Yokohama has been presented with its third award from TyreSafe, the UK’s tyre safety charity, at its annual dinner. In taking TyreSafe’s Highly Commended Award, Yokohama secured its third consecutive win from the charity, having taken the Tyre Manufacturer Award for the previous two years.
Grouptyre founding member BA Bush has opened two new sites in Norwich and Knaresborough, helping towards its three-year growth plan and adding strategic locations. The two new sites represent the company’s first stage of growth, with further new sites planned before the end of 2019. The group says it is targeting a £60 million turnover in 2018.
Tyre maker and automotive technology firm Continental says it will be “one of the largest organisational realignments” in its history: The Executive Board of Continental AG has announced plans to create a holding structure under a new umbrella brand, Continental Group, and support this holding structure with three new business sectors – Continental Rubber, Continental Automotive and Powertrain. These sectors will succeed the current Automotive Group and Rubber Group.
The concept is beautiful in its simplicity – listen to customers and respond quickly to their needs. For many companies, this is easier said than done. Not so for Magna Tyres Group. The Netherlands-based earthmover and off-highway tyre specialist maintains short decision-making paths and prides itself in its flexibility. For Michael de Ruijter, these qualities reflect the Magna Tyres culture of “doing things our own way.”
As of today, Michelin is the proud new owner of Canadian off-road tyre and track specialist Camso. The two parties have reached an agreement for the acquisition of Camso and the integration of its off-the-road operations with those of Michelin in order to form a new division that will be managed from Quebec. Michelin comments that this new entity will be the “world leader in OTR mobility.”
The UK’s leading exhibition for the automotive aftermarket and vehicle production industry, Automechanika Birmingham, welcomed 10,200 industry personnel to its 2018 event. Featuring 500 exhibitors from 26 countries in 9,400sqm of floor space, the organiser stated that more than 120 companies exhibited for the first time, including: AA Garage Guide, Snap-On, Ceramex, GSF Car Parts and Wurth Electronics. Tyres & Accessories joined the National Tyre Distributors Association in representing the UK tyre industry at what was a lively event for the automotive sector, with an emphasis on visitor interaction – a fact underlined by the three in-hall dedicated presentation spaces, in which speakers addressed major issues currently affecting the sector.
A ceremony was held on 6 July to mark to completion of Doublestar Tire’s acquisition of a 45 per cent share in Kumho Tire. The event in Seoul was titled ‘Celebrating New Beginning’ and was attended by the Chinese and South Korean tyre makers’ management teams as well as representatives from Korea Development Bank, which together with other creditors still maintains a 23 per cent share in Kumho Tire.
When news of Chinese truck tyre import tariffs breaking around us, Tyres & Accessories wanted to gauge the response of a leading premium tyremaker and retreader. With Goodyear having been amongst the few to officially comment on the matter since the announcement of tariffs at the start of May, we asked Gregory Boucharlat, director Fleet and Retread Commercial EU to bring us to speed on this as well as wider ongoing retreading trends.
It’s now more than two months since the European Union applied anti-dumping duties on a range of truck and bus tyres manufactured in China, and during this time Bridgestone has observed a “strong uplift in demand” within the UK retreading industry. With the market “showing signs of a significant upturn in fortunes,” the company behind the Bandag retreading brand believes a “continued investment in its range of products is beginning to reap dividends.”
Tructyre chief executive officer Glenn Sherwood has announced the launch of Tyrewatch, a predictive tyre management system the company states can “prevent 95 per cent of tyre related breakdowns”, from The Satellite Applications Catapult in Harlow, near Oxford, an organisation which has assisted the project in implementing satellite communications connectivity. The new system for fleets, three-plus years in development for its initial phase, combines tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) with increased and continuous cellular and satellite connectivity and artificial intelligence to provide automated analysis of fleets’ tyres. The system works by connecting sensors continuously monitoring tyre pressure, temperature, vehicle speed and GPS location to TyreWatch’s servers, which in turn alerts drivers, fleet managers, and tyre servicing providers where action should be taken. All of this results in a trio of potential benefits: economic, safety, and a step towards autonomy for logistics vehicles.
Despite only entering the tyre business during the first decade of the new millennium (2008 to be precise), Yanchang Rubber is continuing to increase in prominence. Already known as a leading manufacturer with strong petrochemical group backing in the domestic Chinese tyre business, recent years have seen the company redouble its internationalisation efforts. One visible example was this was the company’s Tire Cologne exhibition stand, which was bigger and more professional-looking than ever and was placed in a premium position in Hall 6.
At the end of May, anti-Chinese truck tyre tariffs were implemented. They included nominal (as opposed to percentage) tariffs at levels that surprised many. As a result, supply shortages and challenges at distributors were predicted. Shuttering of some of the lowest cost Chinese tyremakers is also expected. However, speaking to affected firms during the recent Tire Cologne reveals that many are already prepared to source tyres elsewhere. Indeed, the largest manufacturers have been off-shoring for some time. As a result, virtually all the leading Chinese tyre manufacturers already have non-Chinese tyre production in place. Let’s take a look at who’s got what.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is urging the UK government to act to support the sale of traditionally fuelled vehicles following the news that the UK new car market declined moderately in June. Year-on-year demand fell by -3.5 per cent, the SMMT stated, as 234,945 new cars joined British roads, representing relative stabilisation considering recent turbulence over the past year or so. While alternatively fuelled vehicle sales continue to rise, they are not yet at a level that can relieve the decline in traditionally fuelled vehicle sales, and the SMMT argues for government to provide increased support for petrol and especially new technology diesel vehicles.
Another tyre wholesaler in Germany is now in manufacturer hands. Hankook Tire has announced the 100 per cent equity purchase of independent wholesaler and retailer Reifen Müller. The acquisition gives Hankook Tire ownership of Reifen Müller’s sales distribution affiliate company, Reifen Müller KG, its 44 retail service outlets and the Reifen Müller GmbH & Co. Runderneuerungswerk KG retreading business.
Almost two years has passed since Continental Tyres bought Britain’s largest independent retreader Bandvulc tyres. While the integration has gone smoothly by all accounts, the shape of the market has changed significantly. First, we have to acknowledge that the acquisition has put both Continental’s new and retreaded products in a much stronger position than before. For example, the decision to offer Uniroyal through Bandvulc gave the retreader’s strong fleet business better access to Continental group new products, while at the same time significantly increasing Conti’s domestic retreading capabilities.
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