For the 18th year in a row, The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has been included in the global stock index FTSE4Good Index Series, an achievement it says “reconfirms that the company’s ESG activities and disclosure practices meet the highest global standards.” The tyre, wheel and rubber products maker has also been selected to the FTSE Blossom Japan Index for the sixth straight year.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems will soon have a new owner, but not as soon as first announced. The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. now anticipates completing its acquisition of all outstanding shares in Wheel Systems Holding AB in the first half of 2023, rather than during the originally planned second half of 2022. Narrowing this timeframe further, Trelleborg Group says its divestment of the business is “likely in the first months of the year.”
Yokohama Rubber reports that the relocation to a new headquarters at the site of its Hiratsuka factory in Japan will commence 10 January 2023. The various head office departments will make the shift from Tokyo to Hiratsuka City in seven steps over the following two months, with the move complete by 6 March.
Many tyre makers have faced difficult decisions in the weeks and months since Russian troops first marched across Ukraine’s border on 24 February. Companies such as Nokian Tyres, Bridgestone, Continental, Michelin, Yokohama and Pirelli have needed to decide whether to continue operating their Russian plants. Four of these manufacturers are turning their backs on Russia or considering doing so, but two apparently are not.
Yokohama Rubber has announced it will cease supplying karting tyres at the end of this year. The tyre maker says its management team reached this decision “after careful consideration of various viewpoints” related to restructuring as part of the company’s mid-term management plan.
As reported on Tuesday, Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (YOHT) has opened its third factory in India. Yokohama Rubber has shared some additional details about the new plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, which alongside existing facilities in Dahej, Gujarat and Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu will produce YOHT’s core Alliance, Galaxy and Primex off-highway tyre brands.
During a ceremony held today and attended by local and regional officials, Yokohama Off Highway Tires (YOHT) inaugurated its newest factory in India and broke ground on the second stage of work at the site. Located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh state, the new plant is YOHT’s third in the country.
Yokohama Rubber hopes to speed up its tyre development process by implementing new rubber compounding technology that draws upon the power of artificial intelligence (AI). It is turning to a process that utilises AI-based compound generation technology to achieve user-set target property values.
Yokohama Rubber has refreshed its dedicated motorsports website. Both the English and Japanese language versions of the Yokohama Motorsports sites have been given the treatment and now feature full-screen designs. Yokohama says this format “enhances user convenience.”
Although the sales revenue of 185.6 billion yen (£1.2 billion) earned by the Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. in Q1 2022 was the highest figure it ever achieved in the January-to-March quarter and a 28.4 per cent improvement on the result attained a year earlier, the company nonetheless had little cause for celebration by the time rising costs and other complications were factored in. Profit attributable to owners of parent declined 63.5 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022 to 10.2 billion yen (£64.9 million). Operating profit was, at 13.7 billion yen (£87.1 million), down 62.7 per cent.
Yokohama Rubber and Alps Alpine have jointly developed a technology that automatically detects wear in car tyres. The tyre maker sees potential for this technology in self-driving vehicles and shared mobility fleets.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has been selected as a constituent stock in the FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index, an equity index designed to reflect the performance of Japanese companies that demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.
Yokohama Rubber views motorsport engagement as “crucial” to the development of new tyre technologies for its Advan and Geolandar brands, and this focus is reflected in its motorsports activity plan for 2022. Not only will the company participate in a wide variety of motorsport events in its home market Japan and around the world, from top-level championships to grassroots racing, the tyre maker also intends to begin using its presence in motorsport to further its development of tyres that use renewable and recyclable materials.
During an online event hosted today in Japan and Germany, Yokohama Rubber officially debuted its Yokohama Advan Sport V107, successor to the V105 and the company’s new global flagship tyre.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. reports “record-high” sales revenue and profit during the 2021 fiscal year. Sales revenue increased 21.7% over the previous year; operating profit rose 132.4% & profit attributable to owners of parent was up 148.9%.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.