As always, the Geneva Motor Show 2014 was a great place to meet people. Neeraj Kanwar of Apollo told me that despite some newspaper reports to the contrary, he does not rule out working in China at some stage in the future. In common with Continental, Hankook, Kumho, Goodyear and others, however, he says Apollo
Hankook is the latest tire maker to produce a concept tire which relies on mechanical strength of plastic materials to carry load, rather than pneumatic pressure. The iFlex was shown at the Frankfurt IAA. I chatted with the engineers and their story was a little different from that which has been trumpeted by other publications.
One week after the disastrous British Grand Prix, Pirelli heads to the Nurburgring in Germany. Pirelli has decided, in light of the tire failures at Silverstone, to bring Kevlar belted rear tires to Germany. Pirelli blamed the tire failures on a combination of factors. These included rear tires being mounted the wrong way round, low tire pressures, extreme
According to ACEA, in May, the demand for new commercial vehicles in the EU resumed its downward trend. The increase in April is thought to have been a calendar effect. The Spanish vehicle market remains stable (+0.4%), while the UK (-4.0%), Germany (-9.6%), France (-11.2%) and Italy (-16.2%) registered fewer vehicles than in May 2012.
Continental is to expand annual production capacity of its truck and bus tire plant in Puchov (Slovakia). The capacity will increase from around 2.6 million tires to over 3 million over the next couple of years. Continental will invest €100 million into EMEA for this project. Continental says that the expansion is down to an increased demand for their truck tire
Lanxess is restructuring its plant network and portfolio for its Rubber Chemicals business unit. Two product lines will be ended and one factory closed. Production at two factories will be swapped to rationalise production Production of age inhibitors Vulkanox 3100 and Vulkanox DPPD will be stopped and the plant that creates them, the Isithebe site
DHL has agreed to a three year contract to manage Hankook Tyres’ UK warehousing operations. The company has taken over responsibility for the receipt, check and stock replenishment for Hankook’s facilities in Daventry, Northamptonshire. Hankook’s market share in the UK has increased over the past few years, leading the company to alter its supply chain management. The
Trawling the web this morning, I came across this image. It is taken from the Renault website. Renault launched this concept vehicle — the Twin’z — at the Milan Triennale this week. The Triennale is a festival of outstanding design. It’s not a car show. The Triennale audience is more used to fashion and product
Three key stories emerged from the opening day of the Geneva Motor Show. ETRMA members met in Geneva and agreed to work together to help governments enforce the EU Labelling scheme Tire makers see the EU car tire sales downturn as structural – no recovery any time soon. BMW once again leads the OE field
Anyone who follows the news will have seen the letter from Titan CEO, Maurice (Morry) Taylor to the French Industry Minister, Arnaud Montebourg. It suggests that French workers are lazy and unproductive. Taylor adds that he has no interest in buying the factory in Amiens from Goodyear. Rather than take on the French unions, he
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