ITRA show returns to Louisville in '03
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-The International Tire & Rubber Association will hold the next World ITRA Expo in its home city two years from now.
The biennial conference and trade show will take place March 27-29, 2003, at the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville, the association recently announced.
A departure from previous Louisville shows which were held at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, southeast of that city, the association hopes the new location will be welcomed by most visitors.
ITRA Executive Director Marvin Bozarth said the new Ford Street facility, opened just two years ago, is within easy walking distance of the city's downtown hotels and restaurants.
TANA financials best in eight years
LAS VEGAS-The Tire Association of North America's financial results for 2000 were its best in eight years, the association reported Oct. 30.
For the year, TANA said its revenues exceeded expenses by $187,337, based on the results of its annual audit compiled by Johnson/Lambert, a Bethesda, Md.-based independent accounting and consulting firm. This is a reversal from 1999 when expenses exceeded revenues by $5,137.
The 2000 financial results also had a positive effect on the association's net worth, which grew 27.3 percent during the year to $871,456. At the end of 1999, TANA's net worth stood at $684,119.
TANA called its 2000 financials a major change of fortune for the association.
Pirelli to launch run-flat tire line
MILAN, Italy-Pirelli S.p.A. is launching a run-flat tire line, called [email protected], which is the company's first original equipment tire produced using its automated MIRS tire manufacturing platform.
The new tire line will be an OE fitment on the new BMW Mini-Cooper. [email protected] is a name chosen by Pirelli Web site visitors earlier this year in a contest that attracted 21,000 entries.
The BMW Mini is a modern version of the original British Leyland Mini, one of the first mass-produced front-wheel-drive cars launched in the early 1960s. The standard fitment size for the entry-level Mini is a 175/65R15, while the more performance-oriented Mini Cooper and Mini Cooper S versions have optional fitments of 16- and 17-inch sizes.
Trelleborg to sell Pirelli ag tires
ROME-Trelleborg Wheel Systems S.p.A. will start marketing Pirelli-brand agricultural tires in North America later this year.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems, an operating division of Sweden's Trelleborg A.B., gained the rights to the Pirelli trademark for farm and forestry tires in July when it acquired full control of the business that had been a 60/40 Trelleborg-Pirelli S.p.A. joint venture for three years.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems makes 900 radial farm tires daily at a former Pirelli plant in Tivoli, Italy. The announcement marks the return of the Pirelli brand to the agricultural market. Pirelli Tires North America had marketed farm tires in North America until 1994, when it exited the segment and leased a former Armstrong Tire plant in Des Moines, Iowa, to Titan International Inc. Titan brought the facility in 1999.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems did not say what range of tires it would offer initially. The division reported sales of $330 million last year, with an estimated 55 percent coming from the farm/forestry sector.
RMA elects Micali chairman
WASHINGTON-The Rubber Manufacturers Association has unanimously elected James Micali as chairman of the board.
Mr. Micali, chairman and president of Michelin North America Inc., will serve a one-year term, rotated among RMA board members.