Pawan Kumar Ruia claims he has no intention of closing down Dunlop operations in India. Before activities can resume at the company’s Sahaganj factory, however, he wants the West Bengal government to arrange sales tax exemption and an agreement with employees assuring an increase in productivity. Production stopped at the factory on November 17.
Fresh off the 2008 SEMA Show, TIA has turned its focus on the the 2009 Commercial Tire, Retread & Recycling Conference (CTRRC), which will be held at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando on Feb. 9-11. The CTRRC will again be held in conjunction with the American Trucking Association’s Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) annual meeting.
As part of the CTRRC, TIA is bringing back the Retread Appearance Contest, which will be held at the TIA Retread Pavilion. In a twist from previous years, this year’s Retread Appearance Contest will be voted on by the TMC fleet attendees. Details on the Retread Appearance Contest are available at TIA’s Web site at www.tireindustry.org. (Tire Review/Akron)
As a member of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP) programme, Bridgestone’s BFS Retail & Commercial Operations, LLC (BFRC) was honoured recently at the WasteWise & NPEP Conference for recycling some 145,000 kilograms of lead from lead wheel weights in 2007.
In addition to its ongoing efforts to further reduce the impact of lead on the environment, BFRC launched a US-wide environmental initiative in January 2008 to install non-toxic steel wheel weights instead of lead weights in its customers’ vehicles. BFRC, a member of the Bridgestone Americas (BSA) family, was the first of the major chains in the automotive repair industry to make the switch to steel wheel weights in this market. All of BFRC’s approximately 2,000 US automotive service store locations are switching to more ecologically sensitive, non-toxic steel weights, replacing millions of lead wheel weights each year.
Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler, the joint owner of the ball bearing manufacturer in control of 90 per cent of Continental AG, may sell some of the company’s Conti shares. Schaeffler told journalists at an automotive business conference in Berlin that the financial crisis was hindering her company’s plans to take over Continental AG. “It cannot be ruled out that a long-term orientated investor could take a larger stake in Continental,” the Financial Times quoted Schaeffler as saying.
While there are a few retail chains such as Dekkman and Vianor operating in Nordic markets, the majority of tyre sales are down to a considerable number of independent operators with one or two depots. For most of these as much as 60 per cent of annual tyre sales are compressed into the four month period leading up to the onset of winter. This figure is higher in the North, where the winter season is both longer and harder. High transport costs, extreme seasonal business and little chance of same day deliveries means that high stock levels are usually required at each retail outlet. Despite these difficulties the independents are generally faring better than the equity chains.
Increasingly, independent tyre retailers in Nordic countries are joining what is now recognised as the leading buying group in the region and one of the most progressive international tyre buying groups; Dekk Partner, founded in 1994.
There will be significantly fewer car retailers operating in the UK in the years to come, as a result of vehicle manufacturers tightening control over dealership standards, according to analysts PricewaterhouseCoopers. Chris Kent, a director in the automotive team at PricewaterhouseCoopers, will be presenting at the forthcoming EurotaxGlass’s conference entitled ‘Driving Business – opportunities for profit and growth in an uncertain market’.
Speaking ahead of the event, he said that many more dealers are expected to follow those that have already closed their doors this year. The theme will be explored in greater detail at the event, being staged on 13 November at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.
For the past ten years Kumho’s European Motorsport Division has been based on the Stanmore Industrial Estate in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. The division has long since moved from its first building on the site and now, due to expansion, it has taken possession of a still larger premises, one that will accommodate ongoing growth for some years to come. The new warehouse occupies an area of 28,000 square feet, and is accompanied by an adjacent 4,000 square feet of office space plus large conference room.
Current economic conditions have seriously shaken the confidence of North American consumers. Last week, the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its index of confidence plummeted to 57.5 in October from 70.3 in September – its steepest monthly drop ever. The index’s all-time low was 51.7, which it hit in May 1980; it is now at its lowest point since June. “All of the prior double-digit declines were based on severe economic dislocations with the losses accelerated by fear and panic,” the report said.
Canadian consumer confidence also fell in October, reaching the lowest level in more than 25 years, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s consumer confidence index also released last week. The Board’s index fell to 73.9, the lowest level since the third quarter of 1982 during the height of the early 1980s downturn. “The global credit crunch and major stock market declines clearly had an effect on consumer confidence,” said Pedro Antunes, the board’s director of national and provincial forecasts. “Consumers felt that they would be worse off in six months, indicating concerns that the financial crisis would not be resolved quickly.” (Tire Review/Akron)
Kumho’s ever-expanding European Motorsport Division has been based on the Stanmore Industrial Estate in Bridgnorth, Shropshire for ten years. Having long since moved from its first building on the site, it has now taken possession of still bigger premises that will allow ongoing growth for some years to come. At any one time the Bridgnorth warehouse is home to thousands of competition tyres. They are manufactured to order in the company’s Korean factories, shipped to Bridgnorth and then supplied to teams and events throughout Europe.
The seven-strong team at Bridgnorth have a pair of fully-equipped trucks with which they provide on-event support to many of the company’s top race and rally competitors. Others are supported by the comprehensive European network of specialist Kumho motorsport tyre dealers. Adjoining the new 28,000 sq ft warehouse is 4,000 sq ft of smart, modern office accommodation for the benefit of both the permanent staff and visiting Kumho executives. There is also a large, state-of-the-art conference room on site.
An integral part of the division’s activities is providing the R&D department and factory with the information they need in order to keep designing and developing winning products. In turn, all the lessons learnt in the heat of the racetrack and the often damp, muddy conditions of the rally stage are incorporated in the design of Kumho’s UHP road tyres, helping to provide them with greater levels of performance.
According to Russia’s Interfax news service, construction work on Pirelli’s tyre factory in Togliatti will begin in March 2009. This announcement was apparently made by Vladislav Kapustin, head of the Samara region’s Industry, Energy and Technology Ministry, at a press conference during the opening of an automotive industry trade show in Togliatti.
“The talks with Pirelli are proceeding successfully,” said Kapustin. “An entire Pirelli delegation visited the future site of the plant in Togliatti. Pirelli’s plans are to begin work at the site in March. Practical plans are not being revised.”
In September visitors to the OTR Retreading Conference in Epe, the Netherlands, were given a demonstration of the newest extrusion systems developed by the VMI Group’s extrusion division. These latest products to be developed by the German based division enable the retreading of giant OTR tyres and consist of two key components – the VMI-AZ Base Constructor and the Strip Builder.
Advanced ID Corporation, the parent company of tyre management RFID specialists Pneu-Logic, is predicting it will record a 400 per cent increase in fourth quarter revenues following the acquisition of Shenzhen DDCT Technology Co. The company earlier announced that DDCT has developed RFID readers and modules that are capturing major tenders and orders in their respective RFID sectors. Several contracts have already been negotiated and are seen as the key reason for the predicted growth.
Dan Finch, president and CEO, said: “We are more than pleased with DDCT as our new acquisition. Working with Cherry Lim, our country manager and Mr. Siyou Su, chairman of DDCT, we have received confirmation of projects that will start before the end of 2008. We have funded the infrastructure for our new location in Shenzhen and are completing production and manufacturing on those projects as we speak.” Mr. Su commented in an earlier press release on his projections for 2009 of US$12 Million and is very confident that this will be not only achieved but surpassed for the China market alone.”
Speaking at the Fork Lift Truck Association’s (FLTA) Safety Conference on 25 September, Continental Industrial tyres warned against incorrect fitments and poor maintenance of tyres on industrial vehicles. Industrial vehicles have evolved over the past 20 years, becoming faster, more powerful and being worked harder than ever before. These advancements mean that higher demands are being put on the vehicles only contact with the road, making good tyre selection all the more important.
Gary Banks from Continental Industrial tyres explained why: “Tyres are an essential part of the forklift truck and if the wrong tyres are fitted or the tyres are not maintained properly then this can have serious consequences both on running costs and fleet safety…It is important that the right choice is made when fitting Industrial tyres to your forklifts, especially when lifting heavy loads and when loads have to be raised to a great height.
Michelin Tyres’ Dr. Patrick King will speak at the forthcoming Arab RFID 2008 Conference. The event, scheduled for 12-15 October 2008 will take palce at the Moevenpick Hotel, Dubai. Other Arab RFID 2008 Conference speakers include: Ken Porad (The Boeing Company), Dr. Dan Engels (MIT) and Sybren Tuinstra (TNT Express). Master Classes will be held on 12 and 15 of October, while the main conference will take place from 13-14 October 2008.
In addition to hosting an exhibition stand at this week’s International Tire Exhibition and Conference (ITEC), American Tire Corporation has announced that it will deliver a 30-minute presentation on the impact of tyre awareness programmes in the OTR sector. However, during the course of the show ATC’s activities will be focused on the following recruiting radial OTR tyre engineers and sourcing additional OTR tyre equipment supplies.
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