Truck Tyres
Telford based tyre wholesaler Treadsetters has added a number of sizes to its range of truck tyres as part of the company's continued expansion policy. Eleven new sizes are now available in the following options:
Continental is pleased to announce that Lodge Tyres has joined the tyre manufacturer’s pan-European Conti360° Network. Operating a dozen sites across the central area, Lodge Tyres is ideally located to offer commercial vehicle operators the support they require.
Simon Christmas, director at Lodge Tyres said: “Being part of the Conti360° Network means that we offer the same high standard service to our customers as all the other partners throughout Europe. Lodge Tyres was founded in 1935 as a family-run business and it’s still the same today. We offer a wide range of commercial vehicle, van and car tyres, as well as commercial retreads. To complement this, our fleet of over sixty fully-equipped breakdown vans maintain a 24hr breakdown service throughout the region”.
Goodyear has launched a successor to its Regional RHT range of trailer tyre and claims the new product outperforms the tyre it replaces in a number of key areas. Perhaps most importantly, the new Regional RHT II, which is intended mainly for use on vehicles operating in the regional haul sector, boasts up to 30 per cent better mileage than its predecessor. This greater mileage potential is said to be due to a new tread compound and 15 per cent more wearable rubber volume; the tread of the Goodyear Regional RHT II is 10 mm wider and has eight per cent more depth than that of the Regional RHT.
The European retreading organisation Bipaver states it feels “very uncomfortable” regarding a decision taken by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile to go ahead with its ban on the use of retreaded tyres in its Racing Trucks Technical Regulation. On October 6, Bipaver secretary general, Ruud J.L. Spuijbroek, outlined the European retreading organisation’s concerns in a letter to the FIA secretary general for sport, Pierre de Coninck.
Prices for Yokohama’s consumer tyre products sold in the US will increase by as much as eight per cent as of November 1. Yokohama Tire Corporation director of sales, Shawn Denlein, says the new prices for its passenger, performance and light truck tyres are being introduced due to “the costs of raw materials, energy and transportation remaining at very high levels.”
The county of Sumter, South Carolina has been named as the location for Continental’s planned US passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyre facility. Construction work on Conti’s first own greenfield project in the US will get underway there in mid-2012, and Conti anticipates a 2013 completion date. When first phase production targets are fully reached in 2017, an annual capacity of nearly five million tyres is expected. A second phase project should lift capacity by a further three million units per year by 2021. Continental reports the project’s initial phase involves an investment of more than US$500 million and the creation of more than 1,600 jobs.
Following Michelin’s investor’s day briefing at its Cuneo, Italy factory on 5 October financial analysts suggested that while the good news is that Michelin’s European production is up and increasingly efficient, the company remains over-exposed amidst the ailing demand of the North American markets and conversely not exposed enough in the emerging markets.
Without exception, Chinese tyre manufacturers aim their European market production at the budget segment, where they are most competitive. However the ‘cover charge’ costs for entering the European market – the expensive testing for REACH and the tyre label – plus swelling production costs in China due to raw material and labour expenses are reducing their competitiveness in Europe. Any manufacturer wishing to build up long-term customer relationships and secure a healthy market share without needing to rely upon spot market brokers and purchasers must therefore focus upon their distribution channels and, in particular, deliver a product whose quality is far removed from the old ‘low budget equals low quality’ stereotype. One company already taking considerable steps in this direction is Hangzhou ZhongCe; recently the company allowed its European customers a glimpse behind the scenes at its factory in China and discussed its plans for the future.
Now that its financing appears secure and all pertinent formalities are expected to be sorted out in Brussels any day now, work linked to the “Re Tyre” project is now ready to commence. With the aid of results gained from this study one of its backers, the European retreading association BIPAVER, aims first and foremost to secure the continued existence of medium-sized retreading businesses.
The organiser of the China International Tire Expo, CITExpo for short, views this year’s tyre show in Shanghai positively. Reliable International Exhibition Services reports 7,190 visitors attended the ninth CITExpo, which was held at the Everbright Convention and Exhibition Center. Last year’s show attracted 7,400 visitors. Once again, around 60 per cent of visitors (4,160) came from China, and during the three show days in early September 3,030 international visitors from 103 countries registered. A total of 298 companies used CITExpo to present their products and services to the public, up from 290 the year before. Well-known exhibitors at this year’s show included Cooper Chengshan, Jinyu Tire Group/Evergreen, Guizhou Tyre, Techking Tires, Aufine Group, SD International, Van den Ban and the wheel producer Zhejiang Jingu; these companies occupied 22,000 square metres of floorspace in three almost completely booked out exhibition halls.
Much has happened in the European tyre market in recent times. Last year’s introduction of the REACH regulations has been of particular interest, as is the run-up to November 2012’s tyre labeling. The second of these has been interpreted by many Chinese tyre makers and distributors as being, in practical terms, a trade barrier intended to make entry into Europe more complicated and expensive. Yet the Chinese appear to be responding pragmatically to the ‘problem’ of Europe. During the CITExpo show in Shanghai the opinion was often voiced that no real problem as such exists, rather a challenge to overcome. And as hardly anyone in China doubts success in this area, in future established western manufacturers in our part of the world can expect the presence of even more competitive, driven Chinese companies.
The Conti360° Fleet Services network in Europe is growing; in addition to the service package’s introduction into Hungary next month, Ireland now boasts a Conti360° presence. Continental Tyres has announced the establishment of a fully integrated partner network there, with 23 dealers and 37 sites across the country signing up.
As of October, Continental’s service package for fleet operators will be available in a further European market. The Conti360° Fleet Services package for truck tyres, first established in the core markets of Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Poland and the Czech Republic in 2010, and extended into Austria and Ireland this year, is scheduled to be launched in Hungary next month.
September’s official launch of numerous additions to the Pirelli :01 Series presented Tyres & Accessories with the opportunity to visit the Italian manufacturer’s production site in Izmit, Turkey, where some of the range is produced alongside passenger car and motorsport tyres. It also gave us the chance to sit down with Ugo Forner, who has worldwide responsibility for Pirelli’s ‘Truck’ business unit, and listen to his views on Pirelli’s plans and the changing nature of the global commercial vehicle business.
Hankook Tire America has officially opened a new distribution centre in New Jersey, reports Tire Review. The new 400-000-square-foot warehouse is Hankook’s fifth in the US – the others are located in Tennessee, Texas, Illinois and California – and it will service customers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. The centre’s opening ceremony was attended by some 100 guests, including Hankook Tire America President Soo Il Lee, Frank Gambatese, the mayor of South Brunswick, and Hankook dealers and employees.
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