Current Imported Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ITMA) president David Seward has announced his intention to step down from this role at the conclusion of his two-year term. Seward will make way for a new president, the identity of whom will be decided by elections at the association’s annual general meeting later in June. He remains managing director of Yokohama HPT Ltd based in Milton Keynes.
Bavarian off-road specialist delta4x4 technicians were “taken aback” recently when asked to fit a large set of wheels to a Yeti. No they hadn’t discovered an immobile abominable snowman. Instead young woman customer was requesting the biggest possible wheels for her Skoda Yeti. However, while there were no actual mythical creatures involved, there does seem to have been a hint of the green-eyed monster. Apparently her motivation was to outdo her husband who drives an Audi Q7 with 20 inch wheels.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has reported that first quarter net sales (1 January to 31 March) increased 7.4 per cent over the same period of the previous year to 135.3 billion yen. At the same time operating income increased 403.3 per cent, to 9.3 billion yen; and net income increased 389.7 per cent, to 8.8 billion yen. According to the company, the first-quarter sales growth reflected strong gains in OE sales to Japanese OEMs as well as progress in raising prices for tyres and other products.
The latest instalment of Yokohama Tire Corporation's consumer education-focused video series – "Tire Tips" – features an updated version of how to read a tyre's sidewall.
Yokohama Rubber shares that it has obtained ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for four types of tyre testing. ISO/IEC 17025 is the main international standard for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, and accreditation means Yokohama’s test data is internationally recognised as being based on proper testing techniques. Accreditation also enables the company to use the official ISO/IEC 17025 logo on its published test reports. Yokohama Rubber obtained accreditation after being examined by Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation, Inc. (PJLA).
Yokohama Rubber is participating at Auto China 2012, which opens to the public in Beijing on 25 April. At the show it will emphasise the company’s new slogan for China – Drive Transformation – and will attempt to improve the recognition of its various brands. Yokohama will also display its BluEarth AE-01 passenger car tyre for the first time in China; the AE-01 will be released there in China in July.
The greatest environmental impact associated with the tyre life cycle occurs during the tyre’s on-road use, and therefore rolling resistance and the role it plays in fuel consumption is an increasing focus for tyre makers and consumers. Yet important as it may be, rolling resistance is only one of a number of factors that require consideration during the development of a ‘green’ tyre.
Yokohama’s Forever Forest programme continued last week with the planting of some 2,500 seedlings at Yokohama Tire Corporation’s Salem factory on 11 April. The latest action means that a total of 6,800 seedlings have been planted at the site as part of the Forever Forest scheme, which aims to plant more than 500,000 trees worldwide by 2017.
Three of Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd’s plants in Japan and China obtained JISHA (Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association) Standards Certification for Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OSHMS) in January 2012. They are the Onomichi plant, which makes tyres for construction and industrial vehicles in Japan, Hangzhou Yokohama Tire Co., Ltd. (passenger car tyres), and Suzhou Yokohama Tire Co., Ltd. (truck and bus tyres).
The UK distributor for TSW replacement alloy wheels in the UK, Yokohama HPT, has added four new wheels to its portfolio. All four new wheels – the Mugello, the Rivage, the Galvez and the Bilbao – are available now from the Milton Keynes-based company.
Yokohama has completed pre-season testing at Silverstone for the new specification Formula Two cars, which will use Yokohama products as control tyres for the first time in the 2012 season. Yokohama HPT, the UK distributor of the company’s tyres and TSW brand wheels, will supply the products ready-mounted to the control wheel rims and deliver to MSV, the UK-based company which manages the championship. It will also provide expertise and on-event support to the series, as it travels around some of Europe's most iconic racetracks.
Yokohama Rubber has signed up as control tyre supplier to European championship the ADAC GT Masters, which got underway for this season on Saturday. For dry conditions, Yokohama will supply its orange oil-containing Advan A005, and its Advan A006 for the wet.
Yokohama Tire Corporation has launched a new Spanish-language website for Mexico. “The website is designed to meet the needs of our growing customer base in Mexico,” said John Cooney, Yokohama's director of export. “It has been customised with many of the features found on our English-language website in the US, including an interactive dealer locator, interactive product ‘hot spots’ and downloadable bulletins in Spanish. These materials highlight the features and benefits of Yokohama's tyres ranging from our high-performance passenger car tires to fuel-efficient commercial truck tyres.”
Yokohama’s general manager of its Tire Global Product Planning Division, Shigeo Komatsu announced the release of its new BluEarth AE-01 onto the European market at the Geneva Motorshow. The AE-01 is a latest generation tyre for passenger cars in the fuel-efficient BluEarth tyre series. It will be available in 40 sizes from 155/80R13 79T to 205/55R16 91H and will be sold around the world, starting in Europe.
Following a hiatus of several years, Yokohama Rubber has reactivated plans to erect a passenger car tyre factory in India. Announcing the go-ahead of construction on 28 March, the Japanese tyre maker said the new plant is scheduled to enter service in July 2014 and will have a first phase annual capacity of 700,000 tyres. Total investment in the factory in Haryana state, some 40 kilometres west of Delhi, will be approximately 4.4 billion yen (£33.2 million). Preparations for the plant began four years ago; in April 2008, Yokohama Rubber signed a contract with the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation to acquire a 25 acre site, however plant construction was postponed due to the recession.
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