Middle East
Octavian Velcan has been appointed managing director of the Goodyear Dunlop Off the Road tyre business for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Velcan will report to Michel Rzonzef, recently-appointed vice president of the Goodyear Dunlop Commercial Business Unit EMEA, which includes the truck tyre, OTR tyre and farm tyre business and customer support services.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has reported increased sales and earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011 and the full year. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa region the company improved on its 2010 figures, with segment operating income up to $627 million, compared to $319 million in the previous year. The company’s fourth quarter represented a slowdown in the region, shipping fewer tyre units than in 2010 – 16.9 million vs. 17.7 million – and it predicted that 2012 would be down by up to nine per cent in European consumer business, with worse predicted for the commercial original equipment market. Chairman and chief executive officer, Richard J Kramer commented on the company’s overall sales and segment operating income records by saying the company had “successfully managed a challenging economic environment.”
Hankook Tyre UK recently supplied 12 all-terrain Dynapro MT RT03 tyres which were fitted to two Land Rover Defenders in support of the Bhubesi Pride Project. The Bhubesi Pride Project is part of an initiative which involves a team of qualified coaching staff who shall spend six months driving through tricky terrain as they visit 15 schools in 10 African countries. The highly qualified coaching team shall be using rugby as a tool to help to educate schools and communities in Africa, both empowering teachers and uniting children through sport.
Michelin has strengthened its relationship with Rockwell Automation with the signing of a four-year preferred supplier agreement. As per the agreement, Rockwell will supply tyre manufacturing automation and control equipment to Michelin facilities all over the world.
Brand representatives report that since its launch in 2005, Zeetex has developed a strong reputation for quality assurance, safety and compliance with environmental requirements, and holds an impressive range of certifications. However, manufacturing body ETRMA found at least one Zeetex branded tyre that was non-REACH compliant was found on the European market in March this year. However, speaking in a recent interview with Tyres & Accessories, the global product manager of Zeetex at Zafco, Zafar Jafri, explained explained the company’s perspective on this issue: “ETRMA found a so-called ‘dirty’ tyre. At that time we were running two production lines (one for international sales and one for Europe).” Explaining that the tyre question was certainly not intended for the European market, Jafri continued by pointing out that the mishandling that led to the aforementioned tyre’s arrival in the European Union could only have come as a result of the mishandling at the factory’s warehouse, similarly unintentional mishandling at Zafco’s distribution centre or via grey-imports.
We are told that we are living in an age of austerity and belt-tightening, but this has not stopped Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announcing that 2011 was a record year for sales of the luxury marque. 3,538 cars were sold globally during the year, a 31per cent increase on the 2010 total of 2,711 cars. The figure represents the best sales result in the company's 107-year history; the previous record of 3,347 cars having been set in 1978 during the Silver Shadow II era.
Tire Group International has appointed Enrique Goudie, a 20-year veteran of the tyre industry, as senior category manager in the company's international team; Sherko Hajrasouli has also joined the company as its territory manager for the Middle East.
Henry Johnson has been appointed Goodyear Dunlop’s EMEA vice president, Emerging Markets, leading “the strategic growth and development of the company’s complete product range in South Africa, Turkey, Middle East, Russia and the Nordic countries.” Johnson was previously responsible for the Commercial Product business unit.
Goodyear Dunlop has announced its appointment of Michel Rzonzef as the new vice president of its EMEA Commercial Sales and Marketing Product business unit, responsible for “driving a single aligned strategy and operating plan for commercial vehicle tyres”, according to the company’s announcement.
Fulda has announced the upcoming launch of its new high performance summer tyre, the EcoControl HP. The range will be introduced in time for the 2012 season and be available in 22 dimensions for 15 and 16-inch rim diameters. The tyre maker says the EcoControl HP is designed to take “meet both dry and wet conditions in its stride”; in September-October 2011 the new tyre was extensively tested against three competitor tyres by the independent testing and certification organisation TÜV SÜD Automotive, and was found to be a “well balanced performance tyre.”
The fifth Reifen China exhibition which took place in the Shanghai New International Exhibition Center on 22 – 24 November 2011 reportedly “registered a plus in all the sections”, according to show organisers Messe Essen and the China United Rubber Corporation. Official figures released by the two companies show that 11,255 trade visitors (20 per cent more than in the previous year) from 77 countries were present to order and obtain information about everything to do with tyres, wheels and garage equipment at the trade fair. And this emphatically answers the question posed by Tyres & Accessories preview of the show – Will 10,000 attend Reifen China this year?
Due to continued high raw material and energy costs, Continental is increasing the price of its summer passenger car tyres in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The price rise takes effect on 1 January, 2012; from this date Continental brand tyres will cost between three and four per cent more while prices for the Uniroyal, Semperit and Barum brands will increase by three to six per cent.
ZAFCO, the UAE-based distributor of automotive tyres, batteries and lubricants, has announced the launch of its “Safe Tire, Safe Family” campaign. According to the company, “Safe Tire, Safe Family” is a bid to help make roads safer for commuters in the UAE. In launching the effort, ZAFCO conducted complementary vehicle inspections, starting with Al Noor Training Centre on the 23 and 24 of October, with plans for the campaign to branch out to schools across the country.
In November, the largest tyre recycling plant in the United Arab Emirates officially opened. The facility, in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, was set up by Danish recycling machinery specialist Eldan Recycling and can process up to 8,000 kilograms of old tyres per hour and produces granulate between 0.5 and 4 millimetres.
On 1 January 2012, Tatsuo Mitsuhata will take over from Yashushi Takagi as president and CEO of Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.; Takagi, who has held this position at Toyo Tire U.S.A. since January 2009, will return to Japan as Toyo Tires’ general manager of corporate planning. This appointment is Mitsuhata’s second US-based position – he previously worked for Toyo Tire U.S.A., as the company’s coordination manager between 1994 and 1998.
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