(Akron/Tire Review) Effective 1 June Yokohama Tire Corp. will increase prices for its passenger, light truck, medium truck radial and “some” OTR tyres by up to 7 per cent.
A 5-7 per cent increase will go into effect for medium truck radial tyres, light truck commercial tyres, earthmover and mining tyres, as well as Mohawk and private brands, according to Yokohama. There will also be in-line adjustments on select sizes and treads, the tyremaker added.
The Yokohama Rubber Co, Ltd, has announced that it established Suzhou Yokohama Tire Co., Ltd. earlier this month in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China. Beginning October 2007, the new company will manufacture and sell steel radial truck and bus (TB) tyres. The company invested US$81 million in the facility and expects to produces 350,000 tyres. Up till now Yokohama has exported Japanese produced replacement tyres into the Chinese market.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has announced changes in its line-up of directors and corporate officers. The assignments will be effective on April 1, 2006.
Having been established for almost 45 years within various sectors of the automotive industry, Sussex based, Elite Garages has now opened a Motorsport Tyre division within the wholesale operation based in Mannings Heath, Horsham.
Managing director Richard Whittemore commented: “With the increased number of people taking their cars on track to explore their performance limits, we felt it necessary to open a specialist division to offer sales support and technical information for these customers”. At the beginning of 2005, this idea became a reality under the watchful eye of Dave Blackley, who has over 10 years experience in the tyre industry with Elite Garages.
Last week Continental shares reached a new high of 86.51 euros while the competitors Toyo (-7%), Yokohama (-6%) and Nokian (-5%) lost ground. Michelin, by comparison, has remained stable at around 50 euros. Goodyear started a downswing at the end of February from more than 15 euros to 11 euros and is in danger of falling below 10 euros in the near future.
Yokohama will supply tyres and sponsorship to the 2006 Rallycross Super Series, after signing an agreement with their promoters. Yokohama tyres are currently used as the control tyre in the Junior, Senior Minicross and Stock Hatch Rallycross categories and the company will make a series of new tyres for the Rallycross series.
Yokohama HPT was instrumental in stunt driver Terry Grant’s success in claiming two new World Records at last month’s Autosport International show. Grant chose Yokohama tyres and TSW alloy wheels for the cars he used to shatter the existing records for performing donuts.
As Grant was the previous record holder, he was aiming to smash own achievement for the number of cars performing donuts simultaneously by a single driver. The technique involved setting one car donutting, locking the throttle and steering, leaving the spinning car, getting into another car and repeating the process. Terry’s previous record was for three cars but he went one better to set the record with four cars concurrently donutting, to rapturous applause from the audience in the show’s Live Action Arena.
Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has posted a 19.1 per cent increase in operating income, to 20.9 billion yen (£141.5 million), in the nine month period ended 31 December. Sales growth, cost-cutting measures, and the weakening of the yen against the dollar reportedly “more than offset increased raw-material costs.”
Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced that it will expand its off-the-road production capacity by about 50 per cent by building a new facility at its Onomichi Plant to provide the additional capacity. Work will begin on the new facility this month, and Yokohama’s plans call for production to get under way there in November. The project will increase Yokohama’s monthly production capacity for off-the-road tyres incrementally to 1,620 tons – as measured in rubber consumption – by 2009, from 1,100 tons today. Yokohama has earmarked 5 billion yen (almost £25 million) for the investment project.
Yokohama’s Hangzhou Yokohama Tire Co. Ltd. Chinese subsidiary has secured ISO 14001 certification. The company achieved the standard in January, Yokohama reported. Established in December 2001 and financed by Yokohama Rubber (90 per cent) and YHI Holdings Pte, Ltd (10 per cent), Hangzhou Yokohama Tire manufactures and sells radial tyres for passenger cars.
Philip J Ringo, chairman and CEO of RubberNetwork LLC, named Kumho Tire as the 10th member-owner of the global Tire and Rubber Industry Consortium. “We welcome Kumho Tire to RubberNetwork. They join nine of the Industry’s largest and most successful companies, Continental Tire, Cooper Tire & Rubber, Goodyear, Hankook, Michelin, Pirelli Tire, Sumitomo Rubber, Toyo Tire and Rubber and Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. in what we believe is the most successful industry consortium. The addition of Kumho is both a validation of their stature in the Industry and the wisdom of RubberNetwork’s founders in forming the Company in 2000” Ringo said.
(Akron/Tire Review) Yokohama Tire Corp.’s Advan Neova tyre brand has been named the exclusive tyre for Dinan’s modified BMWs and Minis. Dinan, which featured Advan Neova tyres on its cars at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January, will offer Advan tyres exclusively, according to Yokohama. More than 130 Dinan-authorised BMW/MINI Performance Centres will offer the tyres.
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The Yokohama/ADVAN equipped Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX of Fumio Nutahara has won the opening round of the 2006 FIA Production car World Rally Championship (P-WRC). The Rallye Monte Carlo is the first time the Japanese manufacturer’s tyres have won a round of the P-WRC and the maiden victory for Nutahara.
Nutahara is a seasoned campaigner in the production category of the World Rally Championship, for group N, or showroom specification, cars. However, for the 2006 season, Nutahara has engaged the services of experienced co-driver Daniel Barritt and the combination is already paying off.
Yokohama’s UK distributor, Yokohama HPT, saw the Autosport Show as a great opportunity to launch Mangels Wheels. The addition of the Brazilian brand is designed to complement the company’s existing portfolio, which includes well-known names like TSW and MAK. The range includes designs for the growing performance road car and sport SUV segments. Yokohama HPT will exclusively distribute the new wheels in the UK.
Yokohama has been selected to supply OE tyres to the Lotus’ 2006 Elise and Exige ranges. The Lotus Elise 111R and Lotus Elise Sports Racer are both fitted with the Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 tyre, which has been developed specifically for the demands of Lotus models. Furthermore, the entire Exige range is fitted with the company’s Advan A048 tyres as standard. The A048 is designed primarily for track day users, but is also e-marked and therefore road-legal.
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