Watts Group of Lydney has announced that Mr. Jean-Paul Mindermann, who has managed the European subsidiaries for the past ten years, will succeed Mr. Doug Pearson as Managing Director of Watts Industrial Tyres PLC on 1st June 2006.
European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers have held the first meeting of the newly formed European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association or ETRMA. The new association will replace BLIC (Bureau de Liaison des Industries du Caoutchouc). Francesco Gori of Pirelli was elected as president, and Groupe Michelin’s Eric de CromiÈres Michelin was named vice president. Fazilet Cinaralp was appointed secretary general.
ATS Euromaster has appointed Ian Stuart as its new Group Managing Director, taking up the role with immediate effect. The news follows reports of previous MD Nick Gregg’s departure a little over a month ago.
Ian Stuart started his career as a salesman with Kenning Tyre Services in the London area in 1980, followed by periods as Centre Manager and in Regional Sales. After a four-year period as Regional Sales Manager in London and the South East with National Tyres & Autocare, Ian joined ATS Euromaster as a Regional Manager in London and then became Managing Director of W.S. Tyremasters.
An event featuring the world’s most famous calendar will be held at the Guggenheim Museum tonight in the presence of major international political and diplomatic figures and illustrious representatives of the worlds of culture and show business. Following the success of similar events in Berlin and Moscow, the style and appeal of “The Cal” is set to conquer the “Big Apple” with Pirelli presenting the most intimate side of its prestigious calendar for the first time in its 40-year history. Secrets and backstage details, curiosities and anecdotes, all that which admirers of The Cal throughout the world have always longed to know but which has never before been revealed or described has now been collected in an exclusive, prestigious volume, the Pirelli Calendar Backstage Book, to be presented in New York.
For Beru AG, innovative product development and commitment to motor sport have always gone hand in hand. And from April 2006 onwards the Ludwigsburg-based automotive equipment supplier will also be sponsoring the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The company, a specialist in ignition technology, diesel cold-start technology, electronics and sensor technology, is to become involved in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC).
Kyoto Japan Tire Corporation Ltd. is a Japanese company specialising in the development, design, manufacture and marketing of various sizes of automotive pneumatic tyres and car batteries for international markets. The company designs and develops its tyres in Japan and produces them in China. Kyoto Japan has marketing offices in strategic countries throughout the world to better serve its demanding clients.
Staff from three First Stop dealerships have been treated to a VIP tour of one of Bridgestone’s major tyre manufacturing plants in France as part of a campaign to further increase knowledge within the network.
Representatives from Airway Tyres in Colchester, and the Lodge Tyres depots in both Walsall and Talke, near Stoke, were given a guided tour of the factory in Béthune, northern France. They received an in-depth insight into the whole tyre manufacturing process, from the combination of natural and synthetic rubber all the way through to the detailed and thorough quality control of the final product.
(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone Corp. founder Shojiro Ishibashi is among seven individuals selected for induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame on 3 October. Joining Ishibashi in the class of 2006 are vehicle designer Nuccio Bertone, race driver Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR chief Bill France Jr., AutoNation founder Wayne Huizenga, former Ford president Arjay Miller and designer Bruno Sacco.
The Beru spark plug plant in Chazelles-sur-Lyon, France, has received the Ford Q1 Award in the areas of quality, logistics and environmental protection. The coveted quality award is a recognised standard in the international automotive and component supply industry. It acknowledges the excellent achievements by the French Beru site in areas such as customer focus and compliance with all customer specifications, standards and statutory requirements.
Tenneco Inc., manufacturer of Monroe® shock absorbers, is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the start of its shock absorber manufacturing activity with a number of initiatives that support its new brand promise “Monroe is More®”. The company, which was one of the first to invent shock absorber technology in the early 1900s, today supplies more than 200 vehicle platforms worldwide with its original equipment ride and emission control products. To mark the occasion, Tenneco is expanding coverage of its Monroe® range of aftermarket shock absorber, providing more training and introducing an all-new look for its aftermarket shocks.
Michelin is to become the first major manufacturer in Scotland to commit to using renewable energy, with the construction of two wind turbines at its Dundee plant, says an article in The Scotsman. In a battle against being hurt further by rising energy costs, the turbines – which are expected to be operational by July – will provide up to 4MW of power on a windy day, meeting the entire Dundee factory’s needs. Over the course of the year it is forecast to provide about a third of the energy needs, cutting electricity bills by about 8 per cent, once running costs are accounted for.
The inaugural season of the Cooper-A1 Grand Prix began in Great Britain in September last year and ended on a positive note in China in early April. A1 Team France was the overall winner of the first World Cup of Motorsports with 172 points. A1 Team Switzerland took second with 121 points and A1 Team Great Britain finished third with 97 points. 22 teams competed on 370/660R13 Cooper-A1 tyres fitted to 16-inch wide racing rims.
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced a series of personnel changes in its R&D group. Lyn Lovell, previously director of government compliance and product performance, was named director of global technology planning, a new position created to “increase the speed at which new products get to market, maintain technical leadership, and ensure alignment with business needs,” according to Goodyear.
Continental AG and Motorola, Inc. have jointly announced that the
companies have entered into an agreement under which Continental will acquire Motorola’s automotive electronics business for approximately US$ 1 billion in cash. The transaction includes Motorola’s controls, sensor, interior electronics and telematics businesses.
A Peugeot on Pirelli tyres will be back in a world championship event in the Rally of France-Tour de Corse. The team, comprising Italians Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini, will compete in the fifth round of the World Rally Championship in a Peugeot 307 CC entered by the team of Jacky Bozian.
The agreement, currently only valid for the French rally, will see Pirelli Competizioni support the involvement of Galli-Bernacchini more or less entirely, with the added help of the sponsors of the team itself. The Peugeot 307 CCs prepared in the Bozian atélier have already demonstrated many times their high level of competitiveness, as seen by the third place of one of their cars driven by Austrians Stohl-Minor in Mexico on 5 March.
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