As of this month, Sumitomo Rubber Europe GmbH is operating a test track in the north of Sweden. The site will handle all snow and ice testing for Falken winter tyres intended for the European original equipment and replacement markets.
Solar panels and wind turbines move aside, there’s a new source of electricity in town. It’s none other than the trusty tyre.
On 1 March 2019 Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. began manufacturing truck and bus tyres at its new Brazil manufacturing site.
Sumitomo Rubber reports that it has begun supplying Falken Ziex ZE001 A/S tyres to Subaru for its Crosstrek Hybrid model in the USA. This plug-in SUV model goes on sale in America this winter.
With a new 30,000 square metre facility, Sumitomo Rubber Europe GmbH and Dunlop Tech GmbH now have the capability to develop and test tyres, produce liquid latex and design tyre pressure monitoring systems. Following the start of operations in May, their ‘European Development Centre’ in Hanau-Steinheim, Germany officially opened yesterday.
New year. New diary. New balance sheet. New company? In this respect, 2016 got off to a flying start. No sooner had the year begun than we received news of some high profile, three-digit-million pound mergers and acquisitions. The first and the largest was the acquisition of well-known garage data supplier Autodata (see page 32, Company New section for complete details). However, within 24 hours this was followed by the potentially UK tyre wholesale and retail-changing announcement that Sumitomo Rubber Industries had acquired Micheldever Tyre Services.
Just over two years ago, Sumitomo Rubber Industries acquired Apollo Tyres South Africa, and with it the operation’s car tyre factory in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal. While the plant supplies the local market with passenger car and light truck tyres, Sumitomo Rubber South Africa has to-date met local demand for truck and bus tyres with imported products. This will soon change; the company has announced it will invest 910 million rand (£41.3 million) to install new production equipment within the Ladysmith facility, and it aims to produce truck and bus tyres there from July 2018.
Responding to reports from a number of media outlets regarding the dissolution of the 16-year old global alliance between Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) and Goodyear Tire & Rubber, SRI stated today that these are “purely speculative in nature.” The company doesn’t refute the reports’ veracity – SRI admits that “it is true that SRI and Goodyear are currently engaged in discussions concerning the possible dissolution of our alliance agreement and our joint ventures” – however it wants to make it clear that neither it nor Goodyear have issued an official announcement on the matter. Nikkei Asian Review, which published the news yesterday, says an announcement may be made “as early as this week.”
Sumitomo Rubber is to supply tyres for the new Mazda CX-3 crossover utility vehicle. The CX-3 will be fitted with Dunlop-branded Enasave EC300+ tyres, according to a company statement. The Dunlop Enasave EC300+ is Sumitomo’s latest fuel efficiency-optimised tyre. According to the company, it offers reduced rolling resistance, superior ride comfort, and a balance of safety […]
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