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Automechanika Shanghai Attracts Record Number of Exhibitors

This year Automechanika Shanghai takes place between December 9 and 11 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China. Despite the global recession, organiser Messe Frankfurt reports the show has already set a new record with over 2,200 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions, including Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UK and USA. As a result, the exhibition space has expanded to nine halls, with a total of more than 100,000 square metres.

6th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

P Zero Trofeo – Pirelli's D.O.T. Approved Track Tyre

At the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) Show in Las Vegas, Pirelli Tire North America unveiled its newest ultra-high-performance tyre – the P Zero Trofeo. The Trofeo is a D.O.T. (Department of Transportation) approved state-of-the-art track tyre aimed at serious driving enthusiasts.

Trofeo's asymmetrical tread features two wide central ribs, large tread blocks, an inner area with greater groove density and an outer area with a pattern derived from asphalt rally applications. The P Zero Trofeo is designed to give the best of both worlds: a fast track tyre that gives racers the flexibility to drive on the street to and from the track.

5th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Posts Loss for “Challenging” First Three Quarters

Bridgestone reports that its operating environment “remained challenging” in the first three quarters of the 2009 fiscal year. The nine months to September 30, it comments, was a time of “weakened consumer spending and declines in private sector capital investment, which counteracted signs of recovery among some exports.” The continuation of recession conditions in Europe and the United States was tempered by some sectors showing signs of stabilisation, however, and a gradual recovery was seen in China. Other regions also began to show slight signs of recovery, the tyre major states.

5th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

US Tyre Shipments to Drop 13% in 2009, Says RMA

The Rubber Manufacturers Association projects an approximately 13 per cent decline in US tyre shipments will occur in 2009, principally as a result of a sharp decrease in demand for original equipment passenger car and commercial vehicle tyres. Total tyre shipments are anticipated to reduce by approximately 36 million units to 246 million. The RMA notes this decrease reflects the “difficult economic environment for automotive manufacturers over the past year, continued low consumer confidence and high unemployment.” This year’s projected total shipments represents a 23.4 per cent decrease on the peak of 321 million units reached in 2000.

3rd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Presents Raft of New Releases at SEMA 2009

Pirelli is launching a raft of new products and line extensions at this year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas, including the Pirelli Scorpion the Scorpion Verde All Season SUV/Crossover and Light Truck tyres developed under the “Green Performance” philosophy. Pirelli’s Green Performance strategy forms the basis for specific goals such as pushing the green proportion of its tyres from 20 per cent to 40 per cent by 2011.

According to the tyre maker, these tyres offer drivers increased performance in wet braking, dry handling, wet handling, snow traction and reduce aquaplaning. Scorpion Verde All Season’s use of cutting edge compounds is said to helps deliver longer tread life for consumers.

2nd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Orange Electronic to Hit the NA Market

Norstar International, Orange Electronic Taiwan and a group of investors have launched Orange Electronic North America LLC. According to reports, the new company will assume control of the North American marketing, sales and distribution of Orange Electronic Taiwan’s TPMS products. “We have been working with Orange Electronic as a distributor for the past two years and were impressed by their high quality products and innovative solutions,” said Steve Norris, president of Norstar International and Orange Electronic North America.

2nd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Sales & Earnings Decline in H1

Yokohama Rubber has reported a year-on-year 21.3 per cent drop in sales during the first half of the financial year. Upon announcing sales in the six months to September 30, 2009 amounting to 202.1 billion yen (£1.4 billion), the company noted that demand in its principal markets – Japan, North America and Europe – had weakened. Slackening demand also undermined sales volume in Yokohama’s Multiple Business (diversified products) Group, which posted sales declines in high-pressure hoses, in conveyor belts, in sealants, and in aircraft products.

2nd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Posts Positive Q3 Results

Citing lower raw material costs, continued manufacturing improvements and a better utilisation of capacity as the key driving factors, Cooper Tire & Rubber has reported a US$41 million net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, a $102 million improvement over the same period last year. The company’s net sales for the period were $803 million, a year-on-year increase of $9 million, while operating profit was $71 million for the quarter, a $118 million improvement from the corresponding months in 2008.

2nd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

US Court Orders Review of China OTR, Ag Tyre Duties

Several media sources are now reporting that last year’s ruling by the US Department of Commerce that slapped often huge antidumping duties on certain OTR and farm tyres imported from China will get another look. On September 18, the US Court of International Trade ordered the Commerce Department to review its ruling and the countervailing duties it applied to a host of tires imported from China. The court said the Commerce Department’s duty calculations were in error, and in cases were effectively double what they should have been. The court gave the Commerce Department 90 days to clear up the duty discrepancies. Tyres & Accessories/tyrepress.com first reported this story on 25 September, but following the collapse of GPX International last week US-based Tire Review draws a parallel between the two stories.

2nd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

CTNA, Hoosier to Pool Performance Tyre Know-How

A partnership initiated between Continental Tire North America and Hoosier Racing Tire carries the hope of taking the convergence of the high performance street tyre and racing tyre industries a “significant step forward.” On October 30 the two companies announced their intention to invest “substantially” into a strategic alliance involving marketing, business and research and development. Specifically, the two companies have assembled a “team of industry veterans” who now become the driving force behind the collaborative marketing, product development and implementation process.

2nd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama to Cut Leaks with Airtex

A new inner liner material developed by Yokohama Rubber is hoped to further improve the fuel saving properties of the company’s eco-tyre products. The ‘Airtex advances liner’ adheres to the inside of the tyre and features what Yokohama describes as a special resin, which when added to the conventional inner liner can “substantially reduce the volume of air naturally leaking from a tyre.” The material, says the Japanese manufacturer, is both highly impermeable and flexible. The company says that products employing Airtex have already been marketed in Japan, North America and some European countries, and the quest is now on to produce what Yokohama calls the ‘next generation Airtex’, a product that delivers near zero air leakage.

2nd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Falken Distributing Ohtsu Truck Tyres in USA

Falken Tire Corp. is back in the medium truck tyre business in the USA, Tire Review reports, once again becoming the North American distributor for Ohtsu brand medium truck radials. Falken will take over marketing, sales and distribution of the Ohtsu brand as of 1 March, 2010. The Ohtsu brand is owned and produced by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which also controls the Falken brand.

30th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

OTR Tyre Specialist Qizhou Diversifying its Range

In the past ten years Qingdao Qizhou Rubber Co. Ltd. has striven to expand its business in export markets and to facilitate this invested approximately US$14 million in the construction of a OTR tyre new factory in 2003. Since the completion of the facility in Qingdao (Shandong Province) in September 2004 the OTR tyre specialist Qizhou has been able to produce around 100,000 tyres per annum. Central to the company’s range is the “Marcher” brand, through which the manufacturer of the “world’s largest OTR tyres” (59/90 R63) is represented in most corners of the globe and in the original equipment market, delivering to, as an example, LeTourneau Technologies for fitment to its dump trucks. The US firm utilises crossply “Marcher” OTR tyres in size 70/70-57 84PR with a L4 tread; deliveries to Australia and North America are made and even involve the largest available LeTourneau dumpers, disclosed Qingdao Qizhou export manager Gavin Liu.

30th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Stock Plummets following CFO’s Operating Income Q4 Prediction

Shares in Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co experienced the sharpest fall in New York trading for 22 years following chief financial officer Darren Wells’ prediction that income in North America will decline between $75 million and $125 million compared to third quarter results in the period October-December 2009. The company therefore forecasts an operating loss in North America during the fourth quarter. Wells made the statement during a conference call with analysts today discussing the results of 2009’s third quarter.

28th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Reports Improvement in Q3, but Decline Vs 2008 Continues

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s third quarter 2009 financial report showed sales and income improvements in comparison with quarter two, but the results continue to reflect what the company calls “weak industry demand”. Accentuating the positive, Goodyear states that it “sees opportunities as markets recover”, an idea reflected in the company’s launch of 57 new products over the course of the first three quarters of 2009 (15 in quarter three), a figure that surpasses the full-year target. Additionally, Goodyear has improved its liquidity, made year-to-date savings totalling $540 million and reduced its inventories by more than $1 billion in the period, while producing a third quarter segment operating income of $275 million, a figure that shows improvement on 2008, with sales 11 per cent up from quarter two at $4.4 billion.

28th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors