Middle East
Bridgestone recently launched its B250 tyre in the Middle East. According to publicity material released to coincide with the launch, the B250 promises “comfortable, low-noise journey, achieves better braking, regardless of the climate, and high level of running turning, which eventually guarantees travelling in comfort and safety with extended durability.”
Tiremart (Qingdao) set up in the year of 2000 in the CBD of Qingdao, China. Its specialises in exporting TBR, PCR, OTR, agricultural, motorcycle tyres, as well as tubes, flaps and rims to more than 50 countries in the world, with its main markets in the Middle East, India, South Asia, Africa and South America. It reports that its annual turnover reaches over $30 million.
The company sells factory brands in addition to its own brand, Maxim. Currently, the Maxim brand includes an OTR series, rims, and TBR 1000R20 with an Indian market pattern. Tiremart says that it plans to develop and promote the brand further in the near future. It also states that the OEM tyre business makes up 40 per cent in our sales volume.
As for its presence at CITExpo, the company states, “We would like to meet old and more new customers. We hope CITExpo this year will bring us good luck and will help us to make another big success in near future.”
Dunlop has secured the contract to supply tyres to the new Moto2 class, which gets underway in 2010. The company will supply 3.75 x 17-inch front and 6.00 x 17-inch rear tyres to the series that replaces the 250cc World Championships.
Speaking about the three-year deal, Dunlop Motorcycle sales and marketing director Europe, Middle East and Africa, Sharon Antonaros, said “We’re excited about building on the expertise gained over fifty years of continuous participation in Grand Prix racing to continue our development of racing tyres and then taking the technology to our road tyres.”
With modifiers bringing cars to the Barbican Turbo and the Top 100 in Abu Dhabi from as far as Oman and Qatar last year, this time round Konig Wheels wants to get in on the action. Hamid Moaref, manager of Konig Wheels & Accessories division, Varga Trading, in the Middle East stated: “We’ve been strong supporters of Barbican Turbo from day one – it’s important to have a show dedicated purely to customising vehicles in this region…It’s all about finding the most stylish ‘show cars’ in the region and this fits perfectly with the Konig Wheels brand as our motto is ‘style is king’”. All entries to the Top 100 will receive a 20 per cent discount voucher for Konig Wheels from the organisers.
Goodyear has launched the new generation of its RunOnFlat tyre with an original equipment fitting on the new Mercedes E-Class, which left factories recently. Goodyear states that the latest generation tyre offers numerous benefits to car makers, consumers and the environment, including improved comfort, reduced mass and rolling resistance, improved fuel consumption and consequently reduced CO2 emission levels. The tyre-maker suggests that the tyre is comparable to regular tyres in terms of comfort. Car manufacturers do not need to modify the suspension or chassis of their cars to use them, Goodyear claims.
Mercedes-Benz recently awarded the ultra high performance summer Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric RunOnFlat tyre with its ‘Mercedes Original Extended’ (MOExtended) seal of quality, with the term Extended signifying the tyre’s safety capabilities.
Dubai’s Moaffaq Al Gaddah (MAG) Group hopes, according to numerous news sources, to complete an agreement to buy Continental’s Clairoix factory in France before the end of 2009. According to Fawaz Sabri, the company’s vice president for strategy and finance, if “they (Continental) sign (the due diligence process) by the end of this month, we can start the process on July 1, and by November or December could sign a final agreement … production would be in 2010.”
Road safety – in particular the use of seatbelts – is to be the main theme presented by the Emirates Driving Institute when it attends Barbican Turbo the Middle East’s custom, tuning and motorsports festival organised by United Business Media from the 8-10 of October at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Abu Dhabi.
Road safety is a particular concern in the United Arab Emirates where figures released by the Abu Dhabi Health Authority and the Ministry of Interior indicate 424 people were killed on the roads in Abu Dhabi and a total of 1,071 were killed country-wide in 2008. To combat this issue the Emirates Driving Institute aims to achieve excellence in the field of driver training and road safety and believes a reduction in road traffic accidents can only be achieved by improving the current skills level and knowledge of the driving population; something which they plan to do while at Barbican Turbo.
A total of 15,431 visitors attended Automechanika Middle East during the three-day event. Of this number, notes organiser Epoc Messe Frankfurt GmbH, 46 per cent were international visitors, converging on Dubai from a total of 114 countries. According to the organiser, buyers arrived in large numbers from the GCC, Middle East, Iran, Africa, CIS and India.
Considering the tough economic climate, adds Epoc Messe Frankfurt, Automechanika Middle East registered a remarkable increase in the number of exhibitors; a total of 966 exhibitors from 46 countries were present, and exhibition space this year occupied 31,000 square metres at the Dubai Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has announced plans that would end consumer tyre production at its Amiens, France plant and could result in the sales of its European and Latin American agricultural tyre businesses. Goodyear’s Asia Pacific farm tyre business is not included in the potential divestiture. The company sold its North American farm tyre operation in 2005.
According to an official statement, ending consumer tyre production at the Amiens plant would result in the reduction of approximately 6 million units of production, which is part of Goodyear’s strategy to remove 15 million to 25 million units of capacity over the next two years.
Al-Saeedi Middle East, the distributor of Solideal tyres in the region is participating in the Materials Handling Exhibition held at the Dubai World Trade 31 May to 2 of June 2009. Over 250 exhibitors from 35 countries will be exhibiting to key buyers and decision makers from throughout the Middle East and the surrounding areas.
Solideal specialises in manufacturing and distributing tyres, wheels and tracks for industrial and specialized applications such as: forklifts, skid steer loaders, port trailers, aircraft support equipments, aerial access equipment, backhoe loaders, graders, telescopic handlers, compactors. According to Al-Saeedi, all Solideal products are guaranteed to be free from defects due to materials and workmanship.
The Apollo Tyres acquisition of Vredestein Banden BV, now officially concluded, has been described by Vredestein Banden CEO Rob Oudshoorn as a “win-win combination for both companies.” With all regulatory approvals and place and consent from the Judge of the Dutch Courts granted, Apollo now holds a 100 per cent share in the Netherlands based manufacturer. While official statements on the acquisition give no purchase price for Vredestein-Banden, the Wall Street Journal notes that a ‘person familiar with the situation’ disclosed a sum of 175 million euros.
Al Saeedi Middle East FZ Co. was recently named as Maitech Tyres’s Best Dealer 2008. The award was presented Ian Thomas, Maitech director international sales in a ceremony held at the Intermat show in Paris.
The Maitech range includes all-steel off road radials with sizes to suit many different types of construction equipment. The Maitech range of steel radial UM3/UM5 tyres covers 15.5R25, 17.5R25, 20.5R25, 23.5R25, 26.5R25 and 29.5R25. In particular Maitech tyres are said to be highly resistant to shoulder and tread cuts and hence enjoy a greatly extended life for maximum cost effectiveness. This extended life, combined with the Maitech’s ability to wear evenly, results in lower costs per kilometre and therefore reduced overall machine operating costs.
Infinity tyres, distributed in Europe by the Infinity Tyres Europe Limited, has given details of the company’s strong commitment to raising its profile through attendance at future international events. Infinity (alongside related brands) will shortly be exhibiting at both Autopromotec (Bologna, May 20-24) and Automechanika Middle East (Dubai, May 31 – June 2). In addition the company has already committed to exhibiting at Reifen 2010 in Essen, Germany. Infinity Tyres Europe will have substantial stands at each of the exhibitions and will be showcasing two new Infinity products in Bologna and Dubai.
Infinity tyres are available through UK distributor, Bond International. Bond was formed in 1970 and has expanded its operations consistently over the last 40 years. The company now has four warehouses across the UK, with over 250,000 square feet of warehousing, half a million tyre capacity and a fleet of over 70 vehicles.
According to the organiser of Automechanika Middle East, the exhibition’s host country retains a strong tyre industry despite the global slowdown. Dubai’s direct trade in tyres, it says, was valued at more than AED 6.6 billion (US $1.8 billion) in 2008, an increase of 12 per cent from 2007. And organiser EPOC Messe Frankfurt GmbH believes that “even with the economic downturn catching up, wheels of the tyre market in the UAE are set to keep turning in 2009” – and thus it has high hopes for the exhibition, which opens on May 31 and runs until June 2 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
To call what we have experienced in the first quarter of 2009 a bear market would be something of an understatement. And while in such ursine conditions the 14.2 per cent drop in net sales reported by Michelin is by no means any worse a performance than that experienced throughout the tyre industry, it is safe to say the French manufacturer is eagerly awaiting the next hibernation season.
Group net sales for the three months to March 31 totalled 3.512 billion euros, of which the greatest chunk – 1.946 billion euros – came from the sale of passenger and light truck tyres. Truck tyres accounted for a further 1.006 billion euros, and the company’s specialty tyre business the remaining 561 million euros. All of these segments experienced a year-on-year decline in sales during the quarter; sales of truck tyres, in terms of income, declined 24.2 per cent.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
