Commenting on the enforced confinement of two Goodyear managers at the company’s Amiens Nord plant in France, Titan International’s Maurice Taylor has made it clear that he considers the action a serious crime. The Titan boss, whose company recently reappeared as a potential buyer for the Amiens Nord agricultural tyre business, added that he views the French government’s lack of response to this ‘boss-napping’ as crazy.
As reported on the e-bulletin of the Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation, the EU looks set to finalise its requirements for vehicle testing in a format which will allow the UK’s MoT regime to remain in its present form. The agreement follows many months of hard lobbying both in Brussels and here in the UK.
Hankook Tire chief operating officer Europe and member of the board of directors, Jin-Wook Choi will leave his current position following 38 years with the company. Choi will take on a new consultancy role in the manufacturer’s global headquarters, having served more than thirteen years at top management positions around the world.
Several months ago a new rail freight service commenced between China and the German port city of Hamburg, and Heuver Tyrewholesale reports it intends to use this service as an additional channel for its tyre transport from China.
Building upon the success of its inaugural support of the Under 17 Motor Club in 2013, Falken Tyre Europe is helping more young drivers to get involved in motorsport by providing tyres for the Autosolo event at Autosport International, which takes place at the NEC between 9 and 14 January 2014.
The world’s fourth-largest sugar producer, Tereos, has joined the French BioButterfly project to develop and roll out a process for producing bio-butadiene. The company has signed a partnership agreement with Michelin that focuses on the industrial transformation of agricultural raw materials; this partnership aims to strengthen the upstream phase of the BioButterfly project.
Giti Tire has moved its UK headquarters to new 3,000 square foot offices in Northwich, Cheshire in a move the company described as preparation for “British and pan-European expansion”. According to company, representatives, the new facility will house the passenger car, SUV and light truck (PCR) and commercial truck and bus (TBR) operations across the three main brands, GT Radial, Primewell and Runway.
Aeolus reports that its new aeolus-europe.com is now live and offering information for tyre professionals and other visitors in five languages. The site presents company and product information in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Falken Tyre Europe has named Andreas Giese as its new product planning manager. Giese was previously with Giti Tire Deutschland, where he was employed as marketing manager for almost four years and was involved in the company’s European passenger car tyre business.
Taiwan’s Federal Tyres has signed up as title sponsor of the ‘King of Europe’ drift series. The tyre maker will give its brand name to the King of Europe Street Legal and the Queen of Europe Ladies League for the 2014 season and will also be the official tyre sponsor.
Since the beginning of November ATS Euromaster has seen sales of winter tyres increase seven-fold, and the company expresses confidence that the number of cold weather fitments will continue rising now the winter has properly begun. It expects total cold weather tyre sales to exceed £10 million in 2013.
Tamotsu Sakuramoto will swap his European responsibilities for Japan-based roles as of 1 January 2014, reports Toyo Tire & Rubber. Sakuramoto will be replaced as general manager of Toyo Tire & Rubber’s Europe business unit by Takashi Shimizu, who is currently general manager of Toyo’s Tire Planning division and Tire Administration department; Shimizu will continue in these roles alongside his new position.
Be-whiskered staff from automotive and cycle retailer Halfords have helped the company take the title for the most participants in Movember of any firm in Europe.
Bridgestone has expanded its VSNT (V-Steel N-Traction) off-road tyre line-up with the introduction of a four-star rated version, the 35/65R33 VSNT 4*. The tyre has been specifically developed for underground haulage operations by today’s heavier shuttle trucks. The four-star rating enables the tyre to better accommodate the higher load capacity per air volume required by smaller tyre sizes used due to the constraints of tunnel dimensions.
PFC Brakes has been chosen as official brake supplier to Renault Sport Technologies for its new Clio RS R3T rally car. The company’s pads, discs and calipers incorporate innovations, such as piston cap insulators, which reduce temperature transfer to the brake fluid by as much as 55˚C, minimising the risk of boiling the fluid. This should help the brakes to deliver better performance on tarmac and gravel while adhering to stringent cost and technical requirements set for the category.
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