Tata Motors is a step closer to buying Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, having raised a reported $3 billion dollars in order to finance the deal. As a result of raising the cash, the transaction is now expected to close next week, according to the Financial Times. According to the newspaper, the financing is considerably above the earlier predicted purchase price for the two UK car marques, which was estimated at about $2 billion.
Pirelli’s Cinturato P4, launched in January, and the Pirelli P6, has gained favourable attention from experts in the UK. The consumer magazine Which?, in the tyre test featured in its edition released February 28, has defined the two Pirelli products as the best in their respective categories. The magazine reviewed 99 premium and economy tyres in the nation’s two top-selling sizes – 195/65 R15V and 175/65 R14T. A total of seven Pirelli tyres were included in the test, including the Cinturato P4 in size 175/65 R14T and the P6 in both sizes.
Following wet and dry grip testing plus evaluations of road noise and wear, the P4 was defined as the best tyre to buy thanks to its mileage under all examined parameters, so much so that it was recommended as a good “value for money” product. The P6 was evaluated as very safe and the best in its category in the important area of braking on wet surfaces.
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In July 2007 T&A reported news of a Chinese man who navigated the Yangtze River perched upon a truck tyre inner tube, and now a Yorkshire farmer is preparing to cross the chilly waters of Bering Straight – in a Land Rover. But do not fear, unlike our intrepid friend Mr. Cheng, who set off on his 3,000 kilometre trip without even the most basic safety equipment (you can read about Mr. Chen’s adventure here), the adventurers from Blighty have planned well for their journey, and can rely on the buoyant assistance of Cooper Tire.
Steve Burgess and his partner Nicky Spinks set off on their 30,000-mile journey from England to South America on January 29. While most of their travels will see them traversing solid ground, when they reach Russia’s east coast their trusty Land Rover 110 Pickup, shod with Discoverer STT tyres, will be fitted with ‘floats’, and driven into the sea towards Alaska, 50 miles away.
Following Simon Witty’s fourth World Reversible Ploughing title in a row, the Yorkshireman has announced that he is stepping down from future Reversible World Championships. But admirers of his work need not worry that they won’t see him representing his country again, for he plans to ‘enter the ring’ on the conventional side of ploughing. “Ploughing has given me a great deal of pleasure and I feel I’ve come as far as I can with reversible ploughing for now, so I want to try my hand at conventional ploughing for a new challenge” comments Witty.
Forty multinationals, including Michelin, are among some 4,000 firms on an air pollution blacklist, according to China Daily. Michelin has the dubious pleasure of being listed alongside the Chinese joint ventures of major carmakers Toyota and Ford. The list (available at http://air.ipe.org.cn) was compiled by the Beijing-based non-governmental Institute of Public and Environment Affairs (IPEA).
November 15 to 18’s Rally Ireland gave Kumho its first ever win in a World Rally Championship event when Niall McShea drove his Kumho-shod Subaru Impreza WRX STi to outright victory in the rally’s Production Car Class. The 31-year-old driver, who originally hails from County Fermanagh, capped off what Kumho has called a ‘landmark year of motorsport’ – the manufacturer also relished another significant victory in 2007, winning the LMP2 class at Le Mans after only three visits to the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The choice of tyres during this year’s WRC was possibly never more critical than at Rally Ireland, a round that drivers such as reigning World Champion Sebastian Loeb admitted was perhaps the most difficult they had ever competed in. The notoriously slippery roads were constantly covered in mud and it rained throughout the event. The resulting treacherous conditions put paid to many hopes, including those of Works Ford driver and former World Champion Marcus Gronholm.
The Ford Motor Company has reached a settlement in the well-known class-action lawsuit that claimed the company’s popular Explorer SUV was prone to rollovers. This settlement comes two years after Bridgestone Firestone agreed to pay Ford US$240 million to settle liability over the recall of 6.5 million tyres in 2000 and 2001, a recall that took place in response to a number of fatalities in accidents caused by tread separation.
Interstate Tires are to participate at the prestigious Kuwait Automobile exhibition. From November 28 to December 4, 2007 Interstate Tires will display the company’s complete range of tyres. The Middle East is fast growing market and, according to Theo de Vries Interstate Tires are very popular in “various” Gulf states. Furthermore Interstate Tires is approved and licensed to be used in the official dealer organizations of Volkswagen, Audi, Ford and Mazda. “You can find Interstate Tires in the main hall, next to Audi and Spijker cars,” company president Theo de Vries told Tyres & Acceessories.
India’s largest tyre manufacturer, MRF, has unveiled a new high performance PCR line. Called the MRF ZSLK, the tyre features a silica reinforced compound that is said to reduce rolling resistance, thus providing economic and green benefits. MRF reports that, in addition to in-house tests conducted by the company’s R&D centre, the ZSLK series has undergone testing with the globally respected technical services firm, Germany’s TÜV.
(Akron/Tire Review) Michelin North America announced that its BFGoodrich brand will become the presenting sponsor and official tyre of the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup racing series. MNA will supply BFGoodrich tyres for the series’ all-new Ford Mustang FR500S, which is the newest addition to Ford Racing’s FR500 racing family. The eight-race professional series serves as a proving ground for up-and-coming drivers and is designed to provide competitors with an affordable way to go racing.
“We are thrilled to be associated with the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup and committed to providing the opportunity for drivers to become champions,” said Todd Steen, motorsports marketing manager for the BFGoodrich brand. “BFGoodrich tyres are known for performance and our g-Force R1 tyres offer a level of performance that complements the V8 power and precision handling of the new Mustang FR500S.”
This year Autocar chose the Dunlop Direzza DZ02 a benchmark tyre for its detailed tyre test. According to Dunlop the tyre was chosen of its position as a leading road legal track tyre – and because it holds the lap record for road legal tyres at the infamous Nuerburgring Nordschliefe.
The Direzza was fitted to a Ford Mondeo TDCi to prove what kind of advantage a bespoke road legal track tyre could offer in the dry. The test team, led by Autocar’s Keith Howard claimed: “In the dry the Dunlop Direzza was much quicker through corners than any of the other tyres, in many cases needing a higher gear. Through the two fast S-Bends the difference was about 7mph. It was equally impressive under braking, stopping on average 2.6 metres shorter than the best conventional road tyre.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Industry analysts say that 2007 may end up being the worse ever year for new car sales. September sales, analysts say, are expected to show weak results, due in part of high gas prices, credit troubles and other economic factors, and the final quarter of the year indicates things won’t get better.
Jesse Toprak, chief economist for the auto information site Edmunds.com, predicts Honda Motor Co. will be the only automaker to report an increase in sales, helped by the arrival of the new 2008 Honda Accord. Automakers are scheduled to report September sales Tuesday.
“No one is immune to this general weakness we have in the marketplace,” Jesse Toprak, chief economist for the auto information site Edmunds.com, told the AP. Sales for September are expected to be down as much as 4 per cent vs. September 2006, with Honda expected to be the only automaker to show n increase.
Ford, GM and Chrysler are expected to be down month-over-month. One analyst forecasts an annualised selling rate of 15.9 million vehicles for the year, down from 2006’s 16.6 million vehicles.
During the past year Continental has sold 19.1 million winter tyres worldwide, about 1.5 million more than in 2005. This season the German manufacturer is promoting its ContiWinterContact TS 810 and ContiWinterContact TS 810 Sport models for mid-size and luxury classes of cars, as well as for sports vehicles. And smaller vehicles can get off to a safe start in the cold season with the ContiWinterContact TS 800.
The ContiWinterContact TS 810 Sport is designed for highly tuned cars with powerful engines. Thanks to an extremely asymmetrical tread concept, it offers what Conti believes to be the very best driving performance under all wintry road conditions, outstanding handling characteristics on dry and wet roads, and a wide margin of safety on snow-covered roads. Approved for speeds of up to 270 km/h, it is available in some sizes as an SSR model with extended mobility features.
The ContiWinterContact TS 810 combines superb properties on winter roads with comfortable design. The tyre’s developers place a strong emphasis on short braking distances and high traction – even on snow-covered roads – as well as good aquaplaning resistance and minimum road noise. Another plus this technically sophisticated tyre has to offer is increased mileage performance.
Kwik-Fit is single-handedly holding up the start of Basildon’s £900million town centre regeneration by refusing to move from its centre in Cherrydown East, Basildon. The firm’s refusal to move has hit plans by the Essex Ford Group to sell the site it shares with Kwik Fit, allowing it to be developed into 445 luxury flats, for which developer Western Homes already has planning permission. Essex Ford owns the site and had hoped to relocate its garage and car sales business to Dunton in December.
(Akron/Tire Review) News reports confirm that Indian automaker Tata Motors is interested in acquiring iconic British auto companies Land Rover and Jaguar, which Ford Motor Co. has put up for sale.
Tata Chairman Ratan Tata told media that his company, a conglomerate active in the steel, software and automobile arenas, plans to place a bid for the two luxury brands, which Ford is auctioning. Several US equity firms have also expressed interest.
Most of Tata’s vehicle experience comes from making work trucks in India, and has only been producing passenger cars for about a decade. Most of its car activity has been in the low-end market, and the company has announced plans to offer an “ultra-cheap” car that would retail for about $2,400.
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