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Trend to Accessorize Vehicles Going Strong

(Akron/Tire Review) American drivers continue to embrace the notion of customization and personalization, having purchased a record $36.72 billion worth of specialty automotive products in 2006. The number represents a 7 per cent increase over 2005, when sales reached $34.28 billion.

“Today’s consumer wants something unique and different,” said Jim Spoonhower, vice president of market research for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). “They’re buying vehicles that are dependable and reliable, but then they’re personalising those vehicles so that they look distinctive, perform differently, are more comfortable, convenient, safe or just more fun.”

21st June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

New Uniroyal Creative Designs Launched

At the beginning of June, new creative designs arrived to support the Uniroyal brand. The brand has undergone an extensive revamp recently and whilst many people remember the orang-utans of the 80s, the new creatives and consumer website are designed to take the Uniroyal “firmly into the 21st century. “

Tracey Hyem, brand manager for Uniroyal, said: “The relaunch of the Uniroyal brand has been developed using comprehensive research among consumers and retailers. The findings concluded that the Rain Tyre proposition is a strong message to motorists who recognise the dangers of wet weather driving. The new designs for the point of sale feature the wet performance proposition with the headline ‘repels water’ supported by powerful imagery.”

20th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hi-Q Gets to GRIPS With Customer Service

A bespoke point of sale customer service system has been installed throughout the entire HiQ network in a move to improve the experience for customers visiting stores. The Goodyear Dunlop Retail Integrated Point-of-Sale System (GRIPS) is a unique customer relationship management system which is being introduced to all HiQ stores in the UK and its sister companies across Europe.

The unique Windows-based point of sale system is the result of £1.5 million investment in customer service which will provide employees with detailed pricing information and enhanced customer profiling at all of HiQ’s 130 stores across the network. “GRIPS is the result of an intensive research and development programme and reflects a substantial investment in customer service,’ comments Gary Price, GRIPS project manager.

15th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Japanese Michelin Plant to Focus on Hi-Tech Offerings

Michelin has decided to specialise tyre production at its facility in Ota, Japan so it can, as the company stated in a press release, “respond more effectively to the specific, highly technological requirements of the local market.” The plant’s efforts will focus upon Japanese demand for sophisticated products such as the directional tread studless winter X Ice tyre, which was especially designed for the Japan market.

The Ota plant will also provide support for Michelin’s R&D centre in Asia, thus strengthening Michelin’s research operations in Japan. To accommodate these changes, the plant will terminate production for other export markets, which represent approximately 60 per cent of its current output, and adjust its production capacities accordingly. Based on an initial estimate of the cost of the plan, a non-recurring expense of roughly 65 million euros will be recognised in the Company’s first-half 2007 financial statements.

11th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Brisa Appoints New International Sales Director

On 1 May 2007, Levent Akpulat was appointed as international sales director, responsible for the Lassa brands’ international sales. According to the company, executives at the London office and sales coordinators in Istanbul will report directly to the new international sales director.

Levent Akpulat joined Brisa in 1992 and up until the beginning of 2006 he held a range of marketing, marketing research, business development, marketing and communications positions. Shortly before being transferred to the international sales department he was also responsible for the communication of both the Bridgestone and Lassa brands in the domestic Turkish market. Speaking to Tyres & Accessories, Akpulat stated that his range of communications and marketing experience means he will be at an advantage when it comes to promoting the Lassa brand.

6th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Matador Q1 Earnings up 18 Per Cent

During the period between January 1 and March 31 2007 the Matador group reported earnings of SKK 4.54 billion (£90.6 million), an 18 per cent increase on the same period in 2006. From this figure, Matador’s rubber division recorded earnings of SKK 3.52 billion (£70.3 million), and of this 78 per cent was generated via the company’s M-Pneu tyre division

During the three-month period the group reached a pre-tax profit of SKK 296 million (£5.9 million), SKK 47 million (£938,000) more than during January to March 2006. The company’s rubber business earned SKK 278 million (£5.5 million) and its automotive division SKK 18 million (£359,000). Profit to sales ratio reached 7.3 per cent, attributable largely to lower operating costs at the beginning of the year.

6th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Rosehill Increases US Export Business

Investment of over £4 million in new plant and machinery has seen Rosehill Polymers achieve a 50 per cent growth in export sales of its TPV range of Infill and Inplay products to the United States this year. Recently as many as 28 in one single month, as the company continues to satisfy America’s insatiable appetite for its products.

Rosehill Polymers, based in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire has developed its new TPV granular product to be used as either a bonded top layer for multi-sports and play surfaces or as a loose infill for synthetic grass pitches. It is now available in a range of 16 different colours, which can be used in applications including soccer pitches, running tracks, grid-iron football pitches and children’s play surfaces.

6th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

India & China Fuelling Increased Carbon Black Demand

According to the US market research organisation the Freedonia Group, worldwide demand for carbon black is forecast to rise by 4.2 per cent per annum, reaching an annual consumption of 11 million tonnes in 2011. Consumption is predicted to particularly grow in the Asia-Pacific region, thanks to the continuing expansion of China and India’s automotive and tyre industries. These two countries also saw the largest increases in new carbon black capacity between 2001 and 2006. In contrast, Freedonia states that it expects demand in developed regions to “post below-average gains through 2011, with the large US and Japanese markets holding particularly weak prospects.”

Two-thirds of this anticipated demand will come from the tyre industry, which is expected to account for 7.1 million tonnes by 2011. And with little construction of new carbon black production facilities, utilisation rates in developed markets is predicted to remain at 95 per cent or higher.

4th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Time to Update the Rolodex

On May 31 Bridgestone Corporation announced that the company’s board of directors have approved a number of top-level management changes, to become effective July 1. Hideo (Hank) Hara, who served as executive vice president, Tire Development and Technology with Bridgestone America at their Akron Technical Center until returning to Japan in mid-October 2006, is to assume the position of vice president and officer, Original Equipment Tire Sales. His role prior to July 1 is that of vice president and officer, Original Equipment Tire Sales and Motorsport.

1st June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Announce Management Changes

On May 31 Bridgestone Corporation announced that the company’s board of directors have approved a number of top-level management changes, to become effective July 1. Hideo (Hank) Hara, who served as executive vice president, Tire Development and Technology with Bridgestone America at their Akron Technical Center until returning to Japan in mid-October 2006, is to assume the position of vice president and officer, Original Equipment Tire Sales. His role prior to July 1 is that of vice president and officer, Original Equipment Tire Sales and Motorsport.

1st June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Second Life

According to the Environment Agency’s Tyre Watch Programme, every year in the UK around 450,000 tonnes of used tyres are produced and require some form of reuse or disposal. That is the equivalent of some 50 million car tyres, and with vehicle ownership expected to grow between 30 and 60 per cent over the next two decades the potential environmental threat posed by waste tyres will become more acute – unless a suitable solution is embraced.

At Swansea University engineers are seeking such a solution through their research into new methods of recycling tyres. This Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project, made possible by Department for Trade and Industry funding, is being conducted by the university’s School of Engineering Materials Research Centre under the overall supervision of Dr David Isaac, a Reader at the Centre. Dr Isaac has been working as part of a research group studying various aspects of polymers and composites.

31st May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Solideal Factory in China achieves ISO 9001 Certification

Solideal is pleased to announce that Solideal Rubber Products (Qingdao) Co. Ltd has achieved the ISO 9001: 2000 Quality management certification from Lloyds Shanghai on April 25th 2007. After one year working on the project, the factory was audited by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance and has officially been granted the certification for quality management, aligning itself on all the other Solideal factories worldwide.

Since 1996, Solideal has strived to achieve and maintain ISO certification for its factories and research and development facilities. Through its global network of manufacturing, distribution and service centers, the Solideal group supports the Forklift and Tire dealers throughout the world. The Solideal group employs over 7000 people in 20 countries.

30th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Aiming for Doubled Euro Sales by 2010

With the opening of Hankook Tire’s £340 million facility in Dunaujvaros, Hungary scheduled for June, the South Korean manufacturer’s goal of doubling its European market share to 8 per cent by 2010 looks on track. By the end of this three-year timeframe the new factory will have an expected capacity of 10 million units. During this same period Hankook plans to increase global output from 69 million to 80 million units, and the company has previously stated that its longer-term goal is 100 million units a year.

Hankook is the fastest growing of the world’s top 11 tyremakers, with sales increasing by 20 per cent annually. Furthermore, it reportedly enjoys the industry’s highest profitability, with average operating profit margins exceeding 10 per cent. And as Hankook’s largest export market, Europe is naturally very important to the tyremaker – a fact confirmed when the company referred to Europe as their “second domestic market” earlier in the year. A total of 35 per cent of the company’s export revenue (which in turn is 70 per cent of total revenue) comes from European sales.

29th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Marks China Milestone

Mid-May saw Hankook Tire reach an important milestone, with the company celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of its Huai’an factory in China’s Jiangsu Province. Government officials, including Mr. Ding Jieming, Part Secretary of Huaian government, Jiangsu province and Mr. fan Jinglong, Mayor of Huaian joined senior Hankook officials including company CEO Mr. Seung Hwa Suh in commemorating the occasion.

“Hankook Tire has experienced rapid growth,” stated Seung Hwa Suh during the ceremony. “We have recently celebrated the No. 100 million tyre off the production line and have sustained the top position in China’s market, which has helped Hankook Tire to build a solid foundation for ranking the 7th in the global market, and to lay down a solid foundation for the further high speed growth in China market.” Since first establishing a Chinese market presence in 1996 the company has established two factories, in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province and Huai’an Jiangsu Province. Production capacity at these two plants now stands at 28 million tyres per year.

24th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Research Laboratory Dedicated in Honour of Edouard Michelin

It has been a year since the death of then Michelin CEO Edouard Michelin in a tragic boating accident off the coast of France, and Michelin North America has chosen the anniversary to announce the naming of an endowed research laboratory at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research in his honour. Plans for the Edouard Michelin Research Laboratory are well under way with completion expected this autumn.

“Mr. Michelin strongly believed that education and technology could make the world a better place,” said Jim Micali, chairman and president of Michelin North America. “His vision remains a guiding force at Michelin today and is evident in the innovations and advancements that Michelin products deliver to the driving public every day. It is only natural that we establish this research laboratory in memory of Mr. Michelin to honour his passion for innovation and his commitment to excellence.”

24th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors