The labour minister of India’s West Bengal state has asked Ruia Group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia to clarify his intentions regarding Dunlop India, and its Sahaganj plant in particular, to the state government. Labour minister Purnendu Bose visited the Sahaganj facility on July 17 – and articles published by India’s media indicate he was not impressed by what he found.
Following recent positive reviews in the consumer press, Maxxis has announced that it is showcasing its latest range of motorcycle tyres, including its new sports touring radial, the MA-3DS Supermaxx Diamond, in a special supplement in leading consumer motorcycling magazine MCN.
The latest new motorcycle and scooter figures show year-on-year sales were down 3.8 per cent compared with 2010 and down 2.1 per cent year-to-date. However scooter sales were up 16.5 per cent in June, whilst larger bike registrations fell by almost 11 per cent. The year-to-date figures show that Scooter sales have increased by 15.9 per cent but larger bike sales have decreased 8.4 per cent.
Goodyear’s Richard J. Kramer, chairman and chief executive officer, and Darren R. Wells, executive vice president and chief financial officer will participate in an investor conference call following the company’s second quarter 2011 financial results report. The report will be delivered before markets open on Thursday, 28 July, with the call following at 10:00 EST (15:00 GMT). The financial information will be posted on Goodyear’s investor relations website at around 9:45 EST. Goodyear also says that the call can be accessed on the website or via telephone by calling (706) 643-2869 before 9:55 on July 28. A taped replay will be available later that day by calling (404) 537-3406, Conference ID 83080825, and on the website.
American Le Mans Series drivers on Dunlop tyres took two victories from pole position at Lime Rock this weekend in the Le Mans Prototype (LMP) class and the GT category in the gruelling 2h45m race. Sanjay Khanna, managing director, Dunlop Brand EMEA, stated: “Dunlop focuses on endurance racing to build longer lasting tyres for road performance.
Russia’s Kama Trading House began building up its ‘Tyre & Service’ branded service centre network in 2010. Starting in Russia, the distributor of the Kama tyre brand (which is manufactured by JSC Nizhnekamskshina) expanded its operations into Kazakhstan and the Ukraine earlier this year. The company now announces it has ‘gone international’ with the opening of its first service centre in Eastern Europe. Together with tyre importer and re-exporter Czech Style Ltd., in June Kama established a presence in Zlin, Czech Republic – its first outside of the former USSR. Kama’s ‘Tyre & Service’ centre is located in the Zlin outlet of the ‘Czech Style’ service network, which incidentally belongs to Goodyear Dunlop’s Premio network.
Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK says it is delighted to announce further investment in the Dunlop brand through a new television advertising campaign. Set to run across July, the Dunlop advert will appear on a number of channels, including Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky 1 and Sky Sports, thereby giving the brand exposure to relevant target audiences.
The ADAC Nürburgring 24 hour race is wrapped up in both the corporate spending in making fast, reliable machines to conquer this most challenging of circuits and what Falken representatives describe as the “punk rock” aesthetic of the camping motorsport enthusiasts – and indeed some of the competitors, as evidenced by the famous Opel Ascona with the fox tail attachment. Speaking with event main sponsor and tyre-supplying participant Falken Tyres Europe, T&A understands the brand’s argument that the race’s blend of research and development opportunities, and the connection with fanatics (a quarter of a million trackside, without taking into account those keeping track on the internet and television) makes it one of the brand’s “most important” events. Falken Tyre Europe’s marketing director, Satoru Ushida explained that the company is keen to show its presence in Europe at such events as it establishes itself further, having taken over distribution of the brand from Goodyear Dunlop in 2009.
As of July 1, Slovenia’s Sava Tires will be known as Goodyear Dunlop Sava Tires. This name change was announced by Sava Tires management at a press conference on June 28; the reason given for adopting the new name was that it will bring the Sava operation’s company name in line with the other Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe companies. Furthermore, it is expected the new name will give the company greater visibility and strengthen its market position.
Industry observers are calling the European Union’s tyre labelling legislation, due to come into force on 1 November 2012, one of the biggest changes in the tyre industry for 50 years. Summing up the effect of the change on the consumer, vice president of Goodyear Dunlop EU Consumer Business Unit Mark Brickhill told Tyres & Accessories last year: “for the first time the industry is going to be required to give the consumer clear information in a standard set of KPIs [key performance indicators] from a standard set of tests, and something that is very complex – and sometimes confusing – for the consumer is going to be hugely enlightened.” Yet few tyre retailers have had much to say on the subject so far.
Transense, the saw-wave RFID company that has developed the Translogik range of TPMS and related technologies, has made “huge progress” in the last three years. That’s the view of the firm’s board which released an AGM statement on 29 June lauded the businesses improvements. “Transense is now in a position to leverage its technological expertise and a much broader range of technical projects are now underway. In fact, there are more live development projects now than at any time in the company's history, such that the medium to long term future looks promising,” the statement explained.
Data collected by Encircle Marketing over the 12 months between May 2010 and April 2011 suggests that the market for passenger car tyres is stable, with prices marginally up over the duration of the period. Premium brand tyres averaged £93.92 in April against £90.50 in May 2010, while the upper budget (£54.54 in April), lower budget (£50.12) and mid-range (£68.51) all experienced similar average price increases in the period. Both the premium and upper budget segments’ average prices saw a slight dip in October 2010, interrupting an otherwise slowly upwards incline.
The buy-up of automotive component company’s by India’s Ruia Group is said to be continuing. The Economic Times reports the company is in discussions regarding the purchase of Autoline Industries, a Pune based vehicle body product manufacturer. Autoline Industries achieved revenues of Rs 6.6 billion (£88.8 million) in the last financial year, with some 85 per cent of its income coming from Tata Motors. The Ruia Group, who owns the Dunlop, Falcon and Monotona tyre brands in India, has already purchased six automotive component companies since 2008.
This year's Isle of Man TT races saw a win and a second place for sidecar racer John Holden on Yokohama tyres; Holden took second place in the first of the season's two sidecar races and then went one better on the rescheduled second race to claim his long overdue maiden win. Commenting, Yokohama HPT’s head of Motorsport Mark Evans said: “I am delighted that John and [sidecar passenger] Andy [Winkle] have finally achieved their TT win. It's been a long time coming but all the more deserved for it.” Fellow Yokohama runner Tim Reeves narrowly missed out on the podium twice, finishing fourth in both races.
Dunlop increased its tally of victories to 17 over the last four years, as riders using the company’s rubber took wins in the Superbike, Supersport 1, Superstock and Senior TT races in 2011. The 92nd running of the Isle of Man TT race saw yet another victory for Honda TT Legends rider John McGuiness in the final TT race, completing the 37.73 mile (60.72 km) Mountain Course. “This was an excellent performance from Dunlop-shod teams and riders,” said Dunlop Motorsport sales manager motorcycle race, Pat Walsh.
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