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Tyre Consumers to Become More ‘Label Conscious’

Every time you pad across the kitchen floor and help yourself to a refreshing drink from the fridge, you are reminded exactly how efficient – or inefficient – the large cooling appliance standing before you really is. Thanks to the EU Energy Label you can spot at a glance whether your beverage is kept at the desired temperature by a frugal “A” rated fridge or a power slurping “G”. With a sigh you walk away, drink in hand, wishing your tyres had come festooned with similarly helpful information…..

Fret no longer: On April 22 the European Parliament approved – by a large majority – a number of draft measures that will see various performance related measures, including fuel efficiency and noise levels, supplied with new tyres. The new rating system, pencilled in for implementation by late 2012, will use a scale similar to that utilised on the EU Energy Label.

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Alcoa Wheels Selected for Lightweight Lamborghini

When Alcoa spoke of plans to extend its passenger car OEM supply in late 2008, it didn’t just have run of the mill vehicles in mind – on April 23 it announced the selection of Alcoa Auto Wheels to supply lightweight wheels for the Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce (SV). The forged aluminium wheels to be supplied, says Alcoa, reduce un-sprung weight and contribute to the SV shedding 100 kilograms as compared with the standard Murciélago.

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Overhauls Charity Target Early

Goodyear Dunlop has celebrated surpassing its charity fundraising target, having raised £52,000 to build a new playground at Birmingham Children’s Hospital eight months ahead of schedule. The money has been raised through employee fund raising, company match funding and public events. Birmingham Children’s Hospital corporate fundraising manager, Fidelis Hynam said, “We have been exceptionally impressed by the fund raising efforts and commitment of Goodyear Dunlop and its employees and it is no surprise they have smashed their target so early.

“For the CAMHS patients and their families this dedicated outdoor space is a dream come true. With the average stay of a CAMHS patient being six months it is very important to have their own space where they can let off steam and importantly have fun. We cannot thank Goodyear Dunlop enough.”

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Industry Veteran to Head Kenda Sales and Marketing

Bob Phoenix has been named vice president of sales for Kenda USA’s Automotive Tire Division. Phoenix, most recently a regional vice president for Kumho Tire USA, will be responsible for the sales and marketing of Kenda radial passenger and light truck/SUV tyres in the US and Canadian markets. As of 1 May, Kenda will be actively signing distributors/dealers for its lines of passenger and light truck/SUV radials, president Jimmy Yang said. (Tire Review/Akron)

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Leads Clean Air Green Tour

Michelin North America has teamed up with the “Clean Air Green Tour” to educate consumers on the benefits of environmentally friendly products. The 60-city US tour is expected to an average of 1,500 consumers per stop. “Many consumers do not realize the impact tyres can have on the environment,” said Parmeet Grover, brand director for MNA. “Our goal in partnering with the Clean Air Green Tour is to reinforce our message that tyres make a difference.”

In addition to featuring passenger car and light-truck tyres for consumers, the tour will cover more than 30,000 miles in a solar-powered bus fitted with Michelin X One super wides. In its third year, the Clean Air Green Tour launched on Apr. 14 in New York City, and will make stops at 40 Lowe’s stores, 14 Wal-Mart Supercenters and eight major festivals. In addition, the tour will hold tree plantings in five cities and host a community clean-up day. (Tire Review/Akron)

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Canada Has New Home

Hankook Tire Canada has a new home. The company moved into a new headquarters building and primary warehouse in January, shifting from its former home in Mississauga, Ontario, to a 120,000-square-foot facility in nearby Brampton, Ontario.

The new facility will continue to service tyre dealers in Ontario, using independent distributors to handle dealers in other parts of the country. (Tire Review/Akron)

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Cuts 6,000 Jobs in 2009 Q1

German news sources have reported that Continental cut 6,000 jobs from its worldwide operations during this year’s first quarter. Karl-Thomas Neumann, the manufacturer’s chief executive, told shareholders at the annual meeting in Hanover that an additional 25,000 workers will be working shorter hours by the end of April. Both actions are at least partially related to the “major challenge” facing the company as a result of the mingling of loan agreements, deflated auto markets and ongoing global financial turmoil, if it is to meet debt and earnings conditions agreed when the company bought Siemens’ VDO automotive-electronics division in 2007. Conti is facing up to a 3.5 billion-euro payment in August 2010 as a result of that purchase, which has necessitated the forthcoming change of strategy, to be announced within 100 days according to Neumann.

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

First Green Shoots of Recovery in US EM Market

The US earthmover/off-the-road tyre market recently plateaued and is now even registering the first 'green shoots' of low level market increases, according to Luc Minguet, Michelin president earthmover and industrial tyres worldwide. According to Minguet, 2009 got off to a particularly rough start for the OTR business with OE demand plummeting 20 per cent in the first two months of the year and replacement sales down by up to 60 per cent in same period.

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess Voices Support for Tyre Labelling Decision

The European Parliament’s decision on tyre labelling has been welcomed by specialty chemicals manufacturer Lanxess AG as a means of significantly reducing road generated CO2 reductions. The resolution requiring information about fuel efficiency, wet grip and rolling noise from 2012 onwards will, Lanxess believes, play a significant role for the tyre industry and its suppliers, as around 75 per cent of all tyres sold in Europe are replacement market products.

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

TRIB Marks Earth Day with Green Retreading Reminder

April 22 is Earth Day – and according to the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau, you could do a lot worse than celebrating the environmentally themed day with a set of retreads. TRIB comments that retreaded tyres are one of the most environmentally friendly of all recycled products, as they contain one of the highest post consumer contents because the actual tyre itself is being recycled.

The oil savings with retreads is also very significant, adds TRIB, as tyres are basically petrochemical products. It takes approximately 83 litres of oil to manufacture one average size truck tyre. Since most of that oil is found in the tyre casing, which is re-used in the retreading process, only about 26 litres of oil are needed to retread that same tyre. Thus a fleet using as few as 100 tyres a year can help save almost 5,700 litres of oil annually, notes TRIB.

22nd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Belshina Focusing on International Growth

Since Belshina opened its first sales office outside of the CIS region, in Lithuania, a year and a half ago, the Belarusian commercial vehicle tyre specialist has looked towards establishing itself in even more regions. One particular area where Belshina has turned its attention is Southeast Asia, where the company is focusing upon the distribution of its earthmover tyre range. At Tyrexpo Asia the director of Belshina Asia, Maksim Smyslov, shared that the Belarusian manufacturer founded a new Singapore based operation in November 2007. It has been trading since last year and is focusing for the time being upon the earthmover tyre business, marketing these products to the region’s mines and mining operators.

22nd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Schaeffler Has Eye on Another Conti Board Seat

It appears Schaeffler’s representation on the Continental AG supervisory board will be strengthened with the addition of a fifth representative. Reuters reported on April 20 that Hans-Jörg Bullinger, president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, will not, as originally planned, stand as a supervisory board candidate at the April 23 Annual General Meeting. Bullinger’s comment to Reuters was that “Schaeffler would like it if the company is well represented.”

22nd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

March Sales Give Pirelli a Glimmer of Hope

Upon reporting its first quarter 2009 financials, Pirelli commented that its tyre division experienced “signs of recovery” in March; these indications of better times came in the form of a slowdown in sales decline in some countries and positive growth rates in others. Various government incentives to boost new car sales partly contributed to this reversal of fortune following OE business contraction in the first two months of the year, Pirelli comments.

22nd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Management “Welcomes” Clairoix Court Decision

Continental’s decision to close its Clairoix factory in France was met with allegations the company had failed to correctly consult employee representatives beforehand, as required by French law. The plant’s joint works council instigated legal action against Conti, however these claims were dismissed by The Tribunal de Grande Instance (high court) of Sarreguemines on April 21.

“Our Continental France subsidiary was ruled to have acted correctly throughout in informing and consulting with the members of the joint works council. We take the occasion of this court decision to emphatically reaffirm that Continental AG has consistently respected and complied with all legal stipulations,” declared Dr. Bernhard Trilken, in charge of worldwide production for the Continental Passenger and Light Truck Tires division.

22nd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyrexpo Asia 2009: “We have no Hesitation”

“In these hard times we are very happy that…” – So begins the organiser’s summary of Tyrexpo Asia, which during its seventh running attracted 2,985 visitors (a decrease of 5 per cent on the last time) and 135 exhibitors (an increase of 8 per cent) within an exhibition space unchanged from 2007. While these figures highlight how the exhibition developed, they only show a single snapshot. The sense of increased hesitation to spend money on travelling to and exhibiting at a show was in line with what one would expect in the current market situation. But what bare numbers do not depict is ‘visitor quality’, something that both the organiser and exhibitors noted to be “superior to very good.” Furthermore, Tyrexpo Asia also provided an ideal platform for tyre wholesalers and their suppliers.

22nd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors