Middle East
Dunlop has been selected as an OE supplier for Audi’s R8. The German sports coupe (dubbed by Audi the “slowest car we’ve ever built” due to its labour intensive, non-production line manufacture) will receive two top of the range Dunlop products, the UHP Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT and for the upcoming winter season the Dunlop Winter Sport 3D.
Motorists with cash in their pockets have given chrome wheels the nod for the last decade, but in America these look-at-me vehicle accessories are losing favour with drivers pummelled by rising fuel and other costs. In an article published by USA Today, König Wheels sales manager Jim Fisher commented that the fashion for chrome wheels “might come back, but it’s going to be a while…..we’re selling something that people don’t need.”
Third quarter sales grew 24 per cent year on year at Hankook Tire, the company’s latest figures reveal. However, as has been the case with so many companies in this second half of 2008, increased sales have not translated into a better bottom line.
Despite making a significant operating loss of $19 million in the North American market – as reported on Tyrepress.com on 3 November – Goodyear has carded record sales in 2008’s third quarter, up 2 per cent to $5.2 billion. In addition, the company states that its revenue per tyre is up 8 per cent over Q3 2007 excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, a gain that reflects worldwide gains in pricing and product mix generated by the company’s strategy to focus on high-value-added tyres.
Chairman and CEO Robert J. Keegan said that the company’s “solid third quarter concludes a strong nine months of performance, reflecting the successful execution of our business strategies and continued strength in our international businesses.”
The Goodyear and Dunlop brands have achieved excellent notices in the latest round of independent tyre tests for winter tyres. Both labels are hoping to capitalise on these successes on the testing track with commercial success throughout Europe. Winter tyres account for about 30 percent of total European consumer replacement tyres, so it is understandable why the companies are keen to grab a greater piece of the market. The results of these tests are generally seen as important factors in European motorists’ winter tyre buying decisions, and with the use of winter tyres a lawful requirement in several European countries, including Austria, Sweden, Finland, and the Baltics, they could prove particularly interesting to the companies.
Independent tests by the ADAC, Germany’s leading automobile club, and the auto magazines AutoBild, Stitung Warentest and Auto Motor und Sport, singled out for praise the Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip 7+, the Dunlop SP Winter Response and Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D. Meanwhile Test World, the leading testing organization based in Finland, and Swedish motoring magazine Motorforaren had words of praise for Goodyear’s Ultra Grip Extreme and the Ice Navi ZEA respectively.
Abdul-Galil Shaif al-Shaibi, vice chairman of the Yemen General Free Zones Authority and Aden Free Zone (AFZ) met with a delegation from the UAE on on 25 October. During the meeting the delegation, chaired by director of Bin Sooda Investment Companies Kareem Far’a reportedly “expressed a desire to establish a factory for producing cars tyres in Aden Free Zone.”
According to Yemeni news reports, the factory is initially expected to serve markets in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. Abdul-Galil Shaif al-Shaibi reportedly indicated that AFZ may offer investment opportunities and facilities due to the Port of Aden’s strategic importance in the region.
Goodyear is highlighting the safety aspects of its products through a new integrated advertising campaign. The advertisement, created by London based agency Leagas Delaney, utilises the iconic Goodyear blimp, portraying the airship as a flying laboratory housing a team that looks after drivers on their journey.
The safety message is bolstered by statistics highlighting the safety benefits of Goodyear’s innovations, and the campaign also introduces a new endline – ‘Safety Together’ – and a new corporate identity. The campaign will be shown across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, encompassing TV, print and point of sale.
Dunlop has appointed Sharon Antonaros sales and marketing director, Europe, Middle East and Africa for its Motorcycle Business Unit. He is based in the Goodyear Dunlop regional head office in Brussels and reports to Sanjay Khanna, managing director of the Dunlop Motorcycle Business Unit.
Born in Uccle, Belgium, Mr. Antonaros, 39, gained a Masters degree in European Studies from the Centre d’Etudes des Relations Européennes. Before joining Dunlop in August 2008, Antonaros was channel development director EMEA in the electronic navigation industry, where he had worked for three years. Prior to this he held senior sales and marketing positions in the computer hardware industry for Sony.
New Zealander Mark Tapper has been selected to represent the Asia-Pacific Region in the Pirelli Star Driver scheme. The 27 year-old from Auckland, along with co-driver Jeff Cress, beat nine other contenders in the selection process, which took place over two rallies in New Zealand and Malaysia.
Tapper is the second driver to be named from the five who will benefit from the initiative, organised jointly by Pirelli and the FIA, to give young drivers a foot in the door of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Pirelli Star Driver programme will give five young talents (one each from Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific regions, plus two from Europe) the chance to compete in six WRC events in a Group N or S2000 car prepared and run by a top team. The drivers who earn a place on the Pirelli Star Driver scheme next year will get a chance to show what they can do in Portugal, Italy, Greece, Finland, Spain and Great Britain.
The popular Michelin range X Terminal-T tyres is being expanded through the addition of a 310/80R22.5 fitment to the already available line-up of specialist tyres designed primarily for fitment to tractor units, tugs and trailers used for short-distance movements in ports and freight terminals.
Suitable for fitment in any axle position, Michelin reports that its new 310/80R22.5 X Terminal-T tyre incorporates an advanced industrial casing design and features a unique blend of materials, which deliver even tread wear and low operating costs, along with good machine and payload protection from shock and vibration. This new size can easily be fitted in place of 11R22.5 and 295/80R22.5 sizes in particular, as their rolling circumferences are very similar and the rim widths are identical at 8.25 or 9.00 inches.
The FIA has published a list of 18 young drivers from Europe and Central and South America who will take part in the Pirelli Star Driver competition in Freistadt, Austria. The two winners will each receive a drive on six rounds of the 2009 WRC.
The competitors have all been chosen locally by their respective national sporting authorities (ASNs), who have put them forward for the competition in Freistadt that will take place from October 23-25. This contest will select two people to receive a fully-paid drive on six rounds of the World Rally Championship next year.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries is establishing a company to handle the sale of tyres in the Middle East region. The Dubai based company, called Sumitomo Rubber Middle East FZE, will start operations of January 1, 2009, and will focus upon expanding sales of replacement tyres in the region, an area where Sumitomo has identified growth. The key products handled by the new company will be passenger car, light commercial and truck tyres.
The company, 100 per cent owned by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, will be headed by Masaru Tabata. The operations will employ approximately 15 persons.
In April Bridgestone launched its ‘Ecopia’ range of fuel efficient tyres, said to reduce rolling resistance by some 30 per cent. Despite a slight price premium in its home market of about 20 per cent over a standard tyre, the Japanese manufacturer holds sufficient confidence in the product to proceed with its global release. Targeted markets include Europe and North America.
Europe received its first shipment of tyres from Sri Lanka’s Laugfs Rubber Corporation in early September. The European market thus joins the company’s growing international network, which includes a holding company in Hong Kong and distribution centres in North America, Canada, Australia and the Middle East.
Michelin has released a new size in its X Terminal-T range. The 310/80R22.5 tyre, says the company, is designed to significantly boost productivity levels in port terminals through its suitability on all articulated vehicle axle positions. Additional benefits, claims Michelin, are double the working life of a traditional radial truck tyre and significantly improved fuel economy compared to a bias-ply or solid tyre. The repairable and retreadable Michelin X Terminal-T becomes available from specialised dealers in September 2008 in Europe, and in November 2008 in the US, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
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