Tyre News

Pirelli Launches 2008 Calendar In China
Hankook Supports Charity Cycle Ride
40 Years of Business for Leek Tyre Firm
More Trade Support for Tyresafe
New Computer Race Game Features KYB Shocks
Hankook Ventus Prime luxury UHP-tyre Receives Award from Belgian "Autowereld"-Magazine
"Yokohama Forever Forest" Tree-Planting Ceremony Held at Hiratsuka Factory
Bridgestone Receives Prestigious "Superbrand Germany 2007/2008" Award

Pirelli Launches 2008 Calendar In China

Pirelli has chosen Shanghai as the setting for its new 2008 Calendar called Pearls of the Orient, with movie star Maggie Cheung among the women gracing its pages in acknowledgment of China's growing importance as an economic and cultural force.

The official unveiling of the new calendar occurs just a few days after the opening of the second Pirelli tyre plant in the Shandong Province. China and the other Asian markets are, in fact, the new frontiers for international expansion of the Group, which is investing and growing in order to take advantage of the extraordinary business opportunities in the area.

Patrick Demarchelier, the influential maestro of portrait photography, who for the second time authors the celebrated almanac (his first Pirelli Calendar was shot in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) said: "The casting was a fascinating mix between the West and the Orient: an interesting group of faces."Shooting last April kept eleven models and actresses occupied for ten days of intense work that involved a troupe of more than 40 people.

The leading models featured in this year's edition of the calendar included rising stars such as Agyness Deane and Lily Donaldson (UK), Doutzen Kroes (the Netherlands), Catherine Mc Neil and Gemma Ward (Australia), Sasha Pivovarova (Russia), Coco Rocha (Ireland) and Caroline Trentini (Brazil). Apart from Maggie Cheung, the Calendar also features Chinese beauties like Mo Wan Dan and Du Juan.

Hankook Supports Charity Cycle Ride

Staff from tyre manufacturer Hankook in Daventry were on hand to give charity cyclist Gary Williams a big send off as he heads to Kenya for a 400km charity cycle ride. Gary is raising money for Transaid - a charity committed to making transport systems more affordable, available and efficient in developing countries.

The 55 year old joined cyclists including Radio 2's Sally 'traffic' Boazman for the ride which got underway in Nairobi on Saturday November 10 before heading through Rift Valley to Kisumu in an event set to raise thousands of pounds for the charity.

"Gary has been in intensive training to ensure he is physically prepared for the challenge ahead and popped into our Daventry headquarters as part of his final preparations,'' said Barrie Horrocks, Hankook's commercial sales manager. "As a global company Hankook is involved in transportation around the world and to be participating in such a prestigious and worthwhile event is ideal for us,'' said Barrie. "We wish Gary all the best and look forward to welcoming him back after the cycle ride.''

40 Years of Business for Leek Tyre Firm

A family business is celebrating after clocking up an amazing 40 years in the tyre industry. J Whieldon Tyres has been serving the people of Leek since founder Jack Whieldon first opened his doors to customers four decades ago.

After he died in 1986, his son Pete took over and moved the business to its current premises in Regent Street. Since then, the four-strong team has continued to offer a range of vehicle services, including tyres, batteries and exhausts. Pete said that the company, which is a member of Bridgestone UK's growing First Stop network of independent tyre dealerships, had over the years remained committed to providing first-class customer care.

"The only real changes I've seen have been to our location and to the staff," he said. "Our aim of providing a reliable and friendly service to all of our customers is the same as it always was. "Over the years, we've built up a strong client base within Leek and a reputation for quality. We'd like to thank all of our customers for their support, and we're looking forward to many more years of working with them."

Mark Fereday, retail development manager for Bridgestone UK, said: "Forty years in the business is a fantastic achievement, and Pete and his dedicated team deserve to be congratulated for their hard work. J Whieldon Tyres is a valued member of the growing First Stop network and we know their success will continue for many years to come."

More Trade Support for Tyresafe

The success of TyreSafe activities in raising the awareness amongst consumers of the importance of tyre safety, as well as the active work of the organisation in pulling together support from within the tyre industry, has led to three new companies pledging support to the organisation for 2008.

Tyre distributor, Yokohama H.P.T. Limited, tyre wholesaler, Group Tyre (UK) Limited and the manufacturer of tyre inflation equipment, Pneumatic Components Limited (PCL), have all agreed to become TyreSafe supporters in 2008, joining the original 14 tyre companies and retailers responsible for forming the organisation at the start of this year.

"We have achieved a great deal in our first year of activity", said TyreSafe chairman Rob Beddis. "I welcome our new supporters who will, I am sure, make a valuable contribution to the work of TyreSafe in the coming year."

New Computer Race Game Features KYB Shocks

Shock absorber manufacturer, KYB, is featured in the new game Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights by THQ. This high-tech game allows players to customise their race cars and choose KYB suspension to improve handling and performance. By featuring recognised brands such as KYB, THQ has been able to bring the game alive and make it even more realistic. Juiced offers players the option to team up with, or challenge other players across the globe for intense online competitive racing.

The game features track and drift racing at real locations around the world and, with unparalleled vehicle customisation, brings street racing to life. Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights can be played on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS.

Hankook Ventus Prime Luxury UHP-tyre Receives Award from Belgian "Autowereld"-Magazine

Hankook's Ventus Prime tyre placed second in the 2007 wear test of Belgian magazine Autowereld, (Oct. 24, 2007) outranking Pirelli, Dunlop, Continental, Bridgestone and Goodyear - again a great result as the Ventus Prime recently received a shared 1st place in French car magazine Auto Plus mileage test, rated with "outstanding tread life" (issued: September 4, 2007).

Throughout the tests on public roads and test tracks, where eight Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI's have been driven over 10,000 kilometers each, all tyres were frequently changed to test diversity. The tyre size 205/55 R 16 was tested for this purpose over a period of a month. It is commonly used for mid-sized cars like BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, as well as compact cars such as VW Golf, Peugeot 407. The Hankook Ventus Prime provided the second highest mileage of all seven tested top-branded candidates.

Autowereld emphasized the great price performance ratio compared to the other big tyre manufacturers involved in the test. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the German media was also convinced by the product: Auto Plus' German sister-magazine, Auto Bild, has given the Ventus Prime a great label, too - its best grade "exemplary" in last year's summer tyre test (issue: 11/2006, tested dimension: 195/65 R 15 H).

"Our products are on the right track to being widely recognized as premium brand products competing among the big tyre manufacturers on a global level," commented Seung-Do Jin, Hankook Tire Executive Vice-President and COO for Europe on the result. "This result can also be explained by our strong relationships with numerous OE-manufacturers. The award provides additional proof of the high product quality we offer throughout our product range."

"Yokohama Forever Forest" Tree-Planting Ceremony Held at Hiratsuka Factory

Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. held the first "YOKOHAMA Forever Forest" tree-planting ceremony at its Hiratsuka Factory, in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on November 11, 200. About 3,500 local residents, employees of the Yokohama Rubber Group and their families joined in planting about 27,000 seedlings, 54 varieties, including tabu (persea), shii (castanopsis) and akagashi (quercus acuta).

The ceremony began a little after 9:30 a.m. with President Tadanobu Nagumo of the company explaining the objective. Mr. Taro Kono, a member of the House of Representatives living in Hiratsuka City and Mayor Ritsuko Okura then spoke, after which Mr. Tadashi Tateuchi, a noted automotive journalist, and Mr. Ukyo Katayama, a racing driver, were introduced. Professor Emeritus Akira Miyawaki of Yokohama National University, who was supervising the planting, gave a detailed explanation of how to plant the seedlings, demonstrating with Yokohama Rubber Chairman Yasuo Tominaga, President Nagumo and the other guests on stage, all of whom had seedlings in their hands. The participants were divided into groups to plant the trees at 15 locations within the factory premises.

In the afternoon after the planting had been completed, in the main dining room, there was a Japanese taiko drum performance by students and graduates of the Kanagawa Prefectural Hiratsuka School for the Deaf, and a discussion between Mr. Tateuchi and Mr. Katayama on the global environment. Food stands erected along the main walkway to the west of the dining room served light meals. The entire event concluded at around 2 o'clock.

The "YOKOHAMA Forever Forest" project involves the creation of forests over the next ten years at the Yokohama Rubber Group plants in and outside Japan. The forest at each location is to be created by 2017, when the company's 100th anniversary will be marked. Yokohama Rubber intends to plant a total of 500,000 trees at seven domestic and eleven overseas locations. Starting at the Hiratsuka Factory, those remaining plants will plan their events individually from next year.

Bridgestone Receives Prestigious "Superbrand Germany 2007/2008" Award

The start of November saw Dr. Rainer Schieben, managing director of Bridgestone Deutschland GmbH collect the award in Dusseldorf. In making the award, Superbrands, the global independent branding organisation cited Bridgestone as one of this year's best and strongest product and company brands.

The award ceremony which was held in Dusseldorf's Theatre of Dreams saw numerous guests from all over the world and the 76 winning brands included ADAC, Aral, Deutsche Bank, DHL, Hertz, Kinder chocolate, Martini, Miele, Nivea, SKL, Varta and VISA. This year also saw Franz Beckenbauer receive an award in the German personality brand category. With such a dazzling array of well-known names, the event was sure to receive extensive media coverage supported in no small part by the Handelsblatt newspaper and n-tv television channel.

All of the winning brands were included in an exclusive "Superbrands Germany 2007/2008" book which accompanied the event and which contained a foreword by Germany's minister for the economy, Michael Glos.