On 2 August Yokohama Rubber announced its entry into an off-take agreement with Shandong Xingda Tyre Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of off-the-road tyres for construction and mining vehicles. Under the terms of this basic agreement, Yokohama Rubber will provide Shandong Xingda Tyre with technical support regarding OTR radial tyres and in return will off-take a fixed quantity of OTR tyres manufactured by Shandong Xingda Tyre.
Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) has launched an iPad app for the trucking tyre industry: The Yokohama Commercial Tire Navigator, which is available for free on iTunes. The commercial version of the app is based on YTC’s 2011 Yokohama Tire Explorer, featuring product information in an interactive format, 360-degree tyre photography, Yokohama’s proprietary Fuel Savings Calculator and a dealer locator. The product line-up consists of a variety of Yokohama’s commercial tires, including the Zenvironment line and the company’s seven EPA SmartWay-verified tyres.
Yokohama Rubber has reported on its environment-related activities at several of the company’s Japanese plants. The various actions Yokohama is undertaking or plans to initiate focus on preserving the biodiversity in each plant’s surrounding area; the company commenced its biodiversity programme at the Mie car and truck tyre factory in the 2011 financial year and extended it to the Shinshiro and Mishima car and light truck tyre plants in the first half of this year. Programmes will get underway at the Ibaraki and Nagano rubber products plants in the second half of 2012.
Yokohama Tire Corporation has entered into a multi-year sponsorship deal with US National Football League (NFL) team the Chicago Bears. After signing this sponsorship agreement, Yokohama now supports four NFL teams for the 2012 season, the others being the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens.
Halfway through its first season supplying rubber to the series, Yokohama was at Brands Hatch last weekend (14-15 July) for the FIA Formula Two championship. The Official Tyre Partner called Kent’s Brands Hatch circuit the series' spiritual home, and was supplying drivers with its ADVAN A005 dry slick and ADVAN A006 wet tyres – a necessity with the inclement conditions in the south of the UK. The meeting saw another new face on the top step of the podium while a prospective motorsport student got a behind-the-scenes look at the series with the Yokohama technicians.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is using a commercial truck tyre casing from Yokohama Tire Corporation to establish a SmartWay verification program for retreaded tyres fitted to Class 8 line-haul trucks. “We are excited that the EPA has designated the RY617 steer and all-position tyre for their verification program as the benchmark casing for retread technologies,” said Rick Phillips, Yokohama director of commercial sales. When a retread receives EPA certification, fleets using those tyres become compliant with California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations for low rolling resistance tyres.
Yokohama-shod Jarkko Nikara claimed his first class victory, four minutes ahead of the next Production Cup driver, in the 2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge Production Cup, claiming fifth overall on the San Marino Rally. Nikara and co-driver Jarkko Kalliolepo led the event from the first stage in their Tommi Makinen Racing Subaru Impreza R4 and claimed the Japanese brand's first event win of 2012 with a margin of more than four minutes.
If work being carried out by Professor Takashi Ohira and his team at Toyohashi University of Technology can be successfully applied to the real world, the day may come when we drive electric cars powered by current flowing through their tyres. The Toyohashi team is working on a project known as EVER, or Electric Vehicle on Electrified Roadway, and it says the technology being developed applies the same basic concept used on suburban electric railways for more than a century. On 5 July the Ohira and the Toyohashi team demonstrated its prototype technology at the WTP2012 trade show in Yokohama.
According to local news reports, Yokohama intends to more than double production in the Philippines by 2017. The Philippine Daily Inquirer writes that the tyre maker’s local subsidiary, Yokohama Tire Philippines, Inc., plans to increase output from its current daily level of 21,000 units to 50,000 tyres a day within five years. This news is said to have been announced by Philippine trade undersecretary Merly M. Cruz.
The FIA has opted to extend Yokohama Rubber’s supply of Advan tyres to the World Touring Car Championship as control tyre for a further three years, through to 2015. In reporting the continuation of its tyre supply, Yokohama notes that by the time this current deal expires, the WTCC will have run on its tyres for a decade.
When it comes to high performance tyres, Japanese manufacturer Yokohama says there’s something for everyone in its range. From motorsport-bred circuit tyres to safety and confidence-inspiring replacement road tyres, Yokohama offers a range that caters for drivers from mild to wild.
On 30 May, Yokohama held an opening ceremony for its new passenger car tyre plant in Russia. The facility, located in the Lipetsk Special Economic Zone and operated by Yokohama R.P.Z., was built with an investment of 4.8 billion roubles (£94.8 million) and is scheduled to reach full operation in the summer of 2013. Further additions will be made to the plant’s production capacity in stages, Yokohama reports. Products made in the new plant include the "C.drive2" and the studded "ice Guard iG35" winter tyre, both of which are core Yokohama products in the Russian market. These tyres will be manufactured in 13 to 18-inch rim diameter sizes and mainly sold in Russia, with some exports going to Europe.
Land Rover recently produced its one millionth Discovery vehicle and, to celebrate this milestone and demonstrate the Discovery's versatility and all-round capability, the company decide to send the vehicle on a trip – from Birmingham to Beijing.
For this epic, 50-day, 8,000-mile adventure, Land Rover chose Wrangler DuraTrac tyres for the three vehicles that undertook the daunting journey across more than a dozen countries. The conditions on the way were challenging and varied, including crossing mountains and driving on all sorts of surfaces.
At the opening round of the GT Asia championship, held in Malaysia on 25 May, Yokohama Rubber began in its new role as control tyre supplier. The Japanese tyre maker supplied its Advan A005 for dry conditions and the Advan A006 for the wet.
Japanese tyre manufacturer Yokohama shod two Aston Martin Test Centre cars, 'Zig' and 'Smurf', who completed the arduous event second and third in the SP8 class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours race. The cars finished 26th and 33rd overall respectively. Driven by Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez, chief engineer Chris Porritt, Test Centre director Wolfgang Schuhbauer and journalist Richard Meaden, the No. 005 Aston Martin V12 Zagato (Zig) enjoyed a trouble-free run, despite the demanding nature of the event, the circuit and the rain which began to fall as dawn crept into the sky over the Eifel Mountains.
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