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A Record-Breaking Motor Sales Month

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have posted double-digit US sales gains for July. Toyota and Nissan North America also posted their best sales month in the United States.

DaimlerChrysler, including Mercedes-Benz, sold 260,945 units in July, a boost of 25.1 per cent for the month. Year-to-date, the car manufacturer has sold 1,547,536 vehicles, up 6.9 per cent from the same period in 2004.

GM’s July sales rose 15.2 per cent, boosted by the GM Employee Discount for Everyone incentive programme said the company. Its US sales totaled 524,218 vehicles in July compared with 454,963 in July last year. GM has sold 2,844,839 vehicles to date, a 4.3 per cent increase from the same time last year.

Paul Ballew, GM’s chief sales analyst, said 71 per cent of retail sales in July came from trucks, and he predicted that the company would achieve a market share of 27 per cent for the year.

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Conti Board Member to Join VW?

Continental AG personnel director, Thomas Sattelberger, has been named as a potential candidate to replace Peter Hartz at Volkswagen. Mr Hartz resigned amid allegations that his department was involved in Indian bribery scandal. Mr Sattelberger is reported to be one of the top candidates, Dow Jones Newswires has reported. His experience and that fact that he is not a Volkwagen insider are both likely to count in his favour. Continental spokesman Hannes Boekhoff made no comment. Mr Sattelberger has been part of Continental executive committee since July 2003. Before that he worked for Lufthansa and DaimlerChrysler.

Meanwhile ThyssenKrupp rejected reports that director Ralph Labonte was another possible succesor. A ThyssenKrupp spokesperson said that Labonte is not available to fill that position.

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ContiTech Starts New Chinese Production Line

Shanxi-Phoenix Conveyor Belt Systems Co Ltd has launched a new production line in Changzhi, Shanxi province, China. Gerhard Lerch chairman of ContiTech AG, which has owned Phoenix since the end of 2004, inaugurated the new production facility for heavy-duty conveyor belts. The new line will be used to manufacture heavy-duty steel-cable conveyor belts for surface and underground mining. Belts produced at this facility are capable of satisfying extremely tough quality standards, and especially those required by the numerous coalmines. The belts will also be installed in storage and handling facilities at ports.

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Lead Weight Ban – Mission Accomplished?

It’s official: lead balancing weights are no longer allowed to be used on passenger cars or light trucks. Although there is much talk about the possible negative impact of the end-of-life vehicle directive, today tyre businesses across Europe seem to have adapted to the new situation without any major difficulties. However, the new market conditions have also brought consequences for manufacturers and suppliers. As all the parties involved get up to speed, what has to be taken into account when changing from lead balancing weights to alternative materials? Tyres & Accessories examines the effects of this legislation and the steps that need to be taken by companies across the continent.

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Golf Plus Fits Potenza

Bridgestone has added Volkswagen’s latest Golf model, the Golf Plus, to its list of OE fitments for the Potenza RE050.

The new vehicle has a variety of different engine options, ranging from the entry-level 1.4-litre version, to a 2.0-litre GT FSI engine delivering 150PS (148bhp). The Formula One derived tyres are described as complimenting the Golf Plus’ sporty characteristics.

Andy Lane, marketing manager at Bridgestone UK, said: “We are thrilled that Volkswagen has chosen Bridgestone tyres for the new Golf Plus. It already looks like mirroring the popularity of the Golf, and the Potenza RE050 tyres will provide the same excellent grip and performance for this exciting new model.”

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New Disc Brake Catalogue

Honeywell Friction Materials has introduced the 2005 edition of the Bendix and JURID Disc Brake Catalogue for passenger cars and light utility vehicles. Containing over 1000 pages, and with a new cover design, this catalogue proposes a full range of disc brake products including brake pads, brake discs, disc kits (boxed set of pads with corresponding discs) as well as accessories and wear indicators.

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The German Motoring Press Awards Pirelli

Pirelli has won several summer tyre tests carried out by German motoring publications. Products ranging from the ultra high performance sector to the balanced performance ranges were put through their paces.

In particular, Pirelli’s UHP tyre, P Zero Nero, fitted to BMW Z4, Mercedes-Benz C 320 Sport Coupé, Audi A3 and Audi TT and the P Zero Rosso fitted to Mercedes-Benz CLS 350 returned performances of “extremely high levels,” says the manufacturer, winning tests on both wet and dry asphalt.

Pirelli’s SUV Scorpion STR tyre, tested on a Jeep Cherokee, also received recognition, as did the high performance P6 on a Volkswagen Golf V and P3000 Energy on a Ford Fiesta.

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And Then There Were Three

The live finals of the Top Technician 2005 competition were held at the Automotive Trade Show last week. The event saw 12 finalists competing in three challenges under the eyes of ReMIT assessors Terence Smith and Melvyn Morgan and chairman of judges, Dave Garratt.

The three finalists were Clive Atthowe AMIMI, of Clive Atthowe Tuning, Iain Kershaw MIMI, of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and John Tinham CAE AMIMI, of John Tinham Motor Engineer. They will each go forward to the award ceremony, which takes place in London next month, but only one can win the £2000 cash prize.

“The level of skill and knowledge exhibited by finalists was incredible and marks were very high across all twelve,” said Dave Garratt.

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New York Auto Show Just Another Example of Pirelli’s Growth

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At the beginning of the year, Guy Mannino, President and CEO of Pirelli Tire North America, announced 2005 as “The Year of OE at Pirelli.” With the New York International Auto Show just completed at the Javits Center in New York City and with major auto shows in Anaheim, Los Angeles, Detroit and Chicago having run their course, it’s instructive to review the significant OE in-roads Pirelli has made in this it’s fourth year of aggressive expansion in North America.

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Win The 15,000th Hofmann Wheel Balancer

Quality comes at a price, or so they say. However, Hofmann is offering visitors to the Brityrex show a once in a lifetime opportunity to win quality for free! Visitors to the Hofmann stand (M7) can enter a free competition to win a Geodyna 4801 computerised wheel balancer worth over £3,000.

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Michelin Plant Aims to Beat

Michelin’s Vitoria factory has set itself the challenge of beating its own record and making 11.5 million car and giant excavator tyres, Spanish news sources have reported.

All four Michelin’s Vitoria business units, giant tyres, car tyres, cable and rubber, registered growth in 2004, thanks to a 12 per cent upturn in the world tyre market. During the year, more than 10.8 million car tyres left the Vitoria plant for car manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Ford, Seat, Renault, Opel, Peugeot and Citröen, who accounted for 30 per cent of the units produced. The other 70 per cent went to the spares market, to workshops, garages and inspection centres.

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From EMT to “RunOnFlat” Technology

16 years ago Goodyear presented the grandfather of today’s sidewall strengthened tyres on the Corvette. Later the technology was named EMT (Extended Mobility Technology). Now the EMT contraction has outlived its usefulness and, alongside the release of its new “Excellence” summer tyre, Goodyear has renamed the system “RunOnFlat” technology. The first three products to bear the “RunOnFlat” name will be BMW OE versions of the Excellence in sizes 205/55 R16, 225/50 R16 and 205/50 R17. Naturally these will also be available on the aftermarket and four further sizes are due to arrive in the spring.

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Into the ‘Guinness Book of Records’ on Bridgestone Tyres

Gerhard Plattner, an Austrian journalist and specialist in fuel economy record-breaking, succeeded in crossing ten European countries using just one tank of diesel. His trip began on 16th November 2004 in the German town of Lindau, on Lake Constance, with a full sealed tank and the firm intention to cross as many countries as possible without refuelling. After first travelling through Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, he returned to Austria via the Feldkirch border crossing. The road took him further through the South Tyrolean Puster Valley, and on to Slovenia, West Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia. After a 1,160-km journey lasting 15 hours and 7 minutes, Plattner reached his final destination: the Czech Republic. On arriving in the tenth country of this epic ‘Eco Tour’, he parked his Golf V TDI running on Bridgestone „B390 Eco” tyres with the Volkswagen dealer in Brünn. “Above all, I would like to praise the Bridgestone ‘B390’ tyres. I have used them on previous record attempts and, yet again, they’ve performed splendidly. Not only do they have excellent fuel saving qualities, but they’re also comfortable and have first-rate handling characteristics,“ said Plattner after his tour throughout Europa which earned him a place in the ‘Guinness Book of Records’.

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