Pirelli has won the 2013 Volkswagen Group Award for its global partnership, product quality, competitiveness, project management and flexibility. According to the company, VW’s “global champion” Pirelli has produced more than 200 homologations that equip some of the Wolfsburg carmaker’s most prestigious models. Another 250 homologations are currently under development, many of which will go into production within the next few years.
Spectators watching this Sunday’s DTM round at the Norisring circuit in southern Germany will no longer have to puzzle over which tyres each driver has selected. Championship tyre supplier Hankook has decided to visually differentiate the option tyres by printing its brand name in larger, yellow text on the sidewall. Viewers at home will also be helped in the tyre department through additional on-screen information; graphics shown on televised coverage will now also indicate which tyres a vehicle is using. This information is transmitted via the rim-mounted sensors each DTM car has used since the start of 2012 to convey information on tyre pressure.
Within an industry that in past years has increasingly and openly distanced itself from manual handwork and developed into a commercial business with single-use consumer products, skills such as tyre repair have played an ever smaller role. Yet this trend, as many within the industry are discovering – particularly those who consider themselves specialist tyre dealers – is simply wrong. A company that has vigorously fought against this trend and attempted to (re)establish tyre repair as an accepted and, most importantly, high-end craft is Rema Tip Top. The globally active German workshop outfitter and parts supplier views itself as a world leader in the field of tyre repair and in its home market alone is supported by a network of more than 100 ‘MTR partners’. These are audited and certified dealers who place great value on performing professional tyre repairs according to set provisions, and by doing so pursue quite interesting business aims – just as Rema Tip Top does.
On 1 July, the EU family grew with the addition of more than four million Croatians. Starco has welcomed its colleagues in Croatia into the European Union and says that time has proven the wisdom its decision to invest in the country.
German magazine Off Road’s readers have chosen Goodyear’s Wrangler DuraTrac as the best off-road product in the ‘Traction Tyres’ category. This was the first time the magazine has invited its readers to vote on tyres alongside their favourite vehicles, and the Goodyear tyre beat all the other products to the inaugural edition of this honour.
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.
Falken Motorsport has released a 28 minute movie showcasing its 2013 Nürburgring 24 Hours experiences. Filmed across three countries and on location at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, the film contains driver interviews and intense racing action culled from 25 terabytes of data. The film is now available to view online via sites such as YouTube and Facebook, as well as in the subscriber area on Tyrepress.com below.
Pirelli has announced that it will revert to its 2012 construction P Zero Formula One tyres in time for the Hungarian grand prix. For this weekend’s German grand prix only it will provide teams with rear tyres constructed with Kevlar belts at the Nürburgring. Pirelli says the aim of this is to reduce the tyres’ susceptibility to cuts, while Kevlar has the advantage of reducing the working temperature of tyres by around 10 degrees Centigrade. The concern remains that this may alter the competitiveness of some teams’ cars. The reduced damage resistance and hotter running of the steel belt construction tyres are thought to have been two of the factors leading to the high profile tyre failures witnessed at Silverstone.
When US publication Popular Science Monthly enthused in March 1935 over “modern scientific methods” that enable a tyre casing to be “rebuilt” instead of discarded after a working life of 20,000 miles or so, the retreading industry was still a relative newcomer on the scene. It was less than 20 years since Oliver Rubber introduced pre-cure retreading, and when the Popular Science Monthly article hit the newsstands, one aspect of retreading remained very labour intensive – buffing a tyre was still partially carried out by hand, with steel brushes used to prepare the casing for retreading. This was soon to change; in the second half of the 1930s, a German named Nanno Collmann looked into ways of simplifying this part of the retreading process, and in 1938 his company introduced the world’s first specialised tyre buffing machine. Three quarters of a century later, the Collmann brand is still a name respected by retreaders the world over and the company, under new ownership, retains a strong interest in the sector.
Trelleborg Blue Dimension concept is being taken to another level as the company announced its plans to print all promotional materials on only recycled paper certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), an international certification program that promotes environmentally appropriate forest management. The company’s new approach to brochures, leaflets and technical catalogues will start in July, with the new marketing materials shown for the first time at the leading agricultural exhibition Agritechnica 2013 in Hannover, Germany, on 10-16 November.
Giti Tire has appointed former Michelin director, Rainer Harter as general manager D-A-CH with lead responsibility for German, Austrian and Swiss markets. He is tasked with developing passenger car business following the manufacturer’s structured retail approach across its GT Radial, Primewell and Runway brands, along with building truck and bus business in the mid-range segment with a focus on creating added-value services for fleets.
Germany’s Robert Bosch GmbH and Japanese firms GS Yuasa International Ltd and Mitsubishi Corporation have agreed to work together on the next generation of high-performance lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are fundamental for future forms of mobility, including plug-in hybrid or all-electric vehicles. The companies’ stated aim is to use advanced cell management and progress in electrochemistry and materials to significantly increase energy content. This will reduce weight and space requirements, and increase the range of electric vehicles.
The Association of European Automotive and Industrial Battery Manufacturers (EUROBAT) has elected Johann-Friedrich Dempwolff, general manager and vice-president of Industry and Governmental Relations for Johnson Controls Power Solutions EMEA, as its new president. The appointment took place last week during EUROBAT meetings in Italy. Dempwolff will serve as president for two years.
Although there are still some three months until the opening of the 11th China International Tire Expo, the show’s organiser says the number of stands booked and floorspace have already set a new record. According to Wilko Fong, managing director of Reliable International Exhibition Services, he expects more than 320 exhibitors at CITExpo 2013 to occupy 24,000 square metres of exhibition space in the three halls of the Shanghai Everbright Convention and Exhibition Center.
Having made a considerable impression in the UK segment, Giti Tire has designs on increasing to 10 per cent its share of the German truck and bus tyre market. The manufacturer has recently restructured its sales operation in the country, making several new appointments and seeking to strengthen the position of GT Radial. Richard Lyons, managing director – Europe, said: “While the truck and bus operation has performed well in recent years there has been key senior staff appointments in the German office, and it was felt the sales force needed to be more closely aligned to their vision for the business.
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