Indian off-road tyre manufacturer TVS Srichakra has unveiled its latest TVS Eurogrip tyre at the Agritechnica show. The Tigertrac is a newly-developed range of agricultural radials suited intended for both farm and on-road use.
Czech manufacturer of steel pallets and tyre racks Avex is now operating under a slightly altered name: Avex Steel Products s.r.o. The change of name has also signalled another change for the firm; Avex is now operating with a new website at www.avexproducts.com.
JK Tyre & Industries is not the only Indian tyre maker that has announced it will invest to increase production capacity; RPG company Ceat Limited says it will expand radio production at its Halol plant in GujaratState. A total of Rs 6.5 billion (£65.7 million) will be invested in the project.
It’s as old as the pneumatic tyre itself – this year, Continental Tire the Americas’ Aldora Mills tyre cord plant in Barnesville, Georgia celebrates 125 years in operation. The facility began life as a cotton mill in 1888 and began producing tyre cord around 1920. Today the 82,500 square metre plant produces around 16 thousand tonnes of tyre cord fabric a year for use in the manufacture of passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres.
Michelin’s new plant in Thiruvallur, India has been described as the world’s largest tyre factory. While we can’t confirm the veracity of this superlative, one thing that appears to be true is that the facility is preparing for an imminent production start.
At the Autumn Conference organised by Luxembourg-based broker Kepler Cheuvreux and held in Paris on 18 September, Michelin chief executive officer Jean-Dominique Senard confirmed the tyre maker’s 2015 operating profit target of €2.9 billion, some 20 per cent higher then 2013 estimates. He also said that capital expenditure is expected to peak between €1.8 billion and €2.2 billion in 2014 and 2015 before declining to between €1.6 billion and €1.9 billion in 2016 and €1.5 billion and €1.8 billion in 2017.
Few calendars command media attention like Pirelli’s, and next year marks the 50th anniversary of the first edition. Preview photos taken during production of the 2014 calendar are now doing the rounds, and this peek at next year’s ‘Cal’ suggests Pirelli has decided to continue the more conservative approach photographer Steve McCurry adopted for the 2013 Calendar.
Italian brake manufacturer Brembo SpA has acquired the 30 per cent share held in the Brembo Nanjing Brake Systems Co. Ltd joint-venture company held by Chinese partner Donghua Automotive Industrial Co. Ltd. The RMB 90 million (£9.4 million) paid for the share gives Brembo total ownership of the operation and is a transaction the company describes as “the last step towards the full integration of the hub.”
Trimble Navigation has launched a tyre monitoring system for commercial and off-road vehicles. The Trimble TirePulse Tire Monitoring System wirelessly measures tyre temperature and pressure data and conveys these from the jobsite to give real-time tyre pressure and high temperature alerts. Trimble says the system helps fleet managers and site supervisors schedule cost-effective preventative tyre maintenance, extend tyre life, increase fuel efficiency and avoid blowouts.
On 15 July 2013, Marcos Guzman took over the position of production manager, responsible for B&J Rocket’s factory in the USA. With immediate effect, Guzman is in charge of quality assurance and improvement for all B&J production. In addition to further optimising production processes he will closely monitor costs and the resources utilised. Furthermore, he is responsible for improving maintenance to ensure a consistently high quality output.
Last year, Trelleborg’s Xingtai agricultural tyre plant in China’s Hebei Province entered service, making the Swedish firm the first global company to establish an agricultural tyre production presence in China. Plant output is expected to reach 150,000 radial and cross-ply units this year, with much of the production sold in the local market. To support its activities in China, Trelleborg Wheel Systems has now launched a new Chinese language website.
Ongoing concerns over the availability of natural rubber have prompted India’s tyre makers to cast an envious eye on supplies from outside the country. Now the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), the organisation representing ten of India’s tyre manufacturers, has handed the country’s Commerce Minister a statement saying the tyre industry will more strongly rely on rubber imports.
Laser mould cleaning and tyre marking firm 4JET Technologies GmbH (based in Alsdorf, Germany) has announced plans for a “tyre technology roadshow” from now until the end of October.
The tour will include live demonstrations of laser machines for cleaning vulcanizing moulds and for tyre marking will be performed at production facilities of the leading European tyre producers.
As of yesterday the iconic American sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette, has been in production for 60 years. The first production model came off the line on 30 June 1953; since that day, some 1.37 million Corvettes have been manufactured and more than half of all Corvettes produced are said to be still on the road.
Danish recycling equipment manufacturer Eldan Recycling A/S has recently delivered a tyre shredding machine to the biggest retread manufacturer in Venezuela. The order is said to mark the first time Elda has delivered a product to a business in Venezuela.
The company, which has hundreds of employees, receives used tyres every day – mostly truck tyres and other large tyres that are retreaded to prolong the lifespan of the tyres. A part of the tyres is unfit for use and the retread manufacturer wishes to process these tyres in the Eldan Super Chopper as first step to recover the rubber, steel and textile, making it an environmental and profitable alternative to landfill.
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