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.
The Associated Press has reported that James M Zimmerman, a member of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. board of directors, has resigned. The company said that Mr Zimmerman had requested that his resignation be effective immediately. Goodyear has not specified what was behind the decision and stated that no further information will be released.
Goodyear is launching a line of ‘self sealing’ truck tyres into the American market. The tyres will feature a gel-like rubber compound designed to instantly seal tread punctures, reports the Beacon Journal.
The manufacturer claims its new technology can extend the life of a truck tyre by six times its average span. The product is aimed at trucks operating in harsh conditions, where the tyres currently last for an average of three weeks.
Production at Michelin’s Shanghai joint venture has been suspended for the past month following a “drastic slowdown in sales in the Chinese car market,” reports the South China Morning Post.
According to an unnamed source at Shanghai Tyre and Rubber, which owns 30 per cent of Shanghai Michelin Warrior Tyre, the production is likely to be halted for another one to two months, because of “continuing hard times.” The venture has yet to record a profit since its establishment in 2001.
Bridgestone will build a plant in Poland to produce rubber tracks for earthmoving equipment, the manufacturer announced today.
The plant is due to begin operating in July 2006 and will be located in the city of Zarow in the south western Polish province near Wroclaw. Production capacity is expected to reach about 26,000 tracks a year by 2007 and 12 million euros will be invested to achieve this.
The executive boards of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the Paper, Allied Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE) have unanimously voted to merge. According to the USWA the merger of the two organisations will create the largest industrial union in North America, with over 1.25 million active and retired members. The union also reports that it will have over 8,000 bargaining units in the US, Canada and the Caribbean.
The new union will be called the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union. PACE and USWA members will vote on the proposed merger at conventions to be held in April.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and Siemans VDO have unveiled the results of their cooperation as part of Ford’s latest concept car, the Ford Shelby GR-1. When the new vehicle was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit it would not have been immediately obvious that the concept coupe carried a fully functional “Tire IQ” TPMS. Even so, the companies behind the system highlight this feature describing it as the “most advanced tyre information system to be developed.”
This is a short extract. Tyrepress and Tyres & Accessories subscribers can log in below to read the full article.
If you are not yet a Tyrepress or Tyres & Accessories subscriber, you can change that here.
Becoming a member has benefits such as:
Cooper Tire & Rubber has announced that it has agreed to acquire approximately 11 per cent of the common equity of Kumho Tire. Cooper reports that the acquisition is in connection with a planned initial public offering on the London and Korean stock exchanges. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2005, remains subject to a number of government and regulatory approvals.
The Asia Pulse new agency is reporting that an official from the Chinese State Development and Reform Commission recently said the government is soliciting suggestions from relevant parties on a draft tyre industry policy.
The policy, devised by the China Association of Rubber Industry and China International Engineering Consulting Corp, is expected to be made public in the first half of 2005, after it has been revised. The new industrial policy is expected to support enterprises developing advanced technology, encourage the production of radial tyres and slow down the production of bias tyres.
According to the draft policy, China will adopt market access management for tyre industry and work out compulsory technical rules relating to tyre quality, safety, environment protection, energy-conservation and raw material consumption. A memorandum and approval system will be introduced to newly established tyre factories or tyre expansion projects invested by domestic and foreign investors. Relevant requirements will be imposed on the amount of investment, technical ability and products for new tyre projects. The policy will also standardise the tyre import market and ban any forms of waste or used tyre import.
Bandag is set to introduce a new line of off-the-road precure retreads to the American tyre market.
The new range, Continuum, is designed for light and medium earthmover tyres and includes two serpentine tread designs, which, in Bandag’s words have been created to offer “greater flexibility than other retread application methods and products.”
After procuring more than 75% of the Phoenix capital stock in November, the Continental subsidiary ContiTech AG may in the future exercise a dominating influence over Phoenix AG following the vote of the Phoenix shareholders. At the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting of Phoenix AG on December 28, the shareholders of the Hamburg company approved a corresponding control and profit and loss transfer agreement which had already been concluded between Phoenix and ContiTech on November 16. The agreement will go into effect as soon as it has been entered in the commercial register.
According to Akron Beacon Journal The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plans to modernize its Akron power plant with more than 13 million euro of improvements, making it the first major upgrade to the 80-year-old power system in more than a decade.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (Findlay/Ohio) has completed the sale of its automotive business, Cooper-Standard Automotive, to an entity formed by The Cypress Group and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners for approximately $1.165 billion in cash, subject to certain post-closing adjustments. As previously announced, $30 million of the purchase price will be held by the buyer until the post-closing working capital adjustments can be finalized.
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (President and CEO Yoshio Kataoka) will establish a sales subsidiary in Neuss, Germany on January 1, 2005. The new company, known as Toyo Tire Europe GmbH, is a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation, set up to serve the entire European market.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced that it established a Yokohama Design Center (YDC) inside the head office building of the Minato-ku, Tokyo-based company. The YDC is intensively equipped with advanced information technologies, workshop functions and audiovisual equipment so that it can contribute to the improvement of passenger-tyre appearance and the reduction of product development lead-time at the company.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and General Electric – specifically, GE Advanced Materials, Silicones – teamed up for breakthrough technology in new auto tyres. A unique tyre, Goodyear’s Assurance featuring TripleTred Technology, is the result of this technology.
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.
