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.
Sumitomo Rubber North America is set to increase prices the price of Falken and Ohtsu branded passenger, light truck and medium truck tyres in the US and Canada on as well as implementing inline adjustments on a per size basis.
TBC Brands, a North American tyre distributor, has introduced a range of Prinx Tires-branded medium radial truck tyres to the US market.
Pyrolyx USA Indiana has filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy with the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The 66,000sqft Terre Haute plant had not resumed operations since they were suspended in March, in part leading to its withdrawal from the Australian and German Stock Exchanges in September 2020. The factory cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for its suspension. Upon completion, the company claimed the plant was the largest of its kind in the world.
Ford honoured tyre manufacturers Goodyear and Maxxis as part of its 22nd annual World Excellence Awards. The wards span multiple categories, including sustainability, winning portfolio, propulsion choices, autonomous technology, fitness, special recognition and diversity.
Automated trucking company TuSimple plans for its vehicles to begin hauling freight in completely driverless operations from next year on selected routes in the USA. It has chosen Goodyear Tire & Rubber to provide tyres and tyre management solutions to this Autonomous Freight Network (AFN).
In December, ZC Rubber will begin servicing the eastern states of the USA from a new distribution centre. ZC Rubber America has set up a 30,000 square foot (2,800 square metre) warehouse in Statesville, North Carolina, which will serve as the distribution hub for dealers and customers of its Arison tyre brand. The facility can hold approximately 10,000 truck tyres.
A new variant of the Pirelli Scorpion ATR all-season tyre has been designed specifically for the all-new Ford F-150. According to Pirelli, this new tyre design will be the basis of a range of tyres within the Pirelli Scorpion family that will be released in the coming months.
The Chevrolet Silverado is the USA’s second-best-selling vehicle and its sibling the GMC Sierra can also be found amongst the ten top sellers; these models’ combined sales in the first six months of 2020 approached 600,000 units. Hankook Tire’s latest original equipment approval thus has the potential to give the brand considerable exposure. Hankook Dynapro MT2 tyres will be standard equipment on the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra Heavy Duty.
With the inauguration of a new plant dedicated to the production of agricultural tracks, Michelin aims to solidify its Camso subsidiary’s leadership within the North American agricultural market. The 13,000 square metre (140,000 square foot) plant in Junction City, Kansas is Camso’s seventh manufacturing facility in the region.
Following Continental’s 5 November recall of roughly 12,000 Continental and General brand passenger vehicle tyres sold to vehicle manufacturers and the North American replacement markets, company representatives have confirmed that the UK and European markets are not affected. Continental estimates that approximately 39 of the 12,000 tyres recalled in the USA are defective.
Akron Rubber Development Laboratory, Inc. (ARDL) has purchased all Experimental Services Inc’s (ESI) assets on 16 October, ARDL announced in a statement on 5 November. ESI describes itself as, “An engineering laboratory for engineers and researchers.” Providing static, dynamic, fatigue and vibration testing for the past thirty years, ESI’s focus has “allowed it to become the best at what it does” ARDL stated.
The first truck tyres made at Continental’s greenfield factory in Clinton, Mississippi, US are being delivered four years after the company broke ground on the project. The Clinton plant is Continental’s first new plant for the truck tyre business globally in more than 10 years. It produces large truck and bus tyres for the North American market and will employ 500 people by the end of 2020. Clinton is Continental’s second location producing truck tyres in the US. The other can be found in Mount Vernon, Illinois. According to the Continental, more than 280 employees collaborated safely to deliver the first shipment of tyres.
Thai tyre manufacturer Otani Radial Co. Ltd. has recalled 138 Otani OH-306 425/65R-22.5 truck tyres with DOT code 0320 after its local distributor, Foreign Tire Sales Inc (FTS) noticed a problem on 22 October 2020.
In the USA, the Tread Rubber and Tire Repair Materials Manufacturers’ Group (TRMG) has launched a new website at www.retreadrepair.org
The TRMG says that the new site is its first online platform featuring industry news and events, and links to educational materials including Industry Recommended Practices, designed to promote quality practices and processes in the tyre retread and tyre repair industry.
Continental is recalling approximately 12,000 Continental and General brand passenger car and light truck tyres. The recall is voluntary and there haven’t been any reports of accidents.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
Pirelli
Michelin North America
ARDL
Continental AG
Otani
TRMG