Bridgestone has doubled the coverage offered by its Dayton truck tyre range, which it offers in the US and Canadian markets. Eight new Dayton patterns have joined the line-up and, says Bridgestone Commercial, meet the diverse needs of small fleets and owner operators in a multitude of trucking segments. The product launch coincides with the launch of a new daytontrucktires.com website and tagline, ‘Tires for Truckers’.
Michel Massé joined Mitas as the tyre maker’s sales manager responsible for business development in Canada. In the role of key account manager for Canada, he is responsible for increasing sales of Mitas and Cultor products within the national market. He began his career in the tyre industry in 1994, later joining Continental Tire Canada as a key account manager. He left the company in 2012 to run his own tyre retail business.
Michelin North America and the municipality of the County of Kings, Nova Scotia, have agreed the sale of about 50 acres of land in Waterville to the tyre manufacturer for a reported sum of nearly $1.9 million.
Michelin is a step closer to future-proofing its Waterville factory site in Canada now that its bid to purchase adjacent land has been approved. It is understood that Michelin Canada will purchase 21 hectares, about half of an area currently used as an airport, and will set this extra land aside for the time being. It is hoped the land will come in handy should Michelin seek a location to host major expansion plans in future.
With practice and qualification completed under significantly cooler conditions, a hotter Sunday forced Formula One’s teams to improvise when it came to tyre strategy at the Canadian grand prix. A safety car period, lasting eight laps right at the beginning of the race, also altered the strategy, with tyre degradation at the most critical fuel-heavy period minimised. Tyre supplier Pirelli says that wear on both compounds was generally low, despite track temperatures that exceeded 45 degrees centigrade and 30 degrees centigrade ambient.
Titan International has announced that its subsidiary, Titan Tire Reclamation Corp., (TTRC) is leasing ten acres (4 hectares) of land from Suncor Energy, north of Fort McMurray, Canada for ten years to operate a pyrolysis system developed by Green Carbon, a company controlled by Fred Taylor, brother of Titan International chairman and CEO Maurice Taylor. Titan Tire Reclamation has already engaged in negotiations with various companies operating in Canada’s oil sands regarding the disposal of OTR tyres and conveyor belting.
As reported on 28 April, as of the start of May Toyo Tire Europe president Naoki Gonsui will also become president of Toyo Tire Deutschland. Toyo has announced a further personnel change taking effect 1 May: Kiyohito Hasumi, currently president of Toyo Tire Canada, will take on the additional role of president, Nitto Tire Canada.
The Board of Directors at Titan International is set to grow with the appointment of a new director. On 1 June, Dr. Mark Rachesky will join chairman Maurice Taylor and six other directors on the board. Taylor has commented that “all of Titan’s directors had the opportunity to meet Dr. Rachesky and agreed he would make an excellent board member and bring a new voice to Titan’s shareholders. We look forward to his participation on the board.”
Pirelli has nominated the tyres that will be used in the grands prix of Spain, Monaco and Canada. The latter GPs will provide the first sighting of the exclusive Formula One tyre supplier’s softest compound, the P Zero Red supersoft slick.
Continental Tire the Americas reports that it has signed up its first retreader in Canada. Montreal area retreader Pneus et Rechapage Uni has become the first retreader in the country to obtain a license for ContiTread brand flat pre-cure treads, and will now supply authorised Continental truck tyre dealers throughout Eastern Canada with ContiTread retreads.
Additional space to expand Michelin’s Waterville truck and OTR tyre plant in Canada has been found – at the town’s civilian airport. According to Tire Review, on 10 March councillors in Nova Scotia’s King County voted to close Waterville Municipal Airport on 30 September and make the airport land available for purchase by the province or Michelin. While the tyre maker has not confirmed any expansion, it is understood that the layout of the plant and its equipment is such that expanding onto the land currently occupied by the airport is the only option open to Michelin at the Waterville site.
Production and workforce numbers at Michelin’s Granton plant in Nova Scotia, Canada will decrease between now and July 2015, the tyre maker shares. On 3 March the company announced plans to reduce passenger car and light truck tyre output there in response to declining demand for small-size car tyres.
Schrader International has appointed Aaron Nelson as its new regional sales manager in Western Canada. Nelson brings nearly a decade of experience working with automotive and diesel performance products. Based in Edmonton, Nelson’s responsibilities include assisting Schrader customers with their TPMS programs and driving sales growth throughout Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
TriCan Tire Distributors, a Canadian company owned by American Tire Distributors since 2012, has acquired the wholesale distribution business of Kipling Tire Co. The acquisition of the Toronto-based firm further expands ATD’s reach within Canada.
Canada’s transportation regulatory body, Transport Canada, has outlined a number of changes in regulations pertaining to tyres. The new regulations, announced by Transport Minister Lisa Raitt on 20 November, are intended to enhance the safety of tyres manufactured for the Canadian market; they also bring Canadian regulations more closely in line with those enforced in the United States. Manufacturers have until 1 September 2014 to comply with the regulations.
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