STARCO joins EUWA
The Association of European Wheel Manufacturers, or EUWA, shares that STARCO has become its latest member. The EUWA officially welcomed STARCO at its 31st General Assembly, which took place in Valencia in May.
The Association of European Wheel Manufacturers, or EUWA, shares that STARCO has become its latest member. The EUWA officially welcomed STARCO at its 31st General Assembly, which took place in Valencia in May.
When tourists visit Croatia, they don’t come to Beli Manastir. The sleepy town of around 8,000 inhabitants is about as distant as you can get from Croatia’s bustling beach resorts and still stay within the country’s borders. But Beli Manastir’s lack of package holiday cred doesn’t matter a jot to STARCO – instead of bringing the world to Beli Manastir, it is taking Beli Manastir to the world.
A new 12-inch STARCO dual wheel solution for wheel loaders will arrive later this year. The company developed the STARCO AW Mini in close collaboration with Finnish loader manufacturer Avant Tecno, drawing upon its existing experience with other dual wheel solutions and the GS Schaad clamp system.
By taking advantage of synergies arising from its acquisition by Kenda in 2017, STARCO has introduced its UK-made Flex lite wheel solution to the US market. Kenda USA subsidiary Martin Wheel presented this European market top-seller at a trade show in Las Vegas last week. STARCO shares that interest in the 10- to 15-inch solutions amongst end-users was strong, and it looks forward to receiving feedback about Flex lite from US-based manufacturers and distributors.
Around 30 years ago, tractor manufacturer Valtra implemented a radical strategic change that resulted in the production of machinery that is amongst the most customisable in the world. Pretty much every Valtra tractor is unique, and a third of the approximately 9,000 Valtra tractors manufactured last year went through a customising studio called Unlimited. Now, for the first time, buyers can select STARCO dual wheels on their new tractor as part of this customisation process.
A 7.2-million-euro investment will lift capacity at the STARCO wheel manufacturing facility in Croatia by 75 per cent over the coming four years. This demand-driven increase covers a range of wheel types, including pressed, spun, made-to-measure and dual wheels. The company comments that most of the investment will take place during the first year.
In February, the European Commission announced the start of an anti-dumping proceeding concerning steel road wheels imported from the People’s Republic of China. The focus is primarily upon wheels for cars and trucks, however the proceeding also covers wheels for road-going tractors as well as for non-powered vehicles such as trailers, semi-trailers and caravans. The proceeding followed a complaint lodged on 3 January by the Association of European Wheel Manufacturers (EUWA).
For a number of years, Danish firm STARCO offered the KargoTrail and MasterTrail under its own name. The third generation of these trailer tyre lines is now available, and both have been rebranded as Kenda products. STARCO says the Kenda KR101 MasterTrail 3G and Kenda KR209 KargoTrail 3G are “improvements of the well-performing and proven STARCO range,” with changes in tyre compound and tread depth leading to “longer mileage, better wet grip and improved rolling resistance.”
STARCO has appointed Hubert Plouchart its senior sales manager for the Agricultural Implements and Utility & Ground Care segments in France. Tasked with improving STARCO’s position with OEM customers, Plouchart brings almost ten years of tyre industry experience to his new role. He previously worked at Carlstar Group as OEM sales manager and sales director for Europe, Africa and the Middle East for almost four years and, before that, at Cooper Tire.
The first STARCO Alptrak released 10 years ago was designed for traction on turf and other terrain. Back then, nobody had foreseen that this pattern would be later tested for the Saudi Arabian market, together with STARCO’s key customer Avant Tecno. Both jointly developed the Alptrak for desert use.
“Our machines are initially not designed for sandy conditions like in Saudi Arabia. However, we have learned that by adjusting the wheel and tyre solution, we can make our multipurpose loaders perform just as well in sandy conditions, as they do in snow, mud or on dry surfaces,” explains Raul Tsili, Purchasing Manager at Avant Tecno.
The recent signing of a long-term supply agreement between Maxam Tire International and STARCO will allow the latter to extend its wheel and tyre product range for the growing agricultural segment. The agricultural trailer and implement products supplied by Maxam will primarily consist of tyres with higher than standard speed and load ratings; these will be paired with STARCO rims and offered to OEMs as complete wheel solutions.
The solid tyre factory established by STARCO in Sri Lanka has been divested to TVS Group company Sun Tyre & Wheel Systems (Sun-TWS) for an undisclosed sum. The STARCO Lanka facility becomes Sun-TWS’ fifth manufacturing plant and, together with expansion programmes at its existing facilities, will help increase overall capacity by 40 per cent – a measure required in order to meet growing global demand.
After more than a year of testing in the fields of Lithuania together with local John Deere distributor Dojus Group and distributor Bohnenkamp, STARCO says it can now offer a replacement wheel solution for the John Deere 6 tractor series. This new solution enables the fitment of non-standard wheels and tyres of different widths as well as dual mount wheels.
Ready for the summer season, the STARCO subsidiary in Switzerland has received the first car tyres from Kenda and is ready to begin its new role as the brand’s national distributor. Commenting on the new arrangement, STARCO’s Richard Todd noted that the company was exploring many synergies with Kenda over both the short and long-term.
Having supplied 35,000 dumper truck tyres and wheels in the UK last year – 100 per cent of all dumper tyres for new trucks in our market – STARCO knows a thing or two about looking after these products. It’s therefore worth taking note when the company warns of the potential danger and additional cost of operating at low air pressure.
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