Nokian tyres have recently won a run of high profile magazine test in Europe. “Very recommendable” was the “ADAC judgement” for the Nokian H in the summer tyre test 2010 of the German Automobile Association ADAC, the “test quality judgement” of the consumer protection organisation Stiftung Warentest praised: “Nokian H good”.
Plans for Cheng Shin Rubber to establish a new truck tyre plant have apparently been ditched in favour of a passenger car tyre facility. The China Economic News Service reports that due to delays in land acquisition the Taiwan based manufacturer of the Maxxis tyre brand is currently not proceeding with the Changnan County truck tyre plant project; instead, the company will focus its attention on passenger car tyres with a new plant in the town of Touliu. The first stage of the facility is being built with an investment of NT$6 billion (₤128.5 million) and production is anticipated to commence in the third quarter of this year. Daily output will be between 12,000 and 18,000 tyres, CENS adds.
Porsche fanatics David and Veronica Teer from Bodmin, Cornwall have won a set of Michelin’s N-specification Pilot Sport PS2 tyres for their Porsche 996 Carrera 2 Coupe, having entered a Michelin promotional competition run in collaboration with Porsche Centres. The competition required entrants to identify the N-marking Michelin puts on the sidewall of tyres designed specifically for Porsche.
Capacity at Yokohama’s production site in the Philippines is to increase from seven million to ten million passenger car tyres per annum as a result of expansion work being carried out there in the next three years. This first phase expansion at the Yokohama Tire Philippines site involves the construction of a new tyre plant to complement the existing 165,000 square metre facility. Construction work will get underway after a tenancy agreement is signed in February and initial production is expected to commence in 2013, with full operational capacity reached the following year. A total of 20 billion yen (₤153.2 million) is being invested in the first-phase expansion; a further 30 billion yen is earmarked for the second-phase expansion work, which will further increase Yokohama Tire Philippines’ annual capacity to 17 million tyres by 2017.
While most of the western world celebrated New Year at the end of December, both China and South Korea were making plans for their celebrations at the start of February, based on the lunar calendar. Back in 2010 Nexen Tire Corporation announced plans for a 1 trillion won (US$1.2 billion) investment in its largest factory yet in Changneyeong in the same region as its first plant (Yangsan), which along with the company's second plant in Qingdao, China, continues to expand. Just before the oriental entrance into the new decade, Tyres & Accessories had the opportunity to visit Nexen on its home South Korean and adopted Chinese territory and saw how the company is implementing its plans to become a US$2.5 billion company in the next five years.
The new Motrio range of tyres, an own brand for Renault starting with two tread patterns is also to feature as an original equipment fitment to two vehicle models on the Romanian and Turkish market, Tyres & Accessories has learned. The tyre will come as standard on the Dacia Logan and Sandero models in the eastern European markets. When T&A asked who would be manufacturing the range, Renault UK press relations manager Jeremy Townsend said that it is “a major manufacturer highly present in Western Europe”.
Renault has announced that it will become the first vehicle manufacturer to offer its customers an own-branded tyre, when its Motrio range is released to UK Renault dealers on 1 February. The manufacturer is pitching the budget segment tyre to drivers of “older Renault vehicles, with prices starting at £36 per tyre fully fitted”. Renault recently lowered its new car prices by up to £2,000, and it says the own-brand tyres will “help drive down the cost of motoring” further. The manufacturer says the Motrio range “has been tested to Renault’s strict specifications to ensure owners can be certain that the performance of the tyre is in harmony with their vehicle”.
India’s JK Tyre has posted net profits for its third quarter ending 31 December, 2010 of 90.14 million rupees, a year-on-year reduction of 74.93 per cent on the 360.46 million rupees posted in the same quarter at the end of 2009. “It was a very challenging quarter as the prices of natural rubber have increased 100 per cent, attaining unprecedented levels. Other raw materials have also registered a sharp increase of nearly 40 per cent,” stated JK Tyre & Industries vice chairman & managing director Raghupati Singhania.
Winter is still well and truly with us yet those seeking cold weather tyres for their car needn’t pay their local Kwik-Fit outlet a visit – the fast fit network reports its entire 50,000 unit allocation of winter passenger car tyres has sold out following strong interest from both corporate and retail customers. Kwik-Fit says it still has some 5,000 winter tyres for light commercial vehicles in stock, however.
India’s Ruia Group has stated it is at a “very advanced” stage of discussion regarding a proposed joint venture with an international partner to build a passenger car radial factory. This information appears to confirm news published by the Calcutta Telegraph last November; the Indian newspaper reported that the Ruia Group was engaged in talks with Sumitomo regarding the construction of such a factory.
As was the case for the ContiEcoContact 5 (see yesterday’s article on tyrepress.com), reducing rolling resistance was also a goal for the ContiSportContact 5 development team. The new range, scheduled for release in spring, will eventually replace two products – the SportContact 3 and the CrossContact UHP. Accordingly, this means the new range will cover both passenger car and 4×4 sizes.
If you cast your mind back to before 2009’s Apollo/Vredestein merger deal was announced there was much talk about plans for the construction of a greenfield tyre production plant in Hungary. Newspaper reports published at the time suggested that Apollo had earmarked around 200 million euros for this. Most observers interpreted the Vredestein purchase as being a substitute for the Greenfield plans, but bearing in mind that the pricetag was reported as being just US$ 50 million in June 2010, it raises the question of what was done with the rest of the money. The short answer is that Apollo executives say they have invested it in the construction and rapid development of its Chennai manufacturing facility, which had a budget of around 350 million euros before the firm decided to further its plans for truck and bus radial tyre production last year. Anything else looks like to have been absorbed by the company’s liabilities. However, regarding the Chennai investment Tyres & Accessories recently had the opportunity to tour the facility, see production in action and learn more about the thinking behind the investment.
In designing its latest eco tyre range, Continental AG was influenced to a large extent by the changing requirements of its OEM customers. As Alexander Lührs, head of Continental’s press and public relations for passenger and light truck tyres, explained at the recent ContiTechnikForum held in Portugal, “the requirements for tyre development are in a very dynamic state.” This especially applies to rolling resistance optimised products. “Car manufacturers need to reduce CO2 emissions. This means they ask us and our competition to come up with new solutions in this regard.”
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Production capacity at Cheng Shin Rubber is anticipated to grow a hefty 70 per cent through the construction of three new facilities. According to the China Economic News Service, the Taiwanese manufacturer of the Maxxis tyre brand has set aside NT$30 billion (₤640 million) to establish plants in China’s Sichuan and Fujian provinces and in Yunlin County, Taiwan. When the three plants are in production alongside the company’s existing Taiwan, Thailand and China factories, daily capacity is expected to rise from 100,000 to 170,000 pieces.
One year after Techking’s Effiplus passenger car radial was launched in at Reifen China 2009 in Shanghai, the company known for its OTR and latterly its truck tyres has news of further expansions in the range. While the Effiplus line up consisted of just 20 specification 12 months ago, today there are over 100, with a number of sub-specifications. Speaking in an interview at the end of 2010, Techking marketing and sales director James Wang brought us up to speed on the latest product developments – including the new second life truck tyre warranty – the company has to offer.
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