Autopromotec has postponed its 29th edition, originally planned for 26 – 29 May 2021 for a year. The event will now run Bologna from 25 – 28 May 2022. According to the show’s organisers Promotec SpA, the protection of exhibition was the primary reason for the decision. However, The Tire Cologne’s decision to postpone its 2020 show to dates that clash with the previously planned 2021 running of Autopromotec is likely to have featured in the decision.
Alejandro Recasens has joined Apollo Vredestein as Cluster Director South-West, responsible for Spain, France, Italy and Portugal. Having had a successful career with Pirelli Tyres spanning two decades, Recasens is now spearheading Apollo Vredestein’s plans for growth in the markets of southwestern Europe.
On 15 June 2020 Italian tyre distributor Fintyre filed an application for admission into a debt restructuring arrangement with creditors to preserve “business continuity and better safeguard the interests of its creditors and of all the subjects who, for various reasons, have relationships with Fintyre”, according to our Italian group publication PneusNews.it. Related businesses Franco Gomme and Tire Retail (Pneusmarket) are not part of the arrangement.
For the three national markets of France, Italy and Spain, combined new light vehicle sales fell by 55 per cent on last year to 268,000 in May, which compares with a 75 per cent drop in March and a 93 per cent decline in April. This represents a slightly better scenario than had been anticipated, as Calum MacRae, automotive analyst at GlobalData, explains: “After the seized up and locked down markets of March and April, this is a welcome sign of life in markets that were the first in Europe to be engulfed by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Italian retreading and recycling operation Corgom has initiated a multi-year investment plan that is set to upgrade its entire tyre reconstruction process.
Fintyre, the large but troubled European tyre distribution enterprise, has confirmed that it is talking to “potential new investors” in a statement designed to clarify its ongoing position “given the events that have taken place in the last few months”.
Italian supercar marques Ferrari and Lamborghini announced that their top-end vehicles went back into production during the first week of May.
Mak, a leading player in the Italian aftermarket alloy wheel segment, has announced that it will release 11 new models. At the same time, the company has also announced that Jeep and Tesla drivers will be able to equip their cars with dedicated MAK wheels – the Liberty for Jeep and Voltage for Tesla.
TECH Europe has partnered with Italmatic as its new distributor in Italy. According to the company, the news means Italmatic is “positioned now more than ever to offer a complete line of tyre repair materials and wheel service solutions to the Italian market, which includes everything from motorbike to OTR repairs, along with the essential chemicals and tools to ensure a safe and high quality repair”.
In line with the gradual relaxing of the lockdown in Italy, industrial activity at Pirelli’s Settimo Torinese facility resumes today. The tyre maker says production levels will initially be below normal levels in light of lower current demand.
Effective Tuesday 28 April 2020, Brembo has reopened its Curno, Mapello and Sellero (Italy) Italian brake manufacturing operations, product at which was temporarily suspended on 16 March 2020 due to the emergency Covid-19 situation.
Italian automotive suppliers are at risk if measures that have shut down the supply chain aren’t lifted next week, Brembo chairman Alberto Bombassei has said.
Bridgestone EMIA has resumed production at its European manufacturing plants in Bari (Italy) and Lanklaar (Belgium). The Béthune (France) plant will reopen tomorrow, 21 April 2020. This follows the 14 April news that production in all Bridgestone plants located in Spain (Burgos, Bilbao and Puente San Miguel) and Russia (Ulyanovsk) had recommenced. Today’s announcement means that Bridgestone EMIA’s full manufacturing network has restarted production with the exception of its Indian and South African plants, which remain closed for now.
Michelin isn’t the only firm in the industry now contributing towards efforts to manage the COVID-19 outbreak. Continental is providing medical hoses for use in Italy’s Bergamo and Lombardy regions. These items are being made at its facility in Daverio, Italy.
Singapore-based tyre designer and distributor Omni United has enacted a Covid-19 Assistance initiative, which includes sending over 20,000 protective masks to its business partners in Europe for them to use and/or distribute in their local communities. The team at Omni United is also researching and compiling a database of all governmental financial and fiscal help that is available and some guidance on how to access it as many small business owners may find it difficult to find the information and the practical ways to avail these benefits.
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Promotec
Apollo Vredestein
Fintyre
Corgom; TRM
Ferrari
Mak Wheels
Brembo
Assero Gear via Flickr; CC BY-ND 2.0