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Taking stock of The Tire Cologne turns out to be basically very positive: An extremely motivated team of Koelnmesse provided the preconditions for a successful trade fair premiere. When looking at the visitor figures published by the trade fair company, some of the sector participants might have hoped for higher levels of attendance. The number of 16,000 professional visitors, which was provided, definitely resulted from the extreme weather conditions during the trade fair week.
Hankook has received an original equipment order for the current BMW X3. The BMW X3 is to show a dynamic and sportive outward appearance with both the Ventus S1 evo2 SUV in size 225/60 R18 104 W XL and with Hankook’s winter i*cept evo2 SUV in 225/60 R18 104 H XL. The Ventus S1 evo2 SUV received among other things an especially adapted apex under the star marking for the BMW X3.
The worldwide biggest tyre manufacturer presented its technical know-how and its tyre solutions among others in the passenger car and truck segment at The Tire Cologne. The Weather Control A005, Bridgestone’s first all-season tyre, celebrated its world premiere.
The Delticom AG is checking strategic options for its e-commerce activities in North America. The online tyre trade with private and commercial customers in North America is carried out via the web shops tires-easy.com, giga-tires.com and tires-easy.ca under the umbrella of Delticom North America Inc., in which the Delticom AG has a share of 75 per cent.
During The Tire Cologne Maxxis introduced the new Victra Sport 5. As Tobias Herzberg, Brand Manager at Maxxis, explained, it was considered to be a totally new development. This meant that the tyre disposed of a new carcass construction and rubber compound. It was supposed to replace the Victra Sport–VS-01 step-by-step. Although the Victra Sport 5 was already presented, it would only be available as of summer season 2019.
Yokohama was extremely satisfied with its trade fair presence. “We are well presented and are pleased with the numerous professional conversations at our trade fair booth”, said Sabine Stiller, Marketing and PR Manager. Apart from the product highlights, which had also been shown at the Geneva International Motor Show, the new Yokohama all-season tyre celebrated its premiere in Germany.
In the framework of The Tire Cologne, Apollo Vredestein uncovered the new Wintrac Pro in front of a big audience and with an enormous drum roll. The new winter tyre will particularly aim at high performance vehicles.
Only recently, Ulrike Höfken, Minister of the Environment, handed over an EU funding approval of about 700,000 euros to Christian Metzger, Factory Manager at Michelin, in Bad Kreuznach. The money is meant to finance the installation of particularly energy-efficient electric vulcanization presses in the location in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Because of top performance on wet roads, the Pirelli Angel GT turned out to be the test winner in the tyre test of the medium “Motorrad“. The Dunlop Roadsmart III achieved the same amount of points. Nonetheless, the Dunlop tread is not that fond of wet weather. Due to an excellent mix of stability, sportiness and safety on wet roads, the Pirelli Angel GT is the winner and proves that a relatively “old” tread is still able to dominate a comparison test.
At the beginning of the year, Continental proved its growth potential in a reserved market environment. Above all, influences from exchange rates caused a lot of headwind in the first three months. In spite of these negative effects of a total of 546 million euros, turnover reached 11.0 billion euros and was at the same level as in a comparable period in the year before.
The new Diablo Rossa Corsa II from Pirelli performs a real quick start: The Italian rubber gets top ratings in all the categories and secures the win in the comparison test of hyper sports tyres in the current edition 6-2018 of the specialized magazine “PS“.
The team of AutoRäderReifen-Gummibereifung is looking full of expectation at the premiere of The Tire Cologne 2018. It will virtually be a home match for us as Cologne-based editors. We traditionally present ourselves at our own trade fair booth, as we are the tyre specialist magazine with the highest circulation and the only one approved by the IVW (German Audit Bureau of Circulation).
Triangle Tire signed a distribution contract with the wholesaler B+B Reifencenter GmbH in Schwerin. As a consequence, Triangle will strengthen its presence in Europe. About 50 employees work for B+B Reifencenter. Apart from distributing tyres, the company also focuses on the areas of automotive service and accessories.
The Northwood University and the German Federation for Motor Trade and Repairs (ZDK - Zentralverband Deutsches Kraftfahrzeuggewerbe) continue their cooperation of qualifying young automotive talents. Keith A. Pretty, President of Northwood University based in Michigan, USA, and Birgit Behrens, Managing Director Professional Education at the German Federation for Motor Trade and Repairs (ZDK), signed the contract in the framework of the NADA Convention in Las Vegas in March.
Last week, the new Racing Series Elite was presented – Avon Tyres will work as official tyre supplier. The new Jaguar F-TYPE SVR with GT4 specification was selected as official racing vehicle. There will be 20 competitors for the whole first season in 2019. The vehicles will be stored and prepared by the central operations team before and after the race.
When equipping the Seat Arona in Europe, Giti Tire has already equipped the third vehicle on the small vehicle platform MQB A0. Thus, Seat, Volkswagen’s subsidiary, granted the corresponding original equipment release for the compact city crossover. Giti Tires will deliver its GitiSynergyE1 in dimension 205/60 R16 92H for the Arona to the main plant in Martorell/Spain.
The new Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2 was released as original equipment of the new 911 GT3 RS in the sizes 265/35ZR20 (99Y) XL and 325/30ZR21 (108Y) XL by Porsche. The successor of the Sport Maxx Race was particularly developed for Porsche.
Bridgestone is expanding its motorbike range of products around the new Battlax Sport Touring T31. According to company information, the new tyre shows improved wet performance and a maximum contact experience with the road.
Hankook announced expansion plans for building a new production plant for truck and bus tyres in Hungary. The work is going to start in the first six months of 2018. Production is supposed to begin two years later. The expansion with a value of about 290 million euros is to be the fourth biggest investment in the history of the factory, which was originally opened in 2007.
This time, AutoBild Allrad focuses on eight tyres of the size 265/60 R18 for bigger SUVs and off-road vehicles in its current summer tyre test, which took place on Continental’s testing ground in Uvalde, Texas. Thus, it was a home victory for the test winner, Continental SportContact 5 SUV. Nevertheless, the Conti tyre has to share the first position with the Hankook Ventus ST.
Presence in the prestige segment is an essential factor of strengthening your image – and it is proof of your development competence. Continental will equip sportscars and highly powerful, handling-oriented passenger cars with the new WinterContact TS 860 S. Original equipment will be the main focus of the luxury rubber, but the tyre will also be available in the replacement business.