Michelin’s tyre supply and co-development relationship with Porsche dates back to 1961, and this long joint history continues with the French manufacturer’s selection as sole tyre supplier to Porsche’s new hybrid supercar, the 918 Spyder. The 918-specific Sport Cup 2 will be fitted in size 265/35-ZR20 at the front and size 325/30-ZR21 on the rear.
Sailun says the last three years have seen it establish a stronger truck tyre presence in Europe, from what it describes as “a relatively very low” base. The company states that its approach has been through research and development, epitomised by the creation and growth of a 400-strong Technical Quality and Research Centre at its company-owned manufacturing plant in Qingdao.
The Dexel Tyre Group has chosen CAM Systems' UniSerV application suite to provide the company with process efficiencies and "a seamless transactional solution for the challenging commercial environment".
Autosport 2013 generated an estimated £1.07 billion worth of new business within the motorsport and performance engineering industries. According to the show’s organisers what they call Europe’s largest dedicated motorsport trade show was this year also the most valuable.
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Eldan Recycling A/S has supplied its Steel Cleaning System to French company RBSI. RBSI has been using the system to clean steel from its existing tyre granulation line since January. According to the company, the Eldan Steel Cleaning System is designed to process up to 2.4 tonnes steel wire per hour with a minimum required purity of 96 per cent (free of rubber and textile).
Truck tyre retreading is an important means by which transport companies can reduce costs per mile. Goodyear Dunlop operates three mould cure retreading facilities in Europe – in Lyon, France, Wolverhampton, UK and the 2011-opened Wittlich plant in Germany – and has built up its mould cure retread portfolio. The company has now extended its range of services; in addition to acquiring and exchanging casings, as of September 2013 it will mould cure retread customer own casings.
Several months ago, Goodyear commissioned French market research company MV2 Conseil to look into tyre purchasing habits amongst European fleet operators. To gain an insight into the priorities at play when selecting tyres, during June and July MV2 Conseil interviewed approximately 500 fleet operators based in France, Italy, Germany, Poland and Spain. Goodyear has now published the study’s preliminary findings.
Driving across Europe requires drivers to conform to a number of different local laws and regulations – the legal requirement to fit winter tyres in northern European countries including Germany in cold season conditions will be a familiar one to readers of Tyrepress.com. However a new survey by the ColinAppleyard.com car dealership chain suggests that nearly every British driver would break at least one national motoring regulation. The chain said that many British drivers are not only unaware of speed limits on foreign roads, but also of other vital regulations such as mandatory safety equipment.
Upon announcing first half 2013 results, Michelin voiced its expectation that mature markets will continue their recovery from last year’s weakness in the remainder of the year, while expansion should be seen in emerging markets. Should this trend play out, the French manufacturer sees itself in good stead to achieve its projected full-year volumes. This is all well and good, however Michelin’s reportage of its latest results said little about the first-half bottom line, which is markedly down on the same time last year.
ACEA figures show that, in June, EU new passenger car registrations totalled 1,134,042 units, declining by 5.6 per cent compared to the same month last year. In the first half year of 2013, 6,204,990 new cars were registered in the EU, or 6.6 per cent less than in the first six months of 2012.
These days it seems every tyre maker and his dog participate in motorsport. This is fine of course, and a good way to boost brand awareness. But serving as a tyre supplier involves considerable product development costs, not to mention the logistics and planning associated with each championship round. And motorsport sponsorship only reaches a particular target audience – unless, as we’ve seen throughout this year, in cases where the tyre supplier finds itself on the receiving end of negative media attention.
Demand for heavy goods vehicle trailers is expected to grow 2 per cent during the course of 2013, despite a weak first six months of the year. Analysts from Clear International have issued a new reports saying as much and forecasting the demand for heavy goods trailers in Western Europe to 2017.
Michelin has renewed its commitment to the NASCAR Whelen Euro-Series (the new name for the former Euro-Racecar NASCAR Touring Series). The tyre maker has been involved in the US-imported championship since 2009 as technical partner and tyre supplier, and has developed two tyres for the mechanically uncomplicated cars used in NASCAR. These are the Michelin S9C slick (33/70-15) and P2E rain tyre (33/70-15).
Developed for the European Rallycross Championship with competitive testing in Germany, Sweden and Norway, Cooper Tire has launched its new 17” wet-weather rallycross tyre. The new tyre has already run in open competition in both Portugal and France, setting fastest laps in the heats. Cooper says its eponymous and Avon brands are established as global rallycross leaders, with these brands supplying the tyres of choice for the vast majority of competitors.
A small family business in southern Italy is achieving excellence in the tyre repair niche. Founded in 1980 by Giuseppe Ferrara’s family, the company is named RFP, but the brand is better known in the industry as Tap-Rap; a name that is synonymous with specialist and advanced know-how in repairs. What distinguishes Tap-Rap is not only its specialised product, but also its patented technology, which Ferrara calls "a real transplant surgery."
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