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.
Team Falken driver Matt Carter has won the 2011 British Drift Championship Super Pro class after a sixth place finish in Sunderland. The Falken team took second place in the Constructors Standings, missing out on first place by two points.
Westlake Tyres has appointed Axle Group Holdings Ltd – which owns both the retailer National Tyres and Autocare and wholesale Viking International – as sole distributor of its passenger tyre range in the UK. Eskay Tyres, part of the Al Dobowi Group, which brings the Westlake brand to Europe from its Chinese manufacturer Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber, said the Axle Group’s success and current growth, was “one of the reasons” it became interested in working with them. Viking has significantly increased stocks and same day delivery capability, while the retail division, National Tyres and Autocare, has recently added 20 new branches to the network this year, now totalling 240 sites.
This has been a red-letter week for Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. On Wednesday the tyre maker went public with its plans to construct a large and ultra-large OTR tyre plant in South Carolina, Bridgestone’s first outside of Japan, and to increase passenger car and light truck tyre capacity at its Aiken County plant, located in the same state. A day later it announced that bus and truck tyre capacity will also be lifted; Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) said it will invest US$36.6 million to increase production capacity at its Warren County, Tennessee plant by 900 units per day.
With a trend of consistent sales growth over the past five and half years, and with the company on-track to exceed £350 million in total turnover this year, Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) is shaping up to be the largest business of its kind in the UK despite a challenging market environment. To put this in perspective, the best turnover of a company in this sector reported last year was somewhere north of £330 million. Tyres & Accessories recently met with wholesale director Alan Baldwin and the company’s new wholesale marketing manager, Peter Hayden, to find out more.
The new OTR factory Bridgestone plans to build in the US will ultimately create around 550 jobs – the first of these has already been announced. Steve Brooks, previously vice-president of Information at Bridgestone Americas, has been named chief project officer for Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. This new position was created specifically for leading the new plant’s construction and start-up. Brooks’ former position has been filled by Diane E. Drum, who before joining Bridgestone was president and chief information officer at Gerdau Ameristeel.
A total of around US$1.2 billion dollars will be invested in Bridgestone’s Aiken County site in the United States. The tyre maker’s plans for this South Carolina location involve both increasing capacity at its passenger car and light truck tyre plant and erecting a new factory to produce large and ultra-large radials for construction and mining vehicles. Production capacity at Bridgestone’s steel cord plant in Clarksville, Tennessee will also be increased in order to supply this new OTR tyre facility.
Amid various rumors that it was going to build another tyre plant there, Tire Review revealed that Bridgestone Americas planned to make a “major economic development” announcement at its plant in Graniteville, South Carolina today. It reported that both Gary Garfield, Bridgestone Americas’ president and CEO, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley were to be on hand for the announcement.
Just over two weeks after reports surfaced that the UK government was targeting automotive suppliers for British manufacturing investment, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced plans to build a new £350 million engine plant in Wolverhampton. According to reports, the new factory will create around 750 skilled jobs to serve demand from Asia.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has received a letter of appreciation from the Japanese ambassador to the Russian Federation, Chikahito Harada, in recognition of its contribution to the support of people affected by the East Japan Great Earthquake. Yokohama held a variety of charity events at InterAuto Moscow 2011, held from 24-28 August. A ceremony was held on 8 September at the Japanese Embassy in Moscow, where the letter was presented to Junichi Okishima, president of Yokohama Russia L.L.C.
Starco Europe has announced the appointment of Anders Pålsson, an experienced Swedish business leader who has spent the last nine years as MD and CEO of Hilding Anders. In that time he guided the Swedish bed manufacturer from an annual turnover of 3,000 million SEK to 7,000 million SEK. Special wheel and tyre manufacturer and supplier Starco is preparing to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary.
Slovenian tyre brand Sava Tyres – a Goodyear Dunlop brand – launched its new range of 22.5” truck tyres in an event in Ljubljana, including a visit to the Goodyear Dunlop manufacturing facility in Kranj, earlier in the year. The new range, which comprises the Avant 4 steer tyre and the Orjak 4 drive tyre, has been developed to provide enhanced performance and lower cost per mile on both long and short haul transport operations. Goodyear Dunlop also suggested that an upswing in the European truck tyre market would be experienced in the eastern half of the continent.
H2 Equity Partners has announced plans to acquire a controlling stake in Unipart Automotive, the UK’s largest independent supplier of car parts, workshop consumables and garage equipment. Unipart Automotive is currently owned by Unipart Group. The agreement, which is expected to be concluded shortly, sees H2 Equity Partners taking majority ownership in the UK operation. Unipart Group will hold onto 49.9 per cent. Patrick Kalverboer, managing partner at H2, will become executive chairman of the new company.
Industrial design associates, Dolton & Dex, has announced the launch of the world's first concept tyre design service. According to reports, director Bob Dolton has spent many years working on concept tyres for a number of OEMs. "More often than not, it is an area of the vehicle that designers feel they have a lack of control over," said Dolton.
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations has announced price increases for passenger and light truck consumer replacement and original equipment tyres in the United States and Canada, effective from 1 November. Prices for Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand passenger and light truck tyres will increase by up to eight per cent.
Registration is now open for Standards Testing Laboratories annual Tyre Technology Seminar, held on 18-20 October, 2011 at the company's Massillon, Ohio headquarters. The seminar is a two and a half day event that aims to provide “a comprehensive overview of the technology employed by the tyre industry,” according to the STL. Speakers from the engineering, chemistry and mechanics/vehicle dynamics fields will address topics including tyre testing, tyre design and research, tyre engineering and compounding, product development and advanced concepts. The deadline to register for the seminar is 30 September.
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