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Brazilian retreader, Vipal’s mobile training unit helped to qualify 909 industry professionals in 2011, travelling nearly 23,700km across Brazil. In the last five years, the Carreta-Escola, as the mobile unit is called, has conducted 553 training sessions, delivered to 7,006 people across Brazil, with the number of participating companies reaching 334. Vipal expects to train about 1,050 people in 2012.
According to CENS, growing demand for car tyres in China is expected to continue soaring, and Taiwanese tyre-makers are ready to take advantage of the opportunity. For example, Cheng Shin expects to see 10 to 20 per cent revenue growth this year, according to some institutional investors said. Other tyre-makers Kenda Rubber Industrial Co., Nankang Rubber Tire Corp., Hwa Fong Rubber Ind., Ltd. and Federal Tire Corp., are also looking at increased business in China.
On 17 January Cooper Tire & Rubber completed its acquisition of the former Trayal manufacturing plant assets in Kruševac, Serbia. A formal signing ceremony was held to mark the official start of Cooper Tire Serbia; this was attended by Serbian President Boris Tadić, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković, US Ambassador Mary Warlick, along with Roy Armes, Chairman, President and CEO of Cooper Tire. During the ceremony Armes stated that Cooper elected to invest in Serbia not only because of its significant economic potential, but also for its quality workforce, geographical advantages and Serbian government support.
Tyre manufacturer Maxxis says it is one of the top three brands engaged in the amenity market. The manufacturer is currently promoting its Turfmaxx product – the first road legal turf tyre to go on sale in the UK – saying that it is, ahem, “lawns ahead”. Available in a range of sizes and OE accredited by all the major turf machinery suppliers, the Maxxis Turfmaxx is purpose designed to address the safety issues associated with the extra roadwork implements cover between jobs.
Michelin’s bike tyres were fitted to the Dakar Rally motorcycle winner’s bike for the 29th time this weekend; rally winner, Cyril Despres’ KTM was equipped with the latest Michelin Desert Race tyres was the winner, while another Michelin-equipped KTM, ridden by Spaniard Marc Coma claimed second place, completing a one-two finish for Red Bull/KTM. Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues’s Yamaha, also equipped with Michelin Desert front tyres with the French manufacturer’s Bib-Mousse inserts, came third.
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Russia is currently a growth market for specialty chemicals group Lanxess. In the first nine months of 2011 the company enjoyed sales of close to 50 million euros there, more than twice what it earned in the whole of 2009. To capitalise on the expanding Russian automotive and tyre industries, Lanxess has now decided to invest in a new facility in Lipetsk, some 300 miles southeast of Moscow. Construction of the plant, which will be operated by Lanxess’ Rhein Chemie subsidiary, is set to start early this year and production is scheduled to commence during the first half of 2013. The site will be built at a cost of five million euros and will employ around 40 people in the medium term.
Tyres have traditionally been round and black, but Bridgestone is set to change this. The Japanese manufacturer announced on 13 January that it has developed a new printing technology for tyres – a technology Bridgestone calls revolutionary and says differs from any tyre printing or colouring process presently on the market.
With the first Chinese brand models set for sale in the UK and various European markets by the end of 2012, Chinese tyre manufacturers with OE-supply deals in their homeland could begin to see a very small amount of pull-through.
While some Chinese cars such as the Shanghai Automotive-owned MG brand are already driving on British roads under local monikers, Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd’s Emgrand EC7 family hatchback and saloon will be something of a first when it goes on sale in the UK. Geely, which is currently mid-way through a UK dealer recruitment programme targeting 40 dealers, appears to be trying to do what Hyundai and Kia have done in recent years and build a position quickly from scratch by offering “good quality, really good value for money and a long warranty.”
Borrachas Vipal recently brought together more than 60 journalists and recycling business representatives at a road test event held in Portugal. Members of the Asociación Nacional de Profesionales de los Pneumáticos (Anirp) [National Association of Tyre Professionals] as well as Portuguese journalists all took part. The aim of the event was to bring together media professionals to test cars and lorries that use recycled tyres.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has received plaudits from American consumer magazine, Consumers Digest in its January/February 2012 issue. In the “All-Season Car Tires” category, Goodyear’s Assurance TripleTred All-Season was the editors’ selected Premium tyre, receiving “Best Buy” designation. The company’s Assurance ComforTred Touring was awarded a Best Buy label in the “Touring Car Tires” category.
Headquartered in the north Italian town of Seregno, BKT Europe says it is committed to increasing product knowledge; the latest action on this front has been a round of European testing of the Mumbai, India company’s agricultural tyre range, Agrimax Fortis. BKT charged the Agricultural Research Council (CRA-ING) in Treviglio, Bergamo with carrying out an independent, standardized and comparative assessment for the purpose of evaluating the performance of the Agrimax Fortis. BKT says the tests show fuel consumption and soil compaction – features that impact productivity, the environment and the farmer’s pocket – comparable to performance features offered by two unnamed “competitors, acknowledged leaders at an international level”. BKT believes the results show the benefits of its investment in research, particularly in “eco-friendliness”.
It’s just over a month since Cooper Tire & Rubber announced its purchase of Serbian manufacturer Trayal’s passenger car tyre business. Since the acquisition agreement was signed on 8 December the Serbian firm has no doubt become more closely acquainted with its new owner; at the same time the union representing its employees has been getting to know the current thorn in Cooper’s side, the United Steelworkers union.
Yasushi Tanaka, who took over as president and CEO of Yokohama Tire Corporation in July 2011, reports that parent company Yokohama Rubber is ready to commence the third phase of its ‘Grand Design 100’ plan this year, a plan he is credit as being co-architect and co-founder of. This penultimate phase is scheduled to be acted upon until 2015, when the fourth and final phase will come into effect and be carried out over a two-year period before concluding in time for the company’s centenary in 2017.
Another new name to Tyres & Accessories was Toyama Tyre Corp., Ltd., a company that reportedly runs its own factory in Shandong Province’s rubber city, Qingdao. The leadership of the business is said to have moved to China after having originally established itself as Japanese entity. In fact the company takes it moniker from the Japanese city of the same name.
At Continental Tire the Americas’ annual truck dealer meeting, company executive vice-president Paul Williams announced plans for a ‘multi-million dollar’ investment in the ContiLifeCycle tread rubber plant in central Mexico. This investment will double plant space to more than 4,000 square metres and include the addition of extra curing and finishing lines.
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