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SmarTire Finalises Sale of Business Assets

SmarTire Systems has signed a definitive agreement to sell its business and related assets to Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, the North American affiliate of Germany’s Knorr-Bremse Group. The December 10 transaction immediately incorporates SmarTire’s assets into Bendix’ electronic business unit, and proceeds from the sale will be held in a third party account subject to SmarTire obtaining shareholder consent at a meeting to be held in March, 2009. The company says it expects to apply all, or a substantial proportion, of the proceeds from the sale against its debt obligations. Following the transaction, SmarTire will change its name to TTC Technology, Inc.

15th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti CSEasy Wins Industrial Tyre Comparison Test

A DEKRA certified test in Germany shows that the Continental CSEasy SC20 is between 3.7 and 12.8 per cent more economical than its competitors. Six competitor tyres were examined alongside the CSEasy including: Bergougnan Elite XP, Solideal Magnum, Watts Premia, Marangoni Eltor 5, Gumasol Softy NP80 and Trelleborg Rota VP15.

Hans-Jürgen Sauerwald, head of testing at Continental’s Industrial Tyres business unit, commented: “The lower rolling resistance means a saving of between 257 and 900 euros per year for each fork lift in use for 6,000 hours annually.”

12th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Report: Schaeffler Needs up to 7 billlion Euros Share Capital

Schaeffler Group needs somewhere between 4 and 7 billion euros of new share capital, Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Friday 12 December. According to a Perella Weinberg study presented to Continental’s supervisory board, Schaeffler has net debt of around 11 billion euros (six times annual EBITDA), Handelblatt reported. The newspaper’s banking sources said at the end of November no changes would be made to Schaeffler’s 16.1 billion euro syndicated loan before 2009.

At the same time as Handelblatt published its story, Wall Street Journal Europe reported that Continental is in talks to restructure the multi billion euro loans it arranged for the purchase of Siemens VDO Automotive. However, Reuters reported that Continental is not trying to restructure these “at this stage.” Quoting a source familiar with the matter, the newswire said it may have to do so next year if Schaeffler increases its stake to a majority shareholding or if the economic environment worsens dramatically.

12th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Supervisory Board Extends Dr. Neumann’s Contract

Continental AG’s Supervisory Board has extended Executive Board Chairman Automotive Group Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann’s contract for a further five years. Dr. Neumann, who is also head of the company’s Automotive Group, has been a member of Continental’s Executive Board since October 2004 and chairman of the Executive Board of Continental AG since September 1, 2008.

11th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Germany Managing Director Resigns

The managing director of Bridgestone’s operations in Germany is to leave the company. According to Bridgestone Deutschland GmbH, Dr. Rainer Schieben, who has held his position with the subsidiary since October 1, 2005, has reportedly taken the decision to further his career outside the Bridgestone Group.

In a statement, Bridgestone Germany thanked Dr. Schieben for his service to the company and wished him all the best for the future.

11th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Biogas-Powered World Record Set on Dunlop Rubber

Achieving speeds of 327.5 km/h (204.7 mph), the Hohenester-tuned biogas Audi A4 Quattro equipped with Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT tyres has set a new world speed record. The TÜV Rheinland-organized record attempt took place at the proving ground in Papenburg, Germany, and demonstrates the performance abilities of climate neutral fuels.

In breaking high-speed record Hohenester used biogas extracted from field grass. With an octane number between 120 and 140 ROZ the alternative fuel offers higher numbers than conventional fuels. “High speed tuning and ecological aspects don’t have to exclude each other,” believes the record-breaking driver, Jürgen Hohenester. “This Audi A4 is a prototype, which proves how powerful these new fuel technologies can be already today.”

8th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

UK New Car Sales Drop More than 35% in November

Sales of new cars in the UK plummeted in November to 100,333 units, a decrease of 36.8 per cent on last year’s figures. These dismal results, released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), represent the greatest monthly drop since June 1980. During the year to November, car sales totalled 2,023,104 units, down 10.7 per cent on the first 11 months of 2007.

5th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Obituary: Frank Welton

Frank Sidney Welton, born 4 December 1931 died 24 October 2008 after a battle with Lewy Body Dementia.

Frank Welton was born in Coventry in 1931. He used the springboard of an academic scholarship to Bablake grammar school, where he became captain of the school for two years running, to propel himself into Magdelen College, Oxford. There he captained the college rugby XV and gained a master’s degree in modern languages with which, after first fulfilling his commitment to National Service, he launched himself with typical dedication into the executive training scheme of Goodyear Tyres.

http://www.lewybody.org/

5th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Cuts Back Production at German Tyre Making Factories

Production is being cut back at Continental’s three German tyre production plants. From December 4 until early January no truck tyres will be manufactured at the company’s Hannover-Stöcken facility, and other production adjustments will take place at this and the Conti factories in Korbach and Aachen.

1st December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

German Goodyear Dunlop Factories Halt Christmas Production

Workers at Goodyear Dunlop’s six plants in Germany will return from their Christmas holidays two weeks later than normal following the decision to extend the winter holidays at all the sites. Production will end on 19 December, with workers returning on 5 January, 2009.

The spokesperson for Goodyear Dunlop in Hanau, Gabriele Velte stated, “The crunch is hard on all of us – also at the Fulda factory.” Citing this example, Goodyear Dunlop’s Fulda plant, which produces the Fulda brand as well as other brands, employs 1,400 workers. In previous years, the facility has worked throughout the Christmas and New Year period – the usual holidays excepted. “This has never happened before, as long as I can remember,” continued Velte.

28th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Van Dyck Re-joins Deldo as Director, Sales & Organisation

Deldo reports that Tom Van Dyck is ‘back in business’ with the company, in the role of director, Sales & Organisation. The 29 year old initially joined Deldo in 2002 as sales manager for Germany, and later became sales manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2007 he left the company and started working for the KBC Group as an internal consultant, where he actively participated on several strategic projects.

In his latest role at Deldo, Van Dyck will be involved in the management of eight sales teams, realising Europe-wide sales in the replacement tyre market. His activities include organisational optimisation in order to achieve both strategic and operational business goals.

20th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess Shows Off Latest SR Know-How

The consistent further development of synthetic rubber has resulted in a significant improvement in the overall performance of vehicle tyres. Synthetic rubber manufacturer Lanxess AG highlighted recent progress in this area at the recent 4th Intelligent Tire Technology Congress, held on October 21 and 22 in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Newly developed production processes have paved the way for the use of solution styrene-butadiene rubbers (S-SBR), reports Lanxess. Trials performed at the company’s test laboratories and in customer trials have shown that, with these new tyre tread elastomers, it is possible to simultaneously raise wet grip and rolling resistance – formerly totally contradictory properties – to a completely new level.

17th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Industrial Director to Leave Pirelli Carlisle

The Cumberland News reported today that the boss at Pirelli’s Carlisle plant will leave early next year to take up a position at the company’s plant near Frankfurt, Germany. Mr Carducci-Agostini has worked at the Carlisle plant for four years, spend the first three as production manager before landing the top job last year. His new position will also be heading up the Frankfurt factory.

The paper also understood that the person to take the reigns at Carlisle has been appointed, though further details were as yet unavailable. The change of personnel will not – the News understood – have any impact on operations at the facility.

14th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Watchdog Bans Continental Advert

The UK Advertising Standards Authority has banned a Continental tyre advertisement, concluding that it could not substantiate its claims that “nothing stops better than a Continental tyre.” Following a complaint by competitors Goodyear and Michelin, the ASA analysed the braking results of all 2007 tyre tests of summer tyres and found that Continental’s competitors had performed better in 28 instances.

As a result the ad – which in technical speak breached substantiation, truthfulness and other comparisons clauses – must not appear again in its current form. An internal document shows Goodyear made its case by submitting the results of all 2007 UK independent tyre tests (which were all won overall by Goodyear HydraGrip or Eagle F1 Asymmetric) to the ASA.

Tim Bailey, Continental Tyre Group Ltd’s advertising and sponsorship manager explained that the company commissioned TUV research that demonstrated the braking ability of its tyres: “We commissioned a special report by the TUV in Germany to test our tyres and those of our competitors in 2007 and this demonstrated that Continental tyres in the pattern and size tested are superior in braking performance in both wet and dry conditions. The claim that ‘nothing stops better than a Continental tyre’ is truthful based on this evidence.

12th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

European Monityre Distributors Sought

Following the recent launch of its Monityre tyre pressure monitoring system in the UK, manufacturer Safe Europe plc is now looking to develop a network of the distributors and agents across Europe. After attending several key European trade exhibitions, Safe Europe plc reports several interested parties are considering distributor status in both Germany and the Benelux countries.

According to Paul Marriott, Operations Director at Safe Europe plc, “the proven benefits of Monityre, in terms of improved fuel economy and its green credentials, are equally as important to operators across Europe as well as here in the UK. Already we have attracted interest in our product from certain European countries and we are now a position to make further ongoing distributor appointments throughout Europe.”

11th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors