In the four and a half years since Hankook Tire’s Rácalmás plant in Hungary entered production, the facility has produced a tyre or two. In fact, the company shares that the 25th million tyre rolled off the production line in November 2011 – and the facility’s current capacity means it will take only half this time to manufacture the next 25 million tyres.
Those who ‘soldier on’ throughout winter on two wheels need all the help they can in maintaining grip. Metzeler says its Feelfree Wintec is the first tyre conceived to allow scooter riders to use their two wheelers in every season, especially in the coldest months. The range was first introduced in 2007 for maxi scooters of up to 650cc and the tyre maker has now added a number of new sizes.
The Nizhnekamsk SSC Tire Factory has began production of a new size rear axle fitment for its Kama N 202 series range; the new addition is a 295/80 R 22.5 fitment. In a statement announcing the new tyre’s release, the Russian tyre maker shares that its Kama ‘N’ series tyres with a 202 index are “designed to run on asphalt, rough terrain or dirt roads at any time of the year at temperatures from -45°C to +55°C.”
Nankang Rubber Tire shares that it has donated NTD 2 million (approximately £41,000) to those affected by the recent flooding in Thailand. The donation was made through the Tzu Chi (Compassionate Relief) Foundation, a Buddhist non-governmental organisation, and the funds will be used to provide emergency relief and post-flood assistance to affected families in the areas of health, water supply and sanitation, hygiene and education.
The autumn of 2011 was one of the warmest we’ve had in a while, but now the nip of winter has arrived and air temperatures are dropping. More importantly for motorists, the seven degrees Celsius threshold – the level at which the tread compound in summer tyres begins to harden – has been crossed. In light of this, TyreSafe has again shared it winter tyre message with Britain’s drivers.
Continental estimates that the 2011 UK car, 4×4 and van tyre market will equate to 33 million units despite estimates from other leading tyre manufacturers earlier in the year suggesting demand could have been in for a double digit drop. Speaking at the tyremaker's annual market trends briefing in London, executives from Conti's UK operation (Continental Tyre Group Ltd) explained that the market has “remained static, with a number of evident developments, such as an increase in the part worn market due to the scrappage scheme.” Continental now estimates that part worn sales equate to 2 – 3 million units a year, with sales of these used products estimated to have increased by up to 50 per cent of the traditional and widely accepted 2 million units annually figure.
According to Johnson Controls, an estimated 70 per cent of all new vehicles manufactured by 2015 will feature Start-Stop technology. Yet Joacim Adlerborn, the company’s training and technical services manager, opines that the majority of independent workshops still feel ill-equipped to service these vehicles.
Despite news to the contrary, Tire Review shares that union workers at Cooper Tire & Rubber’s hometown Findlay, Ohio, plant still do not have a new contract with the tyre maker.
In its recently released 2011 ‘European Tyre & Rubber Industry’ statistics, the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association states that retreading managed to stage an almost complete recovery in Europe during 2010. Quoting Europool figures, the ETRMA shares that after experiencing a 21 per cent decrease within the region from 2007 to 2009, with unit sales dropping from 5,800,000 to 4,561,000 during this time, in 2010 retread unit sales rose 22.9 per cent year-on-year to 5,605,000. The number of retreads sold within Europe last year is thus only 3.3 per cent lower than 2007 levels, the ETRMA notes.
This autumn has been relatively mild, yet despite this so-called “Indian summer” Cooper Tire Europe has reminded motorists that ice and snow covered roads may be just around the corner and therefore they should prepare their vehicles for the winter weather sooner rather than later.
Hong Kong-based, Bermuda-registered company Pearl River Tyre (Holdings) Limited, who is 70 per cent shareholder in the joint venture company Guangzhou Pearl River Rubber Tyre Ltd, has been told by its controlling shareholders that negotiations with a potential buyer have been terminated.
Independent tyre dealer software provider, Cam Systems has introduced its new VMware component, part of its .NET development. VMware allows companies to invest in a robust virtualised processing environment that the company says is flexible and able to deliver greater scope for growth. VMware allows businesses to run multiple virtual machines, housing applications such as Cameo, CRM and UniSerV on as few as two physical units.
Almost 20 years ago, Harshad Mehta achieved infamy in India through an engineered rise in the Bombay Stock Exchange that became known as the ‘securities scam’. After the stock broker’s activities came to light in mid-1992, a number of Mehta’s assets were sold off as part of court proceedings. This sale included 5,488,850 shares in Apollo Tyres, equal to 15.1 per cent of the company’s equity, which were purchased by Apollo and its managing family the Kanwars in April 2003. Now the Supreme Court in New Delhi has ordered Apollo Tyres to return a portion of these acquired shares to the Mehta family custodian. A two-judge Supreme Court bench accepted in part the appeal of Ashwin Mehta, brother of Harshad Mehta (who died in 2002) challenging the Mumbai Special Court’s 2001 order that allowed the sale of bulk holding shares back to Apollo Tyres.
Michelin is said to have sold some 15.2 million of its Hankook Tire shares for 623 billion won (£346.6 million) after announcing its intention to divest its 9.98 per cent stake in the Korean tyre maker. The accepted share price, says Hong Kong-based publication Finance Asia, was 12 per cent lower than the stock’s November 8 close price of 46,650 won per share and far below the indicative price range of 43,000-45,000 won.
Trelleborg and New Holland have reported the initial success of their joint Blue Power tractor project and announced an extension of their partnership. This next step in the two companies’ collaboration centres upon a new joint advertising campaign – titled “The Blue Butterfly” – and dedicated website, www.trelleborg-newholland.com.
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