Avon Tyres, a brand owned and manufactured by Cooper Tire, dominated the opening round of the 2009 FIA European Rallycross Championship at Lydden circuit, in Kent. In a championship where tyre choice is completely open and where tyres have to provide traction on both asphalt and gravel on every lap, Avon reports that the popularity of its selection has increased over recent seasons. 37 of the 38 drivers who scored at Lydden use Avon Tyres.
Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. has introduced a new Toyo Open Country H/T with “Tuff Duty” in the US. According to the company the tyre is engineered for high torque diesel pickup trucks that tow trailers or occasionally haul heavy loads. The Open Country H/T with Tuff Duty is an extension of the company’s flagship Open Country H/T for light trucks and SUVs. The tyre is available in five 16- to 17-inch sizes for Chevy, Ford and Dodge 3/4 and 1-ton pickups. All are load range E.
Only two UK-based car manufacturers have applied for European financial support, leading the Financial Times to conclude that the British automotive sector is being slow in applying. According to FT, cabinet ministers don’t want UK-based companies to miss out on European Investment Bank funding which is said to be unlikely to exceed 7 billion euros (£6.5 billion), significantly less than the 40 billion euros the industry had previously sought. This is in addition the government’s £2.5 billion automotive support package, which includes £1.3 billion of guarantees to back loans from the European Investment Bank and £1 billion of guarantees for other loans.
According to the FT, Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover have both applied for EIB financing to support research and development work. Jaguar said it was waiting for Wednesday’s meeting to get details of the non-EIB guarantees. Neither General Motors nor Ford Motor had yet applied for EIB-backed loans in the UK, the companies said.
Hampshire based Vintage Tyre Supplies has confirmed that, after an absence of more than a decade, the Dunlop Aquajet in 165R13 size – original equipment on many cars in the late 60s and 70s, including Lotus and Ford models – is once more available. The addition of the H speed rated tyre, which is both E-marked and DOT approved, brings the size of the current Aquajet range to six tyres, ranging from 10 to 15-inch rim diameter.
Automotive technology and services supplier the Bosch Group has announced that former vice president of Sales for the Bosch Independent Aftermarket West Europe & Mediterranean, Ken Ford, has been appointed to a new role as regional president for Asia/Pacific. Ford begins in his new position on April 1, 2009 and will be based in Singapore.
The new Asia/Pacific regional president began his career with Bosch in 2004 as the divisional director for Automotive Aftermarket Bosch UK and Ireland. His other previous roles have included general manager for the Aftermarket Western Europe and, most recently, vice president of Sales Western Europe & Mediterranean.
Local news sources have reported that criminals using a blue Ford Fiesta drove through the shutters of Trojan Tyres on Oxford Street in Hull, causing £5,000-worth of damage. It is not known why the secure compound was targeted, as a preliminary search of the site has revealed that nothing is missing.
We at T&A Magazine are obviously big fans of a rubbery black circle or two, but even we would pause for thought before we took the “interesting” approach to seduction of a British Columbian man, who was on the sharp end of a 32,000 Canadian dollar judgement that his actions constituted sexual harassment, Canadian news source CTV.ca reports.
The complainant, 27-year old safety officer Kori Harrison told the courts in Kelowna, British Columbia that her supervisor suggested that she dress sexier and slapped her on the bottom. Greg Ford, the Casanova in question, also offered Harrison marijuana and lingerie in return for sex. When these offers were turned down, he knew he needed to offer something irresistible. The item that he considered inspired? Truck tyres.
The $32,000 award will be paid by Ford himself, Navigator Development, Con-Forte Contracting and Harrison’s employer Nixon Safety Consulting.
Yokohama Tire Corporation-sponsored Heidi Steele became the first woman driver to win a Best in the Desert (BITD) off-road racing truck championship when she placed third at the Fabtech Desert Classic in Henderson, Nevada on Saturday, December 6. Steele also became the first woman truck champion in SCORE (Class 7SX mid-size truck) after taking a second-place class finish in November’s Baja 1000 in Ensenada, Mexico.
Several changes have been made to the senior corporate finance staff at Goodyear Tire & Rubber. The company reports that Damon Audia, formerly vice president and treasurer, has been appointed senior vice president of finance and treasurer. His expanded role includes Goodyear’s investor relations and tax functions.
“Damon has been a key member of Goodyear’s finance organisation over the past four years, and he was particularly instrumental in the execution of the plans to refinance the company over the last several years,” said Goodyear executive vice president and chief financial officer Darren R. Wells. “He has demonstrated the type of leadership we need in this role as we address the challenges of today’s economy.”
Around 3,500 workers at Michelin Canada’s factories in Nova Scotia have been asked to take extra holiday time to hep the company reduce production output. According to spokeswoman Lynn Mann, Michelin has already prolonged its normal holiday shutdown period by four days and has reassigned workers on some shifts to perform maintenance tasks. She added, however, that the changes being implemented in Nova Scotia have nothing to do with the problems facing the ‘Big Three’ vehicle manufacturers in the US – according to Mann, sales to General Motors, Ford and Chrysler account for less than five per cent of sales.
A US importer warned consumers on December 9 that they should check the stem valves on their vehicle’s tyres, after it became apparent that 1.8 million Chinese made tyre stem valves sold in the country may prematurely weather and crack, resulting in a loss of tyre pressure. According to North Carolina based Dill Air Controls Products, the problem is with two batches of valves totalling about 198,000 units, but because the valve stems are not traceable by lot number after installation, the recall involves all valves sold between November 2006 and July 2007.
The only runner on Yokohama tyres at last weekend’s Wales Rally GB, Tom Cave led from the first stage to beat the rest of his class by almost 15 minutes, finishing 30th overall. Cave was the youngest driver ever to enter the UK round of the FIA World Rally Championship, but in the face of regular runners in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy International, the one-make series for Group N Ford Fiestas, he put in a demonstrative performance on his WRC debut.
Commenting on the weekend’s result, Yokohama HPT Motorsport Manager Mark Evans said; “We are naturally delighted to have helped Tom to achieve an outstanding result on his WRC debut and offer our congratulations to him, Gemma and the rest of the Tom Cave Racing team.”
The management of Bridgestone Australia Ltd Group has paid tribute to Mark Skaife, who took the wheel for his final V8 Supercar race on the weekend of December 6–7 after announcing his retirement from the sport earlier in 2008. Skaife’s achievements, comment Bridgestone, make him one of the sport’s greatest champions.
During his racing career Skaife gained a record-equalling five Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar Championships, a number only equalled by Ian Geoghegan and Dick Johnson. He also won five Bathurst 1000 titles and a record 40 Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar Championship round victories. Skaife also won three consecutive Australian Drivers’ Championships (1991-93).
Joe Greenwell, vice president, governmental affairs at Ford of Europe, will be the next president of SMMT, from 1 January 2009. Greenwell will succeed Graham Smith OBE, senior vice-president, Toyota Motor Europe, who steps down at the end of his two year term.
Bridgestone Corporation is now an owner of Mazda, albeit a small-scale one. The tyre major was one of more than 30 buyers acquiring chunks of the 13 per cent stake in Mazda that was sold by Ford in mid-November. According to a November report in Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, Bridgestone has acquired 0.25 per cent of the outstanding Mazda shares, however the Nikkei did not indicate the source of this information.
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