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Bridgestone’s First Stop network of independent tyre dealerships is launching its very own Fantasy Football league. The game will allow individuals and garages across the network to compete in a dedicated league to find the best Fantasy team. First Stop stores across the UK will, from mid July, be able to plan and prepare their teams ahead of the start of the Premiership season on Saturday 16 August.
As promised, the price hikes across some of India’s premier tyre manufacturers have been implemented. JK Tyre raised its truck tyre prices by 6 per cent, while Ceat raised non-commercial vehicle tyres by the same quantity. Meanwhile, Apollo has raised prices across segments by 7 per cent.
Following the hikes, shares in each of the companies went up in value, JK Tyres the leaders with a rise of 1.86 percent, closing in Mumbai at 96.05 rupees.
Yasutaka Enoki has been named the new technical chief of the Bridgestone Firestone Tech Centre in Akron, Ohio. The executive will commence his tenure in the role at the beginning of August. Yutaka Yamaguchi, the outbound head, will take up a new position with Bridgestone Europe as assistant managing director of the company’s Rome Technical Centre.
Enoki’s extensive tyre development experience with Bridgestone stretches back to 1975. His new appointment sees him also elected to the boards of Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire and Bridgestone Americas Holding.
This weekend Dunlop is presenting what the tyremaker calls “the most extreme Maserati of all time” at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The 755bhp, 204mph Maserati MC12 Corse was originally designed for the race track, but former German Touring Car (DTM) driver Hubert Haupt ordered his for the road – fitted with the latest Dunlop Sport Maxx GT tyres.
The MC12 Corse is a sister of the MC12 Competizione which won both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles in the 2006 FIA GT Championship. The Corse version accelerates from 0 to 62mph in 3.4 seconds and at 160mph its racing aerodynamic package delivers a massive downforce of 1,400kg.
As part of its recently announced restructuring programme Grouptyre is running a series of exclusive promotions designed to increase sales and improve market penetration. The first promotion is being organised in conjunction with Pirelli and offers independent tyre retailers and garages the chance to win an all expenses paid trip to the Spanish round of the World Rally Championships in October.
“Our aim is to develop into a national brand that plays the most influential role in the UK tyre market and to achieve this we intend to build retail sales through the independent sector,” says director of commercial operations Karl Naylor. “This is the first of a series of national incentives and special promotions we are planning to develop in conjunction with premium brand manufacturers.”
Pirelli & C has announced that it will invest $100 million in expanding the capacity of its Chinese tyre production operation over the next two years. The investment is designed to double the company’s passenger car tyre production capacity by 2011, while also increasing truck tyre output. According to the Reuters news agency, the expanded capacity could double Pirelli’s share of China’s market to 10 per cent within five years.
The investment would mean Pirelli’s total Chinese tyre capacity would rise to 11 million passenger car and truck tyres and could help China become Pirelli’s second largest global market within five years, Reuters quoted Pirelli chairman, Marco Tronchetti Provera as saying.
Michelin North America is offering sponsorships for the international rugby match between top-division French Rugby Union side Clermont-Auvergne and the USA Eagles in South Carolina on 9 August.
“Rugby is the second-fastest growing spectator sport in the world today,” said Michael Fanning, vice president of corporate affairs for Michelin North America. “In addition, there is widespread participation in the sport at the university and club level throughout North America. When you combine these ingredients with national exposure via a live ESPN Classic broadcast, there is a potent opportunity for local, state and national entities to sponsor a top-drawer international rugby match in South Carolina.”
Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. has announced the promotion of Steve Hutchinson to Vice President of Marketing. A veteran of the automotive industry, Hutchinson joined Toyo in April 2006, serving as the company’s Senior Director of Marketing until his promotion on July 1.
During his tenure with Toyo, Hutchinson has expanded marketing and sponsorship efforts, including national television advertising and partnerships with the UFC®, Anaheim Ducks and Pac-10 basketball. Several new products have also been successfully introduced.
An effect of the cost pressures of rising retail prices and the refocusing of companies onto issues relating to the environmental impact of their operations is that organisations are increasingly looking to mend, rather than replace, damaged tyres. Guernsey-based manufacturer of tyre repair machinery, Monarch Vulcanising Systems, is able to provide a number of machines for just this purpose. Not only, Monarch claims, are their Monaflex systems suitable for fixing any tyre used in the world today, they are also easily transportable, relatively simple to use, and quickly assembled.
Innotec Supplies (UK) Ltd is promoting an own-brand Alu Scratch Repair System, designed to repair surface damage to alloy rims in a “quick and professional manner.” And it can also be used on decorative strips, roof rails or any other metal parts. According to the company, the Alu Scratch Repair System gives you a full set of tools to make a repair in about 30 minutes, which can even be done without removing the tyre. The product is priced at £140.00.
The Innotec Alu Scratch Repair System is a set of products specially developed to repair surface damage to metal/aluminium-look parts or objects in a quick and professional manner. Almost all “cosmetic” damages to metal or aluminium look coatings can be repaired, says the company.
Maragoni Tyre is to act as title sponsor of the forthcoming Ultimate Street Car (USC) show. The announcement follows the success of Fast Show and more recently Jap Show. Marangoni is returning to Santa Pod, as title sponsor for the USC event, on the 1 – 3 August, 2008. The Marangoni stand will feature a live DJ, girls, project cars and a live Marangoni Pit Stop Challenge. Project cars on display include “the mighty Progetto Marangoni Toyota Yaris” and the UK debut appearance of the Marangoni Fiat 500 Road Car.
Marangoni expects the USC to draw in crowds of over 30,000 visitors, making it the largest modified car event in Europe. The marketing department’s hope is that visitors to Marangoni Fast Show, Jap Show and Marangoni USC will not fail to recognize and accept the brand as a top quality UHP tyre choice.
Financial news sources report that Pirelli have acquired the 19.19 per cent of Speed SpA necessary to complete the full purchase of the company.
Speed owns a 38.9 per cent stake in Pirelli – the only stake not already owned by the Italian manufacturer itself. The acquisition of Speed for the grand sum of 835.5 million euros – as announced back in March – therefore completes the repurchase of shares in Pirelli Tyre.
Continental has released the results of a survey of British drivers to find the bumpiest roads in the UK. Station Road in Scholes – a town east of Leeds – received the dubious honour of first place in the survey. Phrases like “giant crater”, “dangerous to cyclists and drivers” and “like the surface of the moon” (perhaps not that last one) abounded in the survey, reporting the state of Station Road. The crater in question rivals that featured in the Monorail episode of The Simpsons into which Marge drove, representing a depth greater than the height of the legal maximum height of a speed hump.
The criteria for inclusion in the list comprised the length of time road had been in poor condition, how many times it had been reported to local authorities, the potential damage it could cause to vehicles, potential danger to road users, and the size of potholes/damaged areas in relation to road. All of the roads were verified by the campaigning website fillthathole.org.uk. According to a recent Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, there are currently over one million potholes across the country, but worryingly there is a shortfall in the budgets needed to fix them of over £1 billion and an 11 year backlog of maintenance work. Since January 2008 alone, 4,217 new hazards have been reported to the aforementioned pothole campaigning site.
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Since Continental’s acquisition of 51 per cent ownership of Matador in early November of last year, the German giant has merged its own Mould and Machine Factory with the Slovakia-based Matador Machinery division. The resulting company is now a world leader in designing and producing machinery and equipment for the whole tire industry, while Conti upped their stake in Continental Matador to 66 per cent on July 1 this year (as reported on tyrepress.com).
Sri Lanka’s only representative at Reifen 2008, Global Rubber Industries took the opportunity to display their range of solid tyres – branded The Performer – in Hall 3, Booth 327. The island nation is the world’s largest producer of solid rubber tyres, supplying 60% of the global need, and Global Rubber is the dominant manufacturer.
Reporting a successful show this year, the company is already making plans for the next Reifen in 2010, where they say they will be pursuing opportunities to increase their EU market share by exhibiting their premium line of Solid Tyres at the 2010 show. GlobeStar is so far established in 25 countries.
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