India
During extraordinary general meetings at Ruia Group companies Falcon Tyres Ltd and Dunlop India Ltd, held on 26 and 28 April respectively, both tyre makers announced that a portion of their equity will be transferred to three companies outside of the Ruia Group. This transfer is aimed at reducing company debt; the recipient firms are Suncap Commodities Ltd, Regus Impex Pvt Ltd and Salputri Commerce Pvt Ltd.
The organisers of Singapore tyre and equipment show Tyrexpo Asia have reported a fast start to exhibitor bookings for its 2013 exhibition. By mid-April, 11 months before the show gets underway, more than 62 per cent of space in Hall 2 of the Singapore Expo Centre has been reserved as regular exhibitors and new suppliers attending the bi-annual event for the first time confirmed their presence. Tyrexpo Asia veterans Stamford Tyres, YHI Corporation, Elgi Rubber, Omni United and BKT have secured prominent gateway stands in the main entrance area. Joining them will be Indian tyre manufacturer CEAT, who return to the show for the first time since 2007. The show will take place at the Singapore Expo Centre on 19-21 March 2013.
Pirelli motorsport director, Paul Hembery has commented that Bahrain presented a technical challenge to Pirelli, whose tyres needed to avoid “falling off the cliff” in terms of their performance in harsh racing conditions. Sebastian Vettel became the fourth different driver and Red Bull the fourth different team to have won a Grand Prix after four events. Hembery believes the narrowing of the performance gaps between compounds has helped racing become tighter, evinced by these results. The Pirelli director also congratulated the company’s former test driver Roman Grosjean for claiming a first podium finish, and his Lotus team, which finished on the second (Kimi Raikkonen) and third steps.
Commercial vehicle wheels operating on non-standard spider and star shaped hubs are sustaining damage that could half their lifespan, according to research by Wythenshawe-based distributor, Motor Wheel Service. The company instigated research into the damage non-circumferential hubs can cause to wheels untested on anything other than circumferential products. John Ellis, managing director of MWS, said: “We do not know how many vehicles are operating on UK roads with spider and star shaped hubs. It is now up to VOSA and the main CV bodies, who I suspect are completely unaware of this problem, to ascertain the scale of the issue and exactly how it should be handled.” Ellis and MWS have long campaigned for the introduction of more stringent safety checks on CV wheels, citing the influx of take-off or second-hand wheels into the UK market; now the use of non-standard hubs has provided them with a second angle to present to the Department for Transport.
Ralph Sutton could be the longest serving member of the tyre business in the UK, perhaps even the world. Having just completed 54 years associated with the round black things we all know and love, he is still going strong and rapidly approaching six decades in the business. Sutton’s career started at the beginning of April 1958 and those 54 years certainly represent uncommon loyalty to tyres, but how many more can claim to have been serving the industry almost as long as Queen Elizabeth II has been sat on the throne? And has anyone been serving longer?
While progress in its campaign for increased safety checks on take-off, or second hand commercial wheels entering the UK market was delayed by the UK government’s back-tracking on proposed MOT changes, Motor Wheel Service has continued to develop its forged aluminium xlite brand, on which it has a worldwide distribution deal, launching its “next generation Xbrite” single part, transparent finish. The protective coating was specially developed for MWS, offering what it calls “the highest levels of corrosion resistance and unrivalled shine for xlite forged aluminium wheels”. In other news, a change in truck racing’s technical regulations will allow forged aluminium wheels to be fitted to the outside of the rear axle from 2013 onwards, responding to the wishes of 10-time British Truck Racing Championship, Stuart Oliver, who said of xlite: "lighter wheels mean less unsprung weight on the axle, creating less wear and tear to surrounding parts and greater grip between the tyre and the circuit.”
Apollo Tyres has launched the first of its self-branded Super Zone outlets outside India in Dubai. Designed to provide customers with a feel for the brand and its products, the Apollo Super Zone is located in Al Qiyada, near the Dubai Police General Headquarters and is operated by Middle East Tyres LLC, Apollo Tyres’ business partners. The Apollo Super Zone was inaugurated by chairman of Apollo Tyres, Onkar S Kanwar.
Even the most optimistic Tyrepress.com reader may raise an eyebrow at Dunlop India’s claim of being near to reopening its Sahaganj factory within the coming week. This is, after all, the plant inspected by West Bengal’s labour minister Purnendu Bose last July – a visit that prompted him to comment that “for more than ten months, the boiler of the factory remains non-functional. Workers are sitting idle. The bricks of the plant quarters are being stolen away, the machineries are being smuggled out.” Nevertheless, on 3 April the company told the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court of its reopening plans in order to stave off the court-appointed provisional liquidator.
Transense Technologies plc has confirmed that its sales division Translogik Limited has received a further order from Bridgestone Brazil for its next-generation iProbe commercial tyre inspection tool. The iProbe provides a robust, reliable and user-friendly wireless solution for cost effective monitoring of tyre pressure and tread depth, combined with integrated RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and TPMS (Tyre Pressure Monitoring System) sensor reading capabilities. This order is twice the size originally scheduled for second quarter delivery to Bridgestone. The announcement follows a 6 February 2012 statement explaining the news.
At present the Italian retreading market, following years of crisis, is experiencing a new birth. “From this and the coming years we expect that industry will recognise retreading in terms of its quality and its utility to the market,” comments Brenno Benaglia, vice-president of the Italian retreading association AIRP (Associazione Italiana Ricostruttori Pneumatici) and the European association Bipaver.
Following the Calcutta High Court’s decision on 26 March to appoint a liquidator for Dunlop India Ltd, the company has reported in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it is “in touch with the solicitors and will take legal action as will be advised by the solicitors.” No further details were supplied.
Following a hiatus of several years, Yokohama Rubber has reactivated plans to erect a passenger car tyre factory in India. Announcing the go-ahead of construction on 28 March, the Japanese tyre maker said the new plant is scheduled to enter service in July 2014 and will have a first phase annual capacity of 700,000 tyres. Total investment in the factory in Haryana state, some 40 kilometres west of Delhi, will be approximately 4.4 billion yen (£33.2 million). Preparations for the plant began four years ago; in April 2008, Yokohama Rubber signed a contract with the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation to acquire a 25 acre site, however plant construction was postponed due to the recession.
Al Saeedi Group, a leading UAE-based tyre company, opened new offices and tyre service facilities at Dubai Investments Park (DIP) on 25 March 25. Jamal Majid Bin Thaniah, vice chairman of DP World and group CEO of Port & Free Zone World, inaugurated the multi-million facility that features most advanced equipment and technology to offer one-stop solutions to all tyre related services. H.E. Sanjay Verma, consul general of India, Dubai also attended.
On 26 March the Calcutta High Court appointed a provisional liquidator to assume charge of the assets belonging to Dunlop India Ltd. This measure has stripped the company’s board of directors and chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia of the power to transfer further assets or property from the company. The court’s official liquidator will serve as provisional liquidator, and in addition to conducting an inventory of existing assets he will attempt to recover any prior Dunlop India asset transfers deemed to be fraudulent in nature; according to Justice Sanjib Banerjee, the liquidator will take steps to reclaim properties sold by Dunlop in 2006-07.
Continental Tire the Americas launched ContiPressureCheck, a new tyre pressure monitoring system specifically designed for commercial trucks in the US at the end of March. Unveiled at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, ContiPressureCheck constantly monitors the pressure and temperature of each tyre on the vehicle and provides real-time, on-demand tyre status information and to warn the driver of problems before they become a critical concern, according to the tyremaker.
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