(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) and truck leasing giant Ryder System Inc have extended their agreement in which BFNAT supplies new medium truck radials to Ryder and Bandag Inc provides retreading services. The agreement began in 1990, according to BFNAT.
A proposed Chinese joint venture between Qingdao Doublestar and Continental AG fell apart because of a dispute over who would take the majority stake in the partnership, according to a Bloomberg report. The Chinese company has since said it is in talks with other overseas companies for a venture in which it wants a majority stake, the Chinese company said in a Shenzhen exchange statement today. The statement did not name the prospective partners.
The CV and Automotive Trade Show guides and fast track passes are arriving this week for pre-registered visitors, reports the SMMT. The show organisers are encouraging those who wish to register to do so by 30 March and visitors will get a free show guide and fast-track entry pass.
“Register this week, online,” says Bob Sockl of Crystal Communications, which markets the show on behalf of the SMMT and CV Show partnership. “But if you can’t, don’t worry, you’ll still be most welcome and will still get to see Europe’s biggest and most successful automotive, CV and road transport show.”
Lassa has announced that it will be exhibiting at the Autopromotec 2005 show in Bologna on 18 – 22 May. Autopromotec 2005 is attracting an increasing number of national and international visitors, according to the company. Demonstrating its faith in the show, Lassa describes the exhibition as a “valuable opportunity to further penetrate the Italian and international markets, and primarily to support their key customer base within Italy.”
Sibur Russian Tyres is in talks with a Czech unit of German tyremaker Continental AG and with Finland’s Nokian Renkaat to cooperate in the tyre business, the Reuters news agency has reported. Sibur spokeswoman Anna Stepanova said Sibur’s possible partnership with the Continental unit might include production of tyres at a Sibur plant in Russia.
She also said Sibur was in talks with Nokian, which is already building a tyre plant of its own near St Petersburg. “There will be (partnership) with Nokian, but it’s unclear of what kind,” she said. Nokian declined to comment and Continental was not available for comment. A previous move by Nokian to cooperate with a Russian tyre manufacturer ended in a dispute with Russian partner Amtel over how to expand their cooperation. Production at the joint venture stopped last year, and it is now dissolved.
The Russian tyre company is part of petrochemical giant Sibur, which controls about half of Russia’s tyre industry. Sibur in turn is controlled by Russian gas monopoly Gazprom.
Yorkshire based Vellco Tyre Control has bought REG (UK). As of today the whole operation will be absorbed into Vellco’s business, a company spokesman confirmed. At the same time REG (UK)’s former managing director, John Campbell, has joined Vellco’s management board as business management director. In this position, Mr Campbell will continue his relationships with existing customers, maintaining his “roving role,” the company added.
Michelin has become involved with a project that aims to reduce the number of road deaths in developing countries. The scheme, implemented by the Global Road Safety Partnership will see the tyre manufacturer working together with Shell, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Renault and Toyota to focus on the issue of road safety.
According to the World Health Organisation’s statistics, if present trends continue, road accidents will have increased by 65 per cent in 15 years time.
Employees at Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC’s (BFNT) Warren County facility received international recognition for their contributions to wildlife habitat conservation at the Wildlife Habitat Council’s (WHC) 16th Annual Symposium, Beyond Borders: Reconciling Wildlife Needs & Human Activity. BFNT demonstrates its commitment to environmental stewardship and increasing native biodiversity by achieving habitat certification at its Warren County plant.
Robert Bernard TRM, the first Michelin Retread Technologies (MRT) franchise in Canada, has renewed its contract with MRT for another five years.
“We are pleased to renew our strong partnership with Robert Bernard TRM,” confirmed Guy Pekle, president of MRT Canada. “As the demand for MRT products strengthen and our growth continues, we remain committed to finding lower cost solutions for customers.” Jocelyn Bernard, vice-president of Robert Bernard TRM Ltée added “our existing structure allows for the sale of high-end MRT products on the road, via our retail distributors and Michelin partners. We are confident that market response will be as good as it has been for the last five years where we have seen consistent, annual growth.”
Michelin says it will continue to focus on the independent dealer and franchises, noting that there are now more than 230 points of sale in North America for Michelin retreads.
Pirelli’s real estate business unit, UniCredito Italiano SpA and Morgan Stanley have founded a real estate joint venture. The partnership will manage real estate with a total value of more than a billion euros, UniCredito said on Friday. UniCredito will sell real estate worth 300 million euros to the joint venture, while Pirelli and Morgan Stanley will transfer 750 million euros of assets to the joint venture. Together the two companies will control 85 per cent of the shares. UniCredito will hold the remaining 15 per cent.
Pirelli Tyres has been awarded “Best Innovator 2004″ prize, during Italy’s first national innovation day. The aweard, organised by A T Kearney in partnership with Confindustria, is awarded to companies that demonstrate the ability to create value through innovation.
According to the company, Pirelli won the award due to its “excellence in integrating different dimensions of innovation.” Pirelli sees the prize as another way of recognising the company’s technologies – particularly tis Modular Integrated Robotized System or MIRS and its Continuous Compound Mixing system.
“Innovation is a core element of Pirelli culture; the group aims at excellence both in processes and products, not being satisfied by current standards,” Mr Francesco Gori, managing director of Pirelli Tyres Sector commented. “Innovation allows us to create value for customers and companies, which must foster and stimulate creativity and speed not only in research and development activities.”
Pirelli says that its innovation, as a company, has led to products such as the Eufori@, the first Pirelli run-flat tyre which can run at zero-pressure and today equips the Mini and new 1 and 3 BMW Series.
Cabot Corporation has announced it will build a carbon black plant with joint venture partner Shanghai Coking and Chemical Company to build a carbon black plant in Tianjin, China. The first production unit is scheduled to begin production in early 2006, with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes. The company plans to expand the plant’s production capacity later the same year.
“We are pleased with this expansion of our partnership with Shanghai Coking and Chemical Company and to be working with the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area to build a world class carbon black facility. We have confidence that this expanded capacity will position us well to supply the growing China market,” said William J Brady, executive vice president and general manager, Carbon Black.
French car giant PSA has announced that Peugeot and Citroën will leave the World Rally Championship (WRC) after the 2005 series. So far both brands have used Michelin tyres.
Citroën has been the most successful of the two teams this season and not only won the construction title, but also the drivers championship with Sébastien Loeb.
Next season the series, which had been dominated by Michelin tyres will see an increase in the number of teams using Pirelli as a supplier, but for how long? PSA’s announcement comes with the ink still wet on a contract between Peugeot and Pirelli. The Italian tyre manufacturer announced at the beginning of August that it would begin a new partnership with the Peugeot Team. Therefore, the problems caused by PSA’s departure will not only be felt by Michelin, but also Pirelli. Peugeot’s newly signed contract with Pirelli was originally due to last for the next three years, beginning in the 2005 season.
Sauber Petronas has announced that it will swap tyre supplier from Bridgestone to Michelin. The new contract with French tyre manufacturer will come into effect immediately, Sauber said in a press release. According to the statement, the team will conduct its first test with Michelin tyres at the end of November in Barcelona.
Sebastién Loeb has become the World Rally Champion following his second place classification in this weekend’s Tour de Course, the French Rally. The win makes him the 10th driver in the sport’s history to take the title on Michelin tyres. The result was also good news for Citroën, which runs Xsara WRC cars for both Loeb and team mate Carlos Sainz, has retained its title as world manufacturer champions.
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