(Akron/Tire Review) Amtel-Vredestein is taking a 350 million ruble credit line loan at 13 per cent from Rosbank, according to a report out of Russia. The credit facility was taken by subsidiary Amtel-Chernozemie OJSC, which pledged 20 per cent of its assets (about 1,78 billion rubles) as loan security.
Car output in Russia rose 9.5 per cent year on year to 646,000 units in January-June, the industry and energy ministry reported. The ministry attributed the growth to an increase in car output by Avtoframos, a joint venture between the Moscow city government and Renault; Ford; the GM-AvtoVAZ JV; IzhAvto, TagAZ, and Severstal-Auto; and Russian car assembly plant Avtotor, a Prime-Tass report said. Truck output in Russia rose 18.4 per cent in the first half of the year, said the ministry, but did not provide any detailed data. The ministry attributed the growth to an increase in light commercial vehicle output by Russian automakers GAZ, UAZ and TagAZ.
(Akron/Tire Review) KLTV in Tyler, Texas, reported that Tyler city officials, concerned that Goodyear will close its tyre plant in that city, are preparing a financial incentive package to keep the plant operating. “We’re working with community leaders, business representatives to be sure that if we need it, we have a package to put on the table for Goodyear so they know we’re serious about keeping that plant here in Tyler,” Tyler Economic Development Council President Tom Mullins told the station. Goodyear has not indicated that the Tyler plant is in peril. The company is currently in talks with the United Steelworkers for a new master contract, and plant closures may be part of those talks.
Khosrow Mahmoudian, secretary of the Iranian Tire Industry Guild Association, has told reporters that the industry produced 32.3 million tyres, weighing 221,206 tons, in the year to March 2006, according to Moj news agency.
Pincott Europe Limited, have been developing a new “Smart” blade which unusually is not flat, but is produced in the form of a sine wave. This sinusoidal shape allows the blade to cut progressively across the face of the tyre and not in a straight line as all other blades do. This has the effect of breaking up the surface more evenly and cutting the rubber from the tyre in a much smoother fashion.
(Akron/Tire Review) According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Canadian Customer Commitment Index study, after five consecutive years of losing market share to dealerships, aftermarket service providers have stabilized their share of service occasions. Fountain Tire ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction among Canadian automotive service providers.
With a TV audience estimated at over a billion people, the Maxxis British Motocross Championship is attracting a huge following around the world, according to the company. The series is currently seen in almost 500 million homes throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas, according to a report from Greenlight Television, which signed a TV deal with the Auto Cycle Union in February.
Pirelli Tyres Ltd has appointed Graham Hutchison as director of its Truck Business Unit. Hutchison has held various positions during his 15 years at Pirelli including most recently five years as UK field sales manager. Graham will lead the continued development of the Pirelli truck tyre business in addition to maintaining his current UK field sales responsibilities.
Hutchison will report directly to managing director, Dominic Sandivasci. The appointment is described as one of a number of actions Pirelli is implementing in order to strengthen its position in the UK replacement truck tyre market.
Kumho’s second quarter sales amounted to 429 billion won (£241.094 million), lower than the 469 billion won figure that was widely expected. At the same time operating profit of 14 billion won (£7.868 million) was said to be similarly disappointing compared with market estimates of 40 billion won. Operating profit fell by 70.5 per cent year-on-year and 45.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
With a TV audience estimated at more than one billion people, the Maxxis British Motocross Championship is attracting a huge following around the world. The series is currently seen in almost 500 million homes throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas, according to a report from Greenlight Television, which signed a TV deal with the Auto Cycle Union in February.
Fifa’s chief medical officer, Professor Jiri Dvorak, has published an open letter stating that there is no significant cancer risk from “certain granulate in-fills from artificial turf.” This, of course, largely refers end-of-life tyre derived products. “PAHs [Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons] are not released or at most negligibly released from tyre abradate,” Professor Dvorak’s letter explained quoting a 1997 report from the University of Dortmund Institute for Environmental Research.
Goodway Rubber Industries Sdn Bhd has named a new management team effective 1 June 2006, in line with its recent corporate reorganisation exercise. New managing director, Alison Wong (Wong Ping Kiong), will lead the renewed management team.
Following Tyres & Accessories’ initial coverage of the news in June, C-Tyres has provided more information about its pioneering range of Colway run-flat retreads. The recent launch has further highlighted C-tyres’ position as a market leader within its industry segment, and shows the company’s commitment to product innovation.
The run-flats are said to have been manufactured “with the driver in mind” and are made using only “quality first-life casings,” company representatives report. This casing selection strategy is said to ensure the Colway run-flat is “up there with the very best,” but at a fraction of the cost of a new tyre.
(Akron/Tire Review) AFX has reported that a group of seven banks that had helped manage Pirelli SpA’s failed tyre group IPO are in talks to buy a 35 per cent share in Pirelli Tyre. According to the report, the banks are Mediobanca SpA, Goldman Sachs, Banca Intesa SpA unit Caboto, Capitalia SpA, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley. Pirelli SpA offered no comment to Italian news source AGI concerning the speculation.
A report from the Energy Department on a US website underlines the importance of maintaining correct tyre pressures; the report estimates that US motorists driving on under-inflated tyres waste more than a staggering 3.5 million gallons of gasoline every single day.
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