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.
Two biking fanatics have received prizes from Bridgestone’s motorcycle team, responding to contests conducted at a recent motorcycle festival, and on the company’s social networking pages. Katrina Rex beat dozens of men to win a set of premium Bridgestone radial bike tyres at the recent Shropshire Bike Festival, holding out tyres on her outstretched arms for a longer period of time than anyone else. Meanwhile, Steve Trudgeon from St Austell triumphed in a Bridgestone Facebook competition, earning a place at the Honda Ron Haslam Race School at Donington.
Yokohama Rubber has introduced a new tyre size for rigid dump trucks used in construction and mining applications. The size 27.00R49 fitment has been added to the RB42 range; the new tyre is TRA coded as ‘E-4’ by the U.S. Tire and Rim Association. Yokohama says the RB42 range now covers ‘regular’ specifications for ordinary off-the-road surfaces and ‘cut protected’ versions with increased resistance to cutting – making the line-up suitable for a wide range of surfaces, from soft or loose surfaces such as mud or sand through to rough surfaces such as gravel and rocks.
Michelin has unveiled a quartet of new aviation tyres at the 2013 Paris Air Show. Intended for the four main segments of the aerospace market, the new radials feature NZG technology and are aimed at a broad range of aircraft manufacturers.
Maxam Tire International, the Luxembourg-based supplier of all-steel radial OTR and speciality tyres, has totally maxamtire.com. The new-look site’s different sections give details of the company's history and provide an insight into its commitment to quality throughout the manufacturing process.
GT Radial exhibited its first city bus tyre in addition to displaying its GT Assist programme at the CV Show. The GAU861 has an extra reinforced sidewall protector to ensure maximum resistance to curbing and impact damage, while its tread pattern comes with a new depth of 20.2mm to improve mileage performance. Available initially in 275/70R22.5, the tyre can be used in both steer and drive positions on both 4×2 and 6×2 configurations and is M+S marked indicating excellent traction in mud and snow conditions.
Michelin introduced the latest version of its road crane tyre range, the X-Crane+, at Intermat in spring 2012, with the product available since last summer. The tyre provides users with three important advantages: increased longevity, operator comfort and safety, and easy mounting to maximise uptime. The previous generation crane tyre, named sans +, was described as the market standard setter, but the new tyre, available in the segment’s best-selling 445/95R25 size, extends these properties, according to the French giant.
The first commercially-available Tweel product has landed Michelin North America a Silver Edison Award. The tyre maker was presented with the transport category award at the Edison Awards ceremony, which was held on 25 April.
The Tweel concept has been around for the best part of a decade, and earlier this year commercial sales of Tweel products began. The first on the market, the Michelin X-Tweel SSL, is a finalist in the 2013 Edison Awards. The X-Tweel SSL appears in the Transportation category, one of 12 Edison Awards categories. Winners will be announced on 25 April.
Dutch off-road tyre company Magna Tyres Group is presenting a wide range of OTR tyres at April’s Bauma 2013 show in Germany, including its largest 57-inch fitment.
A County Antrim farmer has taken delivery of a new set of tractor tyres after winning at the annual Goodyear AGRI Club draw. Ivan Anderson, of Rasharkin Co Antrim, joined Goodyear’s dedicated advice service for farmers, the AGRI Club, in February 2012 and just 8 months later was the lucky member to have his name picked out of the hat at the British Ploughing Championships in October 2012.
The GT Radial brand currently contains three tyres to cover the range of 4×4 applications – the Adventuro M/T, Adventuro A/T and Savero HT Plus. Manufactured by GiTi Tire, the brand says that the current range offers its best performance yet to the segment, with fitments available for the lower and middle ranges of the 4×4/SUV market.
At last week’s SIMA show in Paris, Alliance Tire Group launched three new patterns; the tyre maker says all three utilise state of the art IF and VF technologies, designed at the group’s research and development testing. ATG says its IF and VF products have undergone “comprehensive lab and field testing” and the range will be completed in the coming future.
Dutch company Bandenmarkt Tyre & Wheels says the new product range it is showing at this week’s SIMA show in Paris addresses a frustrating issue for farmers – tyre related breakdowns. The firm’s “Heavy Duty” agricultural radial range features reinforced steel and a puncture-resistant kevlar layer under the tread. Bandenmarkt Tyre & Wheels also says the tyre line-up has a higher load capacity than its competitors and extreme stability even at 65km/h.
Simon Winstanley has taken over as Michelin’s motorcycle tyre sales manager for the UK and Ireland. Based at the company’s headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, Winstanley will head-up a field sales force of four account managers and one key account manager. With 13 years of experience in the tyre industry, Winstanley has worked in a number of departments at Michelin and has held various marketing and sales roles. His most recent position was as manager of the Michelin customer service centre in Stoke-on-Trent.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
