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.
The US Department of Commerce will issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders on certain passenger car and light truck tyres imported from China after a three-to-three vote by the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) determined the domestic tyre industry is “materially injured” by imports of “subsidised” Chinese tyres that are sold in the USA at “less than fair value.”
A bill calling for the introduction of minimum tyre performance standards and compulsory tyre registration has been introduced into the US Senate. This bill, the Tire Efficiency, Safety and Registration Act S.1741, is described by supporters as legislation that would improve consumer safety and vehicle fuel economy, however some sections of the tyre industry have vowed to see the bill defeated.
Some 3,800 ContiProContact tyres sold in the US market have been recalled due to the risk of tread separation. Continental says the recall relates to size P205/65 R15 95T XL tyres manufactured in February 2015. These replacement market products carry the Department of Transportation code VY UR 471B 0615.
The US District Court in Delaware has dismissed the class action against Cooper Tire & Rubber that followed the unsuccessful Apollo Tyres acquisition attempt. The lawsuit, which was filed in January 2014, alleged the tyre maker, along with CEO Roy Armes and CFO Bradley Hughes, violated US federal securities laws by misrepresenting its financial condition, financial prospects, and the effectiveness of its internal controls. The action was filed by law firms Entwistle & Cappucci LLP and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP on behalf of Cooper Tire investors OFI Risk Arbitrages, OFI Risk Arb Absolu and Timber Hill L.L.C.
The Tire Industry Association (TIA) board of directors elected David Martin as its new board secretary at the association’s bi-annual meeting held 23 – 25 June 2015. Martin will begin his one-year term as secretary on 2 November 2015. After that year, he will proceed as vice president, then president, then past president; all of these positions are for one-year terms.
Although sales at PT Gajah Tunggal Tbk dipped 3.9 per cent (to Rp 3,075 billion, or £146.4 million) in the first quarter of 2015, this decline was attributed to challenges in the domestic market. The Indonesian tyre maker speaks of strong export market performance, and company president director Christopher Chan Siew Choong confirmed this focus at Gajah Tunggal’s annual and extraordinary meeting of shareholders on 29 June. In particular, he indicated that the USA shows particular potential.
Following the retirement of Dan Guiney, Tom Kenny has taken over as Yokohama Tire Corporation’s director of technical service. He joins the company from Hankook Tire, where he served in a variety of roles for some 22 years, most recently as vice-president of technical. Previous industry experience also includes positions at Cooper Tire and Continental.
Mexican carrier Morgan Express says ti achieved reductions by retreading over 800 tyres from its fleet with Vipal materials. Morgan has over 40 years of experience in the logistics markets, with facilities in five Mexican cities (Guadalajara, Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Veracruz, and Mexico City). The company, which has a fleet of around 150 vehicles, retreaded over 800 heavy duty tyres in 2014, using Vipal’s VEL B and V167 B treads.
Production capacity for high performance light truck and SUV tyres at Michelin’s Dothan factory in the US will increase by ten per cent when upgrades now being installed in the plant are completed in the summer of 2016. Michelin says it is investing US$22 million to upgrade the 35 year old plant, which currently employs 560 people. Approximately 40 new jobs will be created by the investment.
In future, prospective tyre buyers will be able to gain information about Michelin consumer products via a global platform. The tyre maker has begun the platform’s rollout and gone live with it in the first market, the USA, at http://www.michelinman.com.
The Open Country A/T II is the best-selling Toyo product in North America, and is described by its manufacturer as a “favourite among truck enthusiasts”. Ram Trucks, the pick-up truck brand established by Fiat Chrysler in 2010, has selected the tyre as the exclusive original equipment fitment for its new Ram 1500 Rebel. And the Toyo tyre is present inside the pick-up, too. In addition to being shod with the Open Country A/T II in size LT285/70R17, the Rebel’s front and rear passenger seats are embossed with the tyre’s tread pattern.
Bridgestone Americas has announced the promotion of three of its team to new roles within Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO). Erik Seidel has become vice-president of sales, Brad Booth director of consumer sales, and Mike Hall has been appointed director of consumer customer service.
On 20 May 2015, Uniroyal celebrated the golden anniversary of its ‘Giant Tire’. The 80 foot (24.4 metre) tall model tyre – the largest ever made – was feted by an event at its home in the Detroit suburb of Allen Park. The Giant Tire sits at the entrance to the site where the Uniroyal – now part of the Michelin Group – sales office was formerly located.
Point S International recently announced the signing of an agreement with US tyre dealer network Tire Factory and plans to rebrand the 157 member network using the Point S corporate identity. Tire Factory CEO John Kreidel states that the rebranding of the more than 200 Tire Factory outlets begins early this month and will be gradually rolled out over a period of one and a half years. Kreidel also reassured Tire Factory customers that they’d “see more things staying the same than changing” at the newly-rebranded centres.
LingLong Americas has restructured its North American sales and marketing team, reports Tire Review. This measure was apparently undertaken to help the company better service its dealers, and the newly-restructured team is led by industry veteran John Hagan. Hagan recently left Kumho to join LingLong as the company’s chief operating officer and president of sales and marketing. He will be based in LingLong’s offices in Medina, Ohio.
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