Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation have jointly invested 80M Euros in Rimac Automobili (Rimac) – the Croatian high-performance electric vehicle technology and sportscar company. The companies have announced a strategic partnership to collaborate on the development of two high-performance electric vehicles by 2020.
In recent years autocentres have been selling more tyres than ever. At the same time, specialist tyre retailers – such as those featured on our annual table, have moved towards additional servicing and mechanical repairs in order to increase sales. This is especially the case at the top of the table, amongst the largest tyre retail chains where as much as 45 per cent of annual turnover is now made up of non-tyre sales.
Bridgestone Europe has completed the acquisition of TomTom Telematics (Telematics) for €910 million. The deal passed the relevant regulatory stages, had full approval from TomTom’s shareholders, and received a positive response from TomTom’s works council, the tyre manufacturer states. Tyres & Accessories spoke with Bridgestone about the thinking behind the acquisition when it was announced in January.
While the UK new car manufacturing business has taken something of a battering in recent months, The Sunday Times reports that government ministers are considering offering state support for a huge shared electric vehicle battery “giga factory” modelled on Tesla’s enormous US battery manufacturing plant in the Nevada desert. That plant, which is known as Gigafactory 1, is set to have the biggest factory footprint in the world and already employees 3000 people. The UK project has so far been valued at around £1.7 billion.
Goodyear is investing 106 million euros (£90.6 million) to modernise two of its tyre plants in Germany. The investment in the Hanau and Fulda facilities will increase their capacities to produce tyres for 17-inch and larger rim diameters; Goodyear Dunlop Tires Germany intends to add an extra 2.5 million units to its annual capacity in this segment. But it isn’t all good news – the company reports that these modernisation measures will lead to the loss of approximately 1,100 jobs.
Alloy wheel manufacturer Borbet intends to invest around 5 million euros in the expansion and modernisation of its Bad Langensalza plant in Germany. According to local media sources, the project includes the installation of a pad printing centre. This facility will enable Borbet to keep abreast of the trend towards more individualised rims. Construction work is expected to be completed in June.
Pirelli has commissioned Belgian industrial property developer WDP to construct a new 62,000 square metre warehouse alongside the tyre manufacturer’s existing Slatina, Romania manufacturing operation. According to WDP, the news comes as part of “an expansion of the tyre manufacturer’s existing production facility”. WDP predicts that the project will cost around 40 million euros.
General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Limited is planning to invest around US$200 million on a new plant, local government officials told The News International on Saturday 2 February.
Bridgestone’s successful acquisition of TomTom Telematics follows earlier reports that both Michelin and Bridgestone were vying to buy the Telematics business unit from Netherlands-based company TomTom. In addition, according to Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad, Michelin was one of four in the running. For its part, Michelin was allegedly aiming to add the business into its Michelin Solutions portfolio. Clearly, in order to maintain its original plans and to compete with Bridgestone, Michelin will now have to find an alternative way of moving forward.
Saudi Arabia is planning to develop a $2 billion solar and carbon black integrated complex in partnership with China’s Longi and South Korea’s OCI, according to various news reports from the area.
European Springs & Pressings, supported by parent company Lesjofors, has invested 1 million euros in a new spring coiling machine, the first of its kind in the UK.
Having rejected earlier plans for a new tyre factory in Malaysia, Prinx Chengshan has invested 170.6 million yuan (£19.464 million) in buying at least 433,600 square metres of land in at Tambon Nong Suea Chang, Amphur Nong Yai, and Tambon Klong-Kew, Amphur Ban-Bung, Chonburi province in Thailand. According to stock exchange filings dated 25 December 2018, the deal comprises “several plots of land” and will be funded by the company’s recent global share offering.
European FinTyre Distribution (EfTD) has signed a binding agreement to acquire two key players in the German tyre market: RS Exclusiv Reifengrosshandel GmbH and TyreXpert Reifen + Autoservice GmbH. As a result of the acquisition EfTD now has a total turnover of 740 million euros in Germany and project annual unit sales of 8.5 million tyres.
A Tamworth based manufacturer of high-performance brake components for the motorsport and performance vehicle market has secured a £3 million finance package from HSBC UK to fund new state-of-the-art machinery to boost production. Alcon has used the funding to purchase five Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines as well as a noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) dynamometer.
A new online tyre price comparison service has launched, aiming to provide UK motorists with an online tool to choose their tyres quickly and easily, and bringing together products from a wide variety of retail businesses. Motokiki’s comparison engine is designed to offer an impartial whole of market price comparison of tyres from a broad range of suppliers, as well as tyre label result comparison, and the location in which they can be fitted. The company initially comprises 20 staff in offices a short walk from Port Talbot railway station, working on the technical development and marketing of the website, with other aspects of the business outsourced to teams around the country, such as its London-based communications agency, FWD Consulting. Tyres & Accessories travelled to south Wales in late November to attend the launch, with Maven Capital Partners (“Maven”) and the Development Bank of Wales, which have collectively made an equity investment of £3 million in the company, also represented.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
CC; Wikipedia