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Dubai Tyre Trade Worth £729 million

Dubai’s direct tyre trade (both commercial and passenger car products) amounted to 4.15 billion UAE dirhams (£729 million, 773 million euros, US$1.13 billion) in 2007, according to the Gulf Daily News. Further growth is expected next year, the paper reported.

“Commercial tyres worth 1.1 billion (175 million, 186 million euros) dirhams for buses and lorries were imported to Dubai last year, mainly from Japan, China, and India,” said Automechanika Middle East senior show manager Michael Dehn, adding: “…Dubai consumes almost 64 per cent, re-exporting 36pc to Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Africa. The commercial vehicle market is an essential industry in the UAE and an increase of 35 per cent is expected from this year to 2012.”

18th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess to Reduce or Halt Production at Numerous German Facilities

Following reaching an agreement with employee representatives, Lanxess AG has announced its plans to cut back or shut down production at 23 out of 45 of its German production facilities over the Christmas period and into January 2009. These arrangements, planned for the company’s Leverkusen, Dormagen, Krefeld-Uerdingen and Brunsbuettel sites, will directly affect around 1,400 employees.

18th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Driver 1st Woman to Win 2 Off-Road Truck Championships

Yokohama Tire Corporation-sponsored Heidi Steele became the first woman driver to win a Best in the Desert (BITD) off-road racing truck championship when she placed third at the Fabtech Desert Classic in Henderson, Nevada on Saturday, December 6. Steele also became the first woman truck champion in SCORE (Class 7SX mid-size truck) after taking a second-place class finish in November’s Baja 1000 in Ensenada, Mexico.

18th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

November’s Market Worse Than October’s, Says Michelin Data

The report published by Morgan Stanley Research Europe says it all: “If investors thought tyre data was poor in October, it just got worse…” What this memorable sentence refers to is data released by Michelin on December 18, which shows the supposedly more resilient passenger car tyre replacement market to be down in Europe 10.3 per cent in November, and in North America by a hefty 20.2 per cent. OE sales in the segment dropped a spectacular 33.5 per cent in Europe and 31.2 per cent in North America.

18th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Vipal Europe Change of Address

Vipal have moved to a new premises, a move they say has followed their growing presence in Europe. As of now the company’s new address is:

VIPAL EUROPE S.L.
GENERAL URRUTIA 75- 10-B
46013 Valencia
Spain

The company adds that its phone number +34 963 81 11 81 and fax number +43 963 28 16 83 remain unchanged. Vipal’s distribution centre in Valencia also continues to operate at its existing address.

18th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama to Supply 2009 Dakar Drivers with ‘Special’ Tyres

When Japanese drivers Ukyo Katayama and Takuma Aoki get underway in the 2009 Dakar rally, held in South America between January 3 and 18, both men will be driving vehicles fitted with tyres specially developed for the competition. Manufactured by Yokohama Rubber, the rally tyres utilise a new material the company calls “Orange Oil”, a substance also employed in Yokohama’s latest generation eco tyre, the ‘DNA Earth-1’.

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Subaru Withdrawing From WRC After 2008 season

Only days after Suzuki announced it will not participate in the 2009 World Rally Championship, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), the manufacturer of the Subaru vehicle brand, announced on December 16 its withdrawal from the WRC at the end of the 2008 season.

The Japanese manufacturer has participated in the WRC together with UK based motorsports and automotive engineering group Prodrive during the past 19 years. Its reason for involvement was to enhance awareness of the Subaru brand by showing the vehicles, with their horizontally-opposed engine and symmetrical all-wheel drive system as core technologies, offer safe, comfortable and pleasurable driving regardless of weather or road conditions. From the beginning FHI also wished to featuring horizontally-opposed engine and transfer the results of race-tested technical improvements into Subaru passenger vehicles.

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Agilis Receives What Van? Technology Award

Michelin’s Agilis van tyre is the recipient of the What Van? Technology award for 2008. This is, says the tyre maker, further recognition that its Agilis sets the standard for van operators seeking increased grip, extended longevity, reduced fuel consumption and thus lower CO2 emissions.

Presenting the What Van? Technology award to Michelin, magazine editor Neil McIntee emphasised the significance of the Technology award. “The attributes of the new Michelin Agilis light commercial vehicle tyre offer vehicle operators improvements in all sectors of a tyre’s performance. In judging this category these advantages clearly indicated the merit of the Technology Award being presented to Agilis. This award is not presented every year but only when the judging panel identify such an important innovation as Agilis.”

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

European New Car Market Contracts by a Quarter in November

According to data released by on December 16 by JATO Dynamics, the European new car market fell by 25.3 per cent (313,361 units) during November 2008, when compared to the same month last year. Total sales for the month now stand at 924,936 units, down from 1,238,297 in 2007.

This further decline in the market, which has dropped consistently over the past seven months, sees an increased year to date deficit figure in comparison to 2007. The total number of vehicles sold during the first 11 months of 2008 is 13,556,052 units – 7.1 per cent (1,030,584 units) less than during the same period last year.

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Announces Plant Closure Intention

Cooper announced today that it plans to close its manufacturing facility in Albany, Georgia. The company states that the announcement “follows a network capacity study analysing the company’s optimal manufacturing footprint in the United States.”

Tire Review, based in Akron, Ohio said that the move was announced during a conference call with employees at all four of Cooper’s U.S. plants. Cooper will retain its plants in Findlay, Ohio; Texarkana, Arkansas, and Tupelo, Mississippi. As reported on Tyrepress.com, Cooper announced in October that it would review the viability of its U.S. capacity, with an eye towards closing at least one plant. An announcement on the result was not expected until January, but the decisions may have been hastened by the new union contracts and incentives the state of Mississippi is expected to extend to the tyre maker.

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Going Green in VW Race Series

Pirelli has been named the official tyre supplier for the 2009-11 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, the first zero-carbon racing series in the world. The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup was founded in 2008 and is comprised of 30 factory-prepared and managed 2009 clean-diesel Jetta TDIs piloted by relatively unknown talented drivers aged 16 to 26. Volkswagen’s goal is to find drivers with the most talent and help them break into the world of professional motorsports.

“Pirelli is very excited to be the exclusive tyre supplier to the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, the world’s only carbon-free racing series,” said Rafael Navarro, Pirelli Tire North America’s director of motorsport and media communications. “This series is a very important part of our motorsport growth in North America as it provides a platform to introduce young developing talent to our brand while reducing the impact motorsport has on the environment.”

The series kicks off with a driver selection event on 1-4 February. Races will begin 24-26 April at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, making stops in Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ontario, and New Jersey before the series wraps up at Road Atlanta on 25-27 September. (Tire Review/Akron)

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Japanese Tyre Production to Fall 5%

Reuters reports published online today suggest that Japanese production is to fall 5 per cent in 2009. The story cites a Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association forecast that in terms of rubber usage tyre manufacturing would take a considerable hit in the following year.

Despite Japan’s status as the world’s third biggest rubber consumer (following China and the USA), tyre output may fall to 1.28 million tonnes, representing a year-on-year decrease of 5 per cent from 1.35 million in 2008 according to JATMA. Domestic auto sales are likely to drop 7 per cent with expected sales of 4.7 million vehicles next year.

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Litre Meter’s 30,000th Flow Meter Used By Michelin

The 30,000th flow meter produced by specialist flow meter maker Litre Meter is being used by tyre manufacturer Michelin to measure water spray. The LMH Pelton wheel flow meter was shipped to Michelin for use in its rubber mixing operation in South Carolina. Rubber is mixed to the exact ratio required to make tyres for the automotive industry. The meter forms part of a spray system that is used to jet hot water onto the rubber mixture to maintain a constant temperature as it passes through the production line. It precisely measures the amount of water passing through the spray system in order to ensure consistency.

Fred Tienken, mechanical design engineer at Michelin North America, said: “We use Litre Meter flow meters throughout the rubber mixing process. It is essential that the water flow rates in our spraying system are kept constant and the Pelton wheel flow meter enables us to achieve this.”

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Shredder Goes in Administration

Dunkeswell-based Tom Dunn Limited and its associated companies have reportedly gone into administration. According to the Midweek Herald, the firm, which shredded and baled used tyres for recycling has gone under at the cost of around 30 jobs. The newspaper says Tim Ball and Rod Weston, of international accountants Mazars, have been appointed joint administrators and say they are actively seeking a buyer for the business.

17th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Quebec Tyre Law Creating Storage Headaches

The introduction of a law compelling motorists in Canada’s Quebec province to fit winter tyres has not been a smooth ride. First tyre retailers across the nation reported a shortage of the seasonal product as ‘Quebecers’ scrambled to tog their vehicles out in the right rubber for the weather, then regional media sources began reporting sporadic winter tyre thefts, some thought to be the work of ‘organised’ crime cartels. Now it appears that those who see the lighter side of Canada – the creators of the ‘South Park’ television series are two shining examples – have been handed additional ammunition to use against the North American nation: Many in Quebec have discovered they haven’t a convenient nook and nary a spare cranny in which to store their off-season set of tyres.

16th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors