Continental AG has just opened its new tyre plant in Brazil and said that it should be operating at full capacity within the next 18 months. “The new low-cost production capacities play a key role in our concept for the future passenger tyre business in the loss-making NAFTA region. At the same time, the capacities allow for profitable growth,” CEO Manfred Wennemer said in a statement released in Germany.
UK tyre wholesaler Stapletons has appointed a new marketing manager to spearhead the company’s next stage of development. Stephen Childs (32) joins the Letchworth-headquartered company, which is the UK’s leading supplier of passenger car tyres to the wholesale and dealership sectors and also has 48 thriving automotive retail centres in the UK.
Italian Industrial Group, Marangoni, will promote its activities in Essen this year on a 500 square metre stand concept, which the company calls “Marangoni Village.” Marangoni recently took steps to streamline its organisation. The company continues to produce passenger car tyres in a factory near Rome. As far as the retreading business is concerned, many experts see Marangoni as the leading company in respect to technological developments and innovation. The group runs factories in Italy, Germany (Ellerbrock), USA and Brazil. Last year group turnover exceeded 300 million euros.
From the 1 April China will lower its “consumption tax” on a range products including tyres. The Ministry of Finance and the General Administration of Taxation have decided to lower the consumption tax on passenger car tyres to 3 per cent from its current rate of 10 per cent.
In Stanmer, near Brighton an “ultra green” housing estate is being built using 15,000 old car tyres. Developers, Biotecture, claim the homes will be so energy efficient they will have no utility bills. The company submitted a planning application at the end of February to build the estate on a site overlooking the Brighton marina. The move comes after the firm built two “Earthship”, as the houses are known, prototypes in Fife in Scotland and Stanmer in Sussex to demonstrate the potential of the idea.
Matador UK has announced a price increase averaging four per cent on its All Steel Truck Tyres, effective from 1st April 2006. The sizes affected are 17.5″, 19.5″, 20” and 22.5″.
Much has been written about the emerging Indian, Chinese and Russian markets, but what about South America? This continent is full of potential, something that is demonstrated by the fact that all the major players are there (Pirelli, Goodyear and Bridgestone/Firestone being particularly strong) and are already positioning themselves for the next market explosion. However for all its potential, the continent can also be described as tumultuous – at the end of November 2005, for example, Bridgestone/Firestone had to quell a violent dispute at a plant in Venezuela.
With the popularity and diversity of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) continuing to increase in the UK, sales of 4×4 tyres are soaring with Bridgestone claiming that its Dueler range is once again outperforming the market. While the overall 4×4 tyre market increased by 10 per cent in the UK between December 2004 and December 2005, sales of Bridgestone’s Dueler 4×4 tyres increased by 18 per cent over the same period. These figures come on the back of a remarkable 314 per cent increase in sales between 1999 and 2004, during which time the market grew by 181 per cent.
2005 was another record year for B-Quik, the Thailand based tyre and car services retailer. The company serviced over 200,000 customers through its total of 42 centres, four of which were new stores, opened during 2005. Despite the slightly declining aftermarket for passenger car tyres in Thailand (-1.2 per cent), B-Quik posted a 16 per cent increase in tyre unit sales. Total revenue increased by 19 per cent to a record amount of 826 million baht (£11.97 million or 17.5 million euros).
Indonesia’s tyre production capacity is forecast to rise 9.3 per cent year-on-year to 69.6 million units in 2006. The association of tyre producers (APBI) said fears of slump in the country’s auto market this year will not significantly impact on the tyre industry. Last year two and four wheel production totalled 63.67 million units, with car tyres accounting for 41.7 million units, APBI chairman Aziz Pane said told Asian news sources. In 2006 exports are predicted to reach 31 million units, valued at US$600 million, up 10.6 per cent from last year.
Leading UK wholesale and retail tyre supplier, Stapletons Tyre Services has appointed a new sales manager to join its wholesale operation. Following a two-year gap, Nigel O’Hara, 46, returns to Stapletons as wholesale sales manager. Reporting to wholesale and IT director, Steve Parker, Nigel’s remit is to manage Stapletons’ wholesale tyre sales operation as well as the telesales division across the country. Nigel will also manage a team of field sales staff.
Continental tyres has named the B3081 as the bendiest road in Britain. Continental commissioned research to find out which of Britain’s 6,300 classified roads sets the toughest task for car tyres. At a steady 30 mph, a one-mile stretch of the B3081 between Cann Common in Dorset and Tollard Royal in Wiltshire exerted lateral forces of a magnitude a car would experience on a racetrack like Brands Hatch.
Researchers tested a shortlist of 10 roads, as nominated by Auto Express readers, from across the UK. A standard Vauxhall Astra 1.4 with Continental ContiSportContact2 tyres was fitted with state of the art measuring equipment and an on-board computer to record forward speed and lateral acceleration.
When the China International Tire Expo (CITExpo) opened its gates for the second time in 2004, it was already considered to be the potential Chinese tyre show of the future. It appears these estimations were well founded now that the third show in December has reached a size, which makes it the biggest show of its kind in East and South-East Asia. CITExpo even had to move into a different venue in order to accommodate its 150 exhibitors. Overall more than 5,800 visitors have registered with the organisers; two thirds came from abroad and the growing number of foreign exhibitors emphasises the increasingly open Chinese tyre market.
To the organisers of the China International Tire Expo the positive developments of the show have been much more than just good luck. “Most industry experts know our exhibition by now,” says Wilko Fong. The managing director of Reliable International Exhibition Services Co., Ltd., the organising company from Beijing, firmly believes that many of the current exhibitors have already taken part in earlier shows as visitors in order to find out how the land lies. Only now this wait-and-see-approach has actually paid off for the Shanghai CITExpo, with the latest event taking place in the Everbright Convention & Exhibition Center in downtown Shanghai.
The February 2006 issue of US magazine Consumers Digest showcases the best tyres on the market, as rated by the magazine’s editors, and products from The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company take top billing in three of the five rated segments. For the “Passenger Car Tyres, All-Season” category, Goodyear’s Assurance was the Premium selection. The Consumers Digest comparison list shows top-rated tyres in Premium, Midrange and Economy segments.
Apollo Tyres is to invest 400 million rupees in truck and bus radial production at the company’s Limba plant. Apollo’s announcement follows the news in October 2005 that Michelin had bought Apollo Tyres’ stake in the two companies’ joint venture. At the time Michelin cited the “slower than projected pace” of radialisation as its reason for the move.
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