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Conti Releasing 60 New 4×4 Sizes in 2008

Continental’s 4×4 tyre range has been further expanded this season, with no fewer than six summer tyre models now available in this segment. The German manufacturer is releasing 60 new sizes for 4×4, SUV and crossover vehicles this year, and continues to supply OE for numerous manufacturers, including Audi, BMW, Land Rover, Mercedes, Porsche and Volkswagen.

The ContiCrossContact UHP is designed for particularly powerful 4×4 vehicles. Its performance characteristics – including short braking distances and enhanced cornering stability – are geared specifically to the requirements of vehicles like the Porsche Cayenne or BMW X5. To satisfy specific tyre fitment requirements the ContiCrossContact UHP is also available in 23- and 24-inch sizes. The range thus covers the lion’s share of retrofitting and tuning requirements for V, W, Y and Z speed ratings (for speeds in excess of 210 km/h to more than 300 km/h). The ContiCrossContact UHP has already managed 330 km/h under controlled conditions in a high-speed event at Italy’s Nardo Ring.

13th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Signs 300,000 Tyre Deal with LeasePlan

An agreement sealed at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show paves the way for Bridgestone to supply passenger car tyres to Europe’s largest leasing and fleet management operator. The preferred partner deal between the tyre major and Leaseplan is estimated to be worth 300,000 tyres a year, which will be supplied to authorised service providers in a number of countries. The respective national Bridgestone companies will agree the product mix and volumes with local LeasePlan fleet operators in each market, and Bridgestone has highlighted the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain as priority markets.

6th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Over 170 Exhibitors Confirmed for Automechanika Thailand

Automechanika Thailand, the leading international trade fair for the automotive parts, components and aftermarket industry in Thailand, opens next week from 6 – 9 March 2008 at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Centre, Bangkok. This year’s event will be officiated by Mr. Chakramon Pasukvanich, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Industry, Thailand. The presence of national government officials emphasizes the strong support the event has received from a number of organisations throughout Thailand and from around the world, mainly as it is being held in one of the fastest growing regions in the world for the automotive sector.

Over 170 exhibitors from 14 countries and regions have confirmed their participation, including Australia, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and the USA. A number of the international brands will be showcasing parts & systems, accessories & tuning, repair & maintenance, IT & management and service station & car wash equipment products at the fair.

4th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Rhodia Forms Company to Build & Operate China Plant

Rhodia has formed a new company to manage the construction and subsequent operation of the new silica facility it has planned for China. Details of the Qingdao facility, the second Rhodia will operate in the city, were initially disclosed last November.

The new legal entity is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rhodia, to be known as RSQC (Rhodia Silica Qingdao Chengyang). The company will have an initial share capital of approximately 16 million euros. The Qingdao plant is expected to commence operations in July 2009, and will focus on producing highly dispersible silica for the rapidly growing energy-efficient tyre market. The facility will be constructed using a modular design to enable its easy expansion.

Rhodia already operates seven precipitated silica plants around the world. These are located in France, Italy, Venezuela, Brazil, Korea, China and the USA.

3rd March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

European Tyre Manufacturer to Trial Pneu-Logic Technology

Advanced ID subsidiary Pneu-Logic is reported to have sold a number of tyre maintenance systems to a European tyre manufacturer for evaluation purposes. The identity of the purchaser has not been disclosed, but the company apparently intends to hold a three-month long commercial vehicle tyre trial in Germany, Italy and the UK.

Pneu-Logic anticipates a major order from the manufacturer following the trial’s successful conclusion. “This is of vital importance to tyre owners and fleet managers as theft of bus, truck and off-the-road/earth mover tyres is common in many markets around the world,” commented Pneu-Logic managing director Laren Yeomans. “Tracking of tyres also enables us to document the entire life of the tyre – from point of origin through service repairs.

3rd March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Signs Research Agreement

On February 22 the Pirelli Group signed an agreement to collaborate with Italy’s Piedmont Region, Turin Province, the Municipality of Settimo Torinese and the Politecnico di Torino University in the development of programmes for research and innovation; specifically, the agreement covered the building of a new Pirelli industrial complex in the territory of Settimo Torinese.

The agreement includes the introduction of cutting edge technologies in Pirelli’s industrial facilities in Settimo Torinese, where the company’s tyre sector research is focused. These technologies include: next generation MIRS, which Pirelli refers to as “a significant evolution” in the automated process of tyre manufacturing and guarantees product quality and uniformity; the Cyber Tyre, an “intelligent” tyre containing sensors that will be able to transmit information pertinent to driving and control of the vehicle; and TSM, a new process for mixing materials that offers high levels of quality and reliability.

25th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

CIMA Impianti: From Italy to the World

Today, when we speak of and write about the European retreading market, it is all too often the major material suppliers or retreaders we refer to, even though machinery and equipment manufacturers are equally core to the quality of the retreading process and the finished product the end consumer finally receives. A company that – over the course of 50 years – has evolved into a prominent player in the European retreading business is Italy’s CIMA Impianti. And while achieving this, the manufacturer of vulcanising presses and moulds has also managed to secure a foothold in the new tyre industry with its products. Thus for many years CIMA has also supplied new tyre manufacturers. A third avenue for sales comes from the company’s supply of ancillary equipment for tyre retreading.

20th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin’s Stoke Site Aims to be Cutting Edge Facility

At the end of last year Michelin executives embarked on a three-phase study into modernising the company’s Campbell road, Stoke-on-Trent retread manufacturing site. The plan is to take the UK’s largest commercial vehicle retread production plant to the next level with multi-million pound investment from Michelin headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand and other parties. Tyres & Accessories visited the Campbell road Remix and Encore facilities in mid-February and saw that the site spent £1 million last year gearing for the proposed improvements.

19th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kraiburg Names Holger Düx as Sales and Marketing Manager

Kraiburg has announced that Holger Düx became its Retreading Material sales and marketing manager in January. The 39 year-old has been working for the Austrian company for six years, initially as sales manager for Italy and from 2006 as the regional sales manager for South-Western Europe. In the new scope of his duties Holger Düx takes over from the previous sales and marketing manager, Frank Gregory, who left Kraiburg Austria at the end of last year to take on new professional challenges.

“I am looking forward to my new area of responsibility and would like to play an active role in satisfying the requirements of our partners, in the retreading sector and in Kraiburg product and service quality. I am certain that we will enjoy success with our newly designed pre-cure tread product range, consisting of the three product lines, K_base, K_tech and K_plus,” Holger Düx commented.

4th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Thatcham Give LaserTyre Quality Accreditation

At the end of 2007, Laserline Direct Limited celebrated the news that its LaserTyre product became the first device to gain the Thatcham Quality Accreditation (TQA) in the new Automotive Innovations category. Lasertyre is an optical direct tyre pressure monitoring system designed and manufactured in Italy by Laserline Group and replaces the original vehicle tyre valve dust caps, providing visual indication if the tyre pressure is correct or low.

Products that are submitted to Thatcham’s TQA scheme are subject to rigorous testing coupled with an assessment of the manufacturing process to provide an objective evaluation of the capabilities of the product alongside the claims of the manufacturer. All products that successfully gain the TQA accreditation are provided with a valid certificate of conformance and can then display the official logo on any associated packaging.

29th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Launches Cinturato ‘EcoImpact’ Tyre

Pirelli today re-launched its Cinturato brand as a range of high mileage, low rolling resistance tyres. The glitz associated with Pirelli launches aside, the main news is that the Pirelli claims to have married the odd-couple of lower rolling resistance/increased mileage with improved braking performance. Company executives described this as an “extension” of the Pirelli range, despite the fact that it represents quite different values to the high-speed, high performance image the Italian tyre manufacturer has cultivated for so long. 5 million units of the tyre will be produced initially, rising to 10 million after that. The tyres will be produced at Pirelli’s Bollate, Italy; Manresa, Spain; Izmit, Turkey; and Carlisle, UK factories.

The new Cinturato specifically offers a 20 per cent reduction in rolling resistance, compared with Pirelli benchmarks. As a result, the company claims the new tyre provides fuel consumption savings of 4 per cent while, by the same token, reducing carbon dioxide emissions. As far as mileage is concerned, Pirelli Tyre CEO Francesco Gori, explained that the Cinturato’s completely redesigned geometry means that the new tyre has a 30 per cent longer lifespan on average. This means the average motorist will now replace his or her tyres every four years instead of every three, based on a European average driver mileage figure of 15,000 km (roughly 10,000 miles). What’s remarkable is that the company report that braking distances are still shorter than the company’s benchmark, despite the other improvements.

Pirelli group chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera explained that the new product’s green credentials are further enhanced by the fact that it is completely aromatic oil free: “We are two years ahead of Europe legislation,” which is set to come into force in 2010. But with a tyre lasting so much longer, and not being aimed at the high-profit UHP sector, does this mean margins will come down? Apparently not. Marco Tronchetti Provera explained that due to the fact that the tyre offers increased value, it can be sold at a higher entry price.

So, instead of reducing markets opportunities or cannibalising existing sales, the new Cinturato is designed to develop a part of the market that, up till now, has been neglected due to Pirelli’s focus on the UHP segments. In terms of positioning, this means the new Cinturato tyre will be placed “immediately following the top line” products, according to Tronchetti Provera. “Up till the 1980s it [the automotive business in general] was all about volumes. Today we are looking to expand in the increasingly sophisticated market,” he explained.

The product launch coincided with the inauguration of a new exhibition at Milan’s Triennale Musuem, which chronicles the development of the Pirelli brand and its pioneering advertising and communications strategies. The exhibition features dozens of posters, sketches and historic files together with original works by 15 contemporary artists on the imagery covering the Pirelli Cinturato – from its first incarnation in the 1950s to the eco-tyre it has become today.

But Pirelli’s decision to name its green tyre demonstrates that the company is by no means distancing itself from its high-performance profile. On the contrary, the first Cinturato was something of an iconic product (especially in Italy) when it was first launched in the 50s; and was known as being “sporty.” In fact one 1956 article quoted during the launch the launch the Pirelli brand as “a tool for having fun.”

17th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Amtel-Vredestein to Supply Fiat Albea

Amtel-Vredestein N.V. has signed an agreement to supply Amtel tyres for Fiat Albea cars produced in Russia. The deal, struck with OJSC Severstal-Avto – the sole distributor for Fiat in Russia, will see the company start OE supply in the first quarter of 2008. Volumes are expected to be up to 10,000 tyres per month. The contract to supply tyres to Severstal-Avto has been in preparation for about two years. The main supplier will be the Amtel-Povolzhye tyre complex in Kirov. Amtel tyres have passed certificate tests at the Balocco testing area, in Italy, and numerous audit tests by Severstal-Avto and Fiat specialists at the company’s plant in Kirov.

21st December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Japan’s Trade Commission Issues Order Against Rubber Hose Cartel

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission is taking steps against Bridgestone and four international companies that have since May been under the spotlight for rubber marine hose price fixing. The competition watchdog intends to issue an administrative order to the companies to ensure the cessation of any remaining cartel activities, the first time such an order has been issued to foreign companies. The four international companies are the UK’s Dunlop Oil and Marine, a unit of Sweden’s Trelleborg AB, and Italy’s Parker ITR and Manuli Rubber Industries.

7th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Automechanika Shanghai Home to 1,200 Exhibitors

With only a week to go before Automechanika Shanghai gets under way, more than 1,200 exhibitors from 23 countries & regions are confirmed for the show being held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. National pavilions from Germany, Italy, Korea and Taiwan will also be a feature of this year’s exhibition. In line with the profile of the global Automechanika brand, products on display at Automechanika Shanghai will include vehicle components, accessories and equipment for automotive repair and maintenance. The full spectrum of the OE and aftermarket will be represented, from budget to high-end offerings.

Alongside the exhibition is a comprehensive programme of special events, including the Automechanika Academy on December 5 – a series of eight lectures by leading auto industry professionals and academics from Chinese universities. All sessions will be conducted in both English and Chinese, and are open free-of-charge to all fair attendees.

30th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Marangoni Industrial Tyres Invests in Sri Lanka

Marangoni Industrial Tyres recently invested in the production of superelastic tyres in Sri Lanka, mainly for use on fork lift trucks but also for other equipment, such as: loading platforms, loaders and other industrial and commercial machinery. Company representatives did not give details of the investment that took place.

Division president, and group vice-president Mr Giovanni Marangoni stated: “This investment, part of the division’s development plans, is aimed at increasing the company’s production capacity, expanding the current customer base and -in general- increasing market share. We already have a significant presence in Europe, given the large number of customers and important partnerships with specialists in the distribution and servicing of industrial tyres. Nonetheless, we are convinced that our expertise, the superior quality of our products, and an increasingly solid industrial base will allow us to achieve even better results in the coming years”.

28th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors