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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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.
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