The Falken tyre brand celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and Falken Tyre Europe has marked the milestone at an event not far from its headquarters in Offenbach am Main, Germany. For the company, the anniversary is also an opportunity to look back on the past four decades.
As of 1 July, Ralf Gutena is the new director of sales and marketing at Toyo Tire Holdings of Europe GmbH. Switching to Toyo from Kumho Tire Europe, Gutena is based in Germany and responsible for increasing market penetration in Europe.
Davanti Tyres has named Reifenvertrieb Seng its exclusive distributor for the German market. Seng primarily intends to sell the Davanti brand through its own online portal but will also distribute via specifically selected direct key accounts.
Next month, the Steinexpo raw materials and building materials industry trade fair returns after a long absence. Around 400 brands are expected to be present at the show in Germany from 23 to 26 August, including a number of familiar names.
Opposition is building against planned job cuts at the Goodyear plant in Fulda, Germany. The tyre maker announced at the start of June that it would cut about half of the current 1,150 jobs at the Fulda site, and the local Goodyear works council has now invited the workforce in Fulda and other Goodyear sites in Germany to demonstrate against the job cuts in front of the factory gate next Monday afternoon. A non-public works meeting is also scheduled to take place within the plant that day, as employee union IGBCE writes in a recent press release in which it threatens Goodyear with a “fight”.
On 18 May, well-known German garage chain A.T.U Auto-Teile-Unger Handels GmbH & Co. KG (ATU) suffered a cyber attack that put some of its systems and servers out of action. That led the company to warn customers they would experience “various restrictions” and should expect longer waiting times.
GRI’s recently launched Green XLR Earth Series has been undergoing field testing in Germany for the last 6 months. The manufacturer also refers to testing in “other European countries”. According to the company, the tyres contain 78.6 per cent sustainable material, including pure natural rubber sustainably sourced from Sri Lankan rubber farmers. Other input materials include: recycled carbon black, reclaimed rubber, highly dispersible silica, soybean oil and bio-sourced cellulose fibres. The use of bio-sourced soybean oil, combined with next-generation HD Silica, reportedly improves fuel economy and extends tyre life.
According to an article published by our German sister site, Reifenpresse.de, the number of job losses through the closure of Goodyear’s warehouse in Philippsburg, Germany may be significantly more than the 15 jobs that the tyre maker mentioned last week. Since 1 January 2020, the facility has been operated by third-party firm Geis Tyre Warehousing GmbH, which also operates other warehouses for Goodyear in Germany and Luxembourg. Geis Tyre Warehousing told Reifenpresse.de that it currently employs almost 300 people in Philippsburg.
Goodyear EMEA is opening two new distribution centres in Cheb, the Czech Republic, and Amiens, France. The announcement coincides with the news that Goodyear is closing its Philippsburg, Germany operation. Goodyear announced that it was closing its Philippsburg, Germany tyre factory in 2016 and production ceased in 2017. Since then, it has been run as a tyre distribution centre in conjunction with a third-party logistics firm. Tyres & Accessories understands that the Philipsburg tyre distribution operation is no longer as efficient and effective as Goodyear had hoped. The company is now consulting with employees regarding the future of 15 jobs in Philippsburg.
Car tyre retreading has been a niche activity in recent years, but on 5 April French firm Black Star presented its ‘Leonard’ line-up and announced plans to make a million of these tyres a year. And it isn’t the only tyre company entering this segment, as German retreader Rigdon says it is also planning a retreaded car tyre range of its own.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz carved a tyre prototype and inspected a truck & bus tyre retreading facility during his visit to Continental’s Hannover-Stöcken site yesterday. Accompanied by Dr Ariane Reinhart and Christian Kötz, Scholz also used the event as an opportunity to talk about carbon neutrality just two days after his government enforced the deactivation of Germany’s last three CO2-free nuclear power plants.
Mercedes-Benz will soon use waste tyres removed from its vehicles in the production of new cars. German pyrolysis recycling specialist Pyrum Innovations has taken the “next step” in its cooperation with the vehicle manufacturer and anticipates recycling several hundred tonnes of used tyres from the Mercedes-Benz Used Parts Centre every year. Pyrolysis oil made from these tyres will be used in the manufacture of vehicle components.
Toyo Tire Corporation is partnering with Ring Racing to participate in the Nürburgring 24 Hours (The ADAC TotalEnergies 24h Nürburgring), which will take place from 18-21 May 2023, and the Nürburgring Endurance Series (Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie), a year-long series competition that is to open on 17 March 2023.
Following reports that Avon is set to become a two-wheel/motorcycle-only tyre brand in Germany in the future, Goodyear representatives have sought to clarify that the Avon brand will remain in the company’s product portfolio both for passenger and motorcycle tyres.
Following Goodyear’s takeover of Cooper and the integration of the German Cooper sales organization in Goodyear Germany, the German wing of Gooodyear EMEA has added two more logos to its product portfolio, those of the Cooper and of Avon brands. However, the German introduction of the latter is bringing with it significant changes in the Avon brand’s positioning.
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GRI
Arno Borchers/Profil-Verlag
Toyo