Truck Tyres
Continental Truck Tyres has introduced a ‘cradle to grave’ ContiLifeCycle tyre management concept, which it claims can reduce tyre operating costs by as much as 25 per cent.
The manufacturer’s aim is to encourage hauliers to think beyond the tyre management basics of purchase price, service life and reliability, and to consider the impact correct tyre maintenance can have on vehicle running costs.
Following on from last month’s Spotlight on Northern Europe, Tyres & Accessories spoke to executives from one of the region’s leading manufacturers, Michelin Nordic. Passenger car and light truck marketing director, Vikram Raman and Krista Sivonen, marketing director for industrial products, trucks, agricultural vehicles and earthmover tyres, answered the questions.
(Akron/Tire Review) Hankook Tire America Corp unveiled a host of innovative tyre products and its new model at the SEMA Show last week.
Among the new tyres on display was the Dynapro MT RT03, the latest addition to Hankook’s off-road and light truck tyre line. The Dynapro MT RT03 features a V-shaped center block to firmly grip the road surface for added traction and better handling, as well as a side protection block that protects against the shock of foreign objects and pothole damage while improving traction in mud and soft terrain. The Dynapro MT RT03 will be available in sizes ranging from 15 to 22 inches.
Group Tyre (UK) Ltd is to exclusively distribute Marangoni passenger car and light truck tyres in the UK mainland. “The move will allow Group Tyre to offer the independent sector a European manufactured product with premium brand quality but offering better value for money,” the wholesale operation said in an official statement.
“The addition of the Marangoni brand to our portfolio illustrates our commitment to offer our customers a full range of quality brands. We believe that we can develop Marangoni in the UK market to emulate the success it has achieved in the rest of Europe, and that Marangoni will contribute to our continued success in the independent sector,” commented Group Tyre chairman, John Church.
Exxon Mobil Corp has announced that its chemical business is doubling its production capacity for a polymer used in tyre inner liners. ExxonMobil Chemical, one of the world’s largest chemical firms, is expanding its Baytown, Texas plant to support advancements in high-barrier, lightweight tyre liners. The company predicted that the expansion will be complete by the end of 2006, the Associated Press reported. The polymer, a proprietary product called Exxpro, can be used to maker lighter commercial truck tyres, reduce tyre cure time and improve tire durability, the company said.
For Tyre World this year’s Tyrexpo Asia demonstrated just how important the “rendezvous” side of tyre exhibitions can be. Burkhard Fuhrmann, managing director of the German wholesaler, says that it was much, much easier to get into contact with potential Asian business partners at Tyrexpo compared with the Essen Reifen show.
Tyre distributor Kerr’s of Antrim has become the first dealer in the UK to be accredited under the new Michelin MAP scheme for both passenger car and truck tyre service quality.
This double award for Kerr’s Tyres in Northern Ireland reflects the commitment to customer service lead by the firm’s founder Norman Kerr and delivered by his loyal, 11 strong full time staff. It also rewards the substantial investment in facilities that make his customer’s buying experience a positive and enjoyable experience.
The new Compass Group GT Radial National Distribution Centre was formally opened in October by Mr William Gozali, the Senior Export Manager of PT Gajah Tunggal tbk Indonesia.
French manufacturer Michelin claims to have reinvented the truck tyre. And following development after development over the years, this is no mean feat. According to the manufacturer, Michelin’s new Durable Technologies will offer improved mileage, payload and load capacity including gains of up to 50 per cent compared to “more traditional solutions.”
Hanksugi Japan has a new distributor for the UK. Following Hanksugi Japan’s decision to release Stamford Tyres from any duties in Europe, North West Tyres (NWT) from Morecambe, Lancashire, has been appointed as a partner for distribution. As NWT’s managing director Andrew Wess explains, his company has just received the first 20 containers full of Hanksugi truck tyres from the company’s factory in China. These tyres, which are first to be supplied to Europe’s central warehouses, are what Mr Wess calls an “initial buffer stock” for the sales operations that are about to commence. When NWT took over the Hanksugi business in the UK itself, the company began looking “for the right people” in other European markets. North West Tyres says it can guarantee on-time supply, even at short notice for customers in the UK or Ireland and for relatively small amounts because it runs its own delivery fleet of 20 vehicles.
US importer and distributor, Orteck International, is suing Shanghai-based Giti Tire (GT) for fraud. In a lawsuit filed in the federal district court in Greenbelt, Orteck claims the GT undertook a scheme to eliminate the company as the exclusive distributor of its tyres in the US.
(Akron/Tire Review) Continental Tire North America Inc. (CTNA) may cut additional jobs at its Charlotte, NC, tyre plant or shut down the facility, according to Alan Hippe, chief financial officer for Continental AG. Hippe told The Charlotte Observer that the Charlotte plant is CTNA’s most expensive manufacturing facility. Health care and pensions are primarily responsible for the high costs, he told the newspaper.
Group Tyre (UK) Ltd is to exclusively distribute Marangoni passenger car and light truck tyres in the UK mainland. The move will allow Group Tyre to offer the independent sector a European manufactured product with premium brand quality but offering better value for money, the wholesale operation said in an official statement.
“The addition of the Marangoni brand to our portfolio illustrates our commitment to offer our customers a full range of quality brands. We believe that we can develop Marangoni in the UK market to emulate the success it has achieved in the rest of Europe, and that Marangoni will contribute to our continued success in the independent sector,” commented Group Tyre chairman, John Church.
Hervé Coyco, Michelin Group Executive Council member responsible for worldwide car sales, will takeover responsibility for the running of Michelin’s Asia Pacific operations from Jean-Marc Francois. Francois is taking a year out to complete an MBA course before returning to the company in order to pursue other leadership positions.
After an impressive performance at the beginning of the year in the Paris-Dakar rally Pirelli truck tyres strengthened their reputation last weekend by winning the Rally of the Pharaohs, one of the most demanding desert rally-raids in the international calendar.
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