Forget the gym and cancel your appointment with the hairdresser – according to research from Kwik-Fit, the key to revving-up your love life is to ensure your car is properly maintained. The fast fit operator’s research revealed some 14 million Brits claim they can gauge much about a prospective partner from the state of their vehicle, and females are slightly more likely to judge a partner by their car – with 44 per cent admitting this compared to 40 per cent of men.
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire (BFNT) has announced that Robert W. Handlos, currently Vice President Materials Development, will be promoted to the newly established position of Vice President, Product Development, effective August 1, 2008. In his new capacity, each of the product development groups located at BFNT’s Technical Center in Akron, Ohio will report to Handlos. Additionally, the Akron-based security function will continue to report to him, and Handlos will continue to hold responsibility for the product development facilities located at the site, as well as the company’s ATW race tyre manufacturing plant. Handlos will report to Yasutaka Enoki, who, as previously announced, will become Executive Vice President, BFNT, on August 1.
More than 1,600 employees and family members joined Bridgestone Americas chairman and CEO Mark Emkes and state and local dignitaries in Akron, Ohio on July 29 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the alliance between The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company and Bridgestone Corporation, a pairing that transformed Bridgestone into the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.
“This celebration of ‘A Team For 20 Years’ is a chance to reflect on our accomplishments together and to set our sights on continuous improvement and growth for the future,” said Emkes. “We are one team with one goal: to continue to build on the success of the past 20 years through our two strong brands and our ongoing investment in technology that fosters a culture of innovation and quality. And we will continue the traditions established by our two founders — Shojiro Ishibashi and Harvey Firestone — to give back to the communities we call home. When it comes to the alliance of the Bridgestone and Firestone brands, the best is yet to come.”
In its first half 2008 results, Michelin has reported sales and net income slightly down on the same period last year. Net sales of 8.239 billion euros in the six months to June 30 represent a decrease of 1.9 per cent, however Michelin calculates that, at constant scope and exchange rates, this figure actually indicates a 4.2 per cent rise over last year. The company’s operating income of 708 million euros in the half-year was 11.3 per cent less than that in the corresponding period last year, and the operating margin of 8.6 per cent was down 0.9 pt. Net income, at 430 million euros, is 1.4 per cent lower than in 2007.
China’s Qingdao region is firmly established as a tyre and rubber product manufacturing region of growing significance, and in recent years numerous domestic and global operators have set up facilities there. Newly added to the list of companies with a presence in Qingdao is chemical producer Lanxess, who on July 17 opened a joint operated rubber research centre. Established in cooperation with Qingdao’s University of Science and Technology (QUST), the Rubber Research Center (RRCQ) will conduct work for the company’s Technical Rubber Products, Butyl Rubber and Performance Butadiene Rubbers business units. Lanxess has invested 10 million euros in the centre’s establishment.
The Director of Bridgestone’s tyre research division has been confirmed as a guest speaker at the Asia Tire Conference. Dr. Yukio Nakajima, who has been with the Japanese manufacturer for 25 years, is responsible for tire research, tire indoor testing, and advanced tire technology. After graduating from Kyoto University and receiving a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Akron, Nakajima has contributed significantly to research on tyre noise, snow traction, tyre-related Computer-Aided Engineering, durability, manoeuvrability, the reduction of vehicle noise and wear. He has published papers and presented at conferences regularly, in addition to completing 17 patent applications.
The Asia Tire Conference will take place at the San Want Hotel in Shanghai, China on 18-19 September, 2008 and will also include The 2nd China Tire Market Development Strategy Seminar. The latest forecasts show that Asia will own a quarter automobile of the world in 2015. With the sustained rise of China’s automobile sector, the country has become the world’s fastest-growing market. This makes the conference an important and potentially enlightening event in the tyre industry’s calendar.
Rocketing fuel prices, emissions-based car tax and climate change are taking their toll on drivers who are turning their backs on gas guzzlers and choosing smaller cars as well as public transport, according to research by insurance retailer Swinton. Swinton has analysed its motor insurance quotations database over the last 12 months and reports a dramatic increase in the numbers of motor quotations for smaller-engined cars.
Motor insurance quotations for the very largest cars on the roads including Hummers and Range Rovers have fallen by 16 per cent compared to 06/07 quotes, with Swinton also seeing a decrease in drivers seeking insurance quotes on more everyday Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), down 11 per cent in the last year. Quotes for cars with engines below 1.5 litres (diesel and petrol) have risen by an astonishing 20 per cent, a statistic that Swinton’s analysts lay squarely at the door of higher fuel prices, car tax bands and driver concerns over climate change.
The final location of Bridgestone’s new Tech Centre – which will cost around US$100 million – is to be confirmed in “the next several weeks”, a company spokesman has told a real estate news website. The Japan-headquartered manufacturer is to decide between moving the facility, along with its 600 jobs, to office space in Tennessee near Nashville that possesses the 600,000 sq ft required, or to remain in Akron, Ohio, which would require the building of a new facility.
The state of Ohio has provided an incentive package worth $68 million to remain in the area, where the company currently inhabits a century-old office block – dating back to the company’s beginnings in Akron – unfit for the purposes of the new Centre. Staying in the area would mean building anew. The company wishes to begin work at the proposed research building in 2010.
Continental has launched an electronic components manufacturing plant in India’s IT hub. The production line will cater to the needs of the expanding auto-market on the subcontinent. The facility, which is located in a greenbelt location in Bangalore, is a high-tech venture including a research and development wing, costing the company in the vicinity of 2.2 billion rupees.
Speaking to journalists at the launch, Jay Kunkel – President Asia for the company – said that the firm has been planning to set up a retail and distribution system in Indian and – while there are no concrete plans – that the German giant would look into the feasibility of a manufacturing unit. The company is looking to provide tyres for the high-end segment of after-market sales in India.
Since Continental’s acquisition of 51 per cent ownership of Matador in early November of last year, the German giant has merged its own Mould and Machine Factory with the Slovakia-based Matador Machinery division. The resulting company is now a world leader in designing and producing machinery and equipment for the whole tire industry, while Conti upped their stake in Continental Matador to 66 per cent on July 1 this year (as reported on tyrepress.com).
China’s Double Coin – one of the country’s first manufacturers producing radial tyres – has announced that it is to increase production to six million tyres with the construction of a third factory. In producing the additional product quantity, the company hopes to meet market demand for radials, which it believes is rising.
At Reifen 2008, Double Coin reported a great deal of European interest as well as other international tyre specialists, a fact the company puts down to its greater experience in different markets, which it says has enabled the company to produce a product of increasingly high quality.
The manufacturer behind the technical all steel radial OTR tyre brand Maitech, Uzmai presented its latest extensions to the range at Reifen 2008. The show saw the 2008 launch of the company’s new range of High Speed Crane tyres, the first being a 445/95R25 (1600R25) version, while the company showed its UM£ and UM5 ranges – suitable for wheeled loaders or articulated dumpers and loaders, dozers or terminal tractors respectively. Uzmai offers its Maitech UM3 tyres in a range of six sizes and the L5 in 23.5R25, 26.5R25 and 29.5R25, all of which follow Maitech’s all-steel radial design philosophy.
The RAC Foundation, one of the best-known and most influential motoring organisations in the UK, has agreed to lend its support to a tyre safety campaign initiated by the NTDA to highlight the potential dangers of over-age tyres. The thrust of the campaign will focus on the need for drivers of older, low mileage vehicles to have their tyres checked for signs of age-related deterioration. Various cases reported in news sources in the UK and overseas, testify that tyre failures have resulted in fatal and serious injury accidents in the UK and overseas.
Shares in Continental AG have apparently declined again after rising by more than seven per cent on June 25, the result, say traders, of renewed market talk of interest in a private equity bid. The German financial newspaper named Boersen-Zeitung, Banco Santander SA, ING Groep NV and Deutsche Bank AG as the favoured contenders for bidding. The company has, however, declined to offer any information on the issue. “We don’t comment on speculation,” said Conti spokesman Hannes Boekhoff.
Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres Limited has launched an online fleet tyre management system that introduces the ability to merge third-party tyre inspections into a single web-based reporting format.
“VFM is the outcome of a major research and development project which through its extensive monitoring and reporting capabilities redefines the state-of-the-art,” Vacu-Lug’s Managing Director, Tim Hercock commented: “The system’s focus is fixed on providing our customers with the best possible service while ensuring best practice is adhered to throughout, both within our own organisation and by our third-party service providers.
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