Yokohama Officially Opens Thai Truck and Bus Tyre Plant
CVC to Sell Kwik-Fit for £800 Million
Bridgestone Prime Dealers for Run-Flat Boom
First Stop Dealer Thanks Customers with Golf Day
AA Report Warns of Danger from Worn Roads and Wrongly Inflated Tyres
Advan- Equipped Car Victorious in LM GT2 Class at 73rd 24 Hours of Le Mans
Dates Announced for Tyre Campaigns
Bridgestone to increase OTR Capacity

Yokohama Officially Opens Thai Truck and Bus Tyre Plant

Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd has announced that its subsidiary Yokohama Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) Co Ltd held the grand opening ceremony of its new radial truck and bus tyre factory on July 15. Production at the plant began in April 2005 although the official opening was timed to coincide with the start of shipments. Around 200 people attended the ceremony including representatives of Japanese and overseas tyre sales companies and Japanese vehicle manufacturers, as well as Tadanobu Nagumo, president of The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.

Mr. Nagumo said in his speech that: "The new facility's mission will be to fulfil our commitment to provide the best products at competitive prices and on time. We will accordingly cultivate Yokohama Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) so that it becomes our largest comprehensive tyre production base outside Japan."

Yokohama Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) was established in January 2004. The first phase of construction finished on schedule in April 2005, resulting in an annual production capacity of 350,000 tyres. The facility will export these products to replacement markets outside Japan, including Europe, North America, and Oceania. A second-phase expansion plan will expand production capacity to 700,000 tyres a year. the company purchased adjacent land to double its plant site area. The goal is to build a plant with an annual capacity of 1.4 million passenger car and light truck tyres by November 2006. Second and third stage expansions are planned thereafter.

CVC to Sell Kwik-Fit for £800 Million

CVC have announced their intention to sell Kwik-Fit to Speedy 1 Limited, a company controlled by PAI partners, for £800 million. The basis and terms of the proposed transaction have been agreed subject to certain regulatory and other approvals. The Kwik-Fit network encompasses 1,685 centres and 215 mobile units across the UK, Netherlands, France (trading as Speedy) and Germany (trading as Pit-Stop).

Commenting on the sale, Rob Lucas, a Partner at CVC, said: "Kwik-Fit has been an excellent investment for CVC. Since our acquisition in 2002, the company has been transformed and is now delivering substantially improved financial performance. Kwik-Fit is well positioned for its next phase of growth."

Hamish Mackenzie, a Partner at PAI, added: "Kwik-Fit has exceptional brand recognition in its key markets and benefits from significant growth prospects as a market leader. The company enjoys a high reputation for trust, reliability and value for money; PAI intends to support the management team to further strengthen Kwik-Fit's leading positions in the fast-fit European market."

Bridgestone Prime Dealers for Run-Flat Boom

Bridgestone has continued its programme of preparing tyre dealerships for the expected rise in replacement fitments of run-flat tyres by inviting dealers in its First Stop network to test the technology at a specially-designed event in Bedford. Dealers were given the chance to drive new BMW 3-Series cars fitted with original-equipment Bridgestone Potenza RE050 RFT run-flat tyres around a track designed to simulate a variety of different road conditions, in order to fully appreciate the comfort and safety levels of the tyres for themselves. Dealers drove the cars with fully inflated tyres at first, and then with one tyre deflated.

Jim Eden, director of Eden Tyre Sales in Nottingham, was one of those testing the technology for the first time. He said: "I was very surprised at how comfortable the RFT tyres were when inflated. I certainly wouldn't have guessed they were run-flat tyres had I not known. "More surprising still was how safe the car felt when one of the tyres was deflated. I was expecting the handling to be difficult, but I felt in total control of the car at all times, including when cornering, accelerating or even braking hard," added Jim.

As well as holding testing events for its dealers, Bridgestone has increased the level of investment in its RFT training programme for 2005 and 2006. The Bridgestone Run-Flat Certificate Programme is accredited by the Institute of the Motor Industries, and offers training for tyre dealers and fitters across the UK. To date, more than 600 UK tyre fitters and store managers have attained certification, and more than 400 machines have already been inspected and accredited by Bridgestone.

First Stop Dealer Thanks Customers with Golf Day

First Stop dealership Wilson's Tyres and Exhaust Centre has thanked its customers for their support through the year, with a golf day at a prestigious course in Cambridgeshire. "This is the seventh year running we have held the golf day," said Nigel Wilson, manager of the outlet in Eaton Socon, "and it's getting more and more popular each year. "It's always a fun and relaxing day, and a great way for us to get to know our regular customers better," added Nigel, who runs the company with his father Charles.

Twenty-four of the dealership's customers teed-off on the morning of the event at the Wyboston Lakes Golf Club, and were all later treated to a luxury meal. Trophies were awarded to members of the winning team, and all the players were presented with a selection of golfing equipment, courtesy of Bridgestone UK.

Neil Cleaver, business development manager at Bridgestone UK, said: "Nigel and Charles take great pride in looking after their customers, and the growing popularity of the annual golf day shows that if you make people feel valued and appreciated, you can build up a loyal band of repeat customers."

AA Report Warns of Danger from Worn Roads and Wrongly Inflated Tyres

A lethal combination of worn-out roads, worn and wrongly inflated tyres is putting lives at risk, according to a new report from the AA Motoring Trust and the County Surveyors' Society (CSS) . 17 per cent of main roads fail basic skid resistance tests, one in 10 cars are running on illegal (under 1.6mm tread depth) tyres, around nine in 10 tyres are incorrectly inflated and an AA Trust survey has found up to half forecourt air pumps to be inaccurate.

"Tyres are critical car safety components; they are the easiest for motorists to check, yet most don't. But road surfaces are critical too and road authorities must have, and fully deploy, funds to provide safer surfaces. Doubling skid resistance can halve the number of accidents, while driving on worn-out roads on worn-out tyres is courting disaster. The quality of surface maintenance on many roads is not good enough and the minimum threshold for tyre tread depth may no longer be adequate. A review is now needed of the minimum legal tyre tread depth of 1.6mm based on research evidence from crashes," says Bert Morris, the AA Trust's Director.

These are key recommendations to emerge from GET A GRIP - Tyres, Road Surfaces and Traffic Accidents from the AA Trust and the CSS. The result of a two-year study , the report is the first to probe the combined safety implications relating to the quality of the tyres and the roads on which we drive.

Geoff Allister, CSS President says, "How well rubber and road grip each other can be the difference between life and death in crashes and near misses. We need much greater investment from local authorities in road surface renewal - few other budgets have such an influence on life and death in their communities. It's time for society to treat road crashes resulting in death or severe injury as seriously as those in the air, on the railways or in the workplace."

Advan- Equipped Car Victorious in LM GT2 Class at 73rd 24 Hours of Le Mans

A Yokohama ADVAN racing tyre-equipped Alex Job Racing Porsche 911GT3R finished first in the LM GT2 Class and 10th overall in the 73rd 24 Hours of Le Mans recently. Cars fitted with ADVAN tyres were also victorious in this class in 2000 and 2001, and scored podium places on five successive occasions through 2004.

Yokohama jointly developed tyres for the event with Alex Job Racing, a Porsche Works team. The car performed well in the dry conditions of the qualifying round, posting top times in all sections, and stayed in the class lead from the start of the race. In the LMP 1 class, the Yokohama supported #12 and #13 ADVAN Courage cars suffered tyre damage from debris on the course, but #12 managed to finish sixth in its class and eighth overall. A broken clutch forced #13 entry to retire early.

Dates Announced for Tyre Campaigns

The Tyre Industry Council has announced the dates for two of its major annual regional campaigns - the Scottish and North-West England tyre safety initiatives. The North-West of England Tyre Safety Campaign will run from 13th September - 14th October and will feature the first 'super clinic' at the Trafford Centre in Manchester on 16th/17th September. The initiative has the support of the four North-West police forces - Cheshire; Greater Manchester; Lancashire and Merseyside.

The well established Scottish Tyre Safety Week will again be part of Scotland's Winter Safety Campaign which will run from 7th - 11th November with a 'super clinic' at a venue to be confirmed on the 4th and 5th November. Both tyre safety campaigns will include police enforcement initiatives.

Bridgestone to increase OTR Capacity

Bridgestone Corporation has announced today that it is to expand production capacity for large and ultra-large radial tyres for mining and construction equipment and other off-the-road equipment. The capacity increase in off-the-road tyres will centre on expanding tyre-production capacity at Bridgestone's Shimonoseki Plant in Japan by about 20% by the beginning of 2008. It will also include expanding production capacity for steel cord about 5% at the company's Saga Plant and for off-the-road tyre parts at the Hofu Plant. Bridgestone reports that it has earmarked ¥17 billion for investment in the expansion work at those three plants.

Mining and quarrying equipment are the main applications for the large and ultra-large tyres for which Bridgestone will increase its production capacity. Demand for those tyres is growing worldwide in step with expanded mining activity, and management at Bridgestone expects that trend to continue. Bridgestone's plans call for construction of new buildings at the Shimonoseki Plant to begin in the latter half of 2005 and the construction will be completed by the end of 2006.

At the Hofu Plant, Bridgestone will begin expansion work in the latter half of 2005 with an eye to bringing the new production capacity online in the latter half of 2006 to assist the expansion of production at Shimonoseki Plant. The company will begin work on expanding buildings at the Saga Plant in the latter half of 2005, and the new production equipment there is due to begin operation in early 2007.