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Nokian Boosts its Summer & Winter Line-Ups

The range of products on offer from Nokian Tyres is receiving a boost with the introduction of three new tyre lines. The new tyres have been, according to the Finnish manufacturer, developed for the demanding weather and driving conditions in the Nordic and Russian markets.

Two new summer tyres, the Hakka Z and Hakka SUV, complete Nokian’s Hakka tyre family, the first members of which were released in the spring of 2007. The Hakka Z is a UHP tyre designed for high speed driving, and the new product line includes about 30 W and Y speed rated tyres in sizes between 16 and 20 inches. Sales of the Hakka Z will begin in spring 2008. The other new summer product, the Hakka SUV, is intended for mid-sized city jeeps and all-terrain vehicles, a rapidly growing vehicle segment in the tyre’s target markets. The Hakka SUV range is said to cover the most popular vehicles sold in the Nordic countries, and sales for this product are also scheduled to commence in spring 2008.

20th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Oudshoorn Rejoins Amtel-Vredestein Board

Vredestein Banden B.V. CEO Robert H. Oudshoorn is to return to Amtel-Vredestein’s Board after a 6-month absence to join new Amtel-Vredestein CEO and Executive Board Chairman, Petr Zolotarev and CFO Vadim Pesochinsky, who joined the Company in July 2007.

Amtel-Vredestein has increased the size of its Executive Board from a maximum of four to six and has nominated four new members. The election of the nominees will be included among the agenda items at an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (EGM) scheduled for 2 October 2007 in Enschede, The Netherlands.

Other new members are Vredestein Consulting Managing Director, Kornelis (Kees) Hettema; Amtel-Vredestein Deputy General Director of Sales and Operations, Ilya Ivanov; and Vredestein Banden Director of Corporate Marketing & Sales, Marc Luyten.

18th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Amtel-Povolzhye Receives ISO 14001 and 16949

Amtel-Vredestein’s Amtel-Povolzhye (Kirov) Tyre Complex has received the ISO 14001:2004 Ecology Certificate and the Certificate of Accordance with the ISO/TS 16949:2002 quality standard.

Amtel-Povolzhye is the first tyre plant in Russia to receive the Certificate in Quality Management according to the ISO/TS 16949:2002 standard. This Certificate is given as the result of the following criteria: the plant meets international standards of safety requirements, implements improvements in technological processes on an on-going basis, and guarantees reliable high quality production.

13th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli to Invest in Tyre Unit After Olimpia Sale

Pirelli & C SpA chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera is planning to pay of the company’s debt and invest in its tyre unit with cash from the planned sale of its Olimpia unit. According to the AFX news agency, the board “has not taken any decision on any extraordinary dividend or share buy-backs.” Pirelli is expected to receive 3.3 billion euros of cash when its sell Olimpia, which owns an 18 per cent share of Telecom Italia SpA. In the meantime the company is waiting Brazilian regulatory clearance to sell Olimpia.

13th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Amtel Founder Resigns

Amtel-Vredestein N.V. (AV’s) has announced that Amtel founder and the Chairman, Dr Sudhir Gupta, stepped down as chairman of AV’s Supervisory Board on 31 August. Maxim Ignatiev, Chairman of the Board of Sport and Fashion Group (formerly Reebok Russia) and Amtel-Vredestein N.V. Vice-Chairman will become Acting-Chairman. Supervisory Board member, Tariq Chaudri, has also resigned as a director with effect from 4 September 2007.

5th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Expanding Retail Business a Priority for Nokian

Finnish cold weather tyre specialist Nokian has told the daily newspaper Aamulehti that it plans to expand its retail business. The company has made no secret of its desire for its retail tyre chain, Vianor, to be the leading chain in its home market, however comments made by CEO Kim Gran hint at ever greater ambitions.

“One could say our final aim is to have a retail chain which covers the globe in the lands of ice and snow,” said Gran. He further indicated that the tyremaker is considering drawing on the resources of a second company in order to accomplish its plans. “It could well be that we have a partner that then utilises our retail chain to sell its own products.”

At present the Vianor chain is present in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Russia, and the company is working at growing in Russia and the CIS countries through a partner network.

3rd September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

New and Improved

There are two types of European winter: the winter we know and grumble about, with coats, scarves and the heating cranked up a few notches – and then there’s the mind-shatteringly cold northern winter, an environment so unforgiving that even the careless act of touching a metal surface with an ungloved hand may result in the loss of a few layers of skin. So with two vastly different definitions of winter existing within the one region, it makes sense for a tyre manufacturer to recognise this distinction when developing a winter tyre range. Michelin has done exactly this, and offers different winter products in different markets. In Scandinavia and Russia the tyremaker sells products like the Latitude X-Ice North, a studded, blocky, heavily siped tyre designed to tackle severe Nordic conditions. But such a tyre would obviously be ridiculously excessive for a shopping trip to the high street or commuting on the M25, so for our milder, yet deceptively hazardous winters, Michelin offers a more suitable range.

30th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Amtel-Vredestein Founder Reduces Share in Company

The founder of Amtel-Vredestein, Sudhir Gupta, has reportedly sold 17.9 per cent of his holdings, reducing his stake in the Russian tyremaker to 11.4 per cent. Analysts also expect Gupta to part with the remainder of his holdings, which they say means the free-float of the company could reach 59 per cent. Should this level be reached, the position of the holding’s senior management, including CEO Petr Zolotarev, would be significantly strengthened.

Gupta sold the 17.9 per cent stake between July 18 and August 22 at a range of US$5.21 to $5.68, which reportedly created $63 million to $69 million return to Gupta. The stocks were acquired by a number of Western capital funds. Russian media also reports that “Mr. Gupta will sell all stocks of the holding and withdraw from its board of directors.”

The tyremaker owns three factories with Russia; Moscow, Voronezh and Kirov, plus a plant in Enschede, the Netherlands, as well as the AV-TO chain of stores, which sell and automotive parts. The company sold thirteen million tyres in 2006.

29th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Moscow Tyre Plant Produces Millionth Amtel tyre

Approximately a year after its acquisition by Russia’s leading passenger car tyre producer, Amtel-Vredestein’s Moscow Tyre Plant has manufactured its millionth Amtel brand tyre. Production of Amtel branded products began a month after the facility was acquired by Amtel-Vredestein in August 2006, and since that time both monthly output and product range have gradually increased. Amtel-Vredestein reports that 18 types of tyre are now produced in the factory, including four popular Amtel NordMaster2 models.

24th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Halfway Around the World with Cooper Tire

The ruggedness of Cooper Tire 4×4 tyres is being put to the test with an ambitious 40,000km trek from Cape Town in South Africa to London. Cooper’s products have been selected as the tyre of choice for the “Africa Overland” expedition, a journey being made by Australian couple Ron and Viv Moon. This is their eighth trip through the Continent in 20 years, and by mid-August the couple was already halfway through the mammoth 30-week adventure; Ron and Vic expect to arrive in London in mid-October.

With South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, the Serengeti and Kenya already visited, the Cooper Discoverer STT-shod, 4.2-litre Nissan Patrol will pass through a total of 16 countries in all. “The tyres have performed fantastically well,” said Ron Moon. “We’ve clocked up some 33,000km and put them through some of the toughest roads in Africa, varying from near non-existent tracks, to sandy Kalahari Desert roads and deep mud hole-dotted trails. They’ve been amazingly good for the areas we’ve been driving in, and the loads we’ve been carrying – our vehicle weighs around four tonnes.”

17th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conferences to Help Business with an Eye on Eastern Europe

It is no secret that Russia and Eastern Europe hold much potential for global automakers, and also for those in the tyre and related industries. However it is essential that overseas operators enter these markets with their eyes open, and sometimes businesses need all the help they can get to fully grasp the intricacies of doing business in an environment so different from their home market. Conferences and forums provide a valuable venue in which to obtain this much needed information.

The third annual AutoRussia conference, an international forum for companies participating in the automotive business in Russia or globally, is scheduled to take place on December 4 and 5 at the Astoria Hotel in St Petersburg. More than 300 senior representatives; leading figures in Russia’s automotive manufacturing sector, including leading OEM projects in the St Petersburg area, as well as senior representatives from auto OEMs and T1s around the world, will meet at the conference to discuss their current projects and future plans.

17th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Nokian Reports Strong Growth, Especially in Key Markets

Nokian Tyres’ interim report for the period between January and June 2007 was released on August 8, and the figures contained within show sales and profits heading in a welcome direction. In contrast with the figures recorded during the January-June 2006 period, sales increased by 23.8 per cent during the recent half year and totalled 432.5 million euros. Operating profit was 89.2 million euros, up from 48.6 million a year earlier. Net profit, which in January-June 2006 was 31.8 million euros, more than doubled to reach 70.1 million euros. Also more than doubled was earnings per share, which jumped from 0.26 euros to 0.57 euros.

“Nokian Tyres had a clearly better second quarter and first half of the year in 2007 compared to the previous year,” said Nokian president and CEO Kim Gran. “Net sales increased and operating profit improved in all profit centres in the company’s core markets. While most of the increase in sales came from Russia, steep year-over-year sales growth was also recorded in Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries. Passenger car tyre sales mainly consisted of winter tyres, but summer tyres also sold well. The latter were boosted by the Nokian Hakka summer tyre family, which saw its first season in consumer sales. Average tyre prices rose as a result of the improved sales mix, price increases and new products. The benefits gained from manufacturing operations in Russia improved profitability. The outlook for the rest of the year is good and the order book is strong, but sales growth and profit improvement will be more moderate than in the first part of the year.”

8th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Qizhou Rubber Aims to Build Biggest OTR Tyre in the World

Already a producer of giant OTR tyres such as 45/65-45 L5, 37.25-35E3, 4000-57E4, 50/80-57, 52/80-57, 58/85-57, 70/70-57, Qingdao Qizhou Rubber is planning to make “the biggest tyre in the world – 59/90R63,” which is expected to be available by the end of 2007. And furthermore the company claims it is going to do this using ”environmentally friendly” polyurethane technology. Qingdao Qizhou’s announcement comes a year after the company signed a $400,000 licensing agreement with polyurethane tyre developer Amerityre Corporation.

Qingdao Qizhou Rubber Co., Ltd. is a privately owned manufacturer, located in Qingdao, China with a projected turnover of approximately US$100 million for 2007. Qizhou Rubber Co., Ltd. has about 860 employees and manufactures industrial, agricultural, truck, bus, and OTR tyres for export to over 30 countries under the Marcher brand name. Its products are used in the worlds’ various mining sites, both open pit and underground, at temperatures ranging from -66’C, to +50’C. Its sand tyres are known to have been used in desert land where the surface temperature has reached up to +80’C.

2nd August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Giti Tire Launches Truck Service Programme

Much has changed since Tyres & Accessories first met the then fledging Giti Tire Europe team at the 2006 Essen Show. Now, more than a year later, the staff count has doubled with the addition of some high profile executives; and sales are up 30 per cent year-on-year. When Tyres & Accessories met up with Giti Tire Europe’s UK, North & East Europe, and Russia sales director, Richard Lyons; and marketing manager Europe, Peter Foulkes, news of the Giti Assist truck service programme and the company’s new Heifei factory were top of the agenda. But these expansion plans are only the beginning, and the word is that an extensive new marketing programme is underway, with a rack full of new product releases scheduled for next year.

26th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Committed to Emerging Markets

At a July 19 ceremony marking the manufacture of their millionth high performance tyre in Romania, Pirelli presented news of its current activities and development plans for the company’s tyre and other vehicle related products. Present for the occasion were, amongst others, Marco Tronchetti Provera, chairman of Pirelli & C. SpA, Francesco Gori, managing director of Pirelli Tyre, plus a number of local authorities.

Marco Tronchetti Provera disclosed to reporters that Pirelli intended to go “where the growth is” when investing in new tyremaking facilities. “We are looking with interest at India,” he said. “We are looking at Russia as an interesting market.” It is believed that Pirelli would prefer to establish itself in these markets from scratch without acquiring established domestic operations.

20th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors