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.
Mexican retreading materials supplier Galgo Group recently gained US SmartWay accreditation for one of its Pre-Q products. According to the company, Galgo has always shared the global vision to meet the highest quality standards in each market “And once again we achieved it with our United States Corporate ‘PREQ Galgo’”, company representatives said in a statement announcing the news.
Groundbreaking on Yokohama Tire Corporation’s new factory in the US will take place today, with a ceremony held at the Clay County, Mississippi plant site at 9:30am. The 23 September groundbreaking comes a day after Yokohama Tire Corporation held an honorarium event, at which it gifted US $250,000 each to Mississippi State University and East Mississippi Community College for workforce development efforts.
Giti Tire has announced the establishment of new technical centres in Germany and the US. The two sites will work in collaboration with the company’s MIRA-based UK facility as well as its centres located in Indonesia and China. Giti now employs more than 600 R&D personnel and describes the creation of a European and North American technical centre as marking a “significant development in the research and development capabilities of the company.”
Measuring 2.32 metres in diameter – that’s 7 feet and 7 inches for those of you reading this in imperial – the new 850/75R42 Firestone DT23 is the world’s largest agricultural tyre. The first delivery of this giant was recently made to a farm in Denmark.
Despite the dangers involved, texting while driving is perfectly legal in at least ten US states. Yet the practice has many opponents, including Goodyear Tire & Rubber, who today is sending out the blimps to spread an anti- texting and driving message. The messages carried by the three Goodyear blimps today promote ‘It Can Wait’, a US-wide education and awareness campaign encouraging drivers never to text while behind the wheel.
It isn’t currently available on this side of the pond, but in the US Michelin’s Tweel has been available for almost a year and is expanding its collection of accolades. In April the airless tyre won a Silver Edison Award and now it has been named one of the 2013 contractors’ top 40 new products by publication Equipment Today.
Five of the top seven ranked competitors at the second staging of the King of the Valleys endurance event used Maxxis’ M8060 Trepador competition tyre. Maxxis UK managing director Derek McMartin says the partnership Maxxis has established with the King of the Valleys is “hugely beneficial”.
ATS Euromaster has opened what it calls a flagship centre in on the Gatwick International Industrial Estate in Crawley, West Sussex following more than £450,000 of investment. The new facility occupies a 7,574 square foot site and is set up to accommodate all vehicle types under one roof, including cars, vans, trucks, buses/coaches and industrial vehicles. Its opening follows the merger of two former centres in the local area; one of which serviced cars and vans, and the other commercial vehicles.
British firm Trax JH Ltd, the second largest wheel balance weight manufacturer in Europe, has been selected to supply wheel weights for the new Ford Transit to be built in Kansas City, USA. Widely known in Europe, the Transit will be new to North America and is expected to be sold as the “T” series. The model will be launched in 2014.
Essex-based Anglian Truck Tyre Management will be introducing CAM’s UniSerV application suite, featuring its e-Tablet and Document Manager modules, which will enable the commercial tyre specialist to create a seamless, streamlined, paperless process for its commercial tyre fitters, saving considerable administration time and money.
While many motorsport series take a summer break in August, Yokohama says there was still plenty to keep its tyre engineers busy across Europe and the world last month. The Japanese brand supports more than 35 race series in the UK and Europe with more around the world, including the USA and Asia, including the FIA World Touring Car Championship, the FIA European Rally Championship and the UK BRDC Formula 4 series.
On 6 September Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. president and CEO Akira Nobuki confirmed that company has made a couple of overseas appointments to its North American operations.
Italmatic Group has entered into a Joint Venture with Tesco of America Inc., the US based supplier to the automotive and tyre sector. The joint venture will be renamed as Tesco Italmatic LLC, with headquarters in Oakland Park, Florida, USA. According to the company, the partnership will focus on “making a strong statement for the distribution of Italmatic products in the North, Central and South American regions, offering a wide and complete range of products and services.”
The 1,000 or so employees at Lanxess’ global headquarters have completed the shift from the German town of Leverkusen to Cologne. The headquarters team now resides at the ‘Lanxess Tower’ at Kennedyplatz number 1 in the city’s Deutz district. For the first time, all of the company’s central management functions are united under the one roof.
On 5 September, representatives from Kumho and leaders of Macon-Gibb County in the US state of Georgia jointly announced that an agreement has been reached that will allow the tyre maker’s Kumho Tire Georgia, Inc. unit to begin construction of its tyre plant. Kumho will initially invest around US$200 million to build the plant on a 150 acre site within the Sofkee Industrial Parklocated in Macon, Georgia. The plant will employ more than 300 people and mainly service the North American markets.
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