The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., today announced that it held an opening ceremony on February 29 for a new tire plant that the company newly constructed in Binh Duong Province in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City to begin operation of Yokohama Tire Vietnam Inc.

Jim Milhaupt has been named national vice president of sales for Kumho Tire USA, succeeding Dave Hudrlik, who left the company.

Toyo Tire USA Corp. has launched the M154TM, which it calls an “ultra-premium,” all-steel regional highway tire for commercial trucks.

Goodyear tires have been selected as OE for several of Toyota’s Corolla and Matrix models.

Amtel-Vredestein’s Russian unit has completed the sale of its Moscow Tyre Plant operations to one of the companies of Midland Resources Holding Ltd. for $77 million.

Kumho Tire U.S.A. will increase tire prices up to 10%, effective May 1, 2008.

Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. introduced the M137 premium high performance steer radial for long haul, over-the-highway applications, designed to deliver more miles per 32nds to operators driving coast-to-coast.

This year’s outlook for Pirelli & C SpA, according to a Mar. 26 forecast, is one in which very little growth is expected.

As the Essen show celebrates its silver jubilee (Reifen 2008 will be the 25th time the leading tyre trade exhibition has taken place), show organisers are reporting that this year’s show will be the biggest yet.

Chery Automobile Co. will spend approximately $425 million acquiring a car factory in Russia as a shortcut to strengthen its presence in the country.

Sibur Russian Tyres announced that it will not consider forming a joint venture with troubled Amtel-Vredestein NV until A-V clears up its debt problems.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is recalling some 48,000 LT-metric tires due to potential sidewall separation.

Groupe Michelin has come up with a new global scheme to deal with rising raw materials costs and tire pricing issues.

The Associated Press reported that Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. spent some $2.4 million last year on lobbying efforts, primary on fuel economy standards, energy efficiency and climate change legislation.

Bridgestone Corp. plans to boost radial aircraft tire production at its plant in Tokyo.

Michelin has launched the new Agilis Camping tyre – currently the only motorcaravan tyre on the market with an M+S marking – as part of the new Michelin Agilis range for medium and heavy vans.

Michelin has launched its new van tyre, the Michelin Agilis, whose performance can be summed up in three figures: 1, 4 and 20.

Continental AG is reportedly set to recruit another 1,350 people for its factories in Timisoara, Carei and Arad, Romania, by the end of the year.

The recent completion of Kumho’s 315,000-square-metre Vietnamese factory brings the South Korean tyre manufacturer’s global output to circa 65 million units.

Goodyear’s Dunlop brand has released the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec, a summer DOT-approved street tire with a special tread compound for dry grip.

TIA announced that it is changing the name of its portion of the SEMA Show, and adopting a new headquarters hotel for the annual event.

GE Money and Michelin North America have reached a deal to provide a Michelin-branded credit card for tire consumers.

With the new ContiWinterContact TS 830, market leader Continental has achieved further progress in terms of driving safety, mileage performance and rolling resistance in a winter tire. All of this is made possible by sophisticated tread structures, modified sidewall design and new polymer compounds in the tread.

During the Pac-10 men’s basketball tournament Los Angeles, Toyo Tires presented the Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award for men’s basketball.

Continental Tire presented the keys to a custom 2007 Dodge Charger to April Ingannamorte of Altamonte Springs, Fla., the grand prize winner in the “Continental Tire Power of Four” Sweepstakes.

Mexico, Russia and Vietnam are reportedly under consideration as potential sites for Hankook Tire Co.’s third facility to be built outside of South Korea.

In recent years the pendulum has begun to swing away from the "throw away" mindset dominant in western cultures, with the need to become a more sustainable society an increasingly discussed topic.

Firestone Agricultural Tire Co. announced the development of a number of new products, including the first of its new “IF” technology radials.

Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire introduced the new Bridgestone M775 on/off-highway drive radial.

Continental has announced Europe-wide price increases of between 3.5% and 5% for its passenger car and van tyre product lines.

Cooper Tire’s European Technical Centre in Melksham, opened a little over a year ago, has borne its first fruit – the all-new Avon Tyres ZV5 range.

Continental hikes tyre prices in Europe by 3.5-5 pct on high raw material costs.

Michelin North America has added to its X One super wide line with the new X One XZY3, an all-position tire for on/off-road applications.

At this year’s Tire Technology Expo, held in Cologne, Germany, a new series of awards acknowledging excellence in the tyre industry was launched, and Bridgestone was named the inaugural “Tyre Manufacturer of the Year.”

Continental Tire North America will soon launch its Ultimate Adventure consumer sweepstakes, with a top prize of a new customized Range Rover Sport.

Pirelli has already indicated a willingness to place a greater focus upon its thriving tyre business, and this emphasis is apparently being paired by a withdrawal from less profitable undertakings.

The inaugural Tire Technology International Awards forInnovation and Excellence were presented at the recent Tire Technology Expo, in Cologne and there was a marked emphasis on environmentally friendly technologies and products.

The new 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 will ride on Goodyear tires.

In its first look forward at 2008, the RMA expects overall tire shipments to remain “at or near levels reached in 2007,” boosted by projected replacement market gains.

Continental Tire North America’s General brand will be the title sponsor of the revived General Tire Mint 400 Race.

New tyres lower rolling resistance. Goodyear has presented its latest generation of RunOnFlat tyre technology, which the company says will offer numerous benefits to both the consumer and the environment, including improved comfort, reduced mass and rolling resistance, increased fuel economy as well as reduced CO2 emission levels.

The latest product from Toyo Tires is the new Proxes R888 SG Soft compound racing tyre, which has been specifically designed for use at Sprint/Hill climb or Short Tarmac speed events.

Dutch tyre manufacturer Vredestein has become the latest company to join TyreSafe.

As it was reported, Kumho Tire Co., Inc., held a ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of its new factory in Vietnam on March 5, 2008 , in Binh Duong Province.

DUNLOP Race Academy is calling on 2005 winner and Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup champion Simon Shaw to coach this year's rookies and help find a racing star of the future.

Hercules Tire & Rubber Co. has introduced new sizes to two of its top lines.

F1's tyre supplier Bridgestone are set to use all four tyres compounds within the first nine grands prix of this season.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will shut down its radial truck tire production for six days during the Easter holiday because of a slowdown in commercial truck tire sales.

Rhodia Silcea announced a 12% price increase in global prices for its precipitated silica range.

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. combined its wheel products and auto and truck units into a new unit called Wheel and Transportation Products.

Kumho Tire Co. has opened its new passenger tire plant in Vietnam, and unveiled plans to rapidly expand the new facility.

Maxxis International is now a sponsor of the New York Yankees.

The UK distributor for Yokohama tyres, Yokohama HPT Ltd, has announced several key new original equipment fitments in the Japanese manufacturer’s range for the UK market.

Uniroyal has unveiled its new RainSport 2 tyre, which the company says follows in the footsteps of the of the RTT 1, RTT 2 and Rainsport 1.

Thomson Financial reported this morning that Pirelli SpA will pay 850 million euros to buy back 38.9% share in its tire business.

Canadian TPMS maker SmarTire Systems Inc. said it has settled its patent infringement lawsuit against Siemens VDO Automotive Corp., now part of [[Continental]] AG.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co plans to hold its 8th Engineering Career Day for Young Women at the company’s Akron headquarters on Apr.19.

At a time when many U.S. firms in the auto industry are bleeding red ink and filing for bankruptcy, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. gave investors a reason to cheer yesterday.

This new premium retread tyre is a full bead to bead retread giving it the appearance of a new tyre and has a tread depth of 18mm enabling it to deliver exceptional mileage performance and reliability.

Bridgestone is to present its Total Fleet Tyre Management program at this year’s Commercial Vehicle Show, held at the NEC in April.

Michelin North America is increasing prices on its Michelin and BFGoodrich brand medium truck tires sold in the U.S. by as much as 8%.

Bridgestone Americas Holding’s Firestone Liberia plantation unit has opened the first phase of its effort to process rubber wood.

Hankook Tire Co. has announced plans to raise its prices 5% from this month.

Automechanika Thailand, the leading international trade fair for the automotive parts, components and aftermarket industry in Thailand, opens next week from March 6-9 at the Impact Exhibition and Convention Centre, Bangkok.

The ContiCrossContact UHP from Continental Tire North America (CTNA) is ranked No. 1, and the General Tire Grabber UHP is a close second, in an online consumer satisfaction survey of street/sport truck summer tires conducted by The Tire Rack.

Kumho Tire will provide tires for the LG Motorsports/3 Dimensional Services/Riley Technology Corvette in the GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series for the 2008 season.

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, the world's only specialist aircraft tyre manufacturer, today announced it has begun preliminary ground work investigations and held a traditional stone-laying ceremony on the site of its new retreading facility in China.

Pirelli’s new Cinturato P4, launched in January, and the Pirelli P6, have come up trumps in tyre tests conducted by consumer magazine "Which?".

Michelin Energy Saver has been voted Tire Technology of the Year at the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence.

The new Michelin Energy Saver is the Company’s fourth generation of “green” car tyres that replaces the existing Energy range.

Rhodia announces the formation of a new company to manage the construction and subsequent operation of its planned silica facility in China. Details of this major new plant, dedicated to the production of high performance precipitated silica in China, were previously released last November in Shanghai.

On Feb. 27 Bridgestone publicly released details of a recent patent infringement case in China.

Kumho’s long awaited breakthrough in the area of civil aviation arrived on Feb. 19.