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Delticom AG’s client base may grow by as much as a quarter in 2009. In an interview, company CFO Frank Schuhardt said that Delticom’s retail customer base could reach three million by the middle of the year, compared with 2.4 million at the end of September 2008. Sales at the German company for 2008 will be “in the middle” of a range of 240 million euros to 260 million euros, he added.
A survey conducted by Continental suggests that Britain’s young drivers are the social group least likely to check their car tyre pressure. The national poll revealed that under-25s are twice as likely to leave their tyres unchecked than any other age group, with almost half (46 per cent) completely unaware what their tyre pressure should be.
One in five of the young people polled had not checked their tyre pressures in the last month compared to the standard across all ages of one in 12. Conti estimates that “an average driver could waste as much as £120 a year on fuel by not regularly checking their tyre pressure.” With this in mind, younger drivers facing high motoring costs with more expensive insurance premiums can not afford to ignore their tyre pressures. For a generally more environmentally aware sector of the public, young people should also be considering that the average car driver could produce an extra 250lbs of CO2 a year by not maintaining their tyre pressures.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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’.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.”
Beissbarth UK is introducing a new easy use Drester W-750 fully automatic wheel washer to their range which cleans in approximately 30 seconds. Additionally, the company showcased its new hope for the future of wheel alignment, the Easy 3D, at the Automechanika Show. Beissbarth believes that the machine will save workshop space, requiring little room in which to work and easy storage capabilities.
The Drester wheel washer gives wheels a low environmental impact wash that aspires to generating a show-room sparkle. The company claims that the relatively short payback time on the machine can also have a similar effect on the balance sheet, boosting profits in a comparatively short space of time.
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