At its Capital Markets Day earlier this month, Swedish firm Trelleborg outlined a new organisational structure. As of 1 January 2013, the Trelleborg Group will be divided into five business areas; Trelleborg Coated Systems, Trelleborg Industrial Solutions, Trelleborg Offshore & Construction, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions and Trelleborg Wheel Systems. The company says the new arrangement makes for a “more focused” organisational structure.
The Škoda Citigo will roll off the production line fitted with Falken Tyres’ Sincera SN831A Ecorun. The Japanese tyre manufacturer has been increasing its OEM business this year, including deals to supply the tyre to the Seat Mii and the Volkswagen Up!, as well as having its Eurowinter HS449 winter tyre approved for Polo fitment, making this the fourth VW Group vehicle to run on Falken tyres as standard since June 2012. Falken supplies a 165/70R14 81T tyre to the Czech manufacturer.
Nexen Tyre Europe GmbH has appointed Joo Ho Song as its new president. Song has reportedly already started carrying out “a comprehensive package of measures, focusing on Nexen’s ambitious goals in Europe and implementing relevant strategies quickly.” The measures include increasing personnel at the European headquarters in Eschborn.
Bridgestone has expanded its new motorcycle tyre website across Europe with the addition of six new country versions and eight new languages. The site was launched in June 2012 in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, with content adapted to Europe’s five largest markets. As of 1 December the site has been available in a total of 13 languages, with Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish added to the initial five languages. At the same time, specific product-related country versions have been added for Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland.
On 1 March Bridgestone will launch its latest sport touring range in Europe. The Battlax Sport Touring T30 radial will be marketed in ten front and 13 rear sizes. The Japanese manufacturer says the Battlax Sport Touring T30 is a “premium brand steeped in technology refined through the company's development of MotoGP race tyres” and is intended for use on medium to large motorcycles.
Hankook Tire is tweaking its global management team. Soo Il Lee, who is currently president of Hankook Tire America, will as of 1 January take on the position of president and COO of Hankook’s China regional headquarters. The person he’s replacing, Byeong Jin Lee, has been appointed Soo Il Lee’s successor in the US-based position.
From 2013 onwards, the Lotus on Track Racing Drivers Club will use the Avon Motorsport ZZR range as its control tyre. The track day club has signed a three-year tyre supply agreement with Avon Tyres covering its race championships across the UK and Europe. Avon will supply the ZZR for competitors in the Lotus Elise Trophy and the Lotus Cup Europe; during the deal’s first year it will also provide wet weather racing tyres.
The Euromaster Group, the Michelin-owned fast-fit service provider present throughout much of Europe, including in the UK as ATS Euromaster, has announced its entry into the Turkish market. The company says it has taken on 230 passenger car and truck service outlets in Turkey, the 17th European market where Euromaster is active. In total, Euromaster now operates 2,250 fast fit outlets Europe-wide, 790 of which are owned by franchise partners. ATS Euromaster is responsible for more than 380 outlets in the UK.
UK new car registrations rose 11.3 per cent to 149,191 units in November, on the back of increased private demand. The UK new car market has grown 5.4 per cent to 1,921,052 units during the January-November period, putting the full year market on track to be the best since 2008.
Bridgestone’s Rome-based Technical Center Europe (TCE) has won the Italian “E.ON Energia Award” for distinguishing itself in energy efficiency during 2012. The award, first given by the power and gas company last year, was received by Gianni Lampazzi, director of Tyre Development Operations on 29 November 2012 at the “Sette Green Awards” event held at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.
Falken Tyre Europe reports that its Sincera SN831A Ecorun, which is already supplied as original equipment for the Volkswagen Up!, has now been chosen by the Volkswagen Group for fitment on the Seat Mii. As is the case for the Up!, the small Seat will receive the Sincera SN831A in size 165/70R14 81T.
Sailun has announced that its new light truck and sport utility vehicle all-season tyre, the Terramax CVR, is now available in Europe in 18 sizes. The manufacturer says it had crossover vehicles in mind with the Terramax CVR, and the tyre is designed to meet the stability, handling and comfort demands of the segment’s vehicles.
Falken is now offering consumers easy access to online tyre performance data via its so-called “configurator.” Information for both car and truck tyres is available at Falken’s new website (www.falken-europe.com). The website also offers the ability to print out the tyre label, making it easy to compare performance against other tyres.
Representatives from Tatneft-owned Russian tyre maker Nizhnekamskshina have taken part in the 2nd Congress of Russia’s Ecologists. The Moscow-based event, held on 21 and 22 November, aimed to address and implement the tasks defined in the "Principles of the Russian Federation State Policy in the Economic Development till 2030". The environmental forum also served as a platform for discussions on important events in the field of environmental protection plus options for processing household solid wastes, oil and other industrial wastes.
With Germany the only market out of the Big 7 economies that will have positive GDP in 2012, this deterioration has reportedly fed directly into slowing trailer sales. In the first quarter of 2012 trailer demand was up 0.4 per cent, but it will finish the year down 6.3 per cent. Nevertheless 77 per cent of goods in Europe are moved by road and most of that proportion is transported on a trailer, making the progress of this sector of significant interest.
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