North America
The city of Mount Vernon, Illinois, has reportedly committed $735,000 in grant funding to Continental Tire’s (CTA) plant expansion in the city. The money is expected to go toward infrastructure improvements and equipment. For its part, CTA has committed to creating at least 440 new jobs.
Tire Review notes that Michelin North America (Canada)'s price increase was the continent's 86th in 2011. As of 1 October, the unit is increasing pricing on its Michelin and BFGoodrich medium truck tyres by up to 6.5 per cent. Michelin, BFGoodrich, Uniroyal and MNA’s associate brand passenger and light truck replacement tyres (excluding winter tires) will see increases averaging 4 per cent as of 1 November.
Canadian Tire Corp has selected Rotary Lift as a “preferred vendor” for alignment lifts for its automotive service centers across the country, reports Tire Review. Rotary Lift provides the Y-Lift alignment lift for many Canadian Tire dealers already. Canadian Tire and its associate dealers combine for 485 stores from coast-to-coast.
Midas stores across the US will soon have access to Kumho brand tyres thanks to a new deal between the service retailer and Kumho Tire USA, reports Tire Review. The new “partnership program” reportedly gives rebates to Midas stores purchasing Kumho tyres, and tyre distributors will get a 1 per cent credit for administering the program.
Years after the credit crunch bit and the recession took hold in the North America and Europe, financial analysts are asking if the de-segmentation phenomena that saw cheaper tyre sales increase could be coming to an end. So does this mean premium tyre sales are on the up?
Prices for Continental’s passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres in the US are scheduled to increase by up to 8.5 per cent on November 1. Continental Tire The Americas says this price rise, which applies to its Continental, General and proprietary brand tyres, is being implemented as “a response to the continuing rise in raw material cost.” Exact price increases will vary according to product line and size, and Continental adds that some in-line adjustments will occur.
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.
Mitas Tires North America Inc. said it is boosting its investment in its new plant in Charles City, Iowa, in a move to hasten build of plant capacity. The 19 per cent investment boost takes to $51 million the amount Mitas is putting into the facility, and will shorten the construction project from five to three years. The additional funds will be directed toward tyre building equipment and curing presses, and by late 2013, the factory capacity is planned to reach 12,000 metric tons of tyres annually. In addition, Mitas officials said that tyres produced at the plant will bear the “Mitas AC” marking, with Mitas phasing out the Continental agricultural tyre brand in North America next year.
Tire Group International has been named the fourth largest Hispanic owned exporter in the USA by Hispanic Business Magazine. Tony Gonzalez, TGI’s CEO said: “We are very excited and honoured by the ranking, it’s a true testament to the hard work and effort of our entire team, The Winning Team.”
The Pelmar Group has announced that Armond Boyes, managing director of its North American subsidiary, Pelmar USA LLC is to retire on 1 November 2011. Armond Boyes joined the Pelmar Group in 2008 from his previous position as general manger for retreading at Goodyear North America. He will continue as a consultant and will remain on the company's board of directors. No decision has yet been made about who will replace Boyes, but the company reports that it is considering a number of candidates.
The latest data from the US shows that shipments, what we might call sell-in sales, of light vehicle replacement tyres fell 12 per cent for RMA members and 10 per cent for the overall industry in July. This follows falls of 8.6 per cent in June and 10.7 per cent in May. Commenting on the figures, Deutsche Bank analysts pointed out that “the weakness was significantly more pronounced for broadline (economy) tyres,” with volumes down more than 20 per cent year-on-year in this segment.
Although a regimen of over-cautiousness seems de rigueur in parenting these days, when it comes to children and road safety the average mother takes a more casual attitude. A recent US survey conducted by Cooper Tire & Rubber in partnership with the websites Cars.com and MotherProof.com showed only one per cent of mums consider automotive maintenance as a priority in "keeping their children safe" – and none specifically mentioned tyre maintenance as a priority.
Maurice Taylor, chairman and CEO of Titan International has sought to add clarity to forecasts of what is happening in the agriculture, construction and mining markets by pointing out that the firm expects to receive three-digit millions of dollars worth of orders: “I’ve had a number of shareholders and analysts call and e-mail asking what’s going on in the farm, construction and mining markets…The majority of these e-mails show concern as to why there’s not more positive guidance going out from the big boys in equipment manufacturing for 2012…”, he explained, adding:
Taiwan manufacturer has thanked its distributors for running a “successful” inaugural Federal Month promotion in North America. Its distributor, Tire Dealer’s Warehouse, launched a month long promotion titled “Fly away with Federal”, where both customers and TDW sales team members were competing to earn Federal Fun bucks or Southwest Airlines travel vouchers. The manufacturer incentivised the TDW team in addition to customer rebates, which the manufacturer says led to sales targets being exceeded.
Elaborating on news of a recent US$1.5 million grant received from a US Department of Energy (DOE) agency, Cooper Tire & Rubber says the funding will go towards accelerating the “development and refinement of innovative tyre design, construction, materials and reinforcement technologies focused on the replacement tyre market.” The grant from the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy calls for Cooper to develop an ultra lightweight tyre that delivers a minimum three per cent improvement in vehicle fuel efficiency. The anticipated timeframe for achieving this breakthrough is three years.
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.
