North America
In the United States, Tire Review reports that the American Trucking Associations reported that for-hire truck shipment tonnage jumped 2.1 per cent in December. The boost follows a seasonally adjusted 2.6 per cent improvement in November, ATA said. When compared year-over-year, the December 2009 results were up 6.6 per cent compared with December 2008. ATA’s tonnage index for 108.4 for December, up from November’s 106.2.
Popular author Bill Bryson may have referred to Mr. Potato Head as being “majestically unamusing”, but this slur upon the classic toy’s entertainment value did not prevent it from achieving star billing at North America’s top sporting event. Along with wife Mrs. Potato Head, the world’s best known tuber appeared in Bridgestone’s advertisements aired during the 2009 Super Bowl – and their presence in these widely-viewed commercials helped Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) earn the 2009 Spud Award for Outstanding Marketing Partner of the Year award from Hasbro. The award was presented at the toy maker’s eighth annual Entertainment and Licensing Summit.
The Continental tyre brand will be all over Grand-Am Road Racing in 2010-11, as Continental Tire North America has signed the brand on as the official tyre of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and as the official tyre of Watkins Glen International Raceway. The new commitments complement CTNA’s previously announced title sponsorship of the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.
Bridgestone Americas used the snowy mountains of Steamboat Springs, Colorado as the back drop for the official launch of its latest Blizzak winter tyre – the WS70. Invited tyre and enthusiast media and dozens of key dealers attended the week-long launch event, which featured a competitive ride-and-drive at the Bridgestone Winter Driving School there.
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Midas Inc. has acquired the 22 Midas automotive service shops in Northern California owned by franchisee Maurice Glad, who had just reached a $1.8 million fraud settlement with the state of California, reports Tire Review. Two of those locations were then re-franchised to another Midas franchishee.
Michelin and the Volvo Group have signed a contract extending the agreement that has made Michelin the Swedish automotive manufacturer’s main tyre supplier since 2003. The two companies will now work together on innovation projects. Under the contract signed on 25 January 2010, Michelin will supply truck tyres as original equipment for vehicles assembled by Volvo in North America, South America, Europe and, for the first time, Turkey, and marketed under the Volvo Trucks, Volvo Buses, Renault Trucks and Mack Trucks trade names.
The purchase of a number of assets and sublease of laboratory space from Continental Tire North America has enabled Momentive Performance Materials USA to set up a 2,000 square metre tyre research and development laboratory. The Charlotte, North Carolina site is said to offer state-of-the-art capabilities and will help Momentive provide faster innovation for customers in the tyre and rubber industry while helping the company reduce new product development cycle times. Momentive has also employed five ex-Conti R&D personnel to work at the facility.
Nokian Tyres reports that its Vianor retail chain reached an important milestone in December 2009 with the opening of its 600th outlet. The store, located in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, is what Nokian refers to as an ‘entrepreneur-led partner outlet’. The Ukraine, the company adds, now ranks second behind Russian in terms of countries with the largest number of Vianor outlets.
The sandbags outside one of the lobbies to the hotel served as an oddly timed metaphor for the 2010 Kumho Tire USA Dealer Meeting last week in Desert Palms, California, Tire Review reports. An unrelenting rain that caused floods across much of Southern California had pounded the area for a week. Its parent company in financial turmoil, Kumho Tire USA has been flooded by a rising tide of questions from media, dealers and suppliers, and the company used the meeting to address its future.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems has announced it will increase prices by between 5 and 10 per cent in Europe and North America, effective 1 March 2010. Product lines affected include the company’s industrial, solid and construction tyre lines. According to the company, the price rise is the result of “escalating raw material and transportation costs combined with currency fluctuations.” On 13 January Trelleborg announced it would increase the prices of its agricultural and forestry tyres and wheels by 5 per cent.
The preliminary national data on miles traveled in November is good news for the aftermarket, according to the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA). November mileage reported an uptick following a dismal October, when the string of year-over-year positive monthly mileage reports for 2009 ended, according to the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Concept vehicles are an integral part of the motor show circuit, and the North American International Auto Show in Detroit is no exception. Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO), in cooperation with General Motors, has debuted two new fitments on GMC and Cadillac concept vehicles at the show.
Associated Press has brought details of plans afoot by Washington Tire Corporation to erect an 18-building factory for the production of off-road, truck and passenger car tyres. The company, who in past times was known as American Tire Corporation, will apparently commence work on this Ephrata, Washington State project in April 2010.
In the US, Dealer Strategic Planning has hired Paul Chizeck to help manage the group’s growing number of Tire Dealer 20 Groups, reports Tire Review. Chizeck recently retired from Bridgestone Americas, where he last served as director of consumer tyre education. Chizeck’s 34-year background in the tyre industry includes store management, retail marketing, promotional support programs and various training and education responsibilities.
Plans to cease tyre production at Michelin’s factory in Ota, Japan were announced on January 15. Upon giving word of the July 2010 end of passenger car and light truck tyres at the Gunma Prefecture site, Michelin explained that, despite taking measures to improve productivity, reduce production costs and, since 2007, refocus on the production of ‘complex products’, production costs at the Ota plant have remained around twice as high as those of other plants serving that tyre segment.
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