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.
New sizes have been added to the Mitas Super Flexion Tyre (SFT) range. At this week’s Agritechnica fair in Germany, the tyre maker gave word of six new fitments for the SFT, a range designed for high horsepower tractors and initially sold in the North American market prior to their global release next year. The new sizes are 900/60R42; 710/60R34; 650/60R34; 710/65R46; 750/65R26 and 580/85R42.
The 1.2 million tyre recall Bridgestone announced in Japan also affects some markets in the Americas, albeit on a much smaller scale. On 8 November Bridgestone Americas announced a voluntary recall of approximately 2,600 Tochigi-produced truck and bus tyres that were sold in Guam, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America. The tyre maker says it has received no “field complaints of adjustments” regarding the defect in the Americas, nor has there been any report of property damage, accidents, injuries, or deaths.
Bridgestone Corporation has published a notice on its Japanese website regarding the company’s largest tyre recall since tyres first became subject to product recalling in Japan almost ten years ago. The recall covers 1,204,707 truck and bus tyres produced at Bridgestone’s Tochigi plant between January 2012 and August 2013.
More manufacturers are selecting Yokohama’s flagship environmental BluEarth tyres for their model ranges, according to the company. Manufacturers such as Toyota, Lexus and Honda have all chosen the products as original equipment on some of the most recent additions to the range of hybrid and environmentally-friendly vehicles.
As the market approached the first anniversary of tyre labelling, at the start of October industry body ETRMA expressed the need for consistency and sustainability in regulation across Europe. “The European Tyre and Rubber Industry has a strong manufacturing presence in Europe and needs a sustainable regulatory framework, well-coordinated among different policy areas, to remain competitive despite this long economic crisis”, said Patrick Lepercq, President of ETRMA at the association’s board meeting today.
With Bridgestone claiming to ‘lead the way in quality, technologically innovative goods,’ it is unsurprising to hear of the brand’s significant advances in the area of sustainability and ‘green tyres.’ Bridgestone used the Geneva Motor Show 2013 as a platform to announce the successful development of the new ‘ologic technology tyre’ as large and narrow concept. The launch of the ologic is one of Bridgestone’s initiatives to achieve the goal of ‘contributing to globally agreed target (50 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions)” defined for the group’s efforts toward reducing CO2 emissions in its long-term environmental vision.
It has been a good year for Maxxis’ parent company Cheng Shin Rubber, according Maxxis International UK managing director Derek McMartin. The fact that headcount is up more than 10 per cent to 30,000 and that the company has announced in the last year or so that it is investing in three new factories (Xiamen, Chongqing and Taiwan). The Taiwan project is said to have achieved phase one output of 27,000 tyres a day already, which will rise to 100,000 tyres a day a full capacity (phase four).
The Russian city of Kaluga is home to several European vehicle manufacturers, including Volkswagen, PSMA and Volvo Trucks, along with suppliers such as Magna, Faurecia, Benteller and Gestamp. The name Continental now joins this list following the official start of production at the company’s new tyre factory in Kaluga on 29 October.
Pakistan-based publication The International News reported on 29 October that The General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Limited, or Gentipak, will establish a new manufacturing facility in the country’s north. Details of this plan were given by company chairman Lt Gen (Retired) Ali Kuli Khan Khattak at a gathering to commemorate Gentipak’s half-century in Pakistan.
TRW Automotive Holdings was recently awarded the 2013 General Motors Supplier Quality Excellence Award for “achieving consistently high levels of quality performance” during the past year at then of its manufacturing facilities.
Tyre maker Continental says a machine it has co-developed offers a new approach to recycling the rubberised steel cord scrap that arises during the manufacturing process. The unit, which has been named the ‘Hurricane Machine’, separates uncured rubber compound and steel cord by a process Continental that claims is a tyre industry world first.
While UK car output provided good news for the industry, commercial vehicles remained in steep decline, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures show. CV output dropped 27.5 per cent in September to 6,963 units, meaning 67,609 CVs have been produced in 2013 to date, down 17.9 per cent from 2012.
The September report from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders makes good reading for the UK car industry, as output has reached a level not seen since 2007-08. In the rolling 12 months since October 2012, the UK has manufactured more than 1.5 million, achieving a five-year high.
Yokohama ’s Russian tyre manufacturing and sales subsidiary, Yokohama RPZ has hosted the company’s latest tree-planting ceremony at its plant grounds in the Special Economic Zone in Lipetsk. The ceremony is part of the company’s worldwide Yokohama Forever Forest Project.
Reuters is reporting union leaders at a closed Goodyear plant in northern France have agreed to talks with Morry Taylor, Titan International chairman and CEO. Taylor infamously said earlier in 2013 that the plant wasn’t worth saving, but reports suggest he is reconsidering his abandoned takeover bid for the plant. The French union wants give their demands directly to Taylor in his US office, Tire Review reports.
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