Officials from Toyo Tire & Rubber have said the company is postponing plans to build a new tyre factory in Asia and expand its tyre output in the US. This decision has been taken in light of lower vehicle sales and the global economic slowdown, and the company has not stated when, or if, these projects will now take place.
Despite reportedly “drastically reduced visitor numbers at SEMA 2008,” PCL says its stand attracted the usual flow of customers to its stand. Tyre inflations products were said to have been an especially hot topic this year due to Barack Obama’s campaign comments about tyre inflation. Whilst John McCain was quick to ridicule Obama’s statement that the expansion of offshore drilling could be prevented by keeping tyres inflated, it is true that ensuring tyres have the accurate pressure can reduce CO2 emissions, save fuel and prevent potentially fatal accidents.
PCL says the company has experienced high acceptance on the US market, with a fast-expanding customer base satisfied with the performance of its market-leading products. Visitors to SEMA were reportedly keen to check out the automotive industry’s most advanced handheld and mobile nitrogen inflation equipment, and find out how every little helps when it comes to energy savings and safety.
Emission control systems manufacturer Tenneco says it will continue its ‘aggressive investment’ in new emissions control application coverage in 2009. The company plans to add more than 300 SKUs to its Walker line of replacement exhaust parts in the coming year. This planned expansion continues a strategy begun more than five years ago, when Tenneco began to significantly increase the Walker brand’s coverage in support of aftermarket businesses. More than 600 new exhaust part numbers were introduced to the Walker line in 2008 alone, and more than 1,600 parts have been added since 2004.
National Tyres has been named as a finalist in the North West England and North Wales region of the Bank of Scotland Corporate £35 Million Entrepreneur Challenge. National will now compete with four other entrepreneurs to secure a £5 million funding package, free of interest and charges for three years.
The next stage will see business partners Alan Revie, John Caldwell and John Taylor present their business case to a judging panel featuring two well-known and incredibly successful entrepreneurs. Matthew Riley, the national 2007 Entrepreneur Challenge winner from Daisy Communications, and senior representatives from Bank of Scotland Corporate and Deloitte. The panel will question National Tyres and the other finalists on their future business plans, as well as looking for someone with the entrepreneurial flair, spirit and vision that sets them apart from the rest and makes them an outstanding choice to receive the once in a lifetime funding package that could change the face of the business.
Toyo Tire & Rubber has announced the joint establishment, along with Mitsubishi Corporation, of a Russian tyre sales subsidiary. The new subsidiary, known as Toyo Tire Rus LLC, was formed on October 23. According to the Japanese manufacturer, Toyo Rus LLC was established primarily for expanding the brand presence of Toyo tyres and improving the brand’s position in this growing and increasingly motorised BRIC market.
When they’ve finished doing service on your car, that set of old tyres removed by the local garage or fast fit can now potentially return and see further life on your feet. Footwear manufacturer Timberland has teamed up with Green Rubber to launch two new collections featuring outsoles made using recycled rubber from discarded tyres. These outsoles will contain a 50/50 blend of Green Rubber compound and virgin rubber compound, the blend of the two materials necessary in order to maintain the durability and performance characteristics Timberland footwear is known for.
An honour that carries particular weight in North America is the ‘hall of fame’, a distinction for those who achieve lifelong excellence in their specific field, whether it be sports, music – or tyres. This year one of the historical contributor inductees into the Tire Industry Association (TIA) Hall of Fame was Mr. François Michelin, former managing partner of the Michelin Group. In November ceremonies held during the annual TIA “Breakfast with the President,” Mr. Michelin was recognised for his accomplishments and contributions to the tyre industry, including his support for the advancement of radial tyre technology.
Producers of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and polybutadiene rubber (BR) in parts of China are reporting weakening downstream demand due to cutbacks in the tyre industry. One unnamed large tyre manufacturer in Guangdong province has recently shut down operations at its factory, and several other manufacturers in Zhejiang and Anhui provinces have cut operating rates by 50 to 60 per cent due to a lack of cash and poor sales, trade and produce sources claim.
On October 28 Michelin announced its plan to make operations in Italy more competitive. More than 200 million euros will be invested between now and 2013 to upgrade the company’s production facilities in the country, in order to make them more productive and specialised.
Production capacity will be significantly increased in Cuneo; following this expansion the Michelin plant will be the largest premium passenger car tyre production facility in Europe. Car tyre production will end at the company’s Stura workshop in Turin at the end of 2009. Semi-finished products will continue to be manufactured there, however, and the site’s logistics centre will operate following the transfer of the Vercelli warehouse.
Grouptyre has expanded its Wales and South West tyre distribution service through the expansion of member company King David Tyres. The new additional distribution centres will be place in St. Clears, near Carmarthen, and St. Austell, Cornwall to provide multiple same-day deliveries within the South Wales M4 corridor and the valleys and throughout Cornwall.
King David Tyres is a family-owned business established over 30 years and operates retail and wholesale depots in various locations in South Wales, Devon and Cornwall. It serves a large territory incorporating Devon, Cornwall, Avon, Bristol, Somerset, Mid Wales and South Wales, as well as parts of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
Production capacity at Michelin’s facilities in Romania will be expanded in order to make the country’s operations a strategic centre for the supply of tyres to Southeast Europe. Bucharest based daily newspaper Curierul National quotes Michelin co-managing partner Didier Miraton as stating “Romania is important to us and we intend to produce more, to turn the factories that we have there into a strategic point for South-Eastern Europe, through which we will provide tyres to the countries in the region.” Specific details of the intended capacity or the value of Michelin’s investment in the expansion were not given.
Columbian Tiszai Carbon, the Hungarian operation of US-based Columbian Chemicals Company, has completed a HUF7-billion (£20.4 million) expansion at its base in Tiszaújváros, northeast Hungary, CEO László Dobos told Hungarian news source MTI Econews.
The investment has increased the facility’s carbon black capacity by 50 per cent to about 100,000 tons a year, Dobos said. Demand for the product has particularly grown since tyre manufacturers have set up production bases in Hungary and elsewhere in the region, he added. Most of the plant’s carbon black goes to tyre makers, and the rest goes to the plastics and paint industries.
Pirelli’s US chairman and CEO Hugh Pace is to deliver the keynote address at the ACS Rubber Expo in Louisville, opening the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Rubber Division “Rubber Mini Expo and 174th Technical Meeting” on Tuesday, 14 October, 2008. The address, entitled “The Tire Industry: Globalization and Regulatory Harmonization”, will focus on how new technologies and the expansion of commerce have led to global markets and how regulatory standards have impacted those markets.
The Mini Expo will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center from 14-16 October, and will feature 168 exhibitors along with an array of international industry-leading companies. During the Expo, devoted exclusively to rubber and its related products, ninety technical papers will be presented. Approximately 2000 attendees from around the world will take part in the event.
It seems likely that Yokohama Rubber’s plans to expand output in China may be delayed by several months due to reduced demand and a potential oversupply of tyres. In an interview with Reuters, company president Tadanobu Nagumo discussed the company’s current position, warning that stocks and currencies losses would cut into Yokohama’s net profit in the first financial year half. To then boost profit margins, Nagumo said he would consider eliminating OE contracts with some vehicle manufacturers.
Car parts wholesaler LSUK has gone into administration following a failed takeover attempt by competitor Euro Car Parts. All 53 branches will close, with 600 workers being made redundant. The new owners reluctantly came to the decision “after a considerable amount of non-stop work and investment into LSUK” during the five days following Euro Car Parts’ takeover bid over on 29 September. Despite their efforts Euro Car Parts’ directors realised that they had no option but to place LSUK into administration with effect from Monday 6 October 2008. This includes all 53 LSUK Branches, including MI Diesel Products, Protech Automotive (UK) and Yeovil Rewind.
In a statement on the failure of the deal Euro Car Parts explained its reasons for putting LSUK into administration: “Unfortunately, it became clear, very quickly, that it was simply going to be impossible to continue with investment without the required support, which was not forthcoming.”
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