Last year Kumho announced it would cease its nine year-tenure as tyre supply to the Formula 3 Euro Series at the end of 2011. The series, run as part of the Hankook-supplied German Touring Car Masters (DTM), now has a new sole tyre supplier. Unsurprisingly, it’s Hankook.
During last month’s Daimler Supplier Award ceremony in Germany, the vehicle manufacturer bestowed a “Special Award for Partnership” upon its Japanese suppliers, including Bridgestone. The award was given to 34 Japanese key suppliers in recognition of their efforts to overcome the disruption caused by last year’s earthquake and tsunami and for the solutions they found to keep the supply chain running, with minimal effect on Daimler business.
On 28 March the HiQ fast fit network celebrated the success of its charity partnership with Breast Cancer Care. Model and presenter Lisa Snowdon, who serves as an ambassador for the charity, thanked HiQ and its staff for their support; for the occasion, she was photographed with HiQ marketing manager Geraldine McGovern and Amanda Stagg, also from the company’s marketing department, holding an oversize cheque displaying the total amount HiQ has raised for Breast Cancer Care since 2009 – a respectable £87,000. The money raised is used to ensure Breast Cancer Care’s information and support services remain free to anyone who needs them.
Viking Wholesale Tyres has launched the Westlake brand in an internal event with its sales team. Viking parent company, Axle Group Holdings became the UK’s authorised distributor of Westlake PCR, 4X4, UHP and LT tyres in September 2011, and Westlake says this latest meeting was used to highlight the patterns and sizes available in the UK and to emphasise the substantial investment made at Westlake manufacturer Hangzhou Zhongce.
Russian car maker AvtoVAZ, manufacturer of the Lada brand, has announced its entry into a three-year strategic partnership agreement with tyre maker Nizhnekamskshina. The deal was signed by Damir Kashapov, vice-president of procurements at AvtoVAZ and Nail Maganov, first deputy general director of Nizhnekamskshina’s parent company OAO Tatneft; it provides for delivery of up to nine million tyres from 2012 to 2014.
Aftermarket exhaust specialists CES (UK) announced its decision to diversify its business with the addition of TPMS products and services to its fast fit offer in January. The first step was to become an official Schrader TPMS distributor. Now the company is explaining more about the thinking behind this move, predicting that tyre specialists and independent garages can expect to see a lot more cars with Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) entering their workshops in the months and years to come. To help the aftermarket gain its share in this new market, the company has recently launched what it calls a “total TPMS solution.” This encompasses the parts; equipment and technical support that CES believes technicians will need to successfully service TPMS.
As part of its mandate, the Infinity Tyres Foundation aims to help communities within the markets Infinity Tyres operates in. With that in mind, the foundation recently signed a ten year commitment to support the Arnold Foundation for Rugby School and help it to continue its good work. The scheme enables students in the UK who can’t afford a public school education to receive one in one of the country’s most prestigious boarding schools – supporting this is one of a number of ways the Infinity Tyres Foundation is particularly targeting the UK, and Infinity says it is intended as a way of saying thank you to the British market for having been such a huge supporter of the Infinity brand over many years.
The tyre supply partnership between Michelin and Renault Sport Technologies for the World Series by Renault (WSR) championship has been extended until 2015. The tyre maker says Renault Sport Technologies chose to prolong its association with Michelin on the basis of its racing tyres’ performance and its commitment to develop specific tyres for use by WSR competitors. Michelin adds that the extension of the partnership between it and Renault Sport Technologies stands out as an opportunity to consolidate the commercial relationship between the two entities, and also makes a significant contribution to the development of Michelin’s new ranges of motorsport tyres.
Television viewers in the US, should they so wish, can enjoy weather-related information and entertainment around the clock courtesy of The Weather Channel. This themed content is naturally interspersed with spells of advertising, and Cooper Tire & Rubber will soon become a familiar name to those chomping on their breakfast toast and cereal after entering into a partnership with the broadcaster.
Cambrian Tyres is investing “substantially” in the development of a wholesale customer relations management (CRM) and virtualised server package with Cam Systems. According to a statement from Cam, Cambrian Tyres is continuing its partnership with the software solutions provider, providing it with more effective customer connectivity and future proofing its business for the next 10 years.
Hankook has signed on as official tyre supplier to the Swedish TTA – Racing Elite League (Elitserien i Racing) touring car championship, and will provide competitors with its Ventus F200 slick and Z207 rain tyre for each of the coming season’s eight races. Announcing the deal, Hee-Se Ahn, Hankook Tire vice-president for Marketing & Sales in Europe, stated “we are truly excited about our new partnership with the TTA. With this partnership we are taking a significant next step in our European motorsports engagement as it is the first time we are the exclusive tyre supplier to a racing series in the Scandic markets. The TTA’s approach to motorsport of constant refinement of their cars with innovative materials and designs is the type of racing that perfectly matches our company motto 'Driving Emotion'.”
Renault’s new electric car, the ZOE, is scheduled to be launched this year; the car, which is closely based upon the ZOE Preview concept car displayed in 2010, debuted at the Geneva Motor Show and will go on sale in the UK with a starting on-road price tag of £13,650 (after Plug-in Car Grant deduction). All ZOE models equipped with 15 and 16-inch rims will be fitted with Michelin’s new Energy E-V tyre as standard equipment.
Civica, a provider of specialist systems and business process services that help organisations around the world to transform the way they work, and GreenRoad, the leader in driver performance and safety management, have announced a partnership to help organisations reduce maintenance costs, fuel spend and minimise accidents.
Shandong Ling Long has been honoured in its home country for its sponsorship of China’s National Women’s Volleyball Team. The tyre maker was recognized during a China Central Television Sports Marketing Forum at the 7th annual Top Ten Classic Cases of Sports Marketing Awards. This marketing forum is said to be one of the country’s top national meetings and is widely known as the ‘Chinese Davos’, according to Ling Long.
Russia’s largest petrochemical company, Sibur Holding JSC, may be out of the tyre business after selling OAO Sibur-Russian Tyres to a group of investors late last year – yet the firm, like many of its former tyre-making counterparts, has decided upon motorsport sponsorship as a means of promotion. On 20 February Sibur announced the signing of a deal with the Caterham F1 team, and in doing so has become the first-ever Russian Formula 1 team partner. The company also confirmed it will continue its partnership agreement with Russian driver Vitaly Petrov, who has left Renault to join the Caterham team this year. Under the current agreements, the Sibur logo will feature on Caterham’s F1 cars and on Petrov’s race suits throughout the 2012 season.
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