Jim Smith - Former Editor, Tire Review
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Of Mice, Men and Where the ChemChina-Pirelli Deal Will Take Us

Ren Jianxin, the 57-year-old chairman, referred to the $7.7 billion acquisition of Pirelli SpA, as “revolutionary” for ChemChina, almost as though it was the mouse that had swallowed the elephant. In fact, Ren’s ChemChina, which he created 30 years ago on a $1,600 government loan, is six times Pirelli’s size, certainly the elephant in most

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Mysterious Technology Breakthrough Yields True All-Everything Tire

My jaw dropped half a foot, I suspect, when I entered The Bunker. It was a laboratory, if you could call it that, a good 20 feet below ground level. Accessible only via well-locked storm cellar doors, The Bunker was a converted Cold War-era bomb shelter dug behind an old barn in Middlefield, Ohio. That’s

Change Will Have to Come

It will take some time before the dust fully settles, before all of the final decisions are made and all of the appeals exhausted. And only then will we be able to fully understand all of the direct ramifications of the absurd countervailing and anti-dumping duties heaped on imported China-produced consumer tires. Trade protection is

K&M Tire Co.: All in the Family

K&M Tire Co. is all about family, if you can call a major regional wholesaler with 18 distribution centers servicing dealers in 22 states a tight-knit family. Moreso, a tight-knit family made up of some 700 people that meet annually for a quaint family reunion. The Delphos, Ohio-based K&M Tire really is all about family,

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Interview: Federal Tire Corp. Making Its Case

Federal Tire Corp. was founded a little over 60 years ago by Chi San Ma, in Chungli City, in the Zhongli District of Taiwan, with a population of just over 380,000. Despite its size, the Zhongli District is considered the heart of Taiwan’s industrial economy. Federal Tire is a dichotomy. On one hand, it claims

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Conti Grabs Winter Season

There truly is no better time like the present, so taking advantage of mid-January in Big Sky, Mont., to roll out two new winter tires made sense. Continental Tire the Americas showcased two future winter lines – set for April 2015 sales – with the General Grabber Arctic LT and the Continental WinterContact SI. The

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Disorder in Our House

It was totally ironic that Warren Zevon’s “Disorder in the House” was playing in the background when I started piecing this column together. It was hard not to think about this whole thing, especially when Warren warbled: “The floodgates are open We’ve let the demons loose. The big guns have spoken And we’ve fallen for

Even With $1.4B Sales Drop, Goodyear Boosts Net Income for 2014

Dollar sales were down a rousing $1.4 billion, but Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. still delivered improved operating and net income for 2014, according to its fourth quarter and full-year financial results released this morning. Globally, Goodyear posted sales of $18.1 billion, down considerably from $19.5 billion in sales for 2013. Tire unit volumes totaled

2014 Financials Start Rolling In, Results Varied

Four global tiremakers reported their 2014 financial results earlier today, and most claimed higher sales and earnings compared to fiscal 2013. Leading off was Pirelli & C SpA, which posted 2014 sales of $7.31 billion, which was down from 2013’s $8.46 billion. But the tiremaker’s improved sales mix and earnings were driven by increased “premium”

ATD Gets New Co-Owner, Raising $805 Million

On the same day it said it would raise some $800 million through a note offering, American Tire Distributors Inc. announced that it has a new equity owner. Ares Management L.P. is acquiring “a significant stake” in ATD, effectively becoming 50/50 co-owners with previous 100% owner TPG Capital L.P. Terms of the deal were not

Kelly Redone as Power Line, Dunlop Gets New HP A/S

Goodyear is rebuilding and repurposing its Kelly brand as a power line for dealers looking for great coverage in the economy tire segment. The tiremaker used the occasion of its annual Dealer Conference, hosted this week at the Gaylord Texan near Dallas, to launch the Kelly Edge Power Line, which will eventually replace all current

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A New Model

Over the last several months, BKT Tire’s operations in North America have undergone considerable change. Where once BKT Tires USA Inc. in Akron handled all of the India-based tiremaker’s business here, now BKT Tire based in Nashville handles all OTR tire sales and service, and BKT Tires USA Inc. focuses on ag, industrial and ATV