Senior management at Hangzhou Zhongce have responded to a Bangkok Post article that suggests its joint venture plans with Thailand’s Thai Hua Rubber have been placed on hold. Tyres & Accessories was told that management has “no idea” why its Thai partner claims Hangzhou Zhongce is postponing its joint venture tyre factory plan due to “concerns about the uncertain outlook in Europe.”
If the team behind the “Vendetta Tyres“ brand had its way, deliveries to a large chunk of the European tyre market would have already got underway during the course of this year. Yet, as Laree Jane notes, success in Europe involves building up both a new brand and customer relationships, and the director of Melbourne, Australia-based Vendetta International Pty. Ltd is confident of achieving this soon. Sales of Vendetta tyres began last year in the Australian home market and the brand will shortly be present in Canada, Argentina and Ireland, Vendetta’s first market in Europe. Vendetta International now has its eyes on entering further replacement markets; the company is seeking agencies in the UK and other European countries. Speaking with Tyres & Accessories, Laree Jane explained the company’s plans for Europe and what Vendetta International has to offer.
Bridgestone reports its ISO 14001 certification for all its European tyre plants has been completed one year ahead of its own internal target. The final certification was granted to its commercial vehicle tyre retreading subsidiary, Lincolnshire-based Bulldog Remoulds Ltd, in August 2011. This means that, some 12 years after the tyre maker began its European certification programme, all 13 Bridgestone Group plants in Europe employing more than 50 people are now ISO 14001 certified.
Often the tyre industry overlooks the needs of classic car drivers. Not so Falken, who is targeting this particular market with its Sincera SN807. This range of 10 to 14-inch tyres features “appropriate aspect ratios for classic cars”, and the Falken Europe says it offers “a competitively priced period-look tread with contemporary radial construction technology.”
A new round of Bridgestone Europe price rises will be rolled out in the fourth quarter of 2011. On October 1 prices for agricultural tyres will increase by an average of four per cent, while winter passenger, light commercial vehicle and 4×4 tyre prices will go up by an average of five per cent. Commenting on decision to increase prices, Mitsuhira Shimazaki, senior vice-president of Sales and Marketing at Bridgestone Europe, said that these two product groups “still require efforts to fully compensate for the raw materials hikes that we have suffered in the last two years.”
Bas Donders has been appointed European sales director for the Klarius Group. Donders will be responsible for European sales growth across the entire portfolio of aftermarket brands.
According to the company, Bas Donders has an “exemplary record of achievement” in generating sales growth via both market and product range development, having successfully headed European sales and management teams for Delphi, Valeo and other major players in the European automotive component parts supply chain.
Mainstream media tends to pass over Start-Stop technology and instead focuses on plug-in electric or concept cars, yet despite this dearth of attention vehicle manufacturers continue to quietly go about their business and introduce ever more micro hybrids – Start-Stop vehicles – into their model ranges. This technology is admittedly only one of a number of powertrain alternatives under development, yet micro hybrids have gained considerable favour due to the ability of Start-Stop technology to cost effectively achieve EU emission targets while still providing motorists with vehicle range and usability.
The fruits of Hankook’s DTM involvement can now be seen by all – the Korean tyre maker has released its first ultra high performance tyre to employ engineering drawn from DTM racing technology, the Ventus S1 evo². This flagship of Hankook’s UHP portfolio is said to benefit from expertise the company has gained as exclusive tyre supplier to the DTM – Hankook states a “multitude of technical innovations and design features” has enabled its engineers to arrive at the “best balance” between wet and dry performance. The Ventus S1 evo² has also been developed to meet next year’s EU-labelling requirements.
Alongside the introduction of the Run-Flat version of its flagship Potenza S001 UHP sport tyre, Bridgestone announced a run of OE fitments on some of the best known marques. Available in 4 40 to 55 series sizes, Bridgestone Run-Flat Tyres are now fitted right across the BMW and Mini range in Europe, in addition to a large number of models from Audi, Mercedes, Lexus and Volkswagen. Many top sports cars are also equipped with Bridgestone Run-Flats, including Ferrari and Maserati models.
In line with its ongoing commitment to take up and act upon its customers’ concerns, Kraiburg Austria has decided to actively participate in the BIPAVER "Re-Tyre" project alongside the various associations, other retreaders and testing institutes as the only material-supplier. “This participation is giving Kraiburg and our customers, the independent retreaders, the opportunity to actively observe and shape the process,” says Thorsten Schmidt, CEO of Kraiburg Austria, who goes on to explain a further motivation for taking part in this project: Access to the ETRTO and ETRMA organisations is reserved exclusively for new tyre manufacturers – and Kraiburg is the only one of Europe's leading material suppliers that doesn’t run its own tyre operations. As an active retreading partner, the Austrian company says it naturally wants the results to influence the development of its own products and materials.
Amongst the myriad of new releases on display at September’s IAA Motor Show in Germany, Hankook Tire presented its latest cold-weather products. The first of these was the i*cept RS, a replacement for the Icebear W440 intended for the moderate climates of Central and Western Europe. The Korean manufacturer says standout features on the i*cept RS include its “particularly reliable and stable handling characteristics on wet, snowy, slushy and also dry roads.”
Starco Europe has announced the appointment of Anders Pålsson, an experienced Swedish business leader who has spent the last nine years as MD and CEO of Hilding Anders. In that time he guided the Swedish bed manufacturer from an annual turnover of 3,000 million SEK to 7,000 million SEK. Special wheel and tyre manufacturer and supplier Starco is preparing to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary.
Over the coming two years Michelin will implement a partnership agreement with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) in order to develop new actions to foster safer, more sustainable mobility. On September 8 the French manufacturer reported that its working relationship with the FIA during this time will be built on three policies, namely the improvement of road safety with a focus on raising awareness amongst young people, developing tyre innovations through motorsport competition that can be utilised to contribute to improved road use, and using competition as a vehicle for developing new solutions for reducing the environmental footprint of mobility in everyday life.
Bridgestone Europe has announced what it calls a “new phase” in its media engagement, the launch of a centralised location for all its multi-media content. This content is now hosted at http://www.digitalnewsagency.com/Bridgestone-Europe, a site hosted by The Digital News Agency (DNA). Bridgestone announced its new partnership with TVC, the advertising agency behind the platform, on September 9 and says that DNA, which it notes is the 2011 European PR Product of the year, enables the tyre maker to provide media content in multiple formats including broadcast quality B-roll, web quality content, imagery and audio that can be accessed and downloaded by the media at the touch of a button. All content on the site is free to download for use on TV, radio, online and other digital purposes without copyright restrictions.
Infinity Tyres has announced its support of the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, with the sponsorship of head of client services for M3 Communications in Shropshire, Nick Lovett, as he completes a 26-mile walk along Hadrian’s Wall this Saturday (10 September). Lovett, 38, from Cannock will be guided by experts across part of the wall, which spans 73 miles in total, and will be walking the marathon length one day challenge dressed as a Roman Centurion. Why? Because the largest ancient monument in Northern Europe’s timeline “dates back to the Romans and this gives me a chance to get a taste of the history of the place I’m visiting.”
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