Tire Dealers Association of Canada Convention - Autosphere

InDUStRy
NeWS
the Future Canadian
Automotive Business Portal
A well-kept secret, but rumours are raging like
the wind!
A b2b portal, the only bilingual multisegment
web site will soon be accessible. autosphere.ca’s
flagship segments will be: auto maintenance &
repair, collision repair, tires, and fleets.
It’s intended mainly for shop owners, their associates
and staff, manufacturers, wholesalers,
distributors, and chain stores. It applies equally
to Canadian automotive professionals and management
across the land.
At autosphere.ca, you’ll find current events,
scoops, interviews, profiles, exclusive issues, surveys,
information assets on the industry, etc.
autosphere.ca. Coming this fall!
tire Country Adopts
titan tires
Western Canada’s Tire Country recently announced
that it has become a primary distributor
of the Titan Tire brand. Titan Tire is North
America’s third largest manufacturer of off-Highway
tires. It also supplies OEMs, including John
Deere, Case, New Holland, and Kubota.
nASCAR Will Control the
Grand-Am Racing Series
NASCAR has indicated that it would control the
Grand-Am racing series in North America, while
both organizations will continue to sanction their
race event independently. This will include the
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series for prototypes
that will race with the NASCAR Nationwide race
in Montreal next August and the Grand-Am Koni
Challenge for race-prepared street cars. Note
that Pirelli is the official spec tire for the Rolex
Series, while Hoosier is the supplier for the Koni
Challenge.
The Grand Am Rolex series that raced Pirelli tires in
Montreal will be under control of NASCAR. (photo: Éric
Descarries)
6 Tire News tn October 2008
:
Bridgestone to Expand
Mexican Plant for UHP tires
Bridgestone Corp. announced it will invest
some $90 million to expand its Bridgestone
Firestone De Mexico S.A. de C.V. tire plant in
Cuernavaca in order to build more UHP tires.
The plant already employs 850 workers and it
will create another 200 jobs with the expansion.
According to the company, the new capacity will
produce UHP tires for 16- to 22-inch wheels.
Though Bridgestone has another plant in Mexico
at Monterrey—with its automated BIRD, or
Bridgestone Innovative and Rational Development,
manufacturing system—it will soon be
closing its older light and medium-duty truck tire
plant in Mexico City.
Amtel-Vredestein/Sibur-
Russian tyre Deal Is Off…
for now
According to a company filing at the London
Stock Exchange, the Amtel-Vredestein/Sibur-
Russian Tyres deal has been called off. These
two companies were supposed to merge in order
to create a $2 billion a year tire company that
would have had more than 30 percent of the
domestic market, and that would have helped
the Russian tiremaker have access to Vredestein’s
performance technology and European market.
The reason given for the failure is the lack of
credit to meet the financial terms and conditions.
Nonetheless, Amtel-Vredestein has announced it
had not given up on the deal yet.
Chrysler Will Eliminate
Lead Wheel Weights
Chrysler announced its program is completed
to eliminate the use of lead wheel weights from
its vehicles, switching to more eco-friendly substitutes
worldwide.
The move puts Chrysler in full compliance with
a voluntary program announced by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency in Detroit August
29. The National Lead-Free Wheel Weight Initiative
calls for elimination of lead wheel weights in
vehicles by the end of 2011.
Wheel weights can sometimes be dislodged on
rough roads. Being made of lead—effective and
low cost—has raised concerns about lead entering
the environment. Chrysler’s wheel weights
are now made of steel and zinc.
tIA Releases a Basic
Earthmover tire Service
Program
The Tire Industry Association recently released
a new training program for OTR (off-the-road)
and earthmover tire service in order to educate
technicians on the proper safety procedures.
Basic Earthmover Tire Service (ETS) explains the
minimum skills and safety guidelines for servicing
one-piece, three-piece, five-piece, and double
gutter OTR assemblies. The ETS is designed as an
in-house training program including a 3.5-hour
video and a 350-page workbook. Technicians
who will successfully complete the final exam
and skills demonstration will get a TIA Certificate
of Completion. For ordering instructions, visit
www.tireindustry.org.
Bridgestone Opens an
OtR Unit in Peru
Since large scale investment in Peru’s mining
industry is growing rapidly, Bridgestone has
decided to establish a sales company there—the
Bridgestone Off-The-Road Tire Peru S.A.C. in
Lima, which will specialize in tires for mining and
construction equipment.
Continental continues
CanAm sponsorship
Continental Tire Canada has announced its
ongoing relationship with the Porsche Club of
America in the upper Canadian region for 2009.
It is the second year in a row that Continental
has been an official sponsor of the CanAm
Challenge, which offers Canadian and American
members of the Porsche Club and registered
car enthusiasts the chance to race at Ontario’s
Mosport, one of the fastest and most challenging
tracks in North America. Held on the first weekend
in August, the CanAm Challenge includes a
Test & Tune day, three days of club racing, and
sprint and enduro races.
Continental is one of the main suppliers to
Porsche. “We are very pleased to sponsor this
event,” said Guy Hardiman, general manager of
Continental Tire Canada. “Porsche and Continental,
both German-based companies, are for their
expertise in engineering known worldwide. Due
to our strong OE heritage, it’s a great fit for us.”