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.
Due to the impacts of COVID-19, Nokian Tyres will temporarily cease production at its factories in the USA and Russia. The plant in Dayton, USA will close on Friday for a minimum of two weeks. At Nokian Tyres’ Russian factory, the production shutdown will start on Monday, 30 March and will last for a week. Nokian Tyres will continue supplying customers through its regional warehouses.
In addition to the temporary layoffs planned for its factory in Finland and announced last week, Nokian Tyres is implementing changes at its other sites in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Production output in Russia will be flexibly adjusted “in line with global demand.” While the ramp-up of Nokian’s new plant in the USA continues, the company has postponed recruitment of additional employees. Furthermore, work on the new test centre in Spain has also temporarily stopped, delaying the project.
Market demand for tyres in some parts of the world is declining parallel to the spread of the coronavirus, and Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has responded by announcing a temporary shutdown of its tyre manufacturing facilities in the United States and Mexico. In a statement published on Saturday, the tyre maker said it is also “currently assessing plans” for its operations in Europe. Cooper Tires’ plants in China, which reopened several weeks ago and have continued to ramp up production since then, remain in operation.
In addition to pausing production in the UK, Pirelli will first reduce production at its plant in Rome, USA and then close it completely for a week.
While the government has introduced significant social distancing measures including closing schools, and while tyre businesses are offering innovative contactless solutions, garages are still open for business. However, in Italy the country has been on lockdown for a month. We know that truck tyre technicians should be categorised as “key workers”, but what about car tyre retailers and what if movements become more restricted?
Robert (Bob) Lee will take over as the new president of Continental North America. He succeeds Jeff Klei, who will retire after serving more than 30 years in the industry. Lee will be responsible for leading customer, governmental and other external relationships across the region.
Marangoni Tread North America (MTNA) has communicated that it “remains operational” despite the Covid-19 pandemic. According to MTNA, the company is “committed to providing superior products and services to our customers. We are taking active steps to prevent any interruption in our business processes.”
Pirelli Tire North America has announced that it will increase prices in the US for car and light truck tyres. The price increase is set to take effect from 6 April 2020.
After several months of test production, Nokian Tyres’ new factory in the USA has begun making tyres destined for retail sale. Now that the tyre maker has reached this milestone on schedule, it will steadily increase volume throughout the year and will continue growing it until reaching an annual capacity of four million tyres by 2023.
The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) shares that Nokian Tyres has signed up as its 13th member. The company, which opened its factory in Dayton, Tennessee in October 2019 and is currently preparing to start commercial production, joins an association that represents more than four-fifths of the national tyre manufacturing industry.
For the generations raised in the late 20th century, the idea of travel simulators raises images of a capsule for eight people moved around with hydraulics to match a film, or perhaps contestants tasked with landing a plane on The Krypton Factor. Since those heady days, exponential increases in computer processing power and the ability to model a rapidly increasing range of sensory outputs from a highly complex web of inputs. Compared to the relatively broad strokes of retro aeronautical simulation, the convincingly realistic representation of the driving environment has become a legitimate source of automotive research and development. The latest simulation technology is increasingly making its way into tyre development as a means of increasing the efficiency of product development. With Michelin’s announcement that it would install a new Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) simulator at its North America Research & Development centre in Greenville, South Carolina, USA, Tyres & Accessories got in touch with its manufacturer Ansible Motion and its international manager for the company’s commercial group, Phil Morse to talk about the increasing prevalence of human-in-the-loop simulation within tyre and vehicle development, and the opportunities it offers.
In the USA, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has introduced the Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive – an all-season tyre, which is said to offer Goodyear’s most comfortable ride to date.
Four tyre plants in Japan and the Americas are amongst seven Bridgestone Corporation facilities to receive Caterpillar Inc.’s highest Supplier Quality Excellence Process (SQEP) rating. The manufacturer of construction and mining equipment has awarded Platinum Level certification to Bridgestone’s Hofu and Shimonoseki (Japan), Des Moines (USA) and Santo André (Brazil) plants.
The world’s largest independent retailer of tyres and wheels has a new chief executive officer. US-based company Discount Tire has promoted Dean Muglia to the role. He succeeds Michael Zuieback, who will retain the role of executive chairman.
Valeo has recently unveiled its autonomous, electric delivery droid prototype at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. The Valeo eDeliver4U was developed in partnership with Meituan Dianping, China’s leading e-commerce platform for services, which operates popular food delivery service Meituan Waimai.
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