Japanese tyre maker Falken Tyre is intensifying its strategic use of football as a platform for sales and marketing, and for the new season has secured perimeter advertising packages at various clubs playing in the German Bundesliga, Spain’s Primera División, the Italian Serie A and France’s Ligue 1.
Mitsubishi has chosen Falken high-performance all-terrain tyres for its entry in the Baja Portoalegre 500 off-road rally. The modified racing model of the Mitsubishi PHEV, powered by plug-in hybrid technology, will tackle the 500-kilometre route with off-road tyres from Falken’s WildPeak range.
Falken Tyre Europe has entered into sponsorship agreement with German football club FC Ingolstadt 04. The team has been promoted to the premier Bundesliga league for the 2015/2016 season after winning the country’s second-division league last year, and Falken says the new two-season partnership will serve as the “spearhead of a strategic sales sponsoring programme in the football sector” that will see it participate in further advertising and hospitality campaigns with European clubs.
Following up its third place finish in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Falken Motorsports has secured a second endurance racing podium. Peter Dumbreck and Alexandre Imperatori defied temperatures well above 35°C to finish second at the fourth round of the VLN series during the weekend’s action (4-5 July) on the Nordschleife.
Falken was able to put the spotlight on its drifting activities at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend, in conjunction with European drift champion and Falken Motorsports professional drifter James Deane. Deane was one of the few to be invited to drift the prestigious hillclimb in front of over 300,000 fans in attendance, and hundreds of thousands more online.
The Honda HR-V will begin appearing in showrooms across Europe this summer, and Falken Tyre Europe shares that purchasers of the compact SUV have the option of choosing Falken tyres as original equipment. Honda Access Europe has approved the size 225/45R18 91W Falken Ziex ZE914 Ecorun for fitment; this is the first partnership between Falken Tyre Europe and Honda Access Europe. Initial batches of tyres are being delivered this month.
Falken Tyres achieved its aim of a first podium at the Nuerburgring 24 Hours. The team of Peter Dumbreck, Martin Ragginger, Alex Imperatori and Wolf Henzler guided Falken’s Porsche 997 GT3 R from 19th on the grid to a podium slot, improving on its fourth place finish in 2014. The team’s number 44 Porsche – the only car on the grid to use Falken tyres – rose gradually through the field overnight, dealing well with typically varied Eifel region weather. Tyres & Accessories, visiting the event, enquires how the Sumitomo Rubber Industries brand’s European operation benefits from its relationship with the Nuerburgring and its flagship endurance race.
Falken Tyres has achieved its aim of a first podium at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The team of Peter Dumbreck, Martin Ragginger, Alex Imperatori and Wolf Henzler guided Falken’s Porsche 997 GT3 R from 19th on the grid to a podium slot, improving on its fourth place finish in 2014. The team’s number 44 Porsche – the only car on the grid to use Falken tyres – rose gradually through the field overnight, dealing with typically varied Eifel region weather, including showers during the night.
After low-key involvement in 2014, Falken Tyre has confirmed a higher level of participation at this year’s Coventry Motofest – the company will serve as ‘official tyre manufacturer’ at the show, which takes place between 29 and 31 May. Coventry Motofest was inaugurated last year and is a free, family-focused motoring festival that combines live racing, demonstrations, static displays and live music. As previously announced, Falken’s UK drift team will strut its stuff on Coventry’s iconic ring road during the three-day event. The official Coventry Motofest pace car will also wear Falken tyres.
Although the Falken tyre brand is well-established in the European, North American and Japanese markets – Sumitomo Rubber Industries first rolled out the range in 1983 – it was only introduced into China at the start of this year. This means that Auto Shanghai 2015 will be the first chance for many Chinese consumers to get acquainted with the Falken name. The brand’s presence in China as a marque in its own right will therefore be helped by SRI’s decision to exhibit the range separately from the Dunlop tyre brand. The Falken stand at Auto Shanghai will feature products slated for release in the Chinese market, including the already-available Ziex ZE914.
A concept tyre produced by Sumitomo Rubber Industries offers a glimpse into how future drivers of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, may be able to enjoy both sporty handling and efficiency. The Falken concept tyre features different tread areas in order to address the conflict between rolling resistance (and its influence on range) and the need to offer the sharp, sporty dynamics that sports SUV drivers expect.
Falken Tyre Europe will enter its motorsport campaign with the same Porsche 911 GT3 R racing the Nordschleife once again in 2015. Peter Dumbreck, Wolf Henzler, Alexandre Imperatori and Martin Ragginger will again contend selected races of the VLN Championship alongside the ADAC 24 hour race.
The new Volkswagen Passat will roll on two versions of Falken’s 16” Ziex ZE914A tyres. Debuting at Autosalon in Paris at the start of October, the new Passat had the Ziex ZE914 redeveloped by Falken’s engineers in Japan and tailored to the Passat’s specifications. The new tyre is also available as standard in an Ecorun variation – the manufacturer’s designated fuel efficiency boosting brand.
Shingo Sakashita, 46, has been appointed finance director Falken Tyre Europe, the European affiliate of Japanese tyre manufacturer Sumitomo Rubber Industries. Sakashita joins the management team in Offenbach am Main (Germany), assuming the position of finance director, alongside Isamu Ishida, Koji Fukuhara and Hidekazu Nishiguchi.
The First Utility Super League and Falken Tyre Europe have entered into a partnership that will see the Japanese tyre manufacturer become an official partner of the UK’s elite Rugby League competition. Falken Tyre Europe’s first association with Rugby League will initially see their branding at all major games with further exposure set to be […]
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