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ASA Tire Systems Preps Software Tyre Registration

ASA Tire Systems has upgraded its TreadX dealer software to capture tyre registration data at the store level and electronically transmit the information. The software maker said it made the modification in anticipation that the NHTSA will change tyre registration regulations and allow the electronic registration of tyres by tire dealers. TreadX now interfaces with tyre registration firm CIMS, allowing dealers to collect and enter tyre DOT numbers and owner information and transmit the data directly to CIMS for processing.

17th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper and BFNAT Issue Recalls

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.’s recent recall of 48,037 light truck radials includes private brand and off-take models produced for and sold by TBC, American Car Care Centers, Nokian Tyres and Sure Tire. The NHTSA issued supplemental recall notices last week including the four brands. In addition, NHTSA announced a recall of a small quantity of truck tyres produced by Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire.

The Cooper Tire recall impacting its private brand and off-take customers covers LT265/75R16 Load Range E tyres. For Sure Tire, the recall covers 295 of its Summit Trail Climber AT tyres produced between December 9 and December 15, 2007. For TBC, it covers 17,014 of its Wild Country Radial STX Sport and Wild Trac Radial LTR produced between December 2, 2007 and February 2, 2008. For ACCC, it covers 1,018 of its American Prospector A/T produced between December 2, 2007 and February 2, 2008. For Nokian, the recall covers 931 tyres produced between December 2, 2007 and February 8, 2008.

8th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

NHTSA Takes Up E-Registration, RMA Supports

The RMA has thrown its support behind NHTSA’s plans to broaden tyre registration methods. NHTSA earlier this week release proposed regulations to improve tyre registration and recordkeeping, allowing greater use of online tyre registration. The agency feels broader use of Internet or other “electronic registration” will improve tyre registration rates, which, in turn, would make tyre recalls more effective and efficient.

Currently, the industry’s best estimate is that only 10 per cent of paper tyre registration cards are ever completed and returned. While most tyremakers already offer online tyre registration via their Web sites, current online tyre registration rates are unknown.

28th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Chinese Car Makers Have Long-Term Plans For US Market

Apparently, there are five Chinese car manufacturers exhibiting at the Detroit auto show – five times as many as at last year’s event – and they have plans to sell their products in the US market. But not just yet, as the Chairman of BYD Auto, Chaung-Fu Wang is quoted as saying that it would take about “three to five years” to accomplish this.

One problem is the recent spate of recalls of Chinese goods across a wide spectrum, which has raised questions in the minds of some about quality. BYD plans to introduce a dual-mode hybrid vehicle capable of travelling for 60 miles on battery power only and the company says it has over 500 engineers working on the project, with the vehicle scheduled to go on sale in China later this year.

16th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

More than ‘Just’ Tyres

The name of the Chinese tyre manufacturer Aufine is derived from the English words ‘all fine’, and according to the company’s general manager, David Sun, business these days is more than just all fine at Aufine. When Tyres & Accessories spoke to Mr. Sun at September’s CITExpo exhibition in Shanghai he was brimming with confidence about the company’s future, in particular with regards to export sales of its products and, more specifically, exports to European markets.

“For many people from overseas that we’ve met here at CITExpo, Aufine is a new brand,” observed David Sun. “Although we’ve been manufacturing tyres in China for 20 years, Aufine has only been exporting for one.” Therefore the new exporter of tyres from China viewed CITExpo as an opportunity to make new friends, so to speak, and Mr. Sun confirmed that the company’s main reason for attending the exhibition in Shanghai, along with promoting the Aufine brand, was to seek new agents in strategic export markets. To this end the general manager was able to confirm without hesitation that Aufine had been very successful in its quest.

14th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

GP Automotive: One Fifth Of Business Carried Out On-Line

Back in 2006, G. P. Automotive set out on a mission to create an industry-leading logistics infrastructure, capable of moving parts along the business to business supply chain quickly and efficiently. Central to this vision was the installation of a new MAM Autopart computer system and Autonet e-commerce portal that would help drive the business forward. A year later, this software is managing the internal operations of the business and supporting an e-commerce operation that represents 20 per cent of the company’s total business.

17th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Sometimes Change is a Good Thing

After 28 years in the tyres business Peter Harries has been appointed as the new managing director of the UK’s largest wholesale group, Group Tyre (UK) Ltd. For Harries, the appointment represents something of a step change from the manufacturer-based positions he enjoyed at Cooper Avon for the vast majority of his career. Tyres & Accessories met with the new managing director as he settled in to his new role at Group.

Prior to joining Group Tyre, Harries spent six years as sales director of Cooper Tire & Rubber Europe. Before this he spent more than two decades in a range of positions with Avon Tyres and Cooper Tire. “I am very excited to be joining Group, a company which I have always admired,” Harries told Tyres & Accessories, adding that he has joined the company at a significant point. “There is a lot of change in tyre industry,” he commented.

So what’s the plan from here on in? “I am here to develop strategy and structure and to drive the business forward to higher sales and deeper penetration,” said Harries, adding that there is “a lot of scope for growth.” Group Tyre and its members have achieved some impressive results over the last decade and a half, and recent performance has been no different. Harries is confident that Group turnover (which will reach £234 million this year) will continue to grow. There are also said to be five and 10 year plans in the works, but the new managing director was less willing to give details of those away.

5th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

US-China to Sign Quick Recall Pact

(Akron/Tire Review) NHTSA and the Chinese government will sign an agreement Sept. 12 that will help speed the recall of defective auto parts. The “memorandum of cooperation” gives NHTSA a tool to speed recalls of Chinese-made goods. If the agreement had been in place this summer when concerns arose about the tires, “we would have felt much more comfortable reaching out to the Chinese government and asking for their assistance,” said Nicole Nason, NHTSA administrator.

11th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Canadian Government Wants Proof of Chinese-Made Tyre Defects

(Akron/Tire Review – Canadian Press) Transport Canada has said it needs more proof that Canadian drivers are at risk before it will consider following a U.S. recall of allegedly faulty Chinese-made tyres.

“We don’t need crashes or injuries or death, but we do need evidence,” said Lars Eif, chief of defect investigations and recalls at the federal ministry.

10th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Advanced ID – Minimising the Impact of Recalls

Advanced ID Corporation has reported receiving numerous inquiries regarding the US Chinese tyre recall, and the company believes the use of its tyre tags could have reduced the severity of the recall. Important tyre data, including batch number and date of manufacture, can be stored within an Advanced ID RFID tag or in a customer controlled database, making the correct identification of tyre a much simpler procedure. Advanced ID point out that the numerous UPC barcodes to be found on tyres did not contain the historical information required to pinpoint which specific tyres were manufactured using the process in question during the current recall, and thus thousands of tyres must be considered suspect when it is possible that only a very small number of tyres are actually affected.

Dan Finch, president and CEO of Advanced ID, said, “Advanced ID has been working with the major tyre manufacturers around the world for almost two years to develop an RFID tyre tag that provides a life-of-tyre unique tyre ID number. The ability to keep track of individual tyres becomes increasingly important as a tool to minimise recall issues and provide enhanced fleet management and tyre security capabilities with the added benefit of improved asset management.”

9th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

An Untapped Resource? Nokian’s Kazakhstan factory bid

Editorial/Comment, International News

With news of Chinese product recalls and revised tax rules, some people are looking elsewhere to source their tyres. But if a tyre manufacturing colleague said they were about to expand capacity by entering into an off-take agreement in Kazakhstan, they would probably be met with either a blank “where-exactly-is-that face?” or a stream of Borat-related quips. Joking aside, Nokian Tyres, a company that has made a real success of its niche market approach, has reportedly taken the plunge and broken ground on $200 million-worth of production capacity in Astana, the former Soviet country’s capital city.

Although Nokian staff have not immediately confirmed their involvement in the deal, it would see Nokian gain another low-cost production base to supplement its very successful St Petersburg, Russia operation and – just as importantly – a strong and growing market in which to sell its high quality winter tyres. The winter conditions in Ukraine and Kazakhstan are harsh, making studded tyres popular.

6th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Allegedly Defective Chinese Tyres Still Sold in Canada

(Akron/Tire Review – CTV News) CTV News has found imported tyres from China prone to tread separation for sale in Canada, despite an ordered recall in the U.S. The light truck tyres are blamed for two deaths in a U.S. lawsuit, after the treads peeled away and a van lost control on a turnpike last year.

“The belts can come apart, the tyre will overheat and it will basically just disintegrate,” Kirk Robinson, an independent mechanic and host of a call-in cable TV show in Toronto called “Auto Talk,” told CTV News. Transport Canada has asked any Canadians who have experienced safety issues with the tyres to phone its toll-free complaint number at 800-333-0510.

The Chinese plant that manufactures the tyres has been accused of neglecting gum strips – material that helps hold the belts together. According to U.S. officials, some of the gum strips only had a width of about 0.3 millimetres, half of what they expected. American officials have responded by ordering the American importer to recall half a million of the Chinese tyres.

2nd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Interview – Roy Armes

(Akron/Tire Review) Roy V. Armes was named president and CEO of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. last December, following the August resignation of Tom Dattilo. A 31-year veteran of Whirlpool Corp., Armes held several senior-level posts in various departments at the appliance manufacturer, including engineering, project management and purchasing. He also had positions in Mexico and China and was responsible for establishing overseas manufacturing operations and joint ventures.

Most notably, Armes oversaw the integration of Maytag into the Whirlpool fold and, over the years, gained a strong background in manufacturing and technology, engineering, international business, consumer products and distribution channel management.

19th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Recalls Motorcycle Tyres

Michelin is recalling 120/70 ZR 17 front Pilot Power 2CT and Pilot Power front motorcycle tyres with “Made in France” markings. According to the company examination of these tyres showed a possible defect in the tread due to a “manufacturing irregularity.” Some 68,000 tyres are expected to be involved in the recall. No cases of pressure loss have been reported and no accidents have occurred.

The tyres in question can be identified by the following sidewall markings: a “Made in France” label; DOT 6UCW 980T or DOT 6UCW 979T. These tyres will no longer be sold by dealers. A special telephone number for consumers has been set up to provide customers with information about the campaign. The telephone numbers are: UK: 0800 454 774; Republic of Ireland: 0044 (0)1782 401535.

18th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

ACCC Plans Support of NTSW

(Akron/Tire Review) American Car Care Centers said it will again “actively support” the Rubber Manufacturers Association’s annual National Tire Safety Week. The sixth National Tire Safety Week is slated for Apr. 22-28.

The annual event is part of RMA’s “Be Tire Smart – Play Your PART” program, launched in the aftermath of the Ford-Firestone tire recalls in 2000. NTSW gives tyre retailers an opportunity to communicate with customers about the importance tyre maintenance plays in vehicle and highway safety.

2nd April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors