Truck Tyres
Following its CV brake pad introduction First Line Ltd, with their 100-year-old Borg & Beck brand, entered a sponsorship agreement with the Cole Trucksport truck racing team providing them with premium quality Brake Pads and Discs.
Two new heavy vehicle tyre lines have arrived in the Nokian portfolio. The Finnish manufacturer has unveiled the Nokian R-Truck, an on- and off-road tyre designed for trucks engaged in applications such as earthmoving and forestry, as well as the Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck T winter tyre for truck trailers.
Building upon a successful working relationship that began two decades ago, Kumho Tire has appointed R H Claydon to handle its truck tyre distribution requirements for the whole of the UK mainland.
The Section 301 Committee of the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) is holding hearings at the US International Trade Commission as part of a consultation process ahead of proposed import duties on certain Chinese produced tyres.
Under Linglong Tire’s ‘5+3’ strategy, the company aims to establish three tyre factories around the world in addition to five facilities in China. The tyre maker’s first international plant was inaugurated in Thailand in 2014, and yesterday Linglong Tire announced its Board of Directors’ approval of plans to build a second in Serbia. Construction of a new facility 30 miles north of Belgrade is expected to commence in the first half of next year and ultimately give Linglong Tire an annual capacity of 13.62 million tyres in Europe. The project involves an investment of US$994.39 million.
The Chinese Yongtai Group, which once ranked as the 32nd largest tyre manufacturer in the world and which used to produce World Rally Championship tyres for DMack as well as the well-known Durun budget brand, is bankrupt. Shandong Yongtai Group Co., Ltd. officially entered administration on 16 July 2018. On 4 August 2018 Shandong Dongying Intermediate People’s Court published documents showing that Guangrao County-based Caijin Asset Management Co., Ltd.’s application for Yongtai to enter administration had been accepted. The Beijing-based Dacheng (Jinan) law firm was appointed as the administrator of Yongtai Group.
In the USA, industry veteran John Thomas has joined Yangchang Rubber/Duraturn as its local sales director. He previously served as director of sales West Canada for Sentury Tire North America and has more than 30 years of tyre industry sales experience.
Production of truck and bus tyres began at the Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. factory in Ladysmith, South Africa on 19 July. The tyre maker invested 970 million rand (£55.8 million) to add commercial tyre capacity to the plant, thereby ending Sumitomo Rubber South Africa’s reliance upon imports to satisfy demand for its truck and bus tyres in Africa.
The tyre industry has seen its fair share of import tariffs in recent years. The largest scale of these, across the widest range of products, was initiated by the US against Chinese produced car tyres in 2009. That president has been and gone since then (as have further tariffs on car tyres and OTR tyres), but still tariffs are making a huge impact on the tyre industry in the USA and beyond.
Bridgestone is limbering up to launch a new generation of Ecopia truck and bus tyres at this year’s IAA Commercial Vehicles show. The tyre maker will also share the message that its truck and bus tyres will begin to be supplied with RFID electronic tagging systems as of next year.
Following decisions on the part of the European Commission (EC) to review its Chinese truck tyre anti-dumping tariffs and to decide against implementing anti-subsidy remedies against Chinese-produced tyres for the time being, the industry itself has been responding to the news. For its part, the UK’s National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) was not shocked by the news that the EC is not planning to implement anti-subsidy (otherwise known as counter-veiling duties) and highlighted difficulties associated with their implementation.
As part of the transaction that saw Zenises group purchase Vacu-Lug, Zenises Group has confirmed that it has also made “several large capital commitments in equipment and technology to ensure that Vacu-Lug becomes, over time, the most advanced independent retreader in Europe”.
Zenises has bought Grantham-based Vacu-Lug. The acquisition means Vacu-Lug remains the only significantly sized independent retreader in the UK. With an annual truck tyre retread capacity of 120,000, Zenises representatives described the firm as the largest independent retreader in Europe.
Every year, US-based truck manufacturer Paccar Inc. recognises suppliers who meet or exceed its ‘10 PPM’ quality standard – the equivalent of ten or fewer defective parts for every million components shipped to PACCAR. This year, PACCAR acknowledged 268 suppliers in 26 countries with a 10 PPM Supplier Quality award for achieving this high level of quality performance, and additionally for meeting meet demanding criteria for delivery performance, customer support, and business impact.
A further victory for Bridgestone Corporation in its battle against patent infringement was delivered by the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, which ruled favourably in its lawsuit against Chinese tyre manufacturer Fangxing Rubber Co., Ltd. (Fangxing).
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