SC October2011.pdf - Parts & People

Cooper Tire awarded $1.5 million grant from the US Department of Energy
Findlay, Ohio—Cooper Tire & Rubber
Co. announced that the U.S. Department of
Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy has
awarded the company $1.5 million for the
development of advanced fuel efficiency
technologies during the next three years.
The grant was one of only five awarded by
the DOE in the Fleet Efficiency category,
and calls for the development of an ultra
lightweight tire that delivers a minimum 3-
percent improvement in vehicle fuel
efficiency.
Cooper will use the funding to accelerate
the development and refinement of
innovative tire design, construction,
materials, and reinforcement technologies
focused on the replacement tire market.
The grant will allow the company to
further enhance its technical capabilities
and product offerings.
Hyundai, Lexus,
and Subaru
top rankings in
NADA survey
McLean, Va.—Coinciding with vehicle
quality scores reaching an all-time high,
new-car dealer satisfaction with their
respective automakers increased this year,
says the National Automobile Dealers
Association (NADA) in its latest survey of
more than 15,360 franchises.
“We appreciate the time dealers take to
answer the survey,” said Carroll Smith,
chairman of NADA’s Industry Relations
committee. “They should feel reassured that
NADA, as the voice of the dealer, makes
sure their opinions are presented twice a year
to senior executives at all of the auto
manufacturers. The high level of attention
and importance the manufacturers place on
the dealer responses is impressive.”
The Dealer Attitude Survey, conducted by
NADA’s Industry Relations group, measures
dealers’ sentiment on the value of their
franchises, automaker policy decisions that
affect the dealership, and the automakers’
field staff who visit dealerships.
Hyundai finished in the top overall spot
for the second consecutive survey period,
with affiliate, Kia, finishing fourth, according
to NADA’s 2011 winter survey results,
which measured dealer sentiment in January
and February. Toyota’s Lexus division
dropped to the second spot, which ended 26
consecutive survey periods in the top slot.
Subaru finished third for the fourth
consecutive time. Mercedes-Benz ranked
fifth. n
Cooper will partner with DOE’s National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL),
the nation’s premier laboratory for research
and development in renewable energy and
energy efficiency, for modeling and
computational analysis of the new
technology’s impact on improved tire
performance. Development of the new
technology will be carried out in Cooper’s
Findlay, Ohio-based technical center and
plants in the U.S.
Chuck Yurkovich, Cooper’s vice
president of global technology, said, “We
are excited about the opportunity to further
accelerate our development of innovative
technologies that brings significant
improvements in fuel efficiency to the
market while increasing overall customer
value. This is an important step in the effort
to reduce our national energy dependence
on foreign sources of oil and raw materials.
“This grant accentuates a renewed
commitment and emphasis by Cooper to
leverage its technical capabilities.
Ultimately this will bring increased value
and benefits to end-users. It presents the
opportunity to expand our efforts beyond
traditional areas and ultimately to bring
new lightweight, fuel-efficient products to
the public much more rapidly.”
Cooper’s aggressive new product
development was illustrated recently with
the launch of a record number of new
products in 2011, including the Cooper
Zeon RS3-A ultra high-performance tire,
which was recently recognized by a
prominent consumer testing organization as
the best available in the market and an
excellent consumer value. n
Parts & People October 2011 Page 5