During the course of 2011 the CGS Group will introduce a new Mitas branded range of tyres for use in row-crop agriculture into its global markets. This Mitas range will replace the existing Continental brand row crop tyres that Mitas has been producing under licence since 2004.
Mitas Tires, formerly CGS Tires US, reports the signing of a contract covering US$10 million worth of curing presses for its factory in Charles City, Iowa, which is currently under construction. The presses will be delivered and installed in August and September this year and the production of radial agricultural tyres will begin in 2012. In its first year of operation the plant will employ an estimated 159 workers and the company plans to employ 262 people in the US by 2016.
Alongside its decision to build a tyre plant in Charles City, Iowa, CGS Tires US Inc., the US subsidiary of Czech-based CGS Tyres, has changed its corporate name to Mitas Tires North America Inc, reports Tire Review. When the new plant is ready, the renamed company will relocate its US headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Charles City, Iowa.
CGS Tyres has announced plans to expand in the French markets after Copadex agreed to cede exclusivity in distributing CGS-produced Continental agricultural tyres in France as of 15 January 2011. CGS Tyres now sells all its brands in France, namely Mitas, Cultor and Continental (produced under licence). This consolidation was preceded by an announcement made in September about CGS Tyres acquiring distribution rights for Mitas tyres from L’Européenne de pneumatiques. Copadex will continue to sell Continental tyres.
Hertfordshire’s Soopa Toobs says it has continued to develop and expand its range of quality inner tubes to suit the increasing variety of radial and low-profile agricultural and implement tyres on the market, particularly with many farmers, estate managers and groundsmen using utility vehicles and ATVs to get around, increasing vehicle inventory. Company representative Martin Mansfield says demands continue to change while the increased longevity of machinery used means that there is an opportunity for suppliers able to provide a wide range of sizes and applications.
With more than 70 per cent of CGS Tyres’ revenues coming from its agricultural tyre range – comprising Mitas, Cultor and Continental under licence – the Czech tyre division of CGS Holding Group (Czech Rubber Company) boasts an extensive international sales and distribution network operating in 13 countries, including the United States and Mexico. The manufacturer has an annual turnover of more than $430 million cementing a place among the top three European producers of agricultural and construction equipment tyres. With its current operations based in Europe, 90 per cent of CGS Tyres’ sales are on the European market. The company’s development strategy states that the company will focus on increasing its global presence, which has begun with the establishment of a US base in Iowa.
A “New Bufalo” Landini tractor fitted with Mitas 65 series tyres won the classic Italian tractor-pulling contest held in San Pancrazio, near Parma on 12 September 2010. The 14 teams featuring such poetic names as Baby Tornado (second), Cobrabite (fifth) and Speedy (last) met for the 11th time since 1999 to match their power tractors in this “nerves of steel” battle for primacy.
“This extreme tractor sport is electrifying,” said Gaetano Mellia of CGS Pneumatici Italia. CGS Tyres produces Mitas-brand tractor tyres. “Unlike in other sports, the sportsmen compete with end-user machines driving on end-user tyres with the lugs cut off. The tractor’s horsepower preserved by the tyre is one secret ingredient of victory.”
Mitas a.s. has reportedly signed a “Declaration of Understanding” to build a new tyre production plant in the Czech Zlín Region, an essential step for the realization of the project. Contracts are said to be being drawn up currently. Mitas, a division of Czech Rubber Group CGS Tyres, is reportedly planning a 1 billion Czech koruny (£34 million, 40.65 million euros, US$53.73 million) investment in the Holešov Industrial Zone in the Czech Republic.
According to a Holešov Industrial Zone statement, the company is planning to build the plant at the end of next year and it will be fully operating in 2014. The site is expected to employ 500-550 people. The new factory will reportedly require 6.5 hectares of land, with the option for another 6 hectares. Mitas plans to produce mainly tyres agricultural tyres in Holešov. It has found several suitable places for realization of its intention, and finally it has been decided for Holešov.
Czech off-road tyre producer CGS Tyres has agreed to acquire the sales unit of the Saint-Paul-lès-Romans-based L’Européenne de pneumatiques (EDP), a French veteran of agricultural and industrial tyre sales of 25 years. The sale of Mitas-branded tyres by CGS Pneu France directly on the French market, including a transfer of the major customers of EDP of both original equipment and replacement markets, will begin immediately.
CGS Tyres has today confirmed it will build the production plant for agricultural tyres reported on tyrepress.com over the past two months. A $43.81 million investment will allow the Czech company to build its new plant in Charles City, Iowa. Company representatives and the Iowa Department of Economic Development signed an investment agreement at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, marking the end to negotiations that begun in 2009. The company said the plant would create at least 159 new jobs for local residents. Production is scheduled to commence by 1 January, 2012.
Between April 19 and 25 the German city of Munich will host Bauma 2010 – the world’s largest trade fair for construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines, construction vehicles and construction equipment. CGS Tyres/MITAS a.s. has announced its participation in this event, and invites visitors to its stand (booth 109, hall A6).
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CGS Tyres is raising the prices on its Mitas, Cultor and Continental branded products in March. Price increasing will range between four and seven per cent. “As prices of raw material escalate, especially for natural rubber, increasing costs are driving us towards a price alignment”, said Andrew Mabin, CGS marketing and sales director.
CGS Tyres, the international sales company for Czech Republic based Mitas a.s., has introduced a new agricultural and industrial tyre brand into its product portfolio. Known as Cultor, the new brand was first introduced to the public at this year’s Agritechnica show in Germany and is intended to occupy the budget segment of the CGS Tyres range, replacing the licensed Semperit brand on a phased introduction with immediate effect.
Austrian ploughmen, Werner Eder won the 56th World Ploughing Championship in Moravske Toplice, Slovenia, in early September. The 30 year old gained the title of world champion in the overall rankings in the “conventional ploughing” category, coming first in stubble ploughing and second on grassland. All this was done on Continental agricultural tyres.
Traditionally, the Austrian subsidiary of CGS Tyres provides the country's team with Continental agricultural tyres. "The ploughmen favour the ContiContract AC 85. Thanks to its gentle ground handling, this tyre is particularly well-suited to meet the ploughmen's demands," commented Josef Heigl, managing director, CGS Reifenvertrieb Österreich. "Tyres are highly important in this competition and the AC 85 helped to achieve optimum ploughing results."
Morghew Park Estate has selected a new tyre fitment policy across three of the off-road vehicles it uses to support its commercial shooting, which takes place around a 2,000 acre Estate in Tenterden, Kent. One of the first changes made was to fit new Michelin 280/80 R18 MXCL tyres to the primary shoot transport – a 1968 ex-Belgian Army Mercedes Benz Unimog 404S, powered by a 2.2 litre petrol engine. The vehicle had previously featured an ageing set of Russian tyres which were not providing the necessary grip to enable the driver to make proper use of the simultaneous front and rear diff locks.
Piers Carey, Farm manager on the Morghew Park Estate, explained: “When the terrain got challenging, the tyres on the Unimog just weren’t up to the job. ATS Euromaster advised us to fit Michelin MXCL’s and they have transformed the Unimog into a transporter which can tackle the steepest and muddiest terrain we encounter.”
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