Across the Atlantic they are called tires, while over here we use a “Y” and say tyres. This tag provides the latest tyre business news emanating from the United States of America (USA), whichever way you spell it.
For the fourth consecutive year, Yokohama Tire Corporation’s off-the-road division has been awarded a Gold Alliance Supplier award from Alabama, US-based Vulcan Materials Company. Vulcan is a major producer of construction aggregates, which includes crushed stone, sand and gravel used in nearly all forms of construction.
Bridgestone Americas has added to its parent company’s 300 million yen (approximately US$3.5 million) donation to relief efforts following the Japan earthquake and tsunami with a $250,000 donation of its own to the Japanese Red Cross. Announcing the donation, Bridgestone Americas president and CEO Gary Garfield reflected that “a tragedy of this magnitude is always devastating to see, but it’s especially heartbreaking when it affects our teammates, and their families and loved ones. On behalf of all Bridgestone Americas teammates, I’d like to express our sympathy to those who have lost loved ones, and we hope that the donation will aid the people of Japan in rebuilding and restoring their country.”
Toyo Tire USA has announced that its Proxes A20 tyre will be fitted as original equipment on Nissan’s new 2011 Murano CrossCabriolet, which is available for sale this week. The Proxes A20 is an all-season tyre designed to reduce noise, while maintaining ride comfort in wet and dry. It also boasts reduced rolling resistance, according to the manufacturer.
The Bridgestone Group has responded to the widespread earthquake and tsunami damage in Japan with a pledge to contribute donations of 300 million yen (approximately US$3.5 million) to assist with relief efforts. Bridgestone Corporation will donate 200 million yen and Bridgestone Group will donate bicycles and bedclothes worth 100 million yen.
Bridgestone Australia and New Zealand have donated AU$100,000 (£62,000) to the New Zealand Red Cross Earthquake Appeal, a charity fund set up to assist those affected by the earthquake which struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on February 22. The 6.3 magnitude quake caused significant loss of life and injury, as well as severely damaging buildings, infrastructure and services; Bridgestone Australia Ltd's group chairman and managing director Nobuyuki Mieno said the earthquake had "deeply affected the entire Bridgestone family.
US motor industry supplier TRM Automotive Holdings reports its zero initiator tyre pressure monitoring system – a product the company refers to as “its lowest cost auto location system ever” –recently entered mass production and is now under evaluation with global vehicle manufacturers. Announcing the new product’s rollout, Laurent Crosnier, product portfolio director for TRW Radio Frequency Electronics, commented that “TRW seeks to bring cost competitive systems to market in our effort to deliver the safety that everyone deserves, and affirms its TPMS technological leadership with this innovative new product launch.”
Hankook Tire says it is aiming for championship success in the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) after signing up to support driver Toni Gardemeister and his team. The Finnish driver will contest selected rounds in a Hankook shod Skoda S2000, beginning with next month’s Rally Canarias.
Continental Tire the Americas will increase prices on all Continental, General and Ameriseal brand commercial vehicle tyres by 10 per cent, effective April 1. Citing the continued escalation of raw material and energy costs, the tyre maker said the increase will affect all replacement sales channels in the US.
Michelin North America’s newly-released 2011 fact sheet reports regional sales of US$8.2 billion for the tyre maker in 2010, a 17.1 per cent increase on a year earlier and 34 per cent of Michelin’s total global sales. Last year Michelin employed approximately 21,400 people in the North America region, some 500 more than in 2009. This small growth in employee numbers occurred in the US and Canada, with the employee head count dipping slightly in Mexico.
Kenda USA officials say that despite Kenda Rubber’s decision to sell its ownership stake in Cooper Kenda Tire, the move is a positive for the company. At the start of March, Cooper Tire & Rubber bought out Kenda Rubber’s 50 per cent share in their joint venture passenger tyre production facility in China. According to Kenda, the plant only produced Cooper branded and Cooper associate brand passenger, 4×4 and light commercial tyres, and thus the sale “has no impact to the current supply of Kenda products.”
Toyo Tires has announced today that it will support motorsports competitors across the USA through contingency programs, meaning amateur racers in a variety of disciplines can win cash and prizes if running on the company’s tyres. Disciplines eligible for the payments include SCCA racers, NASA road racers and SCORE-International desert racers.
The race to acquire Evonik Industries’ carbon black business has narrowed following the withdrawal of Phillips Carbon Black from the final round of the bidding process. Dow Jones Newswires reports the company failed to submit a bid before the final deadline, leaving three or four contenders in the running – Advent International, Triton Partners, Rhone Capital, and possibly Cabot Corp., are said to still be interested.
Goodyear’s brand event in Seville earlier this year (a report will be published in March’s Tyres & Accessories) saw the company talking up a safety message through its promotion of its new Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 and UltraGrip 8 tyres, but the company plans to do more than provide increased safety features through its products. European brand director Hugues Despres announced that “the Goodyear Blimp will take the lead on a number of road safety initiatives as it becomes the focal point for Goodyear’s consumer based activities and events.” This will be the Blimp’s first return to Europe for over 10 years, embarking on the 2011 Goodyear Safety Tour.
Dunlop has announced that its Geomax tyre is the choice of factory-backed teams from Honda, Yamaha and KTM in both MX1 and MX2 classes of the 2011 Motocross World Championships. Dunlop’s links with Motocross go back to the beginnings of the sport. The brand has a “race-to-road” (or in this case “off-road”) policy with motorsport, and using it as a “high-pressure development laboratory teaches the designers important lessons,” which can be passed on to customers, incorporated directly into the production tyre range.
With four locations spanning northern to southern England, Tyre Maintenance Ltd says it has long been “committed to best practice in used tyre recycling”, a fact it intends to publicise in 2011 with TIF Responsible Recycler Scheme branding. Throughout 2011 Tyre Maintenance outlets, vehicles, documentation and letter heading will be progressively branded with the RRS logo and staff will be tutored to understand just what this implies for the customer and for the environment.
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