Generation Y is square in Cooper Tire Europe’s sights following an overhaul of the company’s marketing strategy for the region. The tyre maker reports undergoing a major shift in emphasis towards increasing brand awareness among the 18 to 35-year-old male demographic.
Cooper has secured its first US original equipment deal with Ford, which has selected the Cooper Zeon RS3-A as the standard fitment on its 2013 Ford Focus SE and Titanium models. Tire Review reports that the all-season UHP tyre will be supplied in W-rated size 215/50R17.
The Carlsson-developed SLK 340 international hillclimb race car due to première at the Geneva Motor Show on 5 March is capable of developing a respect-worthy 782bhp per tonne, and a car with this level of performance needs a suitable tyre. Thus Avon Tyres takes pride in reporting that its hillclimb tyres have been chosen as the SLK 340’s original equipment fitment.
The 2013 Dakar Rally saw history created as Race2Recovery, the group of predominantly injured soldiers who formed a rally team to raise funds for Forces charities, became the first ever disability team to complete the world’s toughest race. The team’s Land Rover Defender-based Wildcat race vehicle, running on Cooper Tire’s Discoverer STT, and its crew of driver Major Matt O’Hare and co-driver Corporal Phillip Gillespie, crossed the finish line of the final stage in Santiago, Chile on Saturday evening, ending two weeks of racing that saw the team’s other three Wildcat vehicles fall out of the race.
Financial analysts has spoken of Cooper’s confidence in its continuing business outlook following presentations to investors at a Detroit roadshow.
Explaining their renewed confidence, the analysts put this down to “notably improved” product mix, cost competitiveness and recent pricing activity. As far as the import question of how Cooper will fair post import tariff, the Deutsche Bank analysts highlighted that since the tariff was implemented, “the cost of producing tyres in China has increased faster than other regions (the cost gap was 30 per cent at the time of tariff implementation but has declined to a 10-15 per cent).
While it should come as no surprise to readers that slippery roads contribute to more accidents in colder weather in the UK, the latest drop in temperatures has prompted Cooper Tire to remind drivers of the last two years of accident data, suggesting that specialist winter tyres could help reduce the chances of a prang. During November and December 2011 the UK’s average temperature fell from 8.7°C to 4.8°C and Department for Transport figures showed a significant rise in accidents involving slippery roads in the winter months. A similar trend was recorded in 2010.
Italian racing team AF Corse claimed its second Gulf 12 Hours win on Avon tyres in 2012 at the Yas Marina Circuit last week, in the final race of the Cooper brand’s 2012 motorsport season. The AF Corse team, which recently announced its entry to the Avon Tyres British GT Championship in 2013, took the spoils by the excitingly small margin of 2.6 seconds in the first Gulf 12 Hours Race, held at the Herman Tilke-designed circuit back in January. Victory in the second event of the year was decidedly more convincing, with the lead AF Corse Ferrari crossing the line nearly half a minute clear of the rest of the field in its second visit to the Emirati capital.
Pirelli has confirmed it will appear at the annual Autosport International Show in Birmingham where the Italian tyre manufacturer will showcase a motorsport-focused display that includes the new Pirelli Star Driver Citroen DS3 R3.
This year’s Kumho Tire USA dealer meeting took place between 7 and 10 December, and Tire Review reports that while the tyre maker’s management acknowledged next year will likely be similar to 2012 – in other words, a challenging year for dealers and for the industry in general – the company focused on what its dealers can look forward to.
Last week, US-based organisation the Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops (AAIC) held its 24th annual meeting; the event’s focus was ‘developing sustainable solutions’, and during the meeting Cooper Tire research scientist Dr. Howard Colvin presented a paper, titled “Securing the Future of Natural Rubber – an American Tire and Bio-Energy Platform from Guayule.”
India’s Economic Times reports that Apollo Tyres has “put on hold its plans of going ahead with the acquisition” of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. Tire Review writes that the newspaper, which first reported about the possible acquisition deal back in October, reported yesterday that “sources with direct knowledge” said the plan was put on ice because Apollo “did not get a favorable response to its qualified institutional placement (QIP) from the institutional investors who were worried about the end-use of the funds.”
From 1 January 2013 Jeff Schumaker will take over as managing director of Cooper Tire Europe prior to Julian Baldwin’s retirement on 31 January. Baldwin’s retirement follows six years of leading Cooper Tire Europe and almost 20 years with the company.
“Jeff’s demonstrated leadership skills and broad range of competencies gained throughout his long and diverse career at Cooper Tire position him well to succeed Julian, who has accomplished a great deal in his years at the helm of Cooper Tire Europe,” said Hal Miller, president, International Tire Division. “Under Julian’s leadership, a high quality, cost-effective European manufacturing footprint was established and expanded with the recent opening of our new operation in Serbia. We thank Julian for his immense contributions and look forward to the strong leadership Jeff will bring to maximizing our opportunities throughout Europe and Russia.”
Apollo Tyres has released its unaudited financial figures for the second quarter of the company's financial year 2012-13 (July to September). Net sales were up 18 per cent year on year at 33.7 billion Rupees (US$ 612.29 million), operating profit rose 55 per cent to Rs 3.8 bn (US$ 135.33 m) and net profit was up an impressive 96 per cent to Rs 1.5 bn (US$ 27.62 m).
Michelin has appointed Jason Cooper as UK & Republic of Ireland operational sales manager for its truck and bus division. Cooper brings more than 17 years of experience with Michelin to the role. This includes the last 18 months as sales process and training manager for Michelin, and four years in a dual role as sales process and training manager and national sales manager for the car tyre product line in Delhi, India.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has reported record net sales and operating profits in its third quarter 2012 financial results. According to the company, sales of US$1.1 billion (up 4 per cent) were a record. The company also reported record operating profit of $130 million, $82 million higher than in third quarter 2011 results and representing 11.8 per cent of net sales. Net income was also a significant improvement on last year’s $17 million, with the company posting a third quarter record of $74 million or $1.17 per share on a diluted basis.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
