While the news that China is both the world’s largest tyre producer and the fastest growing market – currently at 9 per cent and rising – may not be all that surprising, the new analysis of the China tyre industry’s 2008 standing by Research and Markets contains a vastly more detailed look at the state of play.
Cooper Tire has launched a 4×4 tyre in the UK specially designed for sporty SUV drivers not wanting to take their vehicle off-road: the Cooper Zeon XSTA.
Cooper’s research suggests that there are around a million “soft roaders” in the UK and has thus developed the tyre specifically for sporty SUV vehicles such as the BMW X5, Mercedes M Class, Honda CR-V and Lexus RX400, providing greater comfort, luxurious properties. In fact, the company claims that the XSTA is Cooper’s most luxurious 4×4 tyre to date, with a dual tread attempting to master both wet and dry conditions. The inner tread design expels water in all four directions to offer better traction and control in wet weather. According to the company the outer part of the tyre also makes sure steering response in the dry is crisp and direct.
First Stop tyre dealership, Kingsway Tyres has presented a cheque for £331.38 to the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital Respiratory Unit. The money was raised from a tyre safety road show which took place at Asda in Norwich, in conjunction with the Bridgestone worldwide ‘Think Before You Drive’ campaign, after research showed that 90 per cent of drivers do not know their correct tyre pressure.
Tyresure has reduced the price of its “money saving tyre pressure monitoring systems,” which are designed to improve safety and reduce fuel use. The recommended retail price of the unit is now £179.99. According to the company, sales have soared since the product’s UK launch earlier this year. A company statement announcing the price decrease explained that “thousands of motorists are now driving with correctly inflated tyres” as a result of using the system.
An opportunity for tyre outlets offering a mobile fitting and repair service beckons. According to Elizabeth Dainton, research development manager for the Royal Automobile Club Foundation, car use contributes significantly to wellbeing in old age, and the number of older drivers on our roads is set to mushroom during the next decade.
Dr Wei Ding has been unveiled as the newly created head of research at Dunlop Aircraft Tyres. He will develop and implement the forthcoming research strategy for the manufacturer, reporting to Martin Pye, the Birmingham-based tyre maker’s technical director.
Wei arrives at Dunlop from his position as project manager for tyre research and team leader for tyre and brake modelling and simulation at Airbus. His employment in the new position is directly related to the company’s expansion strategy, states chairman Ian Edmondson: “We are looking to get closer to the airframe constructors and Wei’s background will mean that we are better placed to develop new products that meet their future needs.”
Dr Wei has been a research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Materials Processing, after which he worked as a senior engineer in the automotive tyre industry. He is a chartered engineer, and his latest task will be to oversee growth, as Dunlop seeks to consolidate and improve its position in the aeronautical industry as the sole specialist aircraft tyre manufacturer.
At its meeting on August 23 the Supervisory Board of Continental AG decided upon the appointment of Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann as new Executive Board Chairman, effective September 1. Neumann has been a member of the Continental Executive Board since October 2004 and is succeeding Manfred Wennemer, whose request to be granted early release from his mandate effective August 31, 2008, was previously accepted by the Supervisory Board.
TyreSafe – the newly rebranded Tyre Industry Council – has provided an online animated guide to tyre safety for motorists, comprising ten digitally-animated steps. The guide can be accessed at the not-for-profit organisation’s website.
Recent independent research conducted by a leading tyre manufacturer and TyreSafe members revealed that almost 80 per cent of cars on British roads are running with incorrect tyre pressures and 90 per cent of UK drivers do not know the correct pressure of their tyres. With this in mind, TyreSafe has added the visual guide to its website in order to help motorists avoid the problems associated with poorly maintained or neglected tyres, which can include premature wear, increased stopping distances and additional fuel costs.
CarbonBlack TyreXchange, the Australian independent online marketplace for tyres and auto services, has revealed the results of its latest Independent Tyre Brand Scorecard, which focuses on consumer purchasing behaviour. The survey appears to reveal the rise of social marketing in tyre retailing, which allows word-of-mouth among consumers to impact in a more pronounced way the choices buyers make.
The e-tailer suggests that this trend is a result of greater sophistication and awareness among consumers and tyre retailers that traditional advertising no longer has the same impact on consumers. Socially disseminated information, meaning the presence of consumer reviews on websites especially, in addition to relevant point-of-sale marketing and consumer education are, CarbonBlack suggests, increasingly able to influence the purchase cycle and are having a greater impact on consumer choice. The company states that these findings reinforce the value of both the internet and tyre dealer network importance for consumer tyre purchases.
Pro-Align says its passion for wheel alignment means the company is prepared to go far beyond simply supplying Hunter wheel alignment equipment. It has been instrumental in initiating the debate on the creation of a wheel alignment standard, which can be recognised by the industry and consumer alike.
From Pro-Align’s own experience and feedback from customers who have selected Hunter alignment systems, a demand exists for a ‘proper’ four-wheel alignment service. By ‘proper’, businesses mean they are looking to make sure the alignment service they offer is carried out as close to the car manufacturer’s procedures for wheel alignment as possible – thus leaving minimal room for criticism that ‘they don’t do it right’.
The Silvio Tronchetti Provera Foundation and the University of Shandong in Jinan (China) have signed a research agreement that will see the two parties cooperate on research into “the new generation of ecological tyres.” University researchers will work together with Pirelli Group’s R&D department in China with a view to producing advanced low rolling resistance tyres. Pirelli Group has been involved low rolling resistance research for some culminating in the production of “eco-compatible” products such as the new “Cinturato”, presented in Europe at the beginning of 2008.
The Italian-Chinese agreement also includes two joint research initiatives, which aim respectively at realizing more consistent compound mixtures and the study of low-temperature tyre vulcanization.
Jules Bianchi stormed to the top of the podium at Zolder yesterday in the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3, heading an ART Grand Prix trio and overcoming pole-positioned team-mate Nico Hlkenberg, who was defending the title he won last year. Following torrential rain 36 competitors from 18 countries took to the track on Kumho’s ECSTA wet tyres for 28 challenging laps. This was the 18th running of the event, which invites the top-ranked participants in the F3 Euro Series and the British F3 Championship.
How much of the car parc is running on misaligned wheels? A new initiative (‘Alignment Data Collection Day’) led by Pro-Align, the UK’s leading four wheel alignment specialists, is seeking to answer this question. Those involved in wheel alignment claim to have a good idea already, but there is a distinct lack of accurate and current data, which is what led to the research being conducted. The statistics are being collated and will be published on the Pro-Align website from the 1 September.
The key is to ensure a random sample of cars is selected in measured. The easiest option for Pro-Align would have been to ask their Hunter equipment users to supply the data about the motorists who came to them for alignments. However, it was felt these results may not be representative as the car drivers tend to go to an alignment centre because they suspect a problem.
A major capacity expansion at ExxonMobil Chemical’s halobutyl manufacturing facility in Texas, USA has recently been completed, the company announced. The capacity expansion was carried out, says ExxonMobil Chemical, in keeping with its commitment to help meet growing demand for halobutyl rubber. By adding equipment and modifying existing facilities, the Baytown plant has increased its capacity to produce Bromobutyl rubber (brominated butyl rubber) by 60 per cent.
In the US a National Guard unit is trialling a non-pneumatic tyre that could protect military vehicles from becoming sitting ducks in combat zones due to punctures. The tyre, developed by Resilient Technologies LLC and the University of Wisconsin-Madison over a two-year period for the US Department of Defense, features a patent-pending six-sided honeycomb construction.
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.
