Last year, Apollo Tyres introduced its range into Europe, including several winter tyres. As such, it is the first and to-date only Indian tyre maker to market winter tyres in our region. The brand recently received a boost when its winter tyres were favourably reviewed by VOX TV, a national television network in Germany, Europe’s most significant winter tyre market.
Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson has reportedly concluded a full takeover of Russia’s Sibur Holding.
According to various new reports, Mikhelson upped his stake in Sibur from 50 to 57.5 per cent through his investment firm Dellawood Holdings. His partner in Cyprus-based Dellawood Gennady Timchenko is also said to have acquired a 37.5 per cent shareholding in the petrochemicals group. The remaining 5% stake is held by Sibur’s top management.
A commercial court will hear on 26 October TIRE Invest's 42.256 million euro lawsuit against Holland's Amtel-Vredestein N.V., the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI). Nomos-Bank was the initial plaintiff, but reportedly assigned its claims to TIRE Invest last summer.
Continental has won the 2011 Auto Express winter tyre test, published this week (12 October). A parallel test in Auto Express’s high performance sister publication Evo awarded Continental top marks. In both titles, Continental's ContiWinterContact TS830P 91 H took the top spot in this year’s winter tyre awards.
Including a Continental summer tyre, which was used as a reference point, and a Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D that was curiously described as a “pre-production” product and was not rated, Auto Express tested 10 tyres. For reasons described above 8 were given ratings. Six were winter tyres, three all season and one summer. All were H – V rated 225/45 R17 sized products.
Just 0.7 per cent behind Continental’s winning score (100), second place was taken by Goodyear’s UltraGrip Performance 94 V. While no official mark was given, Auto Express explained that the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D would have come third if it was not a “pre-production” model. As it happens Pirelli’s Sottozero Winter 240 Serie II took third place with a score of 98.9. Michelin’s Alpin 4 94V came fourth and scored 98.7.
Earlier this year, Tyres & Accessories reported on one tyre maker's installation of a tread depth measurement unit at its premises in the Netherlands. Similar equipment may become a familiar sight to British motorists in the future – and not everybody is pleased about this.
The annual Auto Express tyre test, published yesterday (8 September, 2011), awarded Goodyear’s Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 top place and a “Best Buy 2011” endorsement. Michelin’s Pilot Sport 3 also received a “Recommended” rating, coming in second and scoring very highly all round. The magazine tested ten tyres from top-selling manufacturers, using the popular 225/45R17 size fitted to Volkswagen Golf GTIs. Ten tyres were supplied by each manufacturer, while Auto Express also bought two sets at random, to ensure fair testing. The tests, including wet and dry characteristics, cabin noise and rolling resistance, were completed at Bridgestone’s cutting edge testing facility in Aprilia, Italy.
On July 25 Pirelli, Russian Technologies and Sibur Holding signed an agreement to transfer the former Amtel-Vredestein Kirov passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyre plant to the joint venture formed by Pirelli and Russian Technologies on November 26, 2010. The transfer is to take place before November 2011; the agreement signed on July 25 also entails the transfer of further assets that should lift the joint-venture’s production capacity from seven million units – the Kirov plant’s capacity – to a total of 11 million units by 2014. The transfer of all these assets will take place in exchange for a total consideration of 222 million euros, divided on a pro-quota basis between the partners, with a payment of 55 million euros in 2011 and 167 million euros in 2012.
Despite a later than originally anticipated timeframe, the manufacture of Vredestein brand tyres is still expected to begin in India before the end of 2011. Satish Sharma, the chief of India operations for Vredestein parent company Apollo Tyres, has been quoted as saying “we may start rolling out Vredestein tyres from our Chennai or Vadodara factory in three to six months.” He noted, however, that initial production quantities would be very low.
To underline the company’s emphasis on road safety and the environment, Apollo Vredestein has unveiled a state-of-the-art laser tread depth measuring station at its Enschede site in the Netherlands. The addition of this new unit, says the tyre maker, will make visitors more aware of the importance of having the correct tread depth in terms of both their safety and the environment. The station was built in accordance with Apollo Vredestein’s ISO 14001 environmental certification, as was the tyre pressure station installed by the company in 2008.
Before you next gripe, Jeremy Clarkson-style, that the bus is a slow and cumbersome form of transport worthy of your finest sneer, you should take the time to acquaint yourself with the Superbus project. The 15 metre long, 23 seat vehicle is now under development and its Dutch builder claims a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) for the vehicle. The first Superbus prototype was presented in Dubai on the opening day of the World Exhibition of the International Association of Public Transport on April 10, 2011, and project developer Superbus B.V. aims to have the high speed vehicle ready for commercial use in 2015. To keep the bus rolling at its anticipated top speed the company is drawing upon support in the tyre department from Apollo Vredestein.
Vredestein has announced the upcoming release of the Hi-Trac 2. The second-generation tyre is an evolution of its predecessor, however the Dutch tyre maker claims “the number of improvements we have now made for the Hi-Trac is so significant that Vredestein has decided to add the number ‘2’ to its product name.” Named changes are an adapted construction and a new tread compound that is said to reduce rolling resistance and noise production. The sidewall has also been given a “more modern and streamlined design,” Vredestein adds.
Vredestein has announced a new collaborative partnership with Belgian body styling equipment designer Caractère. The two companies will collaborate in development and advertising along with media activities and trade fairs under the tyre maker’s ‘Premium Styling by Vredestein’ concept. The latest deal adds to similar partnerships Vredestein has already formed with Arden, Carlsson and Lumma.
The burghers of 37 European cities are the target audience for Vredestein’s largest ever billboard campaign. To coincide with the opening of the Geneva Autosalon, the Dutch brand has taken a total of 10,156 square metres of advertising space in prime locations.
A new addition to Vredestein’s Quatrac all-season family, first established in 2007 with the Quatrac 3, is scheduled for release at the Geneva International Motor Show. This new product, the Quatrac Lite, is described by Apollo Vredestein as being “revolutionary” and the “first ‘green’ all-season tyre.” In announcing its imminent launch the tyre maker says the Quatrac Lite “meets all the environmental regulations due to be implemented across the European Union in 2012, and is focused on fuel efficiency.” Apollo Vredestein further comments that the new range “meets the premium quality and safety standards for which Vredestein is renowned.”
In the last year or so conflicting reports on Apollo Tyres’ plans to set up a factory in Eastern Europe have circulated; in March 2010 it was said plans for a new plant there had been dropped in favour of a focus on expanding the former Vredestein facility in the Netherlands, while later in the year talk from Apollo management turned again to international investments. Recent news from Chennai, India based newspaper the Economic Times indicates a new factory in Eastern Europe is indeed still on the cards.
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