(Akron/Tire Review) The $85 million expansion program Michelin North America (MNA) announced for its Lexington, South Carolina, OTR plant will see the addition of at least eight new curing presses. And the company said that it could increase capacity further on available land at the plant site.
Hayes Lemmerz International has appointed John Stephenson as vice president of the Steel Wheel Operations for the company’s International Wheel Group, effective immediately. Mr. Stephenson will report directly to International Wheel Group President Fred Bentley. Mr Stephenson will have responsibility for the company’s International Steel Wheel businesses with operations in Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, and India.
DYMAC, a representative of Columbus McKinnon’s Tyre Shredder Division, with offices in Manresa, Spain has recently sold a CM Liberator, Model 2R to DAPAR Reciclajes located in Cordoba, Spain. DAPAR needed a machine that would separate the wire from the tyre shreds and produce a clean rubber product for further processing as well as clean wire for resale.
Pepe Santamaria, salesperson for DYMAC said: “This is the first Columbus McKinnon machine to be sold in Spain with prospects for many more.” DYMAC has been representing Columbus McKinnon’s Shredder Division since October 2004.
Pirelli has announced that its tyres will be fitted as OE on the new Peugeot 407 Coupé, at an international press conference in Granada, Spain. The new 407 will be exclusively equipped with 18 inch P Zero Nero UHP tyres.
Ex-Grand Prix star and BBC MotoGP commentator, Steve Parrish, visited Bridgestone UK’s Warwick HQ last week to draw the winner of the second phase of the manufacturer’s 2005 dealer and customer promotional campaign: ‘Grip the Road – Escape to Freedom’
Delphi has added 290 new shock absorber references to its 2005 aftermarket parts catalogue, giving the company 97 per cent coverage of the European vehicle parc. Delphi’s shocks are categorised as either “Delphi de Carbon Comfort” twintube or “Delphi de Carbon Performance monotube.” To help customers find the right part quickly, each vehicle marque is listed alphabetically and then in numerical order according to model and engine size. Columns across the page show the correct monotube and twintube references suitable for the front or rear of the vehicle.
Michelin Aircraft Tire Corp, based in Greenville, South Carolina, has been awarded a $93 million contract to supply 23 separate naval aviation tyres for aircraft including, F14 and F18 jets.
New passenger car registrations rose 4.5 per cent in June compared to the previous year, totalling 1,545,879 units, according to ACEA figures.
With regard to national situations, four out of the five main markets posted growth. Italy reported the largest increase (+18 per cent), followed by Germany (+8.2 per cent), France (+2.7 per cent) and Spain (1.8 per cent).
A combination of warmer weather and imported used tyres has led scientists to issue a warning about a possible threat from the Asian Tiger mosquito.
The mosquito, which as its name suggests is native to Asia, usually lays its eggs in small pools of water, such as banana leaves or coconut shells. However, any small pool will do and eggs have been found in the water in tyres being imported into France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. In fact, in France, all imported tyres are sprayed with insecticide as a matter of course. As little as a quarter of an inch of water is sufficient for the Tiger to lay its eggs.
Newly released registration figures show that total European passenger car registrations in May dropped 1.7 per cent to 1,290,933, across the continent, with UK numbers falling 3.4 per cent to 187,900 units. The figure also show that in the UK diesels cars now occupy 36.8 per cent of the market, the highest point so far in 2005. Convertibles have also increased in popularity, with the sector now accounting for a record six per cent of May registrations.
British garage technicians are being offered the chance to star in a television series being made in Spain. ‘The Garage’ will follow the progress of an independent garage set in the expatriate community on the south coast of Spain. Endemol UK, the production company involved, was responsible for the highly successful ‘fly-on-the-wall’ series about a hairdressing and beauty operation, ‘The Salon’.
Kayaba has increased its original equipment business with PSA Citroen and Toyota, supplying shock absorbers for the Citroen C1, Peugeot 107 and the Toyota Aygo. All three vehicles share the same platform and will be manufactured at the Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobiles (TPCA) plant at Kolin in the Czech Republic. Initially, the shock absorbers will be supplied from Kayaba’s factory near Pamplona in Spain, but this will switch to a purpose-built factory in the Czech Republic. This plant is due to begin production in February 2007.
In recent months the motorbike consumer press has heaped praise on Avon’s Viper Sport (see T&A February 2005) and Supersport tyres. Journalists from MCN, Superbike, Bike and TWO all attended the European launch of the Viper at the Catalunya GP circuit near Barcelona, Spain in February. The tyres were tested on a variety of bikes, which together clocked up around 3,000 miles on one of the world’s fastest and demanding circuits.
European passenger car registrations amounted to 1,709,616 units in March this year. The figure represents a decrease of 4.7 per cent compared to March 2004. According to the ACEA the statistics were affected by the Easter break falling in March this year, adding that there had been a, “sluggish economic environment in the first quarter of 2005.”
The UK felt a decrease of 5.1 per cent, along with Germany (-0.4%), Spain (-3.6%) and Italy (-8.6 %). France was the only country that posted a national increase, of 2.5 per cent.
The UK recorded 442,940 passenger car registrations in March compared with 466,954 last year.
150 vintage vehicles from 11 countries will attempt to resuscitate the spirit of the Gordon Bennett cup 1905, with the support of Michelin and SATCAR. The event, the ancestor of today’s Grand Prix and Formula One races, will be held during the 2005 Automobile Club d’Auvergne2-5 June.
Participants will travel to Clermont-Ferrand from Germany, Austria, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, France, Switzerland, Mexico and United States to cover the same track as a century ago, a 140 kilometre (90 mile) track at the foot of Puy-de-Dôme at the heart of the Auvergne volcano park.
The line up of cars will include the five vintage cars that actually took part in the Gordon Bennett Cup: two Napier Gordon Bennett (1903), a Mercedes 60 HP 2-Seater (1903), which entered history when Jenatzy won the Gordon Bennett Cup in 1903 in Ireland, a Pope Toledo Gordon Bennett (1905), and a Panhard Levassor Z40 (1905) which will run for the first time since it was revamped.
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.
