Tyres can’t function without this critical raw material. Whether its natural or synthetic rubber you are interested in, articles bearing this tag feature this indispensable polymer.
Continental AG has spoken of plans to increase passenger car, SUV and light truck tyre prices across Europe. A Continental spokesperson in Hanover declined to give further details of the price rise, but explained that the move had been forced upon the manufacturer by consistently high raw material prices. Continental’s raw material costs are expected to total 300 million euros this year.
Taiwan’s leading tyre manufacturer, Cheng Shin Rubber Industrial Co, has announced plans to invest US$120 million in China during 2007. This investment will primarily take the form of expansion in production capacity.
BMW-Sauber Formula One team test driver Sebastian Vettel has disclosed that he and the team are struggling to get their best out of the new Bridgestone tyres.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.’s former president, chairman and CEO Thomas Dattilo has been appointed as a director of Alberto-Culver Co., a personal care products company responsible for brands such as the VO5 hair care range. Dattilo resigned from Cooper in August, following disappointing performance at the company. In addition to the position at Alberto-Culver, he also is a director of Harris Corp., a communications and information technology company. George Fotiades and Kay Napier were appointed to Alberto Culver at the same time. Cooper is yet to name a replacement for Dattilo with director Byron Bond standing in as interim CEO.
Apollo Tyres plans to set up a research and development facility in Germany, according to Onkar S. Kanwar, co-managing director of Apollo Tyres. The company plans to use the facility as a stepping-stone towards strengthening the company’s relationship with the Leipzig Institute of Polymer Science, a school of Germany’s Leipzig University which employs professionals from various global tyre majors as experts. These experts are helping to develop novel technology for tyres. News reports suggest the company is also on the look out for another two universities in Germany for similar partnerships. Apollo is also working with Indian institutes such as National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and IIT, Kharagpur, for design and development of rubber technology, respectively.
According to the manufacturer Tripoint’s SureSeal Rimless System is the highest temperature rubber seal on the market and is less expensive to use than competing products. Tests performed by Bergey’s Retread Technologies demonstrated SureSeal’s performance. “Tripoint’s SureSeal is lasting three times longer than the rubber seals we used previously, saving Bergey’s more than 30 per cent on replacement cost,” says Mike Ellinger, general manager for Bergey’s Retread Technologies.
Bridgestone is still firmly in favour of the proposed new tyre rule that would see Formula One teams using both hard and soft compounds during the 2007 grand prix season.
An American couple had a night to remember when a set of tyres being carried on the back of a passing truck came loose and smashed into their house at 70mph.
Mike and Pam Bach of De Soto, Iowa were asleep at 12.30am when the tyres parted company with the truck carrying them on nearby Interstate 80. The escapees then bounced and rolled for nearly five hundred feet before crashing their way through the vinyl siding of the Bach’s bedroom wall.
Combine a handful of the world’s best sports cars, a dozen leading tuners and a stretch of test circuit, and you have a recipe for breaking records, as was discovered recently at the Nardo test circuit in Southern Italy.
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The reuse of scrap tyres is steadily increasing in the US according to figures released by the Rubber Manufacturers Association. A report released by the RMA indicated that almost eighty seven per cent of tyres disposed of each year are given a new use, compared to eleven per cent in 1990.
This high proportion of re-use means that tyre stockpiles are dwindling. Sixteen years ago the US faced the environmental problem of having more than a billion stockpiled scrap tyres on it hands, however today this figure is now down to 188 million, an eighty per cent drop.
While Cooper is obviously confident about its tyres, the company has to admit that making your car float is beyond its capabilities, although visitors to the Lake District could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. To celebrate its first year of using Cooper’s Discoverer STT rubber on its fleet of 4×4 vehicles, off-road driving centre Kankku has launched an innovative advertising ploy. The extreme driving experience venue, based in the scenic national park, has hung one of its branded 4×4 cars from a crane just outside Windermere so that the town’s many visitors can’t miss the adrenalin-fuelled activities on offer.
(Akron/Tire Review) Victor Siewert has been named the new CFO of Hercules Tire & Rubber Co. The 17-year Hercules veteran most recently served as vice president of finance. The announcement follows a number other personnel changes within the company.
Tigar, based in the Serbian town of Pirot, has a domestic market share of about 52 per cent. This strong foothold on the local market is at least partly due to technological support and know-how supplied by Michelin. At the same time the privately owned company sells a significant proportion of its annual production (3.2 million tyres) abroad. In particular France and the UK are important export markets for Tigar. Currently there are certain restructuring measures taking place in the company, which could also affect the future of the Tigar brand in the Michelin Corporation as well as the future of the factory itself.
Serbia’s second largest tyre manufacturer, Trayal Corp., is soon to be sold and therefore privatised. According to reports, the privatisation agency in Serbia has announced a public tender to bid for the traditional state-owned company. The Bulgarian power supplier Brikel EAD has now made the highest offer and will soon start to negotiate the details of the deal with the agency, local media sources wrote. The bid was £8.2 million for a majority share plus modernisation investments of up to £16.9 million.
(Akron/Tire Review) Cooper’s Oliver Rubber Co. subsidiary has introduced a new premium retread tread compound and pattern – the Vantage Drive. The new product features what Oliver called a “technologically advanced” tread compound called “Black Armor,” which it said “offers the benefits found in premium truck tires.” Oliver said the Vantage Drive delivers “remarkable treadwear with exceptionally low rolling resistance that optimizes fuel efficiency, while delivering long-lasting casing durability.” Furthermore, the new tread stock reportedly delivers up to 4 per cent better fuel economy than “best-in-class retreads on the market.” The Vantage Drive is available in 205mm (8), 210mm (8.5N), 220mm (9) and 230mm (9.5) sizes with a deep 26/32-inch tread depth.
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