Groupe Michelin has announced that it will increase earthmover tyre production capacity in both its Lexington, South Carolina, and Vitoria, Spain, plants. The capacity boost results from “unprecedented growth of the surface mining industry worldwide,” according to Michelin. The expansion plans complete production enhancements started by the manufacturer in 2003 and 2004.
Total European passenger car registrations remained virtually flat, falling 0.8 per cent year-on-year. According to the ACEA, the association that processes the figures, “the relatively slow start to the year has been mainly driven by the drop posted by new EU member states (-12.7 per cent). Among the five main markets the UK (-8.2 per cent), Germany and Italy (-3.7 per cent) all reported losses. Meanwhile France and Spain both recorded increases of more than 6 per cent.
As far as manufacturers are concerned, Fiat Group registrations continued to drop (16.9 per cent year-on-year) as did DaimlerChrysler’s (-4.9 per cent) and Hyundai’s (8.9 per cent). VW and PSA group registrations both remained flat at 193,000 and 172,000 units respectively.
Bridgestone Australia has announced that Mr Junichi Otsuka has resigned as a director of the company. The decision will take effect as of 18 February when Mr Otsuka will begin a new overseas assignment. In response Mr Shin Yamasaki, currently based in Spain, has been appointed as a director of the company from the same date.
Western European passenger car registrations totalled 14,516,879 units in 2004 representing a growth of 2.1 per cent. ACEA figures show that 1,043,669 units were recorded in December, a 7.7 per cent increase compared to 2003 figures.
Four of the five main markets posted increases for December, however the UK showed a decrease of (-0.5) per cent with 2,567,269 units registered in ’04 compared to 2,579,050 in ’03. Germany led those countries posting an increase, with a 21.5 per cent rise ahead of France, Italy and Spain.
Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland and Portugal also posted decreases.
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.
Major French car manufacturers, Renault and Peugeot have selected Bridgestone for original equipment, the company has announced. Both manufacturers will fit 15 inch tyres to their new high-volume small cars.
Jenson Button and the BAR-Honda Formula 1 team will show will launch the team’s new vehicle, the BAR-Honda 007, by satellite link. The new car will be unveiled at the Barcelona circuit in Spain at 11am (UK time) on Sunday 16 January and for the first time, visitors to Autosport International will be able to watch all the action as it takes place.
Jenson is just one of three current Formula One drivers who are participating in Autosport International, Europe’s largest motorsport show. Red Bull Racing’s David Coulthard will be coming along to meet his fans on Saturday 15 January and Williams-BMW’s Mark Webber will be there to sign autographs on Sunday 16 January. Other British racing stars attending the show include Eddie Irvine, Allan McNish, Jason Plato and Andy Priaulx.
Ford has started using Hankook’s Ventus Prime tyre on its new Ford Mondeo. The vehicles will use 205/55R16V and 205/55R16H sizes. The company reports that Ford will also fit its Focus and Fiesta models with Hankook tyres. Both models are made at the Ford’s factory in Valencia, Spain.
The leading network of independent tyre dealers in Europe is set to grow. The Hungarian point S organisation has recently added seven new Service Centers so that the overall coverage in Hungary is nation-wide now with 37 of these centres, according to a statement released by point S International. The company says that a further growth of the number of service stations is very likely. 1,500 service centres in nine European countries are part of the point S International organisation. Countries represented include Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Hungary.
Deldo Autobanden has announced record sales figures. In September sales increased by more than 30 per cent compared with the same time in 2003, the company says. The new record now stands at more than 500,000 units.
The European automobile manufacturers association (ACEA) today released the latest European car registration statistics. In September 2004 1,353,817 units were registered across western Europe. This represents a decrease of –0.6 per cent (-0.7 per cent in the EU-15) compared with September 2003.
This weekend Jarama in Spain hosted the penultimate racing weekend in the truck-racing calendar. While new Goodyear tyres dominate in the Super Race class, in the smaller, Truck Race class both the first and second place drivers had retreads fitted to their axles. For the two most successful drivers at this meeting, Rigdon retreads were the chosen products.
Englishman Stuart Oliver leads the championship with 21 points, ahead of Germany’s Lutz Bernau. The two competitors are the only two drivers that have a chance of becoming the new European Champion at the final race weekend in Le Mans.
Either retreads or new tyres are allowed on the drive axle. On the steering axle retreads are prohibited.
Jaguar has felt more pressure after itself and Land Rover came second and third from bottom in a survey of vehicle reliability and cost of repair.
Off-road specialist Jeep recorded worse results in the study of 30,000 vehicles from 27 leading manufacturers.
There was good news for the Far East, which remained number one for reliability in the analysis by independent automotive warranty firm, Warranty Direct.
Figures released by the European automobile manufacturers association (ACEA) show that the number of new car registrations in Europe is in a slight decline. In total 831,805 cars were registered in EU and EFTA countries in August, 1.3 per cent less than the same time last year.
The International Tyre Club is to hold its 2005 meeting in Lisbon, Portugal from March 9-11.
Club secretary James Graham pointed out the reasons behind the decision: “Although recently we have concentrated on introducing the markets of Eastern Europe to our members we do not want to over-focus on these. Other areas of Europe offer just as much new opportunity and in Lisbon we will not just be introducing new faces from Portugal itself. We will be looking to the whole of Spain, South to Morocco & NW Africa and West to Brazil. All areas of equally fast moving potential.”
The ITC’s ‘summit’ style format provides an arena for trade discussions for its tyre and wheel business members.
Club events seek to foster new and mutually beneficial commercial links in regions offering the prospect of higher than average long-term potential. Both the Czech Republic and Hungary have hosted recent successful Club meetings.
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