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.
As the countdown begins to the 2016/17 Premier League football season, Yokohama is aiming to achieve a “global brand boost” thanks to Chelsea FC’s pre-season preparations in the United States, which includes participation in the International Champions Cup.
In the US Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) and Chelsea FC are holding free youth soccer clinics during July and August. The clinics, open to the general public, are in conjunction with Chelsea’s U.S. summer tour.
Two tyres from the Yokohama Geolandar range have been selected as original equipment fitments for Mazda SUVs sold in certain global markets. The Geolandar H/T G056 will be available as an original equipment tyre on the CX-9 crossover when it goes on sale in North America this spring, and buyers will be able to receive the Geolandar in size P255/60R18 107H or 255/60R18 108H. In China, Yokohama Rubber will ship its Geolandar G91 to Mazda for fitment on the new CX-4. The crossover SUV will receive the Yokohama tyre in size 225/55R19 99V.
In February, Continental announced plans to build a new commercial vehicle tyre plant in the US state of Mississippi and shared that the US$1.4 billion project would eventually create some 2,500 jobs. Construction of the plant is not scheduled to begin until 2018 and production won’t get underway until the end of the following year, however concerns have already arisen and even a protest held over the potential makeup of the plant’s construction team.
Matthias Müller, the boss of Volkswagen has rejected calls to offer the same sort of compensation to offer European customers in the same way as American drivers when the carmaker agreed to a $14.7bn settlement in the US over its emissions scandal.
The warehouse at one of the two Michelin factories fully dedicated to the production of BFGoodrich tyres will more than treble in size through a US$8 million investment. Michelin North America shares that the warehouse of its BFGoodrich factory in Tuscaloosa (Alabama, USA) will increase from 29,000 square feet to 92,000 square feet (8,550 square metres). This expansion will result in a storage capacity more than nine times greater than at present. Construction work on the project begins in August and is expected to be completed early next year, with the enlarged warehouse operational in the second quarter of 2017.
Last May, Germany’s Evonik Industries reported its intention to set up a precipitated silica plant in the USA, near major tyre factories located in the country’s southeast. US newspaper The Post and Courier now reports that this facility will be built in Berkeley County, South Carolina and constructed with an investment of US$129.4 million. The publication writes that while Evonik has yet to officially confirm its choice of location, the company’s plans can be found in South Carolina state agency documents.
The traditional centre of country music in the USA will soon be home to a major tyre maker upon Bridgestone Americas’ move in 2017 from a leased site on the city’s outskirts to a new, 30-storey building currently being erected downtown, and yesterday Bridgestone Americas shared that its presence in and near Nashville will be further boosted next year by the opening of a second location. The new Bridgestone Americas Service Operations Center (BASOC) will be located in the Antioch area of Davidson County and open in the first quarter of 2017; the facility is being set up to support Bridgestone’s IT, Customer Service and Shared Business Service departments and will host some 450 employees and contractors.
At its AGM, between 22-24 June 2016, the Tire Industry Association (TIA) board of directors elected John Evankovich as its new secretary. He will begin his one-year term as secretary on 31 October 2016. After that year, he will proceed as vice president, then president, then past president; all of these positions are for one-year terms.
Omni United has purchased Texas-based A to Z Tire & Battery, Inc – Omni’s second US-based distribution acquisition. Now the focus is on consolidating the distribution businesses (A to Z Tire and the previously acquired Interstate Tire Distributor) into a single unit under a new brand identity. No further details of what brand and when this will take place have been released.
Trelleborg has sponsored global leader in forest machines manufacturing, Ponsse North America, at its live demonstration at the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway in Wisconsin, USA.
Omsk Carbon USA LLC has appointed Piotr Pawlicki as its new manager. According to the company, Pawlicki’s main responsibility will be increasing sales in conjunction and improving customer service for Omsk Carbon Group customers in the North America. The office functions also include overseeing logistics, accounting and HR management.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is supplying its high-performance falken ziex CT50 tyres to FCAUS LLC on the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, now on sale in North America.
Omsk Carbon has announced it has appointed Piotr Pawlicki to head Omsk Carbon USA LLC. His main area of responsibility is to increase sales in conjunction with improving customer service for Omsk Carbon Group customers in the North America. His functions also include overseeing logistics, accounting and human resources management.
An upgrade to Goodyear’s Lawton facility in Oklahoma, USA will increase its capability to produce consumer tyres in sizes up to and including 24-inch fitments. The US$27.5 million project will see the plant’s footprint enlarged by 15,600 square feet (around 1,500 square metres) and the addition of curing presses capable of accommodating the larger rim diameter tyres.
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