Bridgestone’s Blizzak LM-80 was the clear winner of German automobile club ADAC, TCS and ÖAMTC’s new SUV/CUV winter tyre tests (size 215/65 R16 on a Volkswagen Tiguan), while its Blizzak LM-32 received the association’s highest snow ranking. The passenger car tyre was awarded AutoBild’s highest winter rating, published in early October.
Sergio Marchionne, president and CEO of Fiat, painted a bleak picture of the immediate future for his industry in a message to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
The world’s largest vehicle wheel manufacturer, Maxion Wheels, has completed its project to double production of cast aluminium wheels in Manisa, Turkey, near the city of Izmir. With this week’s official opening ceremony for the facility – which is promoted as a second plant – annual capacity has increased to four million units. This means the Manisa site is not only the company’s largest in this product segment, rather it is – along with the Borbet facility in Bad Langensalza, Germany – the industry’s largest plant in Europe.
Telemetry and M2M solutions provider Concirrus and UK-based vehicle tracking and fleet management solution supplier CMS SupaTrak have announced that that PressurePro’s tyre pressure information will be integrated into their new EcoTyre solution.
This month Bridgestone Europe is launching a new advertising campaign to support its winter tyre range; the integrated multimedia campaign will be shown in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden and is aimed at demonstrating how Bridgestone tyres keep “winter under control”.
At June’s Reifen trade show in Germany, Falken Tyre Europe shared that Volkswagen had selected its Sincera SN831A in size 165/70R14 81T for its new compact model, the ‘Up!’. The car maker has now selected another Falken product as original equipment, this time for the Polo; in certain European markets the Eurowinter HS449 winter tyre will be fitted to the Polo in size 185/60 R15 85H.
Titan International reported on 5 October that it has received 87.24 per cent acceptance levels for its Titan Europe plc share offer, making the offer “unconditional in all respects.” The offer will remain open until 19 October. The newly issued Titan International shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on or around that date.
Qingdao Fullrun Tyre Corp. claims to be China’s largest tyre exporter, and has set itself the goal ten million tyres per annum by 2015. Last year the company’s turnover increased almost 43 per cent to US$400 million. Its main brands are Fullrun, AnTyre, Fullway, AutoGrip, AderenZa and TurnPike, and these are sold in more than 100 countries.
Team Nexen Tire Europe has won the 2012 Drift Allstars European Series, with its Irish Driver, Alan Sinnot in first place and Spanish champion, Lluis Lopez in fourth. The title-clinching meeting took place on the island of Malta on what is the biggest professional drift event in southern Europe. Team Nexen’s position as one of the leading professional drifting teams in Europe was confirmed at the ex-Sandhurst School Sports Arena in Pembroke, when its two drivers competed in the final.
Michelin says it is setting its sights on the pan-European Euro 6 coach market with the launch of a new 7.5-tonne load capacity X-Coach HL Z tyre, a product that incorporates the company’s patented InfiniCoil technology. The new tyre is available solely as a 295/80 R22.5 fitment, a size Michelin expects will become the dominant tyre on the majority of Euro 6 coaches sold across Europe.
Paul Fitzhenry has been elected by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s board of directors as senior vice president of global communications, effective 8 October.
Fitzhenry will report to Richard J. Kramer, Goodyear’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. As chief communications officer, Fitzhenry will be responsible for leading Goodyear’s global communications strategy and aligning it with the company’s business objectives, global strategy, and corporate mission.
As part of the launch of the Goodyear Ultragrip 8 Performance in September, Goodyear advised motorists – especially those driving performance vehicles – that fitting winter tyres is the best way to prepare for the forthcoming winter. According to the Met Office, 366.8mm of rain fell across the UK up to 29 August showed. And what’s more the latest figures follow a record breakingly wet April, and an April to June period that was also the wettest recorded in the UK.
Beijing-based Best Choice International Trade Co. was present at CITExpo with its Mazzini and Sunew private brands. Sales manager Stephen Wu commented that visitors from the Middle East and Asia had shown “a lot of interest” during the show. These are currently the most active regions for Best Choice, Wu added; Europe is “quieter at the moment.”
Alcoa Wheel Products Europe has introduced four new wheels for truck and trailer applications at the IAA trade show in Hannover, Germany. The fitments comprise: 22.5×11.75”, 45mm offset wheel for inloaders; a 22.5×11.75”, 80mm offset wheel; 22.5×11.75”, 135mm offset and five ton load index; and a 22.5×13.00” lighter wheel with higher load capacity.
So far GT Radial has launched 12 new tyres in 2012, and intends to introduce a further ten before the end of the year. Two of the tyre maker’s latest products are on display at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show this week – the GAR820 steer axle tyre and GDL617 drive axle pattern.
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