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Rockwell Automation Names New Automotive and Tyres VP

Rockwell Automation has named John Genovesi vice president of its automotive, tyre and rubber industry initiative. In his new role, Genovesi will lead the company’s global sales efforts directed at helping automotive, tyre and rubber machine builders, components suppliers and end manufacturers compete on a global basis. Since joining the company in 1989, Genovesi has served in a variety of sales positions including branch manager in both Rochester and Buffalo, N. Y. Most recently, he served as the district manager in Cleveland, Ohio.

“John’s previous management positions gave him the opportunity to clearly demonstrate his superb leadership and communication skills,” said Keiran Coulton, senior vice president, Rockwell Automation. “His passionate drive for results and extensive sales experience make him uniquely qualified to lead our automotive, tyre and rubber industry initiatives, enhancing our ability to deliver high-value solutions to our global customers.“

2nd April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Sees Demand for Two-Piece Tyre

Product News

(Akron/Tire Review – Topeka Capital-Journal) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. continues to see demand for its innovative two-piece tyre used in the mining industry, the company said Thursday.

The company added “incremental capacity to produce two-piece tread belts last week in Topeka,” the company said in a statement.

Introduced in 2003, Goodyear’s Two-Piece Assembly gives customers flexibility in operating trucks in various conditions. The tread belts may be replaced to give the customer a different type of tread to operate in a mine.

The increased production will provide additional treadbelts for the Two-Piece Assembly used in off-the-road (OTR) tyre applications, particularly in the mining and construction industry.

2nd April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Tread Rubber Up in 2007: RMA

Product News

(Akron/Tire Review) RMA predicts that 2007 tread rubber shipments will be up 2.3 per cent from 2006.

Sales of retreaded medium truck tyres fell some 4 per cent in 2006 versus the year prior, a decline driven primarily by heavy purchases of new tractors ahead of implementation of new diesel emissions regulations.

RMA said the predicted increase represents some 230,000 retreaded tyres, covering all market segments, and said the anticipated increases will come primarily in the OTR and truck tyre segments, where replacement market sales are expected to be up slightly.

30th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Synthetic Rubber – Cheaper but Inferior

Product News

The latest rubber consumption data from India suggest that high natural rubber prices are causing tyremakers to increase the percentage of synthetic rubber used in their products. Statistics for the period between April and December 2006, in comparison to the same months the previous year, show a 15 per cent growth in synthetic rubber consumption. This contrasts with the much smaller 2.35 increase in the consumption of natural rubber recorded during the same period.

In Europe, the established natural rubber/synthetic rubber ratio is 80:20. This is mainly due to the superior vulcanising qualities of natural rubber, an important consideration in truck and OTR tyres. Indian tyre manufacturers have previously reported that their optimum natural/synthetic rubber ratio is 78:22, but in recent months it appears that this ratio has been stretched to 70:30, about the maximum technically feasible.

30th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Sameer Africa Reports Losses

Product News

Sameer Africa recently announced that it had accrued 22 million Kenyan shillings (£164,000) of losses after sales were hit by a sudden influx low price imported tyres. Speaking during the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the firm’s Mombasa Road Plant, Sameer Africa Board Chairman Naushad Merali said the sales nosedive of locally manufactured tyres followed the reduction of imported tyre tariffs from 35 to 10 per cent. Merali however noted that the fact Bridgestone has not withdrawn its 14.5 per cent share-holding in the company was a sign of Bridgestone’s confidence in Sameer Africa’s potential.

According to local news sources, Sameer has made “strategic alliances” with other international tyre manufacturers to increase its product offering in the regional market. The Kenya times reported that this includes off-take agreements with brands such as Bridgestone, Dunlop South Africa and Hankook.

30th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

New Appointment for Rockwell Automation’s Tyre Initiative

Product News

Industrial automation control and information solutions specialist Rockwell Automation has named John Genovesi vice president of its automotive, tyre and rubber industry initiative. In his new role, Genovesi will lead the company’s global sales efforts directed at helping tyremakers, as well as those in the automotive, component and rubber manufacturing industries, compete on a global basis.

Regarding his new role, Genovesi commented: “With the automotive, tyre and rubber industries facing some of the most challenging market conditions ever, partnering with a knowledgeable automation supplier has become increasingly important. With years of successful automotive, tyre and rubber industry experience, Rockwell Automation has helped many of today’s leading manufacturers optimize production processes, improve uptime and identify new opportunities for operational efficiency. I look forward to helping manufacturers grow their businesses in this evolving industry.”

30th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyo Provides OUMF

Product News

Toyo looks set to give a head start to the automotive stars of tomorrow thanks to the company’s latest sponsorship deal with The Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation, or OUMF as it is affectionately known.

OUMF is an independent, pan university student initiative, founded in 2005, to promote practical engineering and associated skills through the medium of motor racing. Already it looks set to provide a valuable skill base of able enthusiasts that will benefit the industry for years to come.

29th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Q4 Tough for Indian Tyremakers

Product News

Indian tyre manufacturers are expected to experience a difficult quarter in Q4 2007, the Business Standard has reported. According to the report “spot rubber prices in this quarter till date have averaged 95 rupees per kg levels as compared to an average price of 78.4 rupees per kg in same period last year.” Higher rubber prices this year are attributed to unfavourable weather conditions in key South East Asian producing countries, coupled with buoyant demand conditions from China, say analysts. As a result tyre stocks are said to have under-performed since the beginning of the quarter. Apollo Tyres is said to have 25 per cent during this period compared to a 7.6 per cent fall in the Sensex exchange. MRF also declined 24 per cent during this period.

29th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

European Double Coin Sales Up

Product News

European Double Coin sales have increased “significantly” since Dutch wholesaler Inter-Sprint took over distribution in May 2006, the company has reported. Since then the European distribution channel has also enlarged to include: Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czech, Sweden, Finland, Estonia. Inter Sprint reports that it is also looking for distributors in the former Eastern Europe.

29th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Students to Attempt ‘World’s Longest Shot’ from Goodyear Blimp

Product News

(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will offer four college students a chance to win the company’s “Get There” prize by shooting a basketball at a hoop while flying 500 feet in the air aboard the Goodyear blimp.

The contest takes place Friday, Mar. 30 near Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, the site
of this year’s men’s division I college basketball tournament. The four students will represent each of the semifinalist schools – Florida, UCLA, Georgetown and Ohio State.

Any student who makes “the world’s longest basketball shot” will win Goodyear’s “Get There” prize package, which includes travel, accommodations and tickets for two for a sporting event during the next 12 months at which the Goodyear Blimp provides aerial coverage. If no student is successful, each will receive a second attempt, and Goodyear said a referee on the ground will signal a successful attempt.

The contest is being conducted to support Goodyear’s new advertising campaign, built on the “Get There” theme.

28th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Man Gets More ‘Socially Responsible’ in New Ads

Premium, Product News

(Akron/Tire Review) Michelin North America is launching a new, “multi-tier” marketing campaign in television, radio, print and online media.

The company’s “A Better Way Forward” slogan will be featured on an interactive Web site, a 30-second TV spot called “Workshop,” and a new print ad called “Flex,” which will emphasize the strength and endurance of Michelin tyres.

The interactive Web site is located at www.michelinman.com/forward.

In the new ads, Bibendum – otherwise known as the Michelin Man – has become “a modern, socially responsible icon,” said Michelin.

For example, a 1905 advertisement depicts the Michelin Man with cigar to lips in a French wrestling-style leopard loincloth. Now, a smoke-free, slimmed-down Michelin Man enhances roads and parks as alternatives to sending scrap tyres to landfills. He is shown in the new TV commercial installing recycled rubber material in a children’s playground.

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28th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

RMA Awards Michelin Plants With SHIP Awards

Product News

(Akron/Tire Review) The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) recently presented four Michelin plants with its Safety & Health Improvement Program (SHIP) award for facility improvements that have resulted in enhancements in worker safety and health.

The four facilities that received the awards were Greenville, S.C., Mogadore, Ohio; Lexington, S.C.; and Starr, S.C.

In all, 61 facilities represented by 37 RMA members were awarded SHIP awards.

28th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Outlook Positive: S&P

Product News

(Akron/Tire Review) Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook on Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. to “positive” after the tiremaker agreed to sell its engineered products business to Carlyle Group’s EPD Inc.

The rating agency also affirmed Goodyear’s “B+” long-term and “B-2” short-term corporate credit ratings.

Yesterday, Goodyear shares rose 4.9% and closed at $31.76 on the New York Stock Exchange.

28th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Company Takes Legal Action to Release TREAD Act Data

Product News

Quality Control Systems Corp. has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal District Court to obtain secret data about deaths and injuries held by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). R.A. Whitfield, the company’s director, said that the public needs access to the Early Warning Reports collected under the Transportation Recall Enhancement Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act to better understand why so many deaths and injuries related to tire failures in the Ford Explorer have continued long after the well-known tyre recalls that affected the vehicle.

The TREAD Act was passed in October 2000 in response to Ford Explorer- Firestone tyre-related rollover deaths in the U.S. and Ford’s overseas recalls. TREAD amended federal transportation law to require vehicle and equipment manufacturers to report safety recalls or campaigns on vehicles and components in a foreign country if they also sold substantially similar products in the U.S. It also mandated NHTSA to create regulations governing quarterly Early Warning Reports — information on property damage and warranty claims, consumer, dealer and field reports, production numbers and deaths and injuries collected by manufacturers — with the intent of using the data to spot defect trends.

28th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Throw One’s Weight Around

Product News

Last year Vredestein unveiled the newest big gun in its UHP arsenal, the Ultrac Sessanta. Designed and marketed as a cut above the existing Ultrac range, the new tyre was the Dutch-Russian tyremaker’s response to the ever growing high performance vehicle segment, and with a low profile wide-tread design, Y speed rating and styling by Italy’s Giugiaro Design, the Ultrac Sessanta fitted comfortably into the upper end of Vredestein’s range. However this series of performance car tyres only partially catered for the performance market, and those wishing to drive vehicles the size of small trucks at incredible speeds found themselves without a suitable Ultrac Sessanta offering.

As of March 2007 all this would change: Enter the Ultrac SUV Sessanta, Vredestein’s UHP tyre for 4×4 sport utility vehicles. Based upon the Ultrac Sessanta, this latest tyre takes into account the unique qualities possessed by vehicles that are both fast and very heavy. The Audi Q7, for example – a vehicle Vredestein expressly states the Ultrac SUV Sessanta is ideally suited to – in its 4.2 litre petrol-engine guise has a top speed of close to 250km/h combined with a kerb weight of two and a quarter tonnes. So it goes without saying that the demands these vehicles place upon a tyre when cornering and stopping are far above the norm.

28th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

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