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NEWS
Vipal Opens Office in Italy
As the result of rapid growth in the Italian market in 2014, Vipal Rubber has opened a new trade operation in Europe, this time in the town of Bologna in Northern Italy. The office was opened in January this year and is intended to serve the Italian market in particular, which experienced 13 per cent growth for Vipal in 2014. Following the company's policy of being close to their customers at all times, the initiative is an important part of the brand's growth strategy for the region. "The simplification of sales processes is key to providing a fast and high quality service to our clients," says Alessandro Campos,
General Manager at Vipal Europe. With this operation, Italian clients will enjoy both operating and administrative benefits in addition to logistics improvements. Initially, the office sales will be managed by the Vipal Distribution Centre in Slovenia, near the Italian border. Vipal exports to approximately 90 countries worldwide and has four Distribution Centres in Europe, located in Spain, Germany, England and Slovenia. It also has centres in Australia, Mexico and Colombia as well as three in the United States (Florida, Virginia and California) and three plants in Brazil.
The new Apollo Retread Zone in Mumbai
Rajesh Dahiya, Group Head, Sales-APMEA, Apollo Tyres Ltd cuts the ribbon on the new ARZ
4 Retreading Business
Apollo Builds Retread Operation
independents that do this job on their own but due to the rising concerns for safety, customers are increasingly referring to tyre manufacturers to do their
retreading.
The first two ARZ outlets were opened in 2014 in Jaipur and Chennai.
Indian tyre major Apollo, with plans to expand globally, has been making waves again. It has recently broken ground for its new European tyre plant in Hungary, and in India it has turned its focus to retreading.
The company, has taken advantage of the radicalisation of the Indian market to modernise and build its presence. It has long recognised the demand for retreads, but as a
financial year. Speaking on the expansion, Satish Sharma, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Apollo Tyre Ltd said, “As a dominant player in the commercial vehicle segment, especially in India, we are committed to providing a 360 degree solution to our customers, which ver y much includes retreading as well, to enhance the tyre life of the end-user. The
leading truck tyre manufacturer in India the company is now looking at offering its clients and the wider market the opportunity to drive on quality Apollo retreaded tyres.
The company opened its third Apollo Retread Zone (ARZ) in Mumbai, opened by Rajesh Dahiya, Group Head, Sales-APMEA, Apollo Tyres Ltd and will serve the western Indian market. These outlets will focus on providing quality retreading services to truck and bus customers and fleet
increase in usage of radial tyres in the truck-bus segment has increased the potential for retreading, and thereby the need for more such quality retreading outlets to service our customers.” To train ARZ’s employees Apollo has developed a state-of-art Retread Research and Training Centre in Chennai. This will ensure the quality and standards of the retreading centres will be the highest in the market, according to Apollo.
Rumours and confusion have impacted upon the retread sector in Malaysia with frequent stories reaching the press about the imminent, or
even the actual
ban of retread
tyres. This has
done little to
create a positive
market for the
developing
retread sector in
Malaysia and the
surrounding
markets.
However, in a
recent
announcement
Transport Deputy
Minister Datuk Ab
Aziz K aprawi said,
based on the
police road accident statistics in 2013, only eight of 30,458 road accidents involved retread tyres.
As a consequence, the government has no plans to ban the use of retread tyres as such vehicle components are safe for use based on the standards set.
He said retread tyres were safe to use, in compliance with the Malaysian Standard (MS) 224: Specification for Retreading of Pneumatic Rubber Tyres for Passenger Car and Commercial Vehicle, the United Nations R108 (Retreaded Pneumatic Tyres) and R109 (Retreaded Pneumatic Tyres for Commercial Vehicles). "International scientific research
also found that retread tyres are safe to use as they are on par with new pneumatic tyres," he told the Dewan Rakyat sitting in Kuala
Good News from Malaysia
owners. The units are equipped with sophisticated retreading machines that use high quality materials and are operated by trained workers.
The company has plans to develop up to 20 new retread units under the Apollo brand by the end of the
Apollo says that all quality truck and bus radials are capable of multiple retreads as they have a strong carcass and each retread costs only 25-27 per cent of the cost of a new tyre yet still provides around 90 per cent of the mileage of a new tyre. There are a lot of
Malaysia’s Transport Deputy Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi
Lumpur.
Ab Aziz was replying to a question by Datuk Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz on whether the government would ban the use of retread tyres, in view of tyre debris often seen on highways, raising concerns over the safety of motorists.
Ab Aziz said the production of retread tyres was also 30 per cent more efficient than producing new pneumatic tyres.
He said in Malaysia, tyre durability tests were conducted by the Malaysian Rubber Board based on existing rules.
Source Benarma