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.
Pirelli announced a voluntary recall in coordination with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on 7 September. 14,500 tyres covered by the recall have been sold in the USA, plus another 550 sold in Canada. Therefore, a total of 15,550 tyres are affected.
CEAT Specialty showcased its Spraymax, Farmax R80, Farmax R65, Farmax RC, Floatmax RT and Floatmax FT range at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh at the end of June.
Linglong Tire has launched a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Linglong N.A. Sales, based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Geoff Doster became president of the new company effective 7 August 2023. The establishment of Linglong N.A. Sales follows the news that Linglong is considering investing in production facilities in “the Americas”.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is 125 years old today, and although this quasquicentennial anniversary year hasn’t been without turbulence, the tyre maker is looking back on a century and a quarter of rich history. It all began for Goodyear on 29 August 1898, with the first tyres coming several months later.
Smithers has promoted Matt Kent to General Manager of the Smithers Tire & Wheel Test Center, a role in which he will lead the facility’s team in researching and developing new capabilities that align with the changing needs of Smithers’ clients in the tyre and wheel industry.
On Wednesday, Bridgestone Americas held a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of one of its truck and bus tyre plants in the USA. An investment of US$550 million will increase the footprint of the Warren County, Tennessee factory by 850,000 square feet (79,000 square metres) and lift production capacity while adding 380 jobs to the plant’s workforce. Bridgestone will also equip the plant for producing tyres featuring Enliten technology.
Darkness descended upon The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s former headquarters almost a decade ago. At any rate the illuminated sign atop the building ceased functioning, and this is something that Goodyear and a partner have rectified in the runup to the tyre maker’s 125 anniversary.
Jeremy Kahrs has been promoted to vice president of research and development at the Yokohama Development Center America (YDCA) facility in Cornelius, North Carolina.
TireHub is now five years old and says it is looking forward to future growth. The US-based national tyre distributor, which was co-founded by Bridgestone & Goodyear, now operates 80 TireHub Logistics Centers and will add more to the network in the coming months, and TireHub also plans to open its first regional distribution centre later this year.
Toyo Tire Corporation will end the manufacture of non-tyre automotive parts at its subsidiary in the USA. The cessation of production at Toyo Automotive Parts (USA), Inc. will take effect on 31 October 2023, and the company will be dissolved as a business entity. The closure of the Franklin, Kentucky-based business affects (as of June 2023) 207 employees.
Nexen plans to expand its production capacity by 40 per cent within five years. It plans to achieve this by building a new tyre factory in the United States and to expand its existing Czech factory. According to Korean media reports, Nexens’ factory in Zatec, Czech Republic, will complete the expansion project in September this year, following its 2019 official opening. Progress on the expansion project, which commenced immediately after opening, was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nexen has invested 1.2 trillion won (approximately £732 million) in the expansion of the Czech factory. Before the expansion, the factory was able to produce 5.5 million tyres per year. After the expansion phase in 2024, the production capacity is expected to be 9.2 million tyres. By 2025, it is expected the production capacity to increase further to 11 million tyres.
Pirelli North America has partnered Atlanta, Georgia based The Ray, a non-profit which has helped to develop a net-zero highway testbed. The 18-mile stretch of Interstate 85 in West Georgia is located near Pirelli’s US production facility in Rome, Georgia. Pirelli states the partnership “aims to advance research and solutions in areas such as technology for road safety, circular economy, EV charging infrastructure, renewable energy, and environmental and social impacts of tyres and roads.” Pirelli has joined The Ray’s advisory board and will contribute to its strategic thinking around roadways of the future. Projects include future rubber-modified asphalt projects and the use of tyre-derived aggregate for stormwater galleries. Pirelli is also joining “a multi-tiered partnership focused on tyres and the circular economy.” This intends to drive forward education, innovation, solutions development and sharing best practice.
The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA), the trade body representing 12 tyre makers who operate 58 tyre-related manufacturing facilities in the USA, projects that its members will ship 325.4 million tyres in 2023. This figure represents a 2.0% decrease on the 332 million units delivered in 2022 and is also 2.2% lower than pre-pandemic 2019, when US tyre shipments totalled 332.7 million units.
When announcing expansion plans for its North American plant in January 2023, Nokian Tyres said it would increase the workforce to 475 by hiring 75 new employees. The company has now completed the recruitment process, having hired 125 new workers for the Dayton, Tennessee factory as part of plans to double production at the facility by 2024.
The Tire Society has published the details of presentations scheduled for its 42nd Annual Conference (12-13 September 2023, at the University of Akron, Ohio). In addition to in-person attendance, benefitting from live Q&A, sponsor exhibits and a student poster session, registrants can access the presentations after the Conference via a “play-on-demand” feature. Registration includes Tire Society Membership, which gives access to the critically reviewed Tire Science and Technology Journal.
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Pirelli
Ceat
Oohsnap; Pixabay
Nexen
Pirelli North America
Sumitomo Rubber