continuing our legacy of high performance for which Firestone tires are known.”
The two winners of this year’s Tyrepress.com competition have been decided. Peter Poyntz-Roberts, a Bridgestone UK consumer sales key account manager, and James Lomax from Bury, North Manchester will receive a pair of tickets each to Autosport International 2013 at the Birmingham NEC on 12 or 13 January. The prize will be posted in the first week of January 2013. Thank you to the many readers of Tyrepress.com and Tyres & Accessories who entered the competition and congratulations to both winners. We hope all visitors to the NEC enjoy what will undoubtedly be another great show.
After 38 years with the company, the executive director of Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations’ motorsports activities will retire next year. At present no successor has been named.
Bridgestone Australia has provided its Ferrari F2004 Formula One show car to the country’s National Motor Museum on a long-term loan. The car, an exact replica of the racer that won 15 out of 18 races in the 2004 Formula One season and scored 12 pole positions at the hands of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, was officially unveiled at the Adelaide-based museum on 12 December.
On 14 December Bridgestone Americas gave word of its recent appointment of a new head of Human Resources. Darrin Rohr was appointed to the role of chief human resource officer, effective 26 November. He succeeds Patti James in this position; James now serves as Bridgestone America’s president of Shared Services, a post she accepted earlier this year.
Bridgestone has expanded its new motorcycle tyre website across Europe with the addition of six new country versions and eight new languages. The site was launched in June 2012 in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, with content adapted to Europe’s five largest markets. As of 1 December the site has been available in a total of 13 languages, with Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish added to the initial five languages. At the same time, specific product-related country versions have been added for Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland.
On 1 March Bridgestone will launch its latest sport touring range in Europe. The Battlax Sport Touring T30 radial will be marketed in ten front and 13 rear sizes. The Japanese manufacturer says the Battlax Sport Touring T30 is a “premium brand steeped in technology refined through the company's development of MotoGP race tyres” and is intended for use on medium to large motorcycles.
As of next year, the Bridgestone brand will be title sponsor of the Copa Libertadores, or Libertadores Cup. This annual international football competition, which is arguably the most prestigious club competition in South America, will thus be known as the Bridgestone Libertadores Cup through to 2017.
Both small and large operators are still failing to include the label in the sales process In July, more than 700 tyre retailers were contacted as part of research into the EU label’s role in the sales process. It so turned out that, during this voluntary period, the label didn’t register as a significant factor. Only four of the more than 700 retailers mentioned the label during the sales process – a tiny 0.6 per cent, a figure well and truly within the margin of error in any survey. On 1 November the voluntary period drew to a close and the sale of passenger car and truck tyres in Europe must now involve a label. In light of the label’s compulsory status, Encircle Marketing revisited the question of its role in the sales process.
A consumer website aimed at improving awareness of energy saving products has begun listing tyre models with AA EU labels. Comprising Pirelli’s Cinturato P7 Blue in three XL sizes – the first AA tyre on the market, launched at Reifen 2012 – and Bridgestone’s October-launched AA-rated Ecopia EP001S, www.toptensverige.se (Topten Sweden) has begun to list tyres among what it believes to be benchmark products. The Topten online service, present in 17 countries in Europe as well as in China and the United States, aims to make transparent and independent assessments of goods and services, and has included the four tyre sizes as its first foray into the product area.
Bridgestone’s Rome-based Technical Center Europe (TCE) has won the Italian “E.ON Energia Award” for distinguishing itself in energy efficiency during 2012. The award, first given by the power and gas company last year, was received by Gianni Lampazzi, director of Tyre Development Operations on 29 November 2012 at the “Sette Green Awards” event held at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.
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