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Michelin Investing $6.8 Million to Lower Rolling Resistance

Legislation, environmental concerns and the spiralling cost of fuel is placing an ever-increasing pressure on vehicle and components manufacturers to make their products less polluting and more fuel efficient. Tyre manufacturers are not exempt from this broad-based demand, and to keep ahead of the game Michelin is investing US$6.8 million into a research and development project focusing on further improving vehicle fuel economy by reducing tyre rolling resistance. The funds will support the company’s US based research efforts in South Carolina and include a $1.9 million research contract with Clemson University and its International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR). The work, says Michelin, will begin immediately and have a three-year duration.

5th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Thatcham Give LaserTyre Quality Accreditation

At the end of 2007, Laserline Direct Limited celebrated the news that its LaserTyre product became the first device to gain the Thatcham Quality Accreditation (TQA) in the new Automotive Innovations category. Lasertyre is an optical direct tyre pressure monitoring system designed and manufactured in Italy by Laserline Group and replaces the original vehicle tyre valve dust caps, providing visual indication if the tyre pressure is correct or low.

Products that are submitted to Thatcham’s TQA scheme are subject to rigorous testing coupled with an assessment of the manufacturing process to provide an objective evaluation of the capabilities of the product alongside the claims of the manufacturer. All products that successfully gain the TQA accreditation are provided with a valid certificate of conformance and can then display the official logo on any associated packaging.

29th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Synthetic Rubber Producers Fined for Price Fixing

The European Commission has imposed fines totalling 34,230,000 euros on the Bayer and Zeon groups for fixing prices for Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) in violation of the EC Treaty’s and the EEA Agreement’s ban on cartels and restrictive business practices (Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement).

Between late 2000 and 2002, Germany’s Bayer and Japan’s Zeon managed to raise or otherwise stabilise prices through a series of meetings and other illicit contacts. Bayer’s and Zeon’s fines have been reduced by 30 and 20 per cent respectively, because they co-operated with the investigation under the Commission’s 2002 Leniency Notice (see IP/02/247 and MEMO/02/23). However Bayer’s fine was then increased by 50 per cent because it had been fined for cartel activity in a previous Commission decision.

24th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Going Wireless with Tyre Shredders UK

Northamptonshire based shredding specialists Tyre Shredders UK Limited (TSUK), a subsidiary of the Systems4Recycling Group, has a recycling ace up its sleeve – the company offers what it reports to be the only true single pass shredding system capable of removing virtually all tyre wire, creating 20mm rubber chip from whole passenger car and 4×4 tyres.

Two shredding systems are available from TSUK – the TS50 and the TS100 series. Both of these single pass machines deliver the pure 20mm rubber chip (TSUK reports that clean steel wire is removed from the tyre with only 5 to 9 per cent rubber contamination) that is frequently sought after by manufacturers of numerous rubber products, such as playground safety systems, equestrian surfaces and garden products.

24th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Question of the Month: The Right Type

Recently there has been talk of how new EU laws favour low rolling resistance tyres. The concern is that the legislation would favour premium, energy saving tyres, but effectively outlaw budget products. While low rolling resistance tyres use less fuel, such a move would also limit consumer choice. So, is the concept of low rolling resistance type approval a good idea? Let your opinion count by voting online here.

24th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Nokian Expands Winter Tyre Range

Nokian Tyres is adding three new products to its winter tyre line-up in the Nordic countries and Russia. The company’s latest winter tyre for passenger cars is the studless Nokian Hakkapeliitta R, and the Finnish manufacturer also intends to further the range with a version designed for 4×4 vehicles. The company’s traditional Hakkapeliitta range is also venturing into new territory: the Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck E winter traction tyre is the first product in this range to cater for the truck and bus segment.

24th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Question of the Month: The Right Type

Recently there has been talk of how new EU laws favour low rolling resistance tyres. The concern is that the legislation would favour premium, energy saving tyres, but effectively outlaw budget products. While low rolling resistance tyres use less fuel, such a move would also limit consumer choice. So, is the concept of low rolling resistance type approval a good idea? Let your opinion count by voting online here.

22nd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

House of Lords Hears Appeal Against Cemex Tyre Burning

A group seeking to stop the cement manufacturer Cemex from burning tyres as fuel at its Rugby works began a three-day hearing in the House of Lords on January 21. The five law lords have been asked to overturn a ruling made by the Appeal Court in mid-2006 that permitted Cemex to initially trial the use of tyres and other materials as fuel and then, in February 2007, gain Environment Agency approval to use tyres as a partial replacement for coal.

22nd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dieter Rogge Heads Continental Powertrain Division

Following Continental’s acquisition of Siemens VDO, and the divisional reordering that followed, Dieter Rogge has been named as head of Continental’s new Powertrain Division which employs around 27,000 people. With more than 60 sites throughout the world, the Division is one of the three new automotive divisions within Continental, the international automotive supplier. Powertrain brings together innovative and efficient system solutions affecting every aspect of a vehicle’s drive train and is divided into the following business units: Gasoline Systems, Diesel Systems, Electronics, Transmission, Sensors, Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Turbochargers and Actuators, Motor Drives & Fuel Supply.

21st January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Reports: EU Legislation Will Kill Budget Tyres

New EU regulations could lead to “type approval” of tyre specifications on CO2 emissions, effectively pushing out economy options that perform lower than the premium brands in this respect. According to an Auto Express, new EU rules aimed at cutting CO2 emissions could mean that drivers are forced to spend hundreds of pounds more to get the most fuel efficient tyres, increasing the so-called OE pull-through effect and therefore premium brand sales. Auto Express states that if the proposals go ahead, drivers who have purchased new or used cars that come with CO2 reducing low-energy rubber tyres would need to replace these with the same type or face failing their MOT.

21st January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New EU Member States Fuel Rise in Car Registrations

The European Association of Car Makers (ACEA) reports that nearly 16 million new cars were registered in the 27 European Union member states plus 3 EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) during 2007, 1.1 per cent more than the previous year. Most of this growth, as expected, took place in the new EU member states, with 14.5 per cent growth recorded during the year. A number of factors led to restrained buyer confidence in Western Europe, where registrations only rose by 0.2 per cent.

17th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Cheap Biofuel From Tyres

General Motors Corp. is planning to produce biofuel from garbage at a cost of less than a dollar a gallon. The company has formed a partnership with Illinois-based Coskata Inc. which has developed a way to make ethanol from practically any renewable source, including old tyres and plant waste.

The process is said to be a significant improvement over corn-base ethanol because it uses far less water and energy and does not divert food into fuel.
The schedule is for Coskata to have a pilot plant up and running towards the end of this year and the fuel will be used on GM test vehicles.

“We will have our first commercial-scale plant making 50 to 100 million gallons of ethanol running in 2011,” Coskata chief Bill Roe is quoted as saying.

16th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess Releases New Tyre Additive

Specialty chemicals group Lanxess has developed a new high-performance rubber additive. Known as Nanoprene, this material additive for tyre tread compound is reported to significantly reduce the rate of wear in a tyre. Lanxess adds that this reduction in wear achieved through the use of this additive does not in any way impact on rolling resistance or wet grip.

“Boosting tyre service life without losing other key tread properties was a major challenge for the rubber industry,” explains Nanoprene developer Professor Werner Obrecht, rubber expert at the Lanxess Technical Rubber Products (TRP) business unit. “Despite all the positive developments of the last 20 years, after travelling around 40,000 kilometres, the tread pattern is normally worn and new tyres are then needed. This is not only annoying for the customer, since the fine rubber particles created by the tyre wear ultimately end up in the environment.”

15th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

MRF, JK Tyre OE Partners for World’s Cheapest Car

The Ninth Auto Expo in New Delhi was selected as the venue for the January 10 launch of the world’s cheapest car, India’s Tata Nano. In its most basic form the Nano will retail for Rs 100,000 plus taxes. That’s around £1,300, less than one-third of the cost of the cheapest model sold in the UK. What buyers get for their rupees is a fairly spartan vehicle – the entry level Nano features no radio, air conditioning, power steering or any related luxuries, and comes fitted with a single windscreen wiper and a driver’s side only door mirror. But despite the lack of frills, the car is a genuine four-seater, and its two cylinder 623cc engine is said to deliver 33 hp and 5 litres/100km fuel economy. Furthermore, Tata reports that the Nano exceeds current safety and environmental standards.

11th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

UK New Car Registrations Up 2.5% in 2007

New car registrations in the UK were the sixth highest on record in 2007. During the year registrations rose 2.5 per cent to 2,404,007 units, surpassing the forecast figure by 90,000 units. Of this, diesel vehicles accounted for a record 40.2 per cent, at 967,436 units an increase of 7.66 per cent over 2006 figures. Also higher last year were registrations of supermini and small family cars, up 17,729 and 25,084 units respectively.

“Last year, demand for new cars was stronger than many had predicted,” said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) CEO Paul Everitt. “There is little sign that the US credit crisis or rising fuel prices have affected demand and we foresee only limited changes through 2008. The UK economy currently remains resilient and the new car market is ultra-competitive.”

9th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors