HDW Scandinavia is the new extreme winter pattern in the ContiTread range of precured tread strips, produced by Marangoni under a partnership cooperation with Continental. The line has been specifically designed for the needs of northern countries, where vehicles frequently travel on roads covered by snow or ice and where the temperatures are quite low for many months of the year.
Last year the Michelin Fill Up With Air campaign showed 35 per cent of motorists to be driving around on dangerously under inflated tyres. Yet despite the French manufacturer’s very worthwhile efforts, the tyre safety message just doesn’t seem to be sinking in – Michelin’s 2009 Fill Up With Air campaign results reveal that this figure has crept up to 36 per cent.
The latest addition to Pirelli Moto’s Diablo motorcycle tyre family is being billed as the only hypersport tyre for road and track use to draw upon technology from the Superbike World Championship. The Diablo Rosso Corsa, new for 2010, is a racing street segment tyre that supplements the Diablo Rosso in Pirelli’s sport range and effectively replaces the Diablo Corsa III. Pirelli comments that the new tyre exceeds each of its predecessor’s key performance values.
Continental Tire North America has extended its partnership with GGI European Tuning, and will be the sole tyre supplier for all Carlsson Mercedes-Benz tuning packages sold in the United States. The exclusive use of Continental brand tyres extends Conti’s ongoing relationship with GGI – Hartge BMW and Sportec Porsche tuning packages that GGI sells in the United States are already fitted with Continental tyres as standard.
On November 4 Continental AG announced the formation of an exclusive partnership covering the sale of its passenger car, light commercial vehicle and truck tyres in Saudi Arabia. This role will now be handled by Almutlak Trade & Industries. Continental reports its new MENENA business unit will focus upon business in the Near and Middle East and North Africa, a concentration of effort the German tyre major describes as “another logical step in building up a sales network.”
Michelin has leant financial support to the development of a green engine, which reportedly has the capacity to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by 20 per cent. The fuel-lean Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engine (HCCI) has a flameless, low temperature combustion which enables it to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions, combining the emissions benefits of a gasoline engine with the low fuel consumption of a diesel engine. The HCCI technology has been developed by Dundee based Oxy-Gen Combustion Ltd, with much of the research and development undertaken by the company's managing director David Tonery, who invented the enabling HCCI technology while a mechanical engineering undergraduate at the University of Dundee.
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.
Every day in the United States of America, one in nine senior citizens – an astonishing five million people – face the threat of hunger. And it is projected that 75 per cent more seniors will be facing the threat of hunger by 2025. In an effort to combat this disgraceful and growing problem, Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC (BSRO) and the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) – the oldest and largest organisation in the United States representing those providing meal services to people in need – have announced a national partnership.
Bandvulc Tyre Contracts has recently completed establishing a network of road transport industry tyre suppliers. The company has evolved its network after what it refers to as a “rigorous selection process” involving every aspect of the suppliers’ operations. The project saw 21 key service providers supply all of the necessary pre-requisite documents and evidence of procedures in order that BTC could award levels of performance in key service areas.
In October of 2009 Vipal and Grumac completed five years of partnership. A UK-based company with more than 50 years of experience in the tyre and retreading business, Grumac has been the exclusive British repair material distributor Brazilian retreading material supplier Vipal since 2004.
partnership."
On 18 October Bintang Ramai Sdn. Bhd., in partnership with Continental Sime Tyre Sdn. Bhd. (CST) opened the first BestDrive passenger car and Light Truck (PLT) centre in East Malaysia. The new branch is the 16th BestDrive in Malaysia, but the first in Eastern Malaysia. According to Benoit Henry, CEO of CST, the BestDrive PLT centre empowers the company’s partners with the opportunity to use its brand to position themselves as uniform, specialised tyre dealers catering for the premium customer segment. CST aims to offer expertise and advice for the setup of a premium BestDrive shop concept, shop layout and customer-friendly tyre-changing and car-service environment.
During the CITExpo exhibition Techking Tires focused upon presenting its new “Techking Service Centers” (TSC) to interested parties. TSC is a training and educational facility for customers through which can gain information on topics such as tyre repair and maintenance from Techking specialists. Just recently the Qingdao, China based OTR tyre specialist inaugurated the first TSC as its head office location; it serves as a model for further centres, explains Techking Marketing’s Benjamin Zhang. The first TSC outside of China, located in the vicinity of a local customer will soon open in South Africa. This is, incidentally, an essential component of the TSC concept – the service centres will typically be built in partnership with customers, with all essential equipment and operations supplied. “Our goal is to supply the highest quality tyre solutions possible,” Zhang continues. And, according to Zhang, this is a “key point of difference between us and the competition.”
Goodyear will supply the tyres for the World Racing Group’s World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in an agreement that will last more than one season, according to a press statement released by the Group. The agreement will begin at the 2010 Florida DIRTcar Nationals next February, with World of Outlaws competitors required – somewhat ironically by the Series’ rules – to fit Goodyear rubber to their rear wheels.
John Mitchell Haulage & Warehousing, one of Scotland’s largest hauliers, has signed a new five year pence-per-kilometre (PPK) tyre contract. One of the first road transport operators in the country to adopt a PPK approach to its tyre requirements in 1992, ATS Euromaster and Michelin have managed the tyres across the John Mitchell Haulage & Warehousing fleet of commercial vehicles, for over three decades now.
With a mixed fleet of 350 MAN and Mercedes-Benz trucks as well as Dennison trailers operating from its base in Grangemouth, the agreement sees ATS Euromaster support the company with monthly fleet inspections and UK-wide emergency roadside assistance in the event of a tyre-related breakdown.
SPX Service Solutions (SPX) and Bartec USA, LLC, have embarked on a joint product development and distribution partnership to develop and distribute SPX patented TPMS tool technology. “Under this new partnership, both firms will focus on providing new high-performance TPMS diagnostic tools to the tyre and wheel service technician, as well as, to the broader automotive service market," according to Pat Pierce, director of Product Development for SPX. "As the prevalence of TPMS-equipped vehicles continues to grow, the need for effective service tools will also grow, driving the need for a wider range of tools to meet the demands of the more diverse technician base that will encounter TPMS in the course of vehicle service." The first new product as result of this partnership will be unveiled at the SEMA show in November.
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.
