car tyres Archives - Page 103 of 122 - Tyrepress

Posts

Amtel-Vredestein 2007 Financial Highlights Reveal Sales Growth

Full year 2007 financial highlights for Amtel-Vredestein have been made public and show a 22 per cent increase in net sales to US$997.4 million. This sales growth, says the company, can be primarily attributed to increased production and growing demand for Amtel-Vredestein tyres in both the OE and replacement tyres markets, as well as higher sales of the Company’s AV-TO unit due to the acquisitions of the autoparts and tyre wholesale businesses Pigma and Megashina in 2006, and the increased number of retail stores in the latest consolidated results.

Sales from the company’s Russian manufacturing operations, excluding the AV-TO unit, grew 14 per cent in the 2007 financial year, to $442 million, and sales from the European Vredestein Banden B.V. operations grew 18 per cent to $403 million. The company reports that its core passenger car tyre business is driving much of this growth: Net revenue from passenger car tyres grew 21 per cent to $615.8 million, and represented 62 per cent of total sales during the period. The company reports peak demand for its Vredestein and Amtel brands plus additional sales volume via its retail and wholesale channels.

2nd May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Infinity: Combining Quality with Competitive Prices

The Infinity brand is continuing to gain momentum in the UK and European markets on the back of its combination of quality and competitive pricing. Responsibility in Europe for this private brand label of the Dubai based Al Dobowi Group is handled by the group’s divisional company, London based Goldspark Trading Limited. The appointed manufacturer for Infinity is Shandong Linglong Rubber Company one of China’s best-known tyre producers. Reports indicate that Linglong will produce around 12 million passenger car tyres this year, and an additional 40,000 square metre production facility planned for 2009 will increase annual output to around 24 million tyres

Infinity’s high performance range includes the popular INF-050 UHP, designed to deliver good braking performance, extensive tread wear resistance and ride comfort through low noise. The INF-050 also features a reinforced bead to ensure safe handling on both wet and dry road surfaces. The current size range covers 16 to 18-inch rim diameter fitments, but plans are under way for additional 19 and 20-inch sizes.

25th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tires & Rubber Offers a Russian Podium

Today, when we think about the Russian market, two thoughts are most likely to arise in the minds of most Western Europeans. First, Russia is, or at least will be, a giant tyre market; and, second, most of us don’t know that much about this market and its players. One of the reasons we don’t know much about the Russian tyre market although it is so large in size is that there are almost no tyre exports from Russia and the CIS states into Western Europe, in particular for the passenger car tyre segment. It appears that the Russian tyre market is still locked up as if the iron curtain remained firmly in place, although admittedly Russia is absorbing ever more tyre imports from the West. As a matter of fact, not many well-established relationships exist between Western tyre manufacturers and wholesalers (or even retailers) with companies in Russia. What we hear and know is that the market is currently developing at such a speed that any company must maintain a certain level of persistence in order to stay in the game. The “Tires & Rubber” exhibition, which took place in Moscow from March 4 to 7, nourishes the idea that common ventures and established relations between Russian and Western European tyre market players are still a rare thing, although we can see that Russia is – step by step – emerging from the dark and entering the international scene.

18th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Best of British

In February 2007 Cooper Tires opened a new European Technical Centre (ETC) alongside its factory in Melksham, thus beginning the Wiltshire site’s transformation from a production location for Avon brand tyres into a hub for the company’s Europe-wide activities. Under the guidance of ETC general manager Marcus Hancock – a 19-year company veteran who began his career at Melksham before furthering his career with Cooper in the US – the centre has spent the 14 months since its opening taking full responsibility for the design and development of products manufactured at Melksham, with high-performance passenger car tyres a particular focus. The first such tyre to be primarily developed in-house at the Melksham ETC was ready to be launched in March 2008.

18th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Confirms India Site Acquisition

A greater presence within India is on the cards for Yokohama Rubber after its April 18 confirmation that it had, eight days earlier, signed an agreement with the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation to acquire a 25-acre (101,250 square metre) business site at the corporation’s industrial estate in Bahadurgarh. News of this deal was first reported by India’s media at the start of April but not confirmed by the Japanese manufacturer until now.

Yokohama Rubber has unfolded its Indian business since April 2007 when the company established Yokohama India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary. The current business site acquisition also forms a part of this activity and Yokohama Rubber says it is now planning to work out details on how to utilise the acquired site. A report previously released by the Indo-Asian News Service indicates that the company will invest Rs 9 billion (£112.9 million) into the project, and about 900 jobs will be created.

18th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama to Show Tyre Range at Auto China

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced that it will exhibit at the Auto China 2008 exhibition, which runs in Beijing between 20 and 25 April. According to a statement released on the subject, the thinking behind the Japanese tyre manufacturer’s appearance is: “To increase recognition of the Yokohama brand in China.” The company has been promoting phonograms (Chinese characters whose pronunciations sound like Yokohama in Japanese) in China since the summer. On this occasion, Yokohama is aiming to drive its brand awareness in the country forward by linking the brand and phonograms with its products at the auto show – a complete range of tyres will be exhibited.

16th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyres Help Marathon Runners ‘Tread’ Across the Finish Line

The 27th running of the London Marathon on April 13 saw approximately 46,500 participants cover the 26 miles 385 yards between Blackheath and St. James’s Park – including six wearing footwear offering good rolling resistance and a speed rating way in excess of anything actually attained on the day. The six men, Maasai warriors, chose to compete in shoes made from recycled car tyres and held together with iron nails.

14th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Position Paper: Proposed Tyre Noise Reduction Goals ‘Not Feasible’

A position paper produced by the ETRMA and recently obtained by the news agency Reuters indicates that the industry association retains its viewpoint on road noise reduction levels outlined last year. On October 18, 2007 the organisation sent a letter to the European Commissioner for Enterprise, Günther Verheugen, proposing voluntary reduction levels while cautioning that the reductions set out by the European Commission may lead to a compromising of road safety. The document obtained by Reuters appears to include similar content, and is said to call some of the Commission’s noise reduction goals “not feasible.”

11th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hangzhou Zhongce Celebrates 50 Years

The Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company can trace its history back to 1958 and today the group produces a wide range of products. These include tyres for two-wheel vehicles and bicycles, passenger car tyres (bias and radial), truck and bus tyres (bias and radial), light truck tyres, industrial, solid and skidsteer tyres, agricultural and OTR tyres. In addition to tyres, the company’s product range includes rubber crawlers, belts, hoses and miscellaneous rubber products.

Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company has grown steadily over the past half century and is now one of China’s top 500 enterprises. The products are widely exported and the brand names – Tartu, Chao Yang, Goodride and Westlake – have become increasingly familiar to the tyre industry (and to motorists) outside their home country.

7th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Wholesalers See Great Potential in Russia

The Tires & Rubber show was unmistakably a genuine tyre trade show, despite its appearance as an event mainly attracting machinery and raw material suppliers. Among the 197 exhibitors at the show, which took place in Moscow from March 4-7, 2008, were only a handful of tyre manufacturers – but plenty of resellers, importers and wholesalers. And most of these companies are only interested in the distribution of tyre brands produced outside of Russia, i.e. in China, Korea or Europe.

Together with Russian importers such as Petromaster (Hankook, Sumo Firenza), Avantek (Alliance), Satim (Mitas) or Yarshintorg (Sumitomo), TransGaz Komplektatciya presented itself to visitors of the Moscow Tires & Rubber show and featured the “Primewell” brand. This brand is produced by Giti Tire in China and TransGaz is initially importing only truck tyres from this range. Later, however, Giti’s new importer in Russia will also import and distribute Primewell and Runway passenger car tyres. Runway is yet another brand from the GT group (Giti Tire from China and Gajah Tunggal from Indonesia). To what extent, if at all, TransGaz will play a major role with regards to importing the group’s core “GT Radial” tyre brand has yet to be decided, says Richard Lyons, sales director with Giti Tire Europe and thus responsible for the Russian tyre market, in an interview with Tyres & Accessories.

1st April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Vietnam Factory Brings Global Tyre Output to 65 Million Units

The recent completion of Kumho’s 315,000 square metre Vietnamese factory, brings the Korean tyre manufacturer’s global output to circa 65 million units. The plant built at a cost of some $200 million will initially manufacture around 3.15 million tyres per annum, but there is provision to expand production to 13 million units.

With the new plant on stream, Kumho expects its 2008 international tyre production levels to total 34 million units, thereby exceeding its domestic output (around 31 million units) for the first time and hitting the 65 million unit mark. According to the company, this will be a significant step towards the company’s ambition of achieving 5th place in the league of global tyre manufacturers by 2015.

19th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Report: Global Tyre Market to Hit 1.6 Billion Units by 2010

Replacement tyre shipments in Europe totalled 309 million units for 2007, with the global tyre market projected to grow at a compounded annual rate of over 3 per cent. According to a new report produced by Global Industry Analysts, Europe is the largest market accounting for a 29.5 per cent share of a global market that is expected to reach 1.6 billion units by 2010. OEM tyre shipments, estimated at 415 million units, account for 28.5 per cent of the global tyre market; and are projected to grow at a compounded annual rate of nearly 3.1 per cent.

18th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian Tyre Production Up 10%

Tyre production in India grew by 10 per cent in the period between April and December 2007, compared with the corresponding period the year before, reports the nation’s Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA). This equals an increase in production from 54.8 million units to 60.2 million. And according to ATMA figures the increase for car tyre exports was notably higher.

The export of passenger car tyres grew by 54 per cent during this time, and truck and bus tyre exports by 9 per cent. The average monthly export of tyres increased from 430,028 to 500,543 units, an April-December growth of 16 per cent. Total export figures for April to December were 4.5 million units, up from 3.9 million the year before.

Another growth area has been in the OTR tyre segment, where monthly production figures have increased by 15 per cent.

14th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Capacity Increases Ready by Mid-2009

Apollo Tyres makes no secret of its intention to become a market leader in India’s passenger car tyre segment, and during a press conference in Chennai the company’s head of India Operations, Satish Sharma, outlined the means by which Apollo plans to reach its goal.

Mr. Sharma stated that Apollo’s new Rs 5 billion (£61 million) greenfield facility in Oragadam, near Chennai, will be ready to enter production by June 2009 and have a daily production capacity of 30,000 passenger car tyres. The capacity expansion at Apollo’s Baroda plant, an upgrade costing the company Rs 1.5 billion (£18 million), is also scheduled for completion around that time. When complete, capacity at Baroda will increase by 5,000 units a day to 15,000 units.

11th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Signs 300,000 Tyre Deal with LeasePlan

An agreement sealed at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show paves the way for Bridgestone to supply passenger car tyres to Europe’s largest leasing and fleet management operator. The preferred partner deal between the tyre major and Leaseplan is estimated to be worth 300,000 tyres a year, which will be supplied to authorised service providers in a number of countries. The respective national Bridgestone companies will agree the product mix and volumes with local LeasePlan fleet operators in each market, and Bridgestone has highlighted the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain as priority markets.

6th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors