Trelleborg has signed an agreement to acquire CGS Holdings – the owner of Mitas, Rubena and Savatech. The transaction is subject to approval from relevant competition authorities and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2016.

Peter Nilsson, president and CEO of Trelleborg, said: “I am very proud to announce this highly complementary acquisition, which is a significant and attractive add-on to our existing businesses. CGS, with its strong and well-performing operations in agricultural and industrial tyres as well as engineered polymer solutions,will strengthen and complement Trelleborg’s already leading positions in a number of existing areas.”

CGS spokeswoman Vera Bechynová said: “Trelleborg is a trustworthy strategic partner possessing a comprehensive vision for the development of CGS Holding and we are confident that Mitas, Rubena and Savatech rubber manufacturing business will be placed in capable hands.”

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Trelleborg is a world leader in tyres and the polymer industry. Most of the top tier tractor brands supply Trelleborg tyres. It is believed the proposed takeover will strengthen the company’s industrial tyre market.

Mitas AirCell available on Fendt 900 this year

Mitas AirCell is a unique inner tyre that enables the inflation of large agricultural tyres by +/- 1 bar/14.5 psi (from 0.8 to 1.8 bar; from 11.6 to 26 psi) within just half a minute – much faster than the current method of inflation.

This unique tyre pressure inflation system is marketed as VarioGrip Pro and received a DLG Agritechnica Gold Medal.

“Mitas AirCell was developed to reduce tyre filling waiting time, cut fuel costs, protect the soil, increase the life of the tyre and improve handling characteristics during on-road transportation,”said Hans-Ulrich Klose, head of the automotive engineering unit at Mitas.

Mitas AirCell is located on the rim inside the tyre and occupies about 30% of the volume of the tyre. AirCell is continuously inflated to a maximum of 8 bar (116 psi) during the tyre’s use, releasing some of the pressure on demand.

This enables a rapid increase of pressure into the agricultural tyre itself, adjusting the pressure in seconds rather than minutes. An important characteristic of Mitas AirCell is that it not only enables rapid tyre inflation, but it also helps to release the pressure equally as fast, as the volume of the outer tyre is reduced by up to 30%.

“Mitas AirCell is an advantage for farmers and contractors who need to change pressures quickly from low inflation during field work to higher pressure for better fuel efficiency during on-road transportation and vice versa,” said Hans-Ulrich Klose. AirCell was designed for the Mitas 710/75 R 42 SFT tyre. It will be available for the Fendt 900 Vario equipped with Mitas 710/75 R 42 SFT starting in November 2016.

New Mitas concept tyre nearly ready to go

The Mitas PneuTrac concept always raises a flurry of questions from farmers, industry professionals and the media. Most of them have one thing in common – the question of PneuTrac’s availability on the market. With successes reached in the laboratory and during field tests, it looks like the development of the Mitas PneuTrac concept has reached a new milestone.

The aim is to measure and compare the characteristics of Mitas PneuTrac and rubber tracks during 2016, in order to clearly position PneuTrac among tyre and track solutions on the market. Mitas’ goal is to have all the data necessary for a successful market launch by the end of 2017.“The footprint and traction force of Mitas PneuTrac and rubber tracks are superior to those of traditional pneumatic tyres. The next step is to compare PneuTrac and rubber tracks and see how close they will come,”said Andrew Mabin, Mitas’ sales and marketing director.

From January 2016, Mitas Premium tyres will launch on the replacement market, substituting Continental-branded agricultural tyres. Mitas Premium tyres will gradually become available worldwide for purchase from local Mitas dealers. This follows the successful launch of Mitas Premium in original equipment in January 2015, when deliveries of Mitas Premium instead of Continental-branded agriculture tyres began.

“The launch of Mitas Premium in original equipment was successful. I am delighted to announce that we are successfully fulfilling our plan, which was to introduce Mitas Premium on the replacement market in 2016,” said Mabin.

The Mitas strategy is to build equity in a single premium brand, namely Mitas. The Cultor brand will play a prominent role in the more price-sensitive segment. Tyres in the Mitas Premium product line are directly comparable with the Continental-branded agricultural tyres that Mitas has produced since 2004. The Mitas Premium tyre line consists of rebranded Continental tyres and new products developed solely for the Mitas brand.“Throughout 2015, we have been informing our dealer network about Mitas Premium deliveries. We received only positive reactions, and this encourages us in our efforts to further strengthen the Mitas brand for the premium segment.”

New Mitas sales manager

Mitas has appointed David Brassington as sales manager for Ireland. David, who has a proven track record in sales, marketing and purchasing, was previously area sales manager for Michelin, managing and working with tyre distributors, wholesalers, dealers and customers in the car, truck and earthmover sectors.

“Mitas is a highly-respected brand which is regularly recognised with awards from the global leaders as the best supplier. The company is a major supplier of radial agricultural tyres for new tractors and combines produced by the European plants of global leaders such as John Deere, Case New Holland, Claas and AGCO. One in four new tractors and harvesters in Europe is fitted with tyres produced by Mitas, which is the number one European supplier of combine tyres,” David commented.

To read the full Tyres Focus Supplement, click here.