France Archives - Page 56 of 69 - Tyrepress

Posts

Tigar Benefits From Michelin’s Commitment

Tigar, based in the Serbian town of Pirot, has a domestic market share of about 52 per cent. This strong foothold on the local market is at least partly due to technological support and know-how supplied by Michelin. At the same time the privately owned company sells a significant proportion of its annual production (3.2 million tyres) abroad. In particular France and the UK are important export markets for Tigar. Currently there are certain restructuring measures taking place in the company, which could also affect the future of the Tigar brand in the Michelin Corporation as well as the future of the factory itself.

1st December 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Tire’s Growth is Based on Quality

An investment of about 500 million euros (£340 million) into a new tyre factory is a clear statement of the future direction of a company. Hankook’s decision to invest in Central Europe rather than the US, Korea or China shows what an important role the European market plays in Hankook’s future growth and development strategy. The new factory, which will be built in the Hungarian city of Dunaujvaros, not only provides the company with missing production capacity close to important sales markets and cheap but highly-skilled workforce, but also goes far beyond the obvious, Seung Hwa Suh, president of Hankook’s European headquarters in Germany, says in an interview with Tyres & Accessories. There are three keywords that Mr Suh frequently uses to describe Hankook’s strategy for Europe and the rest of the world: quality/innovation, service and brand awareness.

30th November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Plimsoll: UK Tyre Industry Recipe For Uncertainty

A study of the UK’s leading tyres, exhausts and batteries companies suggests few are fully in control of their overall business strategy. The survey – by business analysts Plimsoll – indicates a remarkable inconsistency in the companies’ commercial and financial behaviour. Very few of the tyres, exhausts & batteries firms planning to come out on top in 2007 in terms of profit and sales will actually achieve their goals.

David Pattison, senior analyst on the project, says: “In today’s highly competitive tyres, exhausts and batteries market you cannot sit still for a minute. If you have seen sales increase this year and good profits, there is a fair chance that next year you will not be able to maintain it. Likewise, if you did not increase sales this year you are going to have to set a priority of trying to grab some growth in the next trading period.”

29th November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Makes a Splash at Paul Ricard

Dunlop broke new ground – and shifted plenty of water – at the Paul Ricard circuit near Marseille, France last week, with a first-ever dedicated wet test bringing together top teams from MotoGP, Superbike and Endurance for a two day programme at which multi-compound wet – weather tyres made their track debut.

The tests brought the title-winning French SERT (Suzuki Endurance Racing Team) alongside the Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP team and the Airwaves Ducati British Superbike squad – all lining up for the full spray treatment at the multi-million dollar Paul Ricard HTTT (High Tech Test Track) facility more usually dedicated to F1 and Le Mans race cars.

28th November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Aims to Close the Gap with Michelin in France

Since Goodyear Dunlop Tire France was founded on 1 January 2004, the group has increased its market share 4 percentage points to 23 per cent of the 32 million-unit strong French passenger car tyre replacement market. The company’s next goal is to close the competitive gap between itself and domestic market dominator, Michelin.

On a global level the size of the three leading players (Bridgestone, Goodyear Dunlop and Michelin) is relatively comparable. In France it is a completely different story. According to French Automotive information source autoactu.com, Michelin holds a 45 per cent market share of car, 4×4 and van tyre sales in France, while Goodyear Dunlop’s 23 per cent puts it in second place.

24th November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Reedijk Banden: New Trading Avenues in Europe

Up till now Reedijk Banden Import B. V. (RBI) has generally been known as a Netherlands-based tyre wholesaler that is particularly active within its home market and some trade in Germany, Belgium and France. However since the beginning of 2006 the company has embarked on a controlled expansion programme which has seen RBI evolve into more of an international company with new sales projects being introduced around Europe and most recently in the UK.

23rd November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Italian Michelin Facility Gets New Generator

Elyo Italia recently purchased an LM6000-PD aeroderivative gas turbine generator and 12-year contractual service agreement (CSA) from GE Energy’s aeroderivative business for a combined heat and power (CHP) plant located within the Michelin tyre manufacturing facility in Cuneo, Italy.

14th November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Aufeer Design Partners with Matador Automotive

Aufeer Design has signed a strategic alliance with Matador Automotive corporation. The agreement was strengthened by Matador Automotive’s acquisition of one third of the Aufeers’s privately held shares. Matador, one of the Slovakia’s biggest corporations, says that is has the primary objective if supporting Aufeer Design activities‘ growth and expansion in Czech, Slovak and international automotive markets, including those involving more than 30 joint-venture companies which it currently owns in the automotive segment.

3rd November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Autopromotec Makes The Going Easy

The organisers of Autopromotec 2007 have entered into a number of agreements with travel companies and hotels in order to make it easier for visitors to travel to and find accommodation close to the exhibition, which is scheduled for Bologna from 23-27 May next year.

27th September 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Automotive Hall of Fame to Recognize Bridgestone Founder

(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone Corp. founder Shojiro Ishibashi will be among seven individuals that will be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame on Tuesday, 3 October in Dearborn, Michigan. Ishibashi joins Nuccio Bertone, Dale Earnhardt, Bill France Jr., Wayne Huizenga, Arjay Miller and Bruno Sacco in the hall’s class of 2006. Ishibashi is credited with leading Japan’s tyre industry, and created his country’s first locally developed tyres in 1930. He established Bridgestone Tire Co. in 1931, served as its president and chairman until he retired, and remained active in the company until his death in 1976.

22nd September 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Going the Extra Mile

With the European Commission predicting that 81 per cent of freight transport will be delivered by road by 2020, long-distance or highway tyres have become a real focus for the premium manufacturers. Prior to the M749’s official debut at the Hanover IAA Commercial Vehicle show, Tyres & Accessories visited Bridgestone’s Aprilia proving ground to see the Japanese manufacturer’s new highway tyre in action.

Bridgestone’s latest drive axle offering is clearly presented to fight off the company’s number one competitor and therefore it promises much. According to Bridgestone officials the new M749 is more cost efficient because of superior mileage, excellent rolling resistance, and a “high capacity” for re-grooving and retreading. The demonstrations Bridgestone staff gave on the track were particularly designed to show the product also has strengths in “handling and wet safety.”

19th September 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Kplus 30 Boosts Kraiburg’s Sales

One year after being launched, the high-performance Kplus 30 special compound tyres from Kraiburg Austria are successfully established on the market. Of the 11,000 tonnes of precured treads, that the company sold in Europe, 1,500 tonnes were notched up by the premium range Kraiburg plus, representing a remarkable 13 per cent of total sales.

In Germany, the pre-cured Kplus 30 currently generates eight per cent of sales. That brings the current overall market share of Kraiburg plus to two per cent in the core market of precured tyres. In conjunction with its twelve authorised retreading partners, who together cover more than 50 per cent of the Kraiburg precured retreading market, Kraiburg is planning to gradually further exploit the existing market potential in Germany. Three months ago Kraiburg welcomed a new, strong partner: Feneberg, a company based in Kempten, Germany. With 16 locations, the plant in the Alpine region of Allgäu now covers the entire southwest.

8th September 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Raising Awareness of Road Safety

Bridgestone is stepping up efforts to build support for the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) Foundation’s “Make Roads Safe” campaign, creating public attention and collecting petitions at F1 Grand Prix races and other events. The aim is to keep up the pressure on politicians and get road safety onto the G8 and UN agendas in 2007.

5th September 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

The Long Arm of the Law

The legislation regarding winter tyres is diverse across Europe, but the distinctive safety advantages of winter tyres are convincing drivers and national governments to consider making the use of winter tyres compulsory. In turn this provides retailers with a strong selling point for customers that plan to drive abroad to enjoy ski holidays for example. The reasons for increased legal recognition is not only the advantages of winter tyres on snow and ice. The tyres’ safety benefits on slushy, wet and dry but cold roads are getting more and more recognized.

1st September 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Far From Frozen

With less than 1 per cent of the total UK market, no-one is saying the cold weather segment is huge, but speaking to influential market representatives reveals that the last couple of years have seen the industry make renewed efforts to raise awareness, emphasising both the safety benefits and profitability that cold weather tyres offer. Some manufacturers are even expecting the segment to total 3 million units “in the medium to long term.” Tyres & Accessories spoke to the leading cold weather players and asked what progress they have made and what’s happening next?

In short the answer is growth. Many of the manufacturers surveyed by T&A said 2005 was a good year for cold-weather sales, while all were positive about their performance this year. T&A estimates, based on Europool figures suggest that almost 54,000 non-truck winter tyres were sold in the UK last year, up almost 15 per cent on 2004.

1st September 2006/by Tyrepress Editors