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US Senate Votes to Ban Lead Weights

In the US, The Olympian is reporting that Washington’s state Senate on Tuesday voted to ban the installation of lead tyre weights by 2011. Dealers will be required to use alternatives like zinc or a steel alloy. The amended bill now goes back to the House, which is expected to approve it. It then goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire to be signed into law.

“The Asian and European car makers have used alternative wheel weights for years now,” said Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, the prime sponsor of House Bill 1033. “We are just catching up to them.” Lead is highly toxic, Campbell says, and it only makes sense to use less hazardous alternatives. It has been linked to brain damage and other nervous system damage, particularly in young children. (Tire Review/Akron)

17th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Three Domestic Kumho Plants Idled for Three Days

Kumho has announced that its three tyre plants in South Korea will be closed until Monday 20 April following a sustained period of slowing sales. The measure is designed to keep company inventories under control, according to a press release.

17th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Alliance Appoints Trio of VPs

Alliance Tire Group has announced that the Company appointed Jean-Paul Spijker as vice president sales global OEM, B.S. Rama Murthy as group vice president commercial and D. Suresh as vice president of Technology function at the end of February.

17th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Manbat & JCI Confirm Partnership Deal

Manbat, the UK’s leading battery distributor, and Johnson Controls Batteries Ltd (JCI) have announced a revised distribution agreement which takes effect immediately. Both companies have grown their businesses impressively in the last two decades and this formalised distribution agreement follows three years of particularly close cooperation. The contract, which was signed on 15 January 2009, is for an initial three-year term, but with the intention of maintaining the agreement on a rolling basis, reviewed annually.

From the early 2000s, JCI began the process of reducing the number of own label supply contracts it had inherited through its battery manufacturer acquisitions, to concentrate on its own brands and the supply of Original Equipment (OE) batteries for the automotive and commercial vehicle sectors. Manbat was the obvious partner through which to grow the aftermarket supply business for those two sectors for the Varta brand.

17th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

HiQ Banbury Gets £60,000 Face Lift

HiQ’s Banbury centre has invested £60,000 in a refurbishment programme. The Oxfordshire centre is the first of the franchise network’s 150 stores to boast British Touring Car Championship branding, to coincide with the company’s official sponsorship of Britain’s premier motor racing series.

HiQ is the official sponsor of the British Touring Car Championship and the Banbury centre will aim to bring the excitement and passion of the motor racing series onto its forecourt. The new Banbury concept has been developed on the back of an 18 month study looking at consumer attitudes to fast fit services.

17th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Offering a SMART Solution to Dents and Scratches

A good set of tyres can perhaps minimise the risk of accumulating dents, scratched bumpers or scuffed alloy wheels, but most motorists are unable to avoid ‘battle damage’ entirely. To take care of these inevitable dings and scratches, Kwik-Fit Fleet is expanding its one-stop shop service portfolio through the launch of a SMART (Small to Medium Area Repair Technology) service. At present this facility is being trialled at six Kwik-Fit locations – and the company believes it is the first time a fast-fit company has moved into offering SMART repairs.

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Alliance Expands Product Range with New Flotation Tyres

Agricultural tyre specialist Alliance has complemented its range of radial flotation tyres with a number of new sizes. The manufacturer has a long tradition in the development and manufacture of flotation tyres for agricultural use; in 1998 the Israeli-Indian company became the world’s first manufacturer to produce this type of radial. Now the manufacturer is launching further new developments that broaden the range of suitable applications to include use on slurrey tankers and dumpers.

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Luxembourg Plans 5-Year Euro Bond

Michelin Luxembourg has announced plans to sell a five-year euro benchmark bond with a total value of around 750 million euros, the IFR has reported. IFR said on Wednesday. Yield guidance is approximately 9 per cent, said IFR Markets, a Thomson Reuters online news and market analysis service. Calyon, Royal Bank of Scotland and SG CIB are joint lead managers on the deal, IFR added.

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Chooses not to Appeal Cartel Fine

On January 28, Bridgestone Corporation (BSJ) and its UK subsidiary, Bridgestone Industrial Ltd. received notice from the European Commission regarding a 58.5 million euro fine for the company’s alleged participation in an international marine hose cartel. BSJ reported on April 16 that, after careful consideration, it has decided the most appropriate action for it to take is to bring the course of proceedings to an end and focus upon the “reinforcement of its compliance system and promotion of preventive measures.” Therefore, BSJ confirms it will pay the imposed fine rather than appeal the decision.

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Vin Diesel Takes General Tire for a Ride

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are making a tyre screeching return to the big screen – and General Tire has been selected as the official rubber the pair will be burning. The US based Continental Tire North America brand has partnered with Universal Pictures to become the official tyre of the latest instalment in the “Fast & Furious” film series. The new film sees Diesel and Walker once again join Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster to, in General Tire’s own words, “blast muscle, tuner and exotic cars across Los Angeles and floor through the Mexican desert.”

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Safety First a Goodway to Go

In Tyres & Accessories’ September 2008 Retreading Special, Goodway Rubber Industries, the Malaysian retreading compound and materials supplier, spoke at great length about its continuing mission for safety within the workplace and its concern for the wellbeing of its staff, culminating in its Nilai factory’s attainment of OHSAS 18001 certification. In the time since then, this attention to safety has been reflected in the company’s products, specifically with reference to its Supercool-branded flagship retreading material, which has been given the new tagline, “Engineered For Safety”. Despite the current economic turmoil, Goodway says that its trademark brand registered growth last year, stemming from well-positioned branding efforts and aggressive marketing strategies. Indeed, the company is optimistic that the financial woes could represent it – and retreaders in general – with a significant opportunity.

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

MAM Aids IFA

MAM Software is helping members of the Independent Motor Factors Association (IFA) share valuable product knowledge through its Autocat+ electronic parts catalogue. This facility, which is currently being used by fourteen members, enables individual businesses to create product notes for any product or application and share them with other members through the catalogue.

The Autocat+ notes facility allows comments to be recorded against any part number, product group or application that appears in the catalogue. These are stored in a central database and, once approved, made available to all members within the group. The comments will appear automatically whenever the trigger part number, group or application is used.

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Tire Gets Volkswagen OE in North America

This month Hankook Tire began supplying Volkswagen’ Jetta, Jetta SportWagen and New Beetle cars manufactured at Volkswagen’s Puebla, Mexico plant and destined for North America with Optimo H725A tyres. Hankook already has fitments on Volkswagen cars in other global markets, but this development represents a significant increase in VW fitments on Volkswagens to be sold in Canada and the US, where the Jetta is the highest selling VW model vehicle.

“We are extremely excited to supply the Optimo for Volkswagen Jetta, Jetta SportWagen and New Beetle exports to the U.S. and Canadian markets. By leveraging our Kontrol Technology in the development of UHP products, Hankook Tire is able to tailor its products to current environmental sustainability standards, and this in turn allows Hankook Tire to deliver quality products to our consumers,” said Seung Hwa Suh, CEO, Hankook Tire, adding: “After working closely with Volkswagen as an OE supplier in other world markets, we have created excellent relationships, and we look forward to earning even more fitments on VW vehicles to be sold in the US and Canada.”

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

The Sky’s the Limit

Kings Road Tyres, in conjunction with Michelin, has helped a team of British explorers carry out an unlikely journey from London to Timbuktu – not by plane or train, but by flying car. The Parajet Skycar is a road legal version of an off road buggy that can be set up to either drive wheels when on the road or power a rear mounted propeller when it takes to the skies. In flight a large fabric wing gives the Skycar lift whilst the propeller provides the necessary forward thrust.

The Parajet Skycar set off from London at the end of January and travelled down through France and Spain before flying the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco in North Africa. From Morocco the team travelled through the disputed lands of Western Sahara, into Mauritania and across the Sahara to Timbuktu in Mali.

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Government to Offer Electric Car Subsidies

Business secretary Peter Mandelson and transport secretary Geoff Hoon have given details of the government’s vision to promote ultra low carbon transport – in other words electric cars – over the next five years. This involves a headline subsidy for consumers worth £2000 – £5000 towards buying their first electric and plug-in hybrid cars when they hit the showrooms.

The consumer incentives will be introduced in 2011 to coincide with when the government expects electric and plug in hybrid cars to enter the mass market. To be eligible cars would need to meet modern safety standards and have a range and top speed sufficient to give mass market appeal.

16th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors