New car registration figures for the EU from ACEA show that demand for new cars was down -10.8% in September, amounting to 1,099,264 units, compared with September 2011. Nine months into the year, the downturn reached -7.6%, with a total of 9,368,327 new cars registered in the EU.
Styron has added an SSBR (Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber) rubber production line aimed at supplying tyre manufacturers to its factory in Schkopau, Germany. According to the company, Dr. Reiner Haseloff, minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt Germany and other dignitaries celebrate the opening. The new production line introduces an additional capacity of 50,000 metric tons at the production facility in Schkopau, Germany.
According to BelTA, the Belarusian Telegraph Agency, local tyre maker OAO Belshina intends increase capacity at its giant tyre facility and add 57 and 63-inch radials to its production portfolio. Company representatives told BelTA that the project will increase the product range and output of low soil compaction wide-section radials for powerful, self-propelled agricultural machinery. The expansion will reportedly increase agricultural tyre output by 84,000 units per annum while increasing productivity.
Swedish manufacturer Trelleborg has been given the AGCO EAME 2012 Supplier of the Year Award in the ‘collaboration’ category. The award was bestowed during a ceremony held at the AGCO Fendt facility in Marktoberdorf, Germany on 25 September 2012.
Corghi has launched a new app for the iPad, an interactive tool for discovering and browsing the Italian brand's product range. Corghi revealed a preview version of the app at the Automechanika show in Germany, and Corghi says it received an “enthusiastic response and positive comments” from visitors who “couldn't wait to try this tool.” The Italian manufacturer says the app will change the way clients interact with the Corghi world.
This month Bridgestone Europe is launching a new advertising campaign to support its winter tyre range; the integrated multimedia campaign will be shown in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden and is aimed at demonstrating how Bridgestone tyres keep “winter under control”.
At June’s Reifen trade show in Germany, Falken Tyre Europe shared that Volkswagen had selected its Sincera SN831A in size 165/70R14 81T for its new compact model, the ‘Up!’. The car maker has now selected another Falken product as original equipment, this time for the Polo; in certain European markets the Eurowinter HS449 winter tyre will be fitted to the Polo in size 185/60 R15 85H.
US industry organisation the Tire Industry Association (TIA) shares that its senior vice-president of training, Kevin Rohlwing, has been named "Best Speaker of the Conference" following the recent Intelligent Tire Technology (ITT) Conference in Darmstadt, Germany. Conference chairperson Dr. Klaudia Malowitz notified Rohlwing of the award in early October.
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Welshman Elfyn Evans has become the second-ever winner of the Pirelli-supported WRC Academy, a series attached to the FIA World Rally Championship and designed to identify future champions by pitting young drivers against each other in identical Ford Fiesta R2 rally cars. When Evans took his fourth consecutive win this year on the all-asphalt Rallye de France, his table tally rose to a level that put the title mathematically out of his rivals’ reach, despite there being one round of the Academy left to go this year.
Statistics shared at Continental’s recent European ContiWinterRoadshow indicate that a total of 73.8 million winter passenger car and 4×4 tyres were sold in Western Europe last year and a further 18.7 million in Central Europe. These figures are up 12.8 per cent and 10.7 per cent year-on-year respectively. Last year’s sale of 92.5 million units is viewed as a ‘peak’ for winter tyres; Continental says it expects sales to stabilise at around 90 million by 2015. This year, the German manufacturer anticipates that both the Western and Central European markets will experience a moderate decline; it estimates 65.8 million winter passenger car and 4×4 tyres will be sold in Western Europe and 17.7 million in Central Europe.
At June’s Reifen show in Germany Pirelli was first cab off the rank with a market-ready ‘AA’ labelled passenger car tyre. Now the Italian manufacturer has announced the impending launch of its ‘AA’ truck tyre, the ST:01 Neverending Energy. The range has been specifically developed for trailers and semi-trailers and is said to have benefited from testing and work conducted at Pirelli’s research facility in Milan. Developments engineered into the ST:01 include a patent pattern tread pattern and a dual compound tread, also paten pending, with a high silicone content for reducing heat build up. The profile and geometry of the sidewalls and tyre bead are also brand new.
Metzeler has announced that its new sport touring Tourance Next tyres will debut on the BMW R 1200 GS at international motorcycle, scooter and bicycle show, Intermot, which runs from 3 to 7 October in Cologne, Germany. Metzeler has been a BMW development partner for its GS line since 1980 with street enduro products and since 1999 with its Tourance-branded tyres. The Tourance Next is the third generation of the range and was specifically designed for the latest generation of street enduro and adventure touring bikes. The tyre is original equipment on the BMW R 1200 GS in sizes 120/70 R19 M/C and the 170/60 R17 M/C, having been developed in cooperation with the Bavarian manufacturer.
Corghi aimed to fuse form and substance when it launched the REMO clampless wheel aligner at the recent Automechanika exhibition in Germany. According to the company, the flagship product “sets a new technological benchmark for the entire segment.”
The automated capabilities of the Artiglio MasterCode also reportedly received acclaim, acknowledged as a decisive step towards automating the entire tyre mounting and demounting process.
Alcoa Wheel Products Europe has introduced four new wheels for truck and trailer applications at the IAA trade show in Hannover, Germany. The fitments comprise: 22.5×11.75”, 45mm offset wheel for inloaders; a 22.5×11.75”, 80mm offset wheel; 22.5×11.75”, 135mm offset and five ton load index; and a 22.5×13.00” lighter wheel with higher load capacity.
Testing of Pirelli’s Cyber Fleet system began earlier this year in South America, and in the second half of July an evaluation programme also began in Europe. So far, Pirelli’s European tests, conducted mainly in Germany using 15 heavy goods vehicles, have monitored the Cyber Fleet system over more than a million kilometres. Tests will continue until February 2013, and results so far confirm the results obtained in Latin America. Cyber Fleet will go on sale by the end of January 2013.
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