Hankook is expanding its Europe Technical Centre (ETC) and will officially inaugurate its new facilities in Hannover this Friday. Hankook’s European R&D focuses on the development of tyres for the European markets as well as original equipment. According to the company, the expansion reflects the growing importance of Hankook’s OE supplies in Europe.
The world’s largest vehicle wheel manufacturer, Maxion Wheels, has completed its project to double production of cast aluminium wheels in Manisa, Turkey, near the city of Izmir. With this week’s official opening ceremony for the facility – which is promoted as a second plant – annual capacity has increased to four million units. This means the Manisa site is not only the company’s largest in this product segment, rather it is – along with the Borbet facility in Bad Langensalza, Germany – the industry’s largest plant in Europe.
In its 18 October-announced Mid-Term Management Plan 2012, Bridgestone reported it plans to spend an average of 250 billion yen on capital expenditure projects, half of which will be for strategic tyre projects. Further to this company announcement, a Japan-based reporter for Reuters writes that in the 2013 calendar year Bridgestone will spend 280 billion yen (£2.2 billion) to expand capacity in emerging markets, including India and Thailand.
Hankook has further its European passenger car tyre production facility in Hungary with a total investment of around 8.6 million euros. The company says it will install a new compound mixing unit, thus significantly increasing the factory’s effectiveness particularly in the first phase of tyre production. The ground breaking took place on 1 October 2012 and, according to preliminary plans, installation will be completed in the second half of 2013.
India’s Hindu Business Line reports that the first phase of Balkrishna Industries’ new Bhuj facility has been commissioned and production at the site has begun. First phase capacity is 25,000 tonnes, with approximately 60 per cent of total capacity dedicated to the manufacture of radials. When in full production it will have a capacity of 120,000 tonnes. The company will boast a total annual capacity of 270,000 tonnes when the project is ready in 2015.
Shandong Linglong Tyre Co. Ltd. recently signed a contract with Hemaraj Land and Development plc. to purchase 49 hectares for a new manufacturing facility in the Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate, located 150 kilometres east of Bangkok in Thailand’s Rayong province. For Linglong, a leading Chinese tyre maker and one of the top 20 globally, the factory plans are something of a first as the mark the first time the company has sought to build a factory outside the People’s Republic.
Maxxis International will partner its official Malaysian distributor, Kian Hon Tyres in establishing the new Maxxis Asia Education Centre for truck and bus radial tyres in Penang, Malaysia. The companies said they plan to offer leading-edge training programmes at the new centre. Maxxis said that Kian Hon was selected for this new venture because of the “remarkable performance and aggressive expansion plans for its retreading plant”. The Maxxis Asia TBR Education Centre will be housed at Kian Hon’s new building in Nibong Tebal, and feature “state-of-the-art infrastructure and first-class equipment”, Maxxis said. The collaborative effort will constitute a total investment of US$20 million and will create between 200 and 400 new jobs.
Styron has added an SSBR (Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber) rubber production line aimed at supplying tyre manufacturers to its factory in Schkopau, Germany. According to the company, Dr. Reiner Haseloff, minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt Germany and other dignitaries celebrate the opening. The new production line introduces an additional capacity of 50,000 metric tons at the production facility in Schkopau, Germany.
According to BelTA, the Belarusian Telegraph Agency, local tyre maker OAO Belshina intends increase capacity at its giant tyre facility and add 57 and 63-inch radials to its production portfolio. Company representatives told BelTA that the project will increase the product range and output of low soil compaction wide-section radials for powerful, self-propelled agricultural machinery. The expansion will reportedly increase agricultural tyre output by 84,000 units per annum while increasing productivity.
Michelin says it is setting its sights on the pan-European Euro 6 coach market with the launch of a new 7.5-tonne load capacity X-Coach HL Z tyre, a product that incorporates the company’s patented InfiniCoil technology. The new tyre is available solely as a 295/80 R22.5 fitment, a size Michelin expects will become the dominant tyre on the majority of Euro 6 coaches sold across Europe.
When Tyres & Accessories visited Nankang’s stand at CITExpo, Caysha Mai from the company’s export department was able to report that Nankang’s changeover to a new corporate identity, which began in 2010, is almost complete. “The new identity includes a modified logo and a new slogan – free your way,” she shared. “This means have a smooth ride.”
Although Dongying Zhongyi Rubber Co. Ltd has been around since 2004, the Shandong Province, China-based company is a relative newcomer to the tyre business. It wasn’t until 2010 that the first tyre was produced at Dongying Zhongyi’s plant near Qingdao, but since then annual output of the company’s two brands – CH-Noble and Joyroad – has reached 3.5 million units a year.
Alcoa Wheel Products Europe has introduced four new wheels for truck and trailer applications at the IAA trade show in Hannover, Germany. The fitments comprise: 22.5×11.75”, 45mm offset wheel for inloaders; a 22.5×11.75”, 80mm offset wheel; 22.5×11.75”, 135mm offset and five ton load index; and a 22.5×13.00” lighter wheel with higher load capacity.
Visitors to the MINExpo show in the US were given a chance to get up close with Michelin’s newest earthmover line, the XDR2. This range, which replaces the XDR, is intended for the market’s largest rigid dump trucks and is claimed to improve safety while enabling users to improve their productivity and optimise environmental performance.
At this week’s IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Germany, Goodyear is launching its first ever dedicated European-market coach tyres, the Goodyear Marathon Coach and Goodyear Ultra Grip Coach winter drive tyre. Both tyres are available in 295/80R22.5 and 315/80R22.5, with all products to be available on the market by the end of October.
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