Sales of studless winter tires in Japan have been brisk for the past few years thanks to the snowfall. According to Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association (JATMA), 25.96 million snow tires were sold in Japan in 2014, marking a year-on-year increase of 4.0 percent. Studless tires accounted for 99.8 percent of all snow tire sales: 25.92 million units sold, up...
Bridgestone Corp. is the first company in the world to successfully commercialize a technology that identifies road conditions from a tire. The proprietary technology is called Contact Area Information Sensing (CAIS). It collects data on the tire surface that comes into contact with the road and analyzes that data to understand the road and the tire’s condition. Through real-time analysis...
Recently appointed Nihon Michelin Tire Co. Ltd. president Paul Perriniaux (pictured, left) is resolved to garner more customers in Japan and earn the company loyalty for its high-quality tires and service. Perriniaux joined Nihon Michelin in 1995 in truck and bus marketing. He held posts at Michelin in England and Ireland, and at the France head office, before returning to...
The price of Japanese-made naphtha, an indicator of synthetic rubber prices, was 47,200 yen ($380) per kiloliter for the third quarter (July–September), down by more than 3 percent, or 1,600 yen ($13), over the second quarter (April–June). Naphtha prices are expected to drop further in the October–December period. Falling raw material prices look to continue as a factor in tire...
In the first three quarters of 2015 (January–September), consolidated financial results for four Japanese tire manufacturers—Bridgestone Corp., Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd., and Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd.—showed large gains in operating income thanks to low prices for crude oil, natural rubber and synthetic rubber. The lower raw material prices translated into gains for Bridgestone of...
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. announced at a recent press conference that it is developing highly functional biomass materials for tires. Conventional rubber used in tires contains oil from fossil resource as a softener. The problem, however, is that the oil gradually leaches out of the rubber, causing tires to harden. Sumitomo Rubber solved this problem by using plant-based oil as...
