Whether its raw materials, machinery, research and development or the latest manufacturing trends, this tag provides up-to-the-minute insights into the upstream part of the tyre industry.
Recently Maxxis announced its continuation as headline sponsor of the ACU British Motocross Championship by signing up for the 2011 to 2013 seasons. To mark a decade of commitment to the series – the tyre maker first served as sponsor in 2001 – Maxxis has decided to take stock of how its presence in the motorcycle sector has grown over the years.
This year, notes Yokohama Tire Corporation, has been a good one for Gary Nash. The 45-year tyre industry veteran was promoted to vice president of Yokohama’s OTR department in the US in 2010 and was elected to the Tire Industry Association’s (TIA) Hall of Fame. In an interview released by the tyre maker, Nash discusses the fluctuations that have taken place in the OTR market, why the bottom dropped out in 2009 and how it bounced back strongly in 2010, and what the market will look like in 2011.
French tyre giant Michelin has launched the company’s latest tyre for the ultra high-performance segment, the Pilot Super Sport, at an event in Dubai. Attending the launch alongside Michelin representatives were spokespeople from Porsche and TÜV SÜD; Michelin said it had “worked closely” alongside the auto manufacturer – as well as with BMW M and Ferrari – in developing the Pilot Super Sport, meeting its “challenging original equipment specifications”, while the testing organisation has recently produced a comparative study of the tyre and its competitors, determining it as “the fastest tyre on the market”. The Pilot Super Sport will be available from January 2011. The tyre will go on the market priced at the same level as its predecessor, the Pilot Sport 2, an important point of comparison considering the PS2’s more than 200 OE certifications. The Pilot Super Sport achieved a wet braking distance 3m shorter than its predecessor (80-10kmh) in TÜV SÜD tests.
French tyre giant Michelin has launched the company’s latest tyre for the ultra high-performance segment, the Pilot Super Sport, at an event in Dubai. Attending the launch alongside Michelin representatives were spokespeople from Porsche and TÜV SÜD; Michelin said it had “worked closely” alongside the auto manufacturer – as well as with BMW M and Ferrari – in developing the Pilot Super Sport, meeting its “challenging original equipment specifications”, while the testing organisation has recently produced a comparative study of the tyre and its competitors, determining it as “the fastest tyre on the market”. The Pilot Super Sport will be available from January 2011. The tyre will go on the market priced at the same level as its predecessor, the Pilot Sport 2, an important point of comparison considering the PS2’s more than 200 OE certifications. The Pilot Super Sport achieved a wet braking distance 3m shorter than its predecessor (80-10kmh) in TÜV SÜD tests.
For the fourth time in its history, Reifen China welcomed floods of visitors through the doors of the Shanghai New International Expo Center on 25 November where over 100 exhibitors from some of the country's leading suppliers and traders were waiting to share details of the latest products and business developments. The headline news is that by the end of this year’s show on 27 November, Reifen China had attracted a total of 9356 trade visitors from 75 countries – an increase of over 39 per cent compared with the previous year (2009: 6,693).
The manufacturing practices employed by Apollo Tyres have been recognised at The Economic Times India Manufacturing Excellence Awards 2010. These awards, instituted by The Economic Times, the largest read financial daily in India, and global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, are intended to identify the best manufacturing facilities in India and map manufacturing capability, highlighting areas for improvement, through an objective and well-structured assessment process. The key considerations for a good score include global benchmarking, performance as compared to competition, supply and service to customers, quality focus, manufacturing discipline and excellence, and areas of improvement across functions.
Yokohama Rubber’s car, truck and bus tyre factory in Thailand has become the company’s fifth plant outside of Japan to achieve “complete zero emissions” – in other words, no waste generated in the factory is subject to direct landfill disposal. This achievement was reached in November, eleven months after the factory became the first Yokohama factory outside of Japan to reach “zero emission” – less than one per cent – landfill status.
As of March 1, 2011 prices of Bridgestone’s Japanese market truck and bus tyres will increase by an average of seven per cent. This increase applies to both summer and winter tyre lines.
Since its establishment in 1999, Treadsetters' turnover has grown from £6 million to over £27.5 million. Having successfully operated a wholesale model based largely on selling exclusive tyre brands for a decade, the company is now developing its own brand of tyres under the name Torque with a view to expanding this success into a truly international scale. Tyres & Accessories met with Treadsetters managing director Tim Davies in mid November at the company's new, larger warehousing site in Telford to find out more about the strategy that is behind both the company's recent HSBC business thinking award nomination and its recent growth.
To say that Treadsetter's recent growth has been strong is something of an understatement. If the company hits its 2010 targets – and so far there is every indication that it will – the business will have experienced 750 per cent turnover growth and 1000 per cent enhancement in our profitability in the last 5 years. Bearing in mind the wider market conditions of recent years and the fact that the company has not only maintained but increased profits amidst rapid growing sales total, this really is something of an achievement.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is highlighting the European Chemical Agency’s (ECHA) campaign to remind companies that new rules on classification, labelling, packaging and notification of chemical substances came into force on 1 December 2010. From December, within one-month of placing a chemical substance on the market, all companies involved in their manufacturer or import will need to notify the ECHA for their inclusion in the new Classification and Labelling Inventory.
One brand Tyres & Accessories met for the first time in Shanghai (at the recent Reifen China exhibition) was Suntrac, which is produced by Dubai-based Sun Global Fzco at partner factories in China and a joint venture in Sri Lanka. The company also produces Nison brand truck and bus tyres which, a brand that was established nearly six years ago.
Currently the business focuses on the manufacturing and international distribution of bias and radial light truck, truck and bus, and off-the-road tyres distributed globally under the Suntrac name. However executive director Nitesh Shewakramani told T&A that the company plans to launch a comprehensive range of PCR & SUV as well as solid and implement tyres by mid 2011. Product wise the company currently offers over 20 different truck fitments across 16 different tread patterns.
Companiesandmarkets.com has announced the publishing of a new research report from China Research and Intelligence on the world’s top 50 tyre enterprises, 2010-2011. The report gives an analysis on the enterprises whose sales ranked among world's top 50 in 2009, including their operations, sales volume, development trend, and investment in China, amongst other things. The report ranks the world’s top 75 tyre enterprises in 2010 according to sales revenue relative to tyre manufacturing in 2009. The top three, somewhat unsurprisingly, remain as Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear, though the sales revenue of these three companies witnessed a double-digit drop on 2008 figures.
Having recently joined the Imported Tyre Manufacturers Association, Sailun Tyres was pleased to host the latest meeting at their European Headquarters in Birmingham. Welcoming ITMA president David Seward (managing director, Yokohama) and fellow Association members, Martin West (European managing director of Sailun Tyres) commented: “ITMA is recognised as one of the leading body of International tyre manufacturers and plays a pivotal role in representing our interests at all levels. Sailun Tyres recognise the benefits of joining such a group and are delighted to be able to host this meeting.”
The UK's automotive components industry is at a critical "tipping point" and could vanish by the middle of the decade without urgent action, members of the Welsh Automotive Forum were warned. It wouldn't run down gradually but, like a ship sinking, would suddenly vanish, said Prof. Garel Rhys, chairman of WAF. "In 2008 the automotive manufacturing sector employed more than 163,000 people but two years later it was down to 116,000 – that's a 28 per cent cut and an absolute blood letting," he said speaking at WAF's winter networking dinner.
Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest automaker, began building its third plant in China 28 November with the goal of reaching a million unit a year total capacity by 2012. Beijing Hyundai Motor Company (BHMC), a 50-50 joint venture between Hyundai Motor and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., held a ground-breaking ceremony for a 400,000 unit/year plant on 28 November in Shunyi District, Beijing. The new plant is scheduled to be completed by July 2012. The two existing plants which roll out up to 300,000 units each.
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