Traditionally a time of embracing the ghoulish and extorting sweets from neighbours, Halloween has in itself become a horrific ordeal for some businesses – tyre thefts are on the rise as preparations for the evening get underway. Northern Ireland newspaper the Strabane Chronicle reports that thousands of pounds worth of products, including tyres, pallets and other materials are being stolen from local businesses and included in October 31 bonfire preparations.
Nigeria’s Customs and Excise Tariff Book for the period 2008–2012 has been presented. Amongst the many new measures being implemented in an effort to help the Africa nation’s economy is a ban on the importation of used tyres. However, in the opinion of many this measure may have come to late for the country’s domestic tyre industry.
Nankang Tire Corp., Ltd. has announced a recall campaign of the following sizes, produced in the company’s Zhangjiagang factory (China) between week 30 and week 34 2008 with the following DOT codes:
225/70R15C 112/110R N810A – DOT 106R 657 3008 to 3408
185R15C 103/102P N810 – DOT 10R8 571 3008 to 3408
195/70R15C 104/102S N810 – DOT 108V 572 2708 to 3408
In an official statement detailing the recall of the above sizes, Nankang explained that the tyres in question do not have any immediate safety issues and have passed the ISO10454/ECE R.54 high speed test standard and FMVSS 139 endurance test standard.
Worsening economic conditions in the US are continuing to affect tyre manufacturers. Goodyear has announced yet another one-week partial shutdown of its Topeka, Kansas factory. Truck radial production will be halted for the week beginning October 13, leaving around 500 workers idled without pay. A spokesperson for the employees’ union, the United Steelworkers, said the shutdown is taking place due to an overabundance of unsold truck tyres in Goodyear’s inventory.
Renault Retail Group, the sales arm of the French car manufacturer, has partnered with Wolfrace Tuning to offer customers styling products in all of its 22 UK showrooms. Although many models are covered by the new scheme, which will see customers offered the products when they buy new Renaults, the new Clio is particularly well catered for with both the standard and ‘Dynamique’ versions able to be “specced” with items like exhausts and wheels.
In addition to all the parts being made to Renault’s exacting standards, customers can choose to really personalise their car over and above the options list, without infringing their factory warranty.
Cooper Tire’s Albany factory is back in production and its 1,000 employees working again, the supply of raw materials having resumed several weeks after Hurricane Ike created havoc amongst the region’s industry. “This is a situation that a lot of companies are going through,” commented Cooper Tire vice president of Branding and Communications Pat Brown. “We are trying to make the impact as minimal as possible.”
Despite previous reports of factory closures due to raw material supply problems, Goodyear announced on October 3 that it has “no concerns” in this area as its synthetic rubber facilities have returned to operation. The company adds that a return to production was achieved quickly due to the effectiveness of the its Business Continuity efforts. The Goodyear synthetic rubber plants in Beaumont, and Houston, Texas had been closed in advance of Hurricane Ike making landfall on September 13.
Cooper Tire has reported the most successful ramp-up programme ever achieved by the company. In August, Cooper Kenda Tire reached the milestone of building and curing more than 10,000 tyres a day – a significant accomplishment, considering the CKT factory in Kunshan, west of Shanghai, has only been in production for 17 months. According to Hal Miller, president of Cooper International Tire Division, the team at CKT reached a monthly schedule that has never been seen before at the company’s other plants, a feat he attributes to the dedicated Cooper Kenda staff, and the leadership of CKT general manager John Ebert. Significant support from Cooper North American and European operations also contributed, added Miller.
On October 1 Michelin stated it remains on target to reach its “Horizon 2010” strategic plan of becoming more competitive. The cost saving programmes it has implemented have reduced costs by 500 million euros since 2006, approximately a third of its 2010 goal.
“The group is on target to meet the 2010 cost-reduction objectives it announced two years ago,” the company announced. Michelin intends to reach an overall savings target of between 1.5 and 1.7 billion euros.
Goodyear’s tyre factory in Gadsden, Alabama, has again been shut down of a week due to a shortage of raw materials and to reduce the company’s overall tyre production, company officials announced on September 29. This is the second such recent occurrence for the Gadsden plant; between August 16 and September 2 the facility was closed for an ‘inventory adjustment’.
When the new Jaguar XKR-S hit the streets of Europe, it will be a very rare beast indeed. Only 200 of this exclusive model are being built, 50 of which will be sold in the UK. The XKR-S is powered by Jaguar’s acclaimed 4.2 litre V8 supercharged engine – tuned to develop 416 Bhp and a peak torque of 560Nm – XKR-S has been developed for the true Jaguar enthusiast. An exhaust system for this formidable motor can be supplied by Quicksilver: The new catalyst-back ‘Sports’ exhaust system, designed to give this cat a roar – when desired.
In the US Nissan has issued a recall of up to 3.4 million Altima cars due to a potentially dangerous wheel problem. This issue affects the 2009 model – why wait until next year to own a defective vehicle when you can have one right now? – fitted with 16-inch alloy wheels, although the problem is reportedly restricted to those cars built at the company’s Canton, Mississippi factory between July 24 and August 14. The wheel nuts apparently become loose of their own volition, a ‘standard feature’ Nissan rightly believes is not very helpful.
Altima owners in the US can telephone Nissan on 800-647-7261 for further information.
Chinese tyre manufacturer Aufine Group Co., Ltd has announced that it is now developing new ranges of ultra high performance and standard passenger car radial tyres. The company’s passenger car radial manufacturing output volume is expected to total some 10 million units in 2009. According to the company, the new range will be amongst the best quality in the world due to the factory’s cooperation with a tyre company ranked “within the top seven in the world.” Aufine’s new UHP range is expected to initially include 14 sizes ranging 195/45 R15 to 225/40R18 XL. Dozen of standard passenger car sizes will be made available.
A total of 17 Vacu-Lug employees, accounting for approximately 12 per cent of the company’s staff, have gained qualifications related to the retread tyre business during 2008. Among these is Craig Caithness, Operations Technician at Vacu-Lug’s Grantham retread tyre factory, who has been awarded the UK’s highest mark in the 2008 City & Guilds Part 1 in Workshop Practice examination organised and operated by the Retread Manufacturers’ Association.
In total six Vacu-Lug employees sat and passed the City & Guilds examination, which is the fundamental qualification for the retread industry and covers every aspect of retreading from initial inspection to final quality control. Of the Vacu-Lug candidates, Craig Caithness was awarded a Distinction, while three of his colleagues gained Passes and two Credits.
Michelin is reportedly closing its Baldovie factory in Dundee for a week to counter a drop in demand, however the company stresses that workers will still be paid and the factory’s future remains secure. This shutdown will begin on October 13, and will be followed by further, shorter stoppages in November and December. The aim of these stoppages at the 23,000 unit per day plant is to reduce the number of stockpiled tyres the company is currently holding, and the first closure ties in with the school holidays. Staff training will occur during the subsequent stoppages.
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