Dunlop Tyres has announced their entry into a new television deal with motorsport programming producer Greenlight TV that will see the BACR/Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup broadcast on Sky Sports and Motors TV. This is seen as a substantial boost for the inaugural season of this series, for which 11 confirmed drivers have already registered.
Bridgestone CEO and president Mr. Shoshi Arakawa has presented a special award to the company’s global sales teams in recognition of their efforts in promoting the Think Before You Drive road safety campaign. The campaign, which was launched in 2005 and emphasises basic safety measures including regular tyre pressure and tread depth checks, has in a short time spread to 73 countries around the world.
Speaking at the Geneva motor show, the director general of the London-based FIA Foundation, David Ward, has reiterated the significant financial and environmental impact of driving with under inflated tyres.
As part of the ‘Think Before You Drive’ campaign the FIA Foundation has conducted in partnership with Bridgestone, the foundation has been privy to the results of numerous studies. “In doing this campaign, where there’s been a huge number of tyre testing around Europe, we’ve actually discovered the whole environmental story,” commented Mr. Ward.
Hankook Tire has announced the appointment of the company’s current President and COO of Hankook Tire Europe, Mr. Seung Hwa Suh, to the position of Global CEO. Mr. Suh, the person Hankook accredits as the driving force behind its new production facility in Hungary, officially took on his new role on March 5.
(Douglasdale, South Africa/S.A. Treads) Renault Trucks is Europe’s first truck maker to offer Goodyear Duraseal Technology. Customers ordering vehicles from the brand-new Renault Kerax of construction range, which were launched at the IAA Truck Show in Hanover recently, will have the choice of Goodyear Omnitrac mixed-service tyres featuring Duraseal Technology. This means less downtime and reduced tyre costs.
Korean tyremaker Hankook, who in a company news release referred to Europe as their “second domestic market,” are preparing their new factory in Hungary for the start of production. The plant in Dunaujvaros, Hungary, which according to the company cost US$500 million (£255 million), is located on a 54-hectare site 68km south of Budapest and when operational will provide output for the European UHP tyre market.
Kumho Tire has announced the supply of their products as OE on the US market version of the Sprinter van. The Sprinter, which sports the Mercedes-Benz badge in UK and European markets, will go on sale in the US under the Dodge and Freightliner brand names in the first quarter of 2007.
Michelin has launched the first steer axle truck tyre in its range to feature InfiniCoil architecture, one of the key innovations of Michelin Durable Technologies. The 315/60 R 22.5 Michelin X Energy XF is available as original equipment in Europe and will be exhibited on Michelin’s stand at the Commercial Vehicle Show. With a load carrying capacity of 7.5 tonnes (the same as a 315/70 R 22.5), this new tyre responds to the demand from vehicle manufacturers seeking tyres that increase the steer axle’s load-carrying capacity.
Japan’s Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd will use the 77th Geneva Motor Show to introduce several of its latest products to Europe. Amongst these are the new additions to the company’s flagship ‘ADVAN’ range, including the ‘ADVAN Sport Z.P.S.’, a run-flat version of Yokohama’s popular performance tyre, the S8 ADVAN Sport, developed exclusively for Audi, and the ADVAN Winter. Yokohama proudly states these tyres have been specially developed for the OE segment and will be fitted to some of the world’s most desirable cars.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, the ACEA, has released their figures for the number of commercial vehicles first registered within the European Union and within the UK during 2006. The figures showed a general trend towards slow or negative growth in the UK market with a solitary exception.
Michelin has announced that will increase the price of its truck tyre products by an average of 4.4 per cent. Michelin representatives in Europe told Tyres & Accessories that the price rise would come into effect tomorrow (1 March 2007). According to the French tyre manufacturer, the price increase was triggered by the continuing high cost of raw materials, and specifically rubber prices.
Gloucestershire based Watts Industrial Polymers is a leading producer of tyre and retread compounds and related materials both at home in the UK and in numerous export markets. From their manufacturing facilities in Lydney, where the company’s headquarters is also located, Watts supplies polymer compounds in strip, slab and camelback form as well as sidewall veneers and ancillary materials.
Matador has released its third generation passenger car winter tyres, the MP59 Nordicca. Designed with an asymmetric tread pattern the company claims to be the optimal shape for meeting the demands of a UHP winter tyre, the MP59 Nordicca has been built with European conditions in mind.
Slovakia’s number one tyremaker has held their “Matador Winter Grip” event for a second year, this time at Tále in the Low Tatra Mountains. Testing on what has been called difficult and snowy terrain in weather not conducive to the event, participants were able to experience driving the company’s tyres on a range of vehicles, including models from Mercedes, Skoda, Seat, Jeep, KIA and Honda.
(Akron/Tire Review) The Marangoni Ringnet network is steadily expanding throughout the U.K., Iberian peninsula, Germany, Scandinavia, Benelux and central and eastern Europe, according to Marangoni Retreading Systems. Ringnet is Marangoni’s European network of retreaders and dealers of Marangoni Ringtreads. The network was officially launched in Italy at the Autopromotec exhibition in May 2005.
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