Yokohama saw two new winners on its control tyres in the third round of the 2014 BRDC Formula 4 championship. Will Palmer, twice, and Arjun Maini took their first victories of the year under hot conditions at Snetterton.
Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Virginia, LLC (YTMV) has signed a new four-year contract with United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1023, according to Tetsuro “Tex” Murakami, president of YTMV, located in Salem, Virginia.
“Both parties worked diligently to achieve a contract that is fair and equitable for all involved,” Murakami said, “and it highlights the positive working relationship between the two sides.”
Vacu-Lug is supplying Kress Slab Carriers, which make up the heavy end of its customer’s 70-strong vehicle fleet operating from a steel works in Wales. Operating around the clock, the Kress Carriers transport steel slabs within the steel production plant which, together with its sister plant, elsewhere in Wales is capable of producing upwards of 5 million tonnes of steel slab per annum.
According to the company, the Kress Carriers are fitted with front, 37.25-35 and rear, 4000 x57 Yokohama tyres, each of which is supported by a ‘cradle-to-grave’ inspection and reporting process carried out by Vacu-Lug.
This year’s annual tyre manufacturer rankings have brought with them a number of key changes at the top of the table. The growth of Far Eastern manufacturers and Chinese companies in particular has long been observed, but 2014 sees Singapore-based Giti Tire break into the top 10 and Taiwan-based Maxxis/Cheng Shin Rubber retains its ninth position. Hot on Giti’s heels, 11th place ZC Rubber (producer of the Westlake brand) gained one place from its position in last year’s table. Indeed this part of the table is extremely close and, such is the competition at this level, if ZC Rubber had achieved the same figures as last year (assuming no-one else had done any better and excluding currency effects) it could have been in 10th position.
Yokohama Rubber has established a new official Facebook page as part of its efforts to strengthen information sharing via social networking services. The page – http://www.facebook.com/YokohamaRubber – began operating on 2 June and provides information in Japanese and, when reporting information of potential interest to international readers, in English. The company has also boosted its domestic market social media presence with the creation of an official Yokohama channel with Japan’s leading video hosting service, niconico. This page – http://ch.nicovideo.jp/yokohamarubber – exclusively features Japanese language material.
Collaboration between Yokohama Rubber and Kumho Tire will become even closer following the signing of a cooperative research and development agreement and a license and technology exchange agreement on 31 May. The agreements are based on the master technological alliance agreement signed by the two companies on 15 February, an agreement that in turn followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on 29 November 2013. Under this latest agreement, Yokohama Rubber and Kumho Tire will begin joint research and development on new tyre-related technologies, including ultra lightweight tyres and other environmentally friendly tyre technologies, as well as new concept tyres.
Messe Essen announced the Reifen 2014 award winners on the evening before the show opened, with Yokohama taking the coveted Innovation Award in the Technology and Products category. The Japanese manufacturer presented its process for the visual representation of the aerodynamic and acoustic rolling behaviour of tyres to the jury, using the Japanese space authority, JAXA’s supercomputer from space research to show that the noise level of a rolling car tyre also depends on flow structures in front of the tyre, which are subjected to a compression effect.
George Russell has extended his lead in the 2014 BRDC Formula 4 championship, thanks to another race win and a podium finish at this weekend’s three races at Brands Hatch in Kent. The young driver stretches his lead to 21 points over Raoul Hyman after six of the season’s 24 races. Yokohama is supplying the […]
Later this month Yokohama Rubber will showcase its latest technologies and products at the Reifen 2014 exhibition on a stand (Hall 3, booth 3A18) featuring both market-ready and concept products.
Yokohama Rubber reports that its operating income reached a record high in the first quarter of 2014. On the back of net income of net sales that were up 9.6 per cent year-on-year to 139.9 billion yen (£810.9 million), operating income jumped 54.6 to 11.7 billion yen (£67.8 million). Net income, at 6.5 billion yen (£37.7 million), was 14.8 per cent higher than in the first quarter of 2013. Sales and earnings increased in each of Yokohama’s three business sectors: tyres, industrial products, and other products. The company says its tyre business’ strong performance reflected robust growth in Japan and sales growth overseas. Operating income benefited in each business sector from a downward trend in raw material prices and from the weakening of the yen, as well as from sales growth.
When it comes to racially-weighted remarks catching up with public figures, this has been quite a week. Jeremy Clarkson has issued an apology for his mumbled ‘N-word’, and on the other side of the Atlantic Donald Sterling has received a lifetime ban from the NBA for discriminatory comments. Following the decision to bar Los Angeles Clippers owner Sterling from any association with the basketball team or the NBA, Yokohama Tire Corporation has reached an agreement on its Clippers sponsorship.
Yokohama Tire Corporation has reinstated its sponsorship of National Basketball Association franchise Los Angeles Clippers, having agreed that half of the 2014 NBA playoff sponsorship funds will be earmarked for charitable donations. YTC had suspended its sponsorship following racist remarks allegedly made by owner Donald Sterling, who was subsequently banned from the NBA for life.
Donald Sterling, owner of the US basketball team Los Angeles Clippers, is in a lot of hot water over a recorded conversation in which he allegedly told his girlfriend not to bring black people to games played by his team. Even President Barack Obama has described the comments as being “incredibly offensive racist statements”. Team sponsor Yokohama Tire Corporation has also responded to the incident, placing a question mark alongside its future association with the Clippers.
New and returning drivers in what is described as being one of the world’s most cost-effective single seat motorsport categories are heading to Silverstone this weekend for the opening rounds of the 2014 BRDC Formula 4 Championship. As was the case during last year’s inaugural season, the control tyre for 2014 will be provided by Yokohama.
On 18 April The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. announced that as of 1 April 2014, its two US industrial product manufacturing and sales subsidiaries are merged into the newly established Yokohama Industries Americas Inc. The merged former subsidiaries are YH America Inc. and SAS Rubber Company. YH America is engaged in the assembly and sale of non-tyre products including: automotive hoses, the production and sale of automotive windshield sealants, and the sale of other industrial products. SAS Rubber is engaged in the production and sale of automotive hoses and other industrial-use rubber products. The newly unified subsidiary’s head office is located in Versailles, Kentucky, with production sites in Kentucky, South Carolina, and Ohio. The two merged subsidies had combined sales of 22.0 billion yen in fiscal 2013 and employ about 1,200 people.
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