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Construction of Apollo Chennai Factory to Start by Late October

A company source indicates the new Apollo Tyres greenfield radial facility in preparation on the outskirts of Chennai, India, will enter operation late next year. The Hindu Business Line newspaper was informed that the plant’s first construction phase will commence by the end of October at a cost of 10 billion rupees (£125.7 million). Overall, development of the 135 acre site, which will deliver a daily capacity of 200 tonnes, will cost 22 billion rupees (£276.5 million).

The source further commented that Apollo has become a “high-performance company” and the leading Indian tyre manufacturer with revenues of over US$1.2 billion. “It is built around the core principles of creating stakeholder value through reliability in its products and dependability in its relationships,” he said. The company has a network of over 4,000 dealerships in India, of which over 2,500 are exclusive outlets. In South Africa, it has over 900 dealerships, of which 190 are Dunlop Zones, the source added.

2nd September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bike Tyrestore Not Just Tyres for Bikes

Bike Tyrestore, as the company name more than suggests, predominately participates in the motorcycle tyre sector, supplying dealers and customers with quality products for two-wheeled machines. However vehicles with four wheels are not entirely spurned by the Birmingham based company – Bike Tyrestore also keeps quad bike users on (or off) the road with a healthy range of ATV tyres.

1st September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Motorcycle Tyre Manufacturers Launch New Round of Price Increases

Leading UK motorcycle tyre wholesaler, Bike Tyrestore reports that continuing volatility in two-wheel tyre prices have prompted manufacturers to announce another round of increases, due to spiralling raw material and fuel costs.

The UK two-wheel market leader, Bridgestone, is raising motorcycle and scooter product prices by an average of 6 per cent on September 1, and on the same date Pirelli/Metzeler increase radial tyre prices by 5 per cent, 7 per cent for conventional lines and 3 per cent on scooter. Dunlop follow on September 15 with a 6 per cent hike and Avon are thought to be adding 5 per cent to their two-wheel tyre prices on October 1.

28th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Announces New Research Head

Dr Wei Ding has been unveiled as the newly created head of research at Dunlop Aircraft Tyres. He will develop and implement the forthcoming research strategy for the manufacturer, reporting to Martin Pye, the Birmingham-based tyre maker’s technical director.

Wei arrives at Dunlop from his position as project manager for tyre research and team leader for tyre and brake modelling and simulation at Airbus. His employment in the new position is directly related to the company’s expansion strategy, states chairman Ian Edmondson: “We are looking to get closer to the airframe constructors and Wei’s background will mean that we are better placed to develop new products that meet their future needs.”

Dr Wei has been a research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Materials Processing, after which he worked as a senior engineer in the automotive tyre industry. He is a chartered engineer, and his latest task will be to oversee growth, as Dunlop seeks to consolidate and improve its position in the aeronautical industry as the sole specialist aircraft tyre manufacturer.

28th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

HiQ Experiences “High Level” of Franchise Interest

Mark Brickhill, the group managing director of Goodyear Dunlop, has released a statement commenting on the “high level of interest from ambitious businesses wanting to join us in investing in the future growth of HiQ” following the announcement of the company’s plan to sign long-term franchise agreements. The move towards longer franchises comes as a manoeuvre that will prevent a proposed management buyout from taking place, while also extending the scheme that has seen great success in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Brickhill continued, stating that since the announcement of the extension of the franchising system to all parent-owned HiQ sites in England and Wales, many businesses had applied to join the scheme: “On the closing date (May 16th) we had more bidders than the total number of franchise regions. This puts us in a strong position to make choices that ensure we have committed franchisees on board who share our vision in strengthening the network.”

27th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

KRT Looks to Continue Independent Success

With an inventory in excess of £7 million, Kings Road Tyres (KRT) claims to have secured a high level of penetration into the UK market for truck and bus tyres.

KRT has been marketing and distributing TBR tyres for the past four decades in which time it has become one of the largest independent distributors in the UK and Ireland.

The company’s extensive TBR stocks range from premium brands such as Bridgestone, Continental and Dunlop to Firestone and its own brand Kingstone, all the way through to the economy range of Kumho and its very latest additions – Infinity and Aeolus. KRT is very proud of its ability to offer a wide range of brands and fitments, covering short and long haul, construction, on/off road and city tyres, maintaining a choice of tyres to suit their customer’s needs, while making the best effort at combining quality with competitive pricing. The firm claims to be “committed to offering customers a product to suit both quality and price.”

27th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop India Test Marketing Sumitomo PCR Tyres

Dunlop India has reportedly begun the test marketing of passenger car radials produced by Sumitomo. These tyres will be sold in India under the Dunlop brand name.

The company’s plans to import passenger car radials is in addition to its TBR and OTR tyre imports, a current necessity for Dunlop. “We are facing technical problems in stabilising the production at Sahagunj beyond 50 tonnes a day,” commented Ruia Group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia. “Until the problem is over, we cannot go for the slated capacity expansion.

21st August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop India to Import Radial, OTR Tyres

Further to the Ruia Group’s plans for Dunlop India outlined on August 19, the company is reportedly looking to source radial and larger size OTR tyres from overseas to fill gaps in its own domestic production programme. Some 10 to 15 containers of tyres will initially be imported from East Asia and sold in the Indian market under the Dunlop brand name.

20th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Ruia Outlines Dunlop India Plans at AGM

Dunlop India is planning to build a ten megawatt captive power plant at its manufacturing unit at Shahgunj in West Bengal. Pawan Kumar Ruia, chairman of Dunlop parent company the Ruia Group, Pawan Kumar Ruia, announced during the company’s annual general meeting that this Rs 500 million (£6.2 million) facility would be built during the next one to one and a half years.

The group has just begun work on a six megawatt captive power plant at a manufacturing site belonging to Falcon Tyres, a company acquired at the same time as Dunlop India in 2005, and as the company’s own requirements here are only 3.5 megawatts, it will sell the surplus electricity. The Shahgunj unit’s captive need is five megawatts.

19th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

A Lifetime in the Business

Throughout three decades of working in the wheel alignment industry, Beissbarth UK’s managing director, Philip Hodges, has been a driving force for improvements in standards, training and technical innovation. Coming from a family background that can trace its roots in the tyre industry as far back as 1915, Philip’s own time in the business has also seen many developments. He shares with us his insights and experience in the industry from his beginnings in the 1970’s through to becoming managing director of Beissbarth UK – an iconic and long-established brand that has become closely associated with groundbreaking technology in its field.

18th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Sport Maxx Tyres Help Hollamby in Time Attack

Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup driver Shaun Hollamby, took on one of the most breathtaking circuit phenomenons of the year performing in the Time Attack at Circuit Park Zandvoort, Holland. Time Attack is said to be the next ‘big thing’ in automotive lifestyle and brings full throttle excitement to the track. It puts drivers under pressure with one lap against the clock.

Street legal cars are let loose on tracks across Europe to achieve the fastest lap possible and the best from each track meet in the final later in the year. Shaun Hollamby, a race winner, in the Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup was invited to race Milltek’s Audi R8 at the legendary race circuit in Holland. The R8 proved to be quite a different experience from Shaun’s usual winning car the Sport SEAT Leon Cupra 2.0T. Only the Sport Maxx tyres were the common element to the two cars.

15th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Tops Tire Rack Test

In a new evaluation of summer performance tires by Tire Rack, the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec topped the Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R, Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 and Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 tires, Goodyear claimed. The tyres, in size 225/45R17, were tested on a 2008 BMW 335i coupe, according to Goodyear. Matt Neidert, Dunlop brand performance manager, said, “Tire Rack’s recent test results, combined with several SCCA Solo National Tour victories in 2008, validate the performance capabilities of the new ‘Star Spec’ tread compound, which helps initial dry grip during sanctioned amateur driving events.”

14th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Launches Health and Safety Plan After Accident

Goodyear Dunlop has announced the launch of a global health and safety plan after a worker was injured in an accident at the company’s Wolverhampton plant. Goodyear Dunlop pleaded guilty to breaching the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act in a hearing before Birmingham magistrates at the beginning of August. The manufacturer was fined £13,500 and ordered to pay £2,888.04 in costs plus £4000 in damages.

Goodyear Dunlop’s main response has come in the form of it new “No one gets hurt” plan, which includes safety awareness training, and risk assessments that are designed to lead to improvements in processes and equipment usage. “[Goodyear Dunlop] has a positive commitment towards health and safety and continues to strive towards a culture and environment in which all its employees can work safely. We will learn from the findings of this case and continue to improve towards achieving our objective of No-one Gets Hurt,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

14th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Aircraft Workers Back in China After Birmingham Training

The first new recruits at Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ new China retreading operation have travelled back to the People’s Republic after completing a training course in Birmingham. The China-based team, including six tyre production workers and a supervisor, completed the six-month course in preparation for the opening of the Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ new Jinjiang facility.

13th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Tires NA Appoints New President & Chairman

Joseph Rosen has been named president and chairman of Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America Ltd. In his new role, Rosen will be in charge of the joint venture that was formed in 1999 between Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., and Sumitomo Rubber Industries. The venture employs 1,350 workers at its tyre manufacturing facility in Tonawanda, New York and its corporate headquarters in West Amherst, New York.

11th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors