Towards the end of 2010 Nankang released its first-ever motorcycle tyre, the Roadiac WF-1 radial. The range was developed in partnership with Delticom/Pneubo and is sold exclusively in Europe through Delticom AG web portals, including mytyres.co.uk. According to Nankang, three front wheel and six rear wheel fitments are now available in the Roadiac range.
Want to see a tuned Marangoni Evoque, which is kitted out to run on natural gas and comes fitted with red tyres? Then you’ll want to visit the Reifen 2012 exhibition in Essen, Germany in June. Following the news that the Marangoni Evoque is currently on-tour around the UK and Europe, Tyres & Accessories asked the tyre manufacturer’s Italian communication headquarters if the tyre industry at large is likely to be introduced to the bold outfitting of this modern 4×4 classic.
Tire Review reports that Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has begun moving tyre production equipment out of its Findlay, Ohio, tyre plant. The US magazine reports that late last week the tyre maker was moving the equipment, even as the 1,050 union workers there continued picketing outside of the plant, where they have been locked out since 28 November.
Continental has been awarded top spot in monthly car magazine, evo’s annual tyre test, published in its February edition. The evo performance tyre test, in its third year, measured such performance indicators as wet and dry handling, aquaplaning and braking using 225/40 R18 sized tyres on a range of high-end cars at MIRA. The magazine described Conti’s tyre as giving “an impressively complete performance”.
Hankook Tire says its global sales last year reached record levels. The Korean company’s tyre sales in 2011 amounted to KRW 6.484 trillion (£3.7 billion), a 20.9 per cent year-on-year increase. Yet thanks to steep rises in raw material prices this bumper sales year was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in operating profit – in 2011 this reached KRW 566.3 billion (£325.1 million), a decline of 8.8 per cent on the previous year.
Netherlands based Gaither Europe BV made its debut at Agritechnica 2011 to introduce three new products to the market. Ralph Dubbeldam of Gaither Europe explained: “Gaither has a long standing and successful business association with Trost, one of Europe's leading car parts and equipment suppliers whose clients include a high percentage of agri specialists. We… realised that agriculture could become a new progressive market for us thereby prompting our appearance at the show.”
Russia is currently a growth market for specialty chemicals group Lanxess. In the first nine months of 2011 the company enjoyed sales of close to 50 million euros there, more than twice what it earned in the whole of 2009. To capitalise on the expanding Russian automotive and tyre industries, Lanxess has now decided to invest in a new facility in Lipetsk, some 300 miles southeast of Moscow. Construction of the plant, which will be operated by Lanxess’ Rhein Chemie subsidiary, is set to start early this year and production is scheduled to commence during the first half of 2013. The site will be built at a cost of five million euros and will employ around 40 people in the medium term.
Yukio Yoshida (44) has been named corporate planning director for Falken Tyre Europe, replacing Satoru Ushida, who is returning to Japan. Yoshida has held numerous posts with Falken's parent Sumitomo group since joining them in 1990, the most recent of which was sales manager for the Asian region, which includes China and Oceania.
Good news from the Volkswagen Group at the Detroit Motor Show, when it announced that global vehicle sales rose above 8m for the first time last year, passing Toyota and moving closer to expected number one General Motors.
Continental has responded to the Which? magazine winter tyre test published in December, saying the “best buy” rating the ContiWinterContact TS830 and TS800 were awarded was a “real honour”. The test was the first time the consumer advice magazine has recognised the increased awareness of the product in the UK, with many premium brands putting extra effort into the promotion of seasonal tyre changes. The test encompassed 69 tyres across six of the most popular sizes on the market, with Conti tyres given “best buy status in four sizes.
During the first quarter of 2012 Bridgestone Europe will roll out a new round of price increases for retread materials across the region it serves. Starting from 1 March and varying from country to country, price increases will average ten per cent for Bridgestone and Bandag Pre Cured Tread products and eight per cent for Bandag Cushion Gum products.
Cooper has launched its new 4×4 tyre for extreme conditions, the Discoverer S/T MAXX. The tyre’s compound and tread succeed the popular Discoverer STT. Cooper stated that the tyre will have its first serious test during the 2012 Dakar Rally, in which it will be fitted to Xavier Foj’s Toyota Land Cruiser 150; the third consecutive time the legendary Spanish driver will run on Cooper rubber. The tyre will be launched fully into Europe in February. It is M+S rated and available in sizes ranging from 16 to 18 inch.
At the end of 2011 Rhineland became the first German federal state (after Baden-Württemberg in 2010) to carry out investigations into the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in motor vehicle tyres. The results were published on 12 December 2011. Two of the 19 tyres tested exceeded the limit and show that extender oils were used which do not meet the EU requirements. The offending types of tyres were reportedly removed from the market as a result of not meeting the legal requirements.
David Stinissen has been appointed to the role of marketing manager at Toyo Tire Europe, effective 1 January 2012. Stinissen has taken charge of the Japanese tyre maker’s European marketing department and will carry out this new role in addition to continuing in his existing position as marketing manager for Toyo in the Benelux countries. He will be based both at Toyo Tire Europe’s headquarters in Willich, Germany and at Toyo Tire Benelux in Roosendaal, the Netherlands.
In the four and a half years since Hankook Tire’s Rácalmás plant in Hungary entered production, the facility has produced a tyre or two. In fact, the company shares that the 25th million tyre rolled off the production line in November 2011 – and the facility’s current capacity means it will take only half this time to manufacture the next 25 million tyres.
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