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Hankook Tire announced on May 26 it will purchase 1.5 million of its outstanding shares at a cost of 20.7 billion won (£10 million) in order to boost its stock price. The buyback begins on May 30 and will continue until August 29, and the amount of shares purchased will be the equivalent to one per cent of all outstanding stock.
Increasingly influential Brazil-based retreading material producer, Borrachas Vipal, has launched a new medium to long-haul tread. The new Vipal-branded pattern has a tread width of 205 millimeters and a tread depth of 15 millimetres. According to Vipal, the new tread improves traction and protects casing integrity.
Prices for passenger car, light commercial, truck and bus tyre products sold by Toyo Tire U.S.A are set to increase by up to eight per cent. These increases take effect as of July 1.
“Rapidly escalating petroleum costs have affected both the cost of manufacturing and the transportation of both materials and products,” said Steve Weinger, senior vice president, sales & marketing, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “Toyo continues to do everything in our power to keep increases minimal while still providing a premium product for our valued customer.”
Boughey Distribution has reportedly placed “a significant order” for Michelin’s new X One MaxiTrailer tyres, to be fitted exclusively across 100 Montracon and 30 Schmitz Cargobull tri-axle trailers which are currently being delivered into the Boughey’s fleet.
Designed to deliver up to 50 per cent more mileage than standard 385/65 R 22.5 XTE2, each new 455/45 R 22.5 X One MaxiTrailer tyre benefits from Infinicoil architecture, one of the Michelin Durable Technologies. This consists of a 400 metre steel cord wrapped continuously around the crown for greater longevity and even wear. Compared to a 385/65 R 22.5, the tread band is also 120 millimetres wider and has 35 per cent more rubber in the compound, which is said to be responsible for increasing the mileage potential of each tyre by up to 50 per cent.
Analysts have warned that tyre manufacturers will have to introduce “massive” price increases to offset the surging natural rubber cost. On 26 May the natural rubber price reached US$3.25/kg, 12 per cent above the level reached last month (US$2.90/kg); and 40 per cent above last year’s average price (US$2.30/kg). According to one Deutsche Bank analyst’s research note the price surge is surprising because natural rubber supply (9.9 million tons in 2007) still exceeds demand (9.7 million tons in 2007); and world inventories represent 23 per cent of annual demand.
Continental Tyres has announced that it is to sponsor the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. According to the company, which also partnered the 2006 World Cup and is sponsoring this year’s European championship, the latest move is a continuation of its long-term marketing strategy based on football sponsorship, to deliver “huge global TV audiences.” Continental also has the option to extend its sponsorship to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Continental has acquired the rights to promote the sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup worldwide and will link this to product communication. In addition, Continental has once again received a sizeable ticket allocation and premium hospitality, which has become an important cornerstone of its strategy.
“This sponsorship deal continues the marketing strategy we have been following since 1995 for all Continental tyre products and maintains our focus on football as a central communication platform for increasing brand awareness in our core markets over the next three years,” explains Continental Tyres UK advertising and sponsorship manager Tim Bailey.
James Deane, the Nexen-sponsored Prodrift driver has reached the top spot in the 2008 Prodrift European Series standings following a win at Mondello Park in Ireland in April. The first Prodrift meeting of the series, James’s win makes it a double success for sponsor Nexen as last year’s sponsored driver Eric O’Sullivan won the 2007 event in Ireland. Stapleton’s is supporting the Prodrift team by supplying tyres from the Nexen N3000 range and will continue to support the drivers throughout the programme as it progresses through Europe.
On 22 May Bridgestone Corporation announced a string of senior management changes that mean Toru Tsuda has become the new Chairman, President and CEO of Bridgestone Europe NV/SA. Mr Tsuda is currently Vice President and Senior Officer Responsible for Products Development Tire Products Development.
Current Bridgestone Europe chairman, president and CEO, Takashi Urano, will become vice president and senior officer responsible for International Tire Business Operations. This role means Mr Urano will also be director Middle East, Africa, Russia, Asia, Oceania and China Operations Division; and concurrently general manager, Middle East, Africa and Russia Operations.
The management changes in full are as follows:
While Bristol based Luxury wheels is carving a name for itself as a source of quality aftermarket wheels, many people don’t realise the company also offers an extensive range of styling lines in its product portfolio.
To give an example of the company’s work, the Lexus LS600h pictured here was specced by one of Luxury Wheels’ Norwegian dealers with the full Autocouture styling package. The ‘Progressive Line’ kit consists of front bumper, fog lamps, side skirts (in either short or long wheelbase), rear bumper, two replacement front wings with vents, and a rather saucy dual stacked exhaust. This ensemble is topped off with a rear spoiler and Autocouture boot emblem for that final finishing flourish.
Nokian Tyres has taken on an RFID-based “manufacturing execution system” for use in its tyre production process. The solution reportedly the first and largest deployment of the UHF RFID based system in Finland. A total of 40 RFID readers and some 1000 RFID tags were deployed at Nokian Tyres during this project.
According to the company, the new system is used to plan, track and control the tread component production at the Nokian Tyres production plant located in Nokia. Additionally, Nokian Tyres is now able to monitor their production in real-time and ensure the availability of tyre materials.
Apollo Tyres has already discussed plans to increase capacity at its Gujarat and Kerala factories, and these projects are part of a wider plan to invest Rs 20 billion (£236.6 million) enhancing domestic and international production capacities. In addition to these expansions, the company will set up a new facility in Chennai.
According to Apollo Tyres chief of India Operations Satish Sharma, the company shall invest this sum over next three years, more than half of which, 200 million euros, would go towards its facility in Hungary. As part of the domestic capacity expansion, Apollo Tyre’s Vadodara plant will see its capacity of passenger car tyre go up from the existing 10,000 tyres a day to 15,000 tyres a day, by around mid-2009. The company will also enhance its truck and bus radial tyres capacity at Vadodara from the existing 300 tyres a day to around 1,100 tyres a day over the same timeframe.
India’s Ceat Ltd has chosen the state of Gujarat for the location of its long anticipated greenfield radial facility. The RS 5 to 6 billion (£60 to 70 million) plant was first announced over a year ago and several locations throughout India were short listed as possible sites – the company reportedly selecting Gujarat for its infrastructure, proximity to a port and ‘work culture.’ In addition to the production of passenger car tyres, the facility will also be home to a pilot facility for the manufacture of 250,000 TBR tyres per annum.
Ellerbrock, the German subsidiary of the Marangoni Retreading Systems Group, has reportedly taken leadership in the Russian truck retread market after a decade of growth. Marangoni report that at least half of Russia’s retreaders are directly supplied with Marangoni/Ellerbrock products.
The size of the market is about 48 million car tyres (including OE) and about 7 million truck tyres (including OE). Over the past three years, truck sales have doubled in a country with over 700,000 kilometres of roads and 30,000 kilometres of expressways and highways. Marangoni says that unofficial but reliable estimates indicate a truck retread market of about 150,000 to 200,000 tyres, of which one third are retreaded locally and two thirds are imported, mostly from Central and Western Europe. Official figures for 2007 indicate 7.3 million units in the European truck retread market, which means that the Russian market accounts for about 2.4 per cent of the overall western, central, and eastern European market.
Continental is increasing its position in the Australian commercial vehicle tyre market. Following Continental AG’s acquisition of Siemens VDO the companies’ Australian wings will now amalgamate into a new office complex in Melbourne’s northern suburb of Bundoora, Supply Chain Review reports. According to the magazine, Continental Tyres has significantly increased its commitment to the Australian market with the appointment of key marketing, sales and technical positions, all based locally.
“By the establishment of local offices and appointment of an Australian team Continental has shown its high level of commitment to the Australian market,” General Manager Sales and Marketing, Peter Miglic is quoted as saying. “One thing that keeps Continental at the forefront of the global tyre industry is our significant commitment to research and development. Last year we spent the equivalent of $72 million on developing and making better tyres, this equates to around 3% of our total sales. Conti is at the fore front of global tyre development.”
A host of new vehicle safety and environmental requirements, including several tyre related measures, will become obligatory as of 2012. On May 23 the European Commission unveiled its timetable for the introduction of these measures, of which European Commission vice-president Günter Verheugen said: “We are simplifying legislation. We are improving road safety. We are promoting fuel efficiency. We are presenting a modern integrated policy approach beneficiary for citizens, for the environment and the industry.”
Low rolling resistance tyres (LRRT) are to become obligatory from 2012, and the European Commission notes that, in order to avoid any negative impact on safety, explicit safety requirements are to be introduced alongside new standards on noise. Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems will also become obligatory from 2012. Deflated tyres, comments the Commission, can cause up to a 4 per cent increase in fuel consumption while reducing tyre lifespan by 45 per cent. Tyres can lose 3 to 6 per cent pressure per month, and this may not be noticed by the driver. According to research by TNO in the Netherlands, the fuel saving potential of LRRT and TPMS in passenger cars is 3 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively. For new cars with expected engine test cycle performance of 130 g CO2/km this would mean additional reductions of more than 7 g CO2/km (3.9 LRRT and 3.25 TPMS). The CO2 reduction potential of LRRT+TPMS on a current car (with a test cycle of, for instance, 160g) would be greater than 7kg/tonne.
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