Michelin is considering the option of resuming exports of its car and truck tyres to Iran after international sanctions are lifted. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal dated 11 February, Michelin was amongst 100 French company executives that visited Tehran in early February to assess the business opportunities.
Demand for new commercial vehicles within the European Union increased in January for the fifth consecutive month. Total commercial vehicle registrations grew by 4.7 per cent and totalled 132,503 units. Growth was sustained across the van, truck and heavy truck segments, while the market for new buses and coaches contracted. Out of the most significant markets, Spain recorded the highest upturn, with registrations rising 44.9 per cent year-on-year. Italy posted 12.2 per cent growth while demand in the UK rose 5.3 per cent despite a sharp year-on-year decline in truck and heavy truck registrations. Registrations in Germany rose 3.0 per cent. France was the only major market recording a decline, with registrations down 5.1 per cent year-on-year.
Dunlop will test nine separate specifications of rear tyre at Australia’s Phillip Island circuit as it seeks to avoid similar problems to those that caused the Moto2 and Bridgestone-supplied MotoGP races to be shortened in October 2013. The circuit was resurfaced in 2013, and its abrasiveness caused the organisers of the Australian grand prix to […]
European registration figures for passenger cars started the year on a positive note, with demand rising for a fifth consecutive month. Across the EU28 region, registrations rose 5.5 per cent year-on-year in January 2014 to 935,640 units. Yet it is too early to celebrate a return to more robust markets – the ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association) points out that in absolute figures, January’s registrations were the second lowest January result since it began measuring registrations for the enlarged European Union in 2003.
As announced in June 2013, Michelin will debut a new competition at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Michelin Total Performance Award aims to speed up innovation both in relation to racetrack performance and sustainable mobility – and offers €1 million as incentive. The grant will be awarded to the first team that succeeds in fulfilling five criteria relating to performance, longevity and energy efficiency. When these five conditions are met, the million will be ploughed into the financing of research into sustainable mobility by an independent academic institute.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has reported full-year 2013 annual sales of US$19.5 billion, down 7 per cent from 2012. However, operating income was up 27 per cent compared with 2012 at $1.6 billion. Reference to the news that Sumitomo and Goodyear are looking to end their international joint ventures were noticeable by their absence from the official results reports. The company reported that it generated more than $1 billion of free cash flow from operations, resulting from higher net income and a $415 million benefit from working capital.
Solvay has appointed Jean-Francis Spindler to the role of research and innovation director within its Silica business unit. Spindler graduated with a Ph.D. in Organic Catalysis in 1990 from Claude Bernard University in Lyon, France and joined Rhône Poulenc as a project manager. He progressed through various scientific and management roles; his most recent positions were R&D director for Rhodia Organics and R&I European Zone director for Rhodia and then Solvay upon the former company’s acquisition.
Goodyear Dunlop says it is “not possible” to retain motorsport tyre production at its current UK location, and therefore this will transfer to plants in France (Montlucon) and Germany (Hanau) later in the year. Nevertheless, upon urging from MP for Erdington Jack Dromey on 5 February, the Prime Minister indicated he’d investigate the matter more closely. He told the House of Commons that I am happy to look carefully at it and see what can be done” in order to “get a good outcome.”
Football is Continental AG’s sponsorship medium of choice for its Continental tyre brand, and the German manufacturer has added to its existing agreements covering the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and UEFA EURO 2016 in France with a further UEFA deal. The agreement with European football’s governing body includes touchline advertising at European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and a presence on www.UEFA.com, the official website for the European Qualifiers. Continental will also enjoy a significant rights package at the UEFA Under 21 Championship 2015 and 2017, UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 and UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 and 2016 tournaments.
Bridgestone has launched a new steer position tyre to its commercial vehicle range, tuned to improve tyre life and increase load capacity. Bridgestone also said the new tyre would offer greater savings on fuel, with significant reductions in rolling resistance and irregular wear among the benefits it says the new tyre provides. Bridgestone makes its claims for the tyre based on internal calculations and field test performance in Spain, France and The Netherlands in 2012.
On 27 January, Point S Development, the Lyon, France-based international headquarters of the Point S network, launched a new version of its “eios” European online ordering system. The new version was developed after analysing member purchasing behaviour over a period of several months; Point S Development says the latest eios website is more intuitive than the previous version.
Four French companies are partnering in a project to develop further applications for used tyres. Work is being carried out under the TREC project name and Michelin’s leadership; TREC is backed by a €51 million budget that extends over an eight year period and includes €13.3 million that France’s Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) is providing to Michelin and one other partner, SDTech, as part of the French government’s “Investing in the Future” programme. The project covers all stages of research and development processes, from the definition of scientific concepts to pilot testing and validation on an industrial demonstrator. Michelin says at least one of the project’s outcomes is expected to tie in with the BioButterfly project that began last year.
RNF Digital and Bridgestone are reporting that their Firestone Tyre Pressure Calculator and Bridgestone Challenge apps re delivering impressive results since being launched a couple of years ago (the Firestone app is aimed at farmers and agricultural contractors and the Bridgestone Challenge was developed for use by Bridgestone’s sales teams in assisting customers and helping to land new contracts).
This week’s agreement between Goodyear Dunlop Tires France and the CGT union over the tyre maker’s Amiens Nord factory removes the major obstacle that blocked Titan International’s acquisition of the Amiens Nord agricultural tyre business. After hearing that the two parties have buried the hatchet, Titan CEO and chairman Maurice Taylor indicated he’s once again prepared to do business.
Ecobat Technologies has grown its battery business with the purchase of the battery collection division of German company Must GmbH and French battery distributor Batteries Accus Technologies. Through the acquisition of Must GmbH’s battery collection vision, the European market leader in lead-based battery collection and component recycling will increase its presence in northern, eastern and central Germany, while the French deal brings a fourth European battery distribution business into Ecobat’s Global Battery Distribution Division, which also consists of Manbat (UK and Republic of Ireland), Hefra (Netherlands), ACA (Belgium).
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