Toyo Tire U.S.A. has appointed Amy Coleman its new senior director of marketing. In this role Coleman takes on responsibility for leading all aspects of the company’s marketing, placing a focus on business growth while enhancing brand equity and awareness. The department Coleman oversees includes advertising, sales promotions, communications, web initiatives, dealer support, sponsorships and events.
Last year, sales of tyres accounted for just under three quarter of Toyo Tire & Rubber’s total net sales. The remainder came from a portfolio of other rubber and chemical products. Included within this non-tyre business is the manufacture of anti-vibration rubber components for railway vehicles; Toyo has now furthered its activities in this area by entering into a joint venture arrangement with Chinese firm Wuxi Meifeng Rubber Products Manufacturing Co., Ltd. On July 5 the two firms signed an agreement to form a new company, “Wuxi Toyo Meifeng Rubber Products Manufacturing Co., Ltd.” This new entity is to be based in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China, and will manufacture and distribute air springs and anti-vibration rubber for railway vehicles. Toyo has invested 30,484 million yen (£234.6 million) in the venture, giving the company a 51 per cent shareholding.
Toyo is currently in the High Court answering a claim for damages by siblings Dharmendra Joshi and Joshi Divya, who were passengers in a car whose tyre blew out on the M4 in Wales on 25 June, 2006. One of their fellow passengers, 26 year-old Neha Bhatt, was killed in the accident after being thrown from the Mitsubishi Pajero jeep, which reports say “flipped at least ten times”. Mr Justice Mackay established that the “tyre tread separated from the rest of the tyre along about half of its circumference, resulting in the loss of control and causing this terrible accident”. The point of contention is whether the tyre was defective, as the six survivors of the crash claim, or whether there was an impact “that triggered some progressive rapid stripping of the tread”, as Toyo contends. The hearing is set to run well into next week.
Toyo Tire & Rubber’s acquisition of Chinese tyre maker Shandong Silverstone Luhe Rubber & Tyre, which was first announced on April 12, has now been finalised. The Japanese manufacturer reports the acquisition of 75 per cent equity in Shandong Silverstone has now been completed and the Shandong Province Industrial and Commercial Bureau has issued a business permit. Toyo’s paid in capital stands at RMB 330,138,000 (£31.8 milliion).
Tyre safety will be a key theme at the joint Protyre/Toyo Tires stand at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The independent retailer and the tyre maker have opted to promote this topic in response to the increasing number of cars on UK roads with illegal or badly worn tyres; to get their message across, the two companies have devised an exclusive game that invites customers to the stand to select the stopping distances with different levels of tread depth from 0.9mm to 6.7mm.
Al Futtaim Motors’ new Express Tyre & Battery fitting centre recently became Dubai’s first firm to fit what is purportedly “the fastest wheel aligner in the world” by introducing the 4D Master Aligner. Located in Al Quoz Dubai, the FastFit branch is described as a one-stop shop solution for those benchmarked services and fast turnaround times.
The 4D Master Aligner reportedly operates 50 per cent faster than any other wheel aligning machine in the UAE market today. It uses cameras to capture eight measurements per second, guaranteeing real-time visualisation of data on the control unit screen, along with LCD repeaters integrated into the rear measuring heads, permitting simultaneous work under the vehicle on adjustment operations.
Additional to Toyo's US price rise reported by tyrepress.com yesterday, Toyo prices in Canada will also increase in the first week of July. Toyo Tire Canada reports prices for its medium truck tyre line-up will increase by an average of five per cent on July 1.
Toyo Tire USA Corp has announced the increase of its dealer base price list on commercial truck tyres by an average of nine per cent. “While Toyo Tires is determined to keep prices to a minimum, the continued increases in raw material costs make it necessary for us to raise our prices at this time,” said John Hagan, senior director of sales.
Servicing Stop, the online vehicle servicing company that gained national prominence through its founders’ appearance on BBC Two’s ‘Dragons’ Den’ in 2009, has entered the online tyre retail business with its new website, Good4tyres.co.uk. In announcing the new venture’s launch, Servicing Stop states this will be “another customer centric endeavour” from entrepreneurs Oly and Toby Richmond.
Team Toyo has launched a promotional range of downloadable computer wallpapers, depicting off-road star Robby Gordon; Toyo-sponsored UFC lightweight, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis; Toyo models and import racing. A total of six wallpapers, designed for use on desktop computers and a range of portable devices, are available for download on the company’s website and from its Facebook page.
Dealer base prices for Toyo passenger car and light truck tyres will increase by an average of eight per cent in the US on June 1. Announcing the price revision, Toyo Tire USA senior director of sales John Hagan stated “Toyo Tires is committed to providing excellent product quality while keeping prices to a minimum; however the continued increases in raw material costs make it necessary for us to raise our prices at this time.”
Toyo is to attend the Sporting Legends Breakfast Club on the morning of 5 June in its capacity as the official tyre partner of the Goodwood Revival. Toyo’s range of passenger car tyres, extending from road-going car fitments to racing cars and 4x4s, will be on display in paddocks 65-68, while the company will also run the Toyo Tires Tyre Clinic. Also present at the Breakfast Club will be a TVR marque celebration;
Toyo will joining TVR in celebrating its range, as the tyre brand has original equipment ties with the manufacturer.
In January the three partners in the GTY Tire Co. joint venture – Toyo, Continental, and Yokohama – reached a settlement regarding Toyo’s dismissal from the from the truck tyre joint venture the previous year, a move linked to its “business and capital alliance” partnership with Bridgestone Corporation. A year on and Toyo is again out, and this time permanently. The business structure of GTY Tire has been altered and Toyo’s 16 per cent share in the joint venture has been divvied up by the two remaining parties. Continental now holds a 59 per cent stake in the joint venture and Yokohama 41 per cent. As part of Toyo’s exit agreement, the tyre maker has the option of purchasing tyres produced at Continental's Mt. Vernon, Illinois factory – where GTY tyres were manufactured – for the coming year. The name of the now two-party venture has not yet been made public.
Construction on Toyo Tire & Rubber’s new factory in Malaysia is expected to begin this year and production in 2013. Japanese media organisation Nikkei reports the tyre maker will invest around 20 billion yen (£153 million) in a six million passenger car tyre per annum plant that will primarily meet demand in China, India and other emerging Asian markets. According to Nikkei the new plant, which complements the newly-acquired three million tyre per year Silverstone plant, will make Malaysia Toyo’s main Asian centre of production outside of Japan. By 2015, will produce 12.5 million units in Asia each year, Nikkei adds.
Despite a slight increase in net sales and a significant jump in operating income, during the financial year ending March 31, 2011 Toyo Tire & Rubber reported a net income significantly lower than in the previous 12-month period; its net income of 521 million yen (£3.9 million) was 2,436 million yen or 82.4 per cent lower than a year earlier. During the year net sales increased 2.2 per cent to 294,092 million yen (£2.2 billion) and operating income was up 40.6 per cent to 12,182 million yen (£92.4 million). Annual ordinary income amounted to 9,193 million yen (£69.7 million) and was 2.4 per cent higher than in the previous year.
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