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Openbay increases reach

Openbay is extending its consumer reach with two recent additions — inclusion with Toco Warranty, a vehicle service contract provider, and a partnership with Gopuff, an instant delivery service.

Titan kicks off campaign

Titan International LLC is kicking off its second annual Flags Over Harvest campaign, which encourages farmers to buy American-made Titan and Goodyear brand ag tires. Titan is giving away American ags to farmers to display on their machines during harvest.

ASE registration available

The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) summer registration period is open through the end of September. More than 50 ASE certi cation tests covering nearly every aspect of the motor vehicle service and repair industry are available.

Love’s expands Speedco

Love’s Travel Stops has added ve new Speedco centers. They are located in Junction, Iowa; Rockville, Minn.; Waterloo, N.Y.; Ripley, N.Y.; and Cameron, Mo.

Sun Auto Tire keeps growing

Sun Auto Tire & Service Inc. is continuing its push into the Paci c Northwest with the acquisition of Coopers Auto Repair Specialists, which has a location in Tacoma, Wash., and another store in Puyallup, Wash. Sun Auto Tire has 369 locations in 18 states.

IMI uses automation

IMI, developer of the turnkey Milcure steel wheel re nishing system and process, is offering an automated truck wheel powder coating solution, in conjunction with LestaUSA.

SEMA goes electric

The 2022 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show will feature an expanded SEMA Electrified section in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The exhibit area will feature the latest advancements in electric vehicle technology.

Voting opens for TIA board

Nokian, Michelin plan exits from Russia

Thirteen candidates are competing for four open spots on the 2022-2023 Tire Industry Association (TIA) board of directors. ose elected will serve three-year terms. e nominees are:

• Gil Applegate, director of operations, Tredroc Tire Service, Elk Grove, Ill.; • Bill Bailey, vice president of sales, customer service and training, Myers Tire

Supply, Akron, Ohio; • Rob Czukor, CEO of Tire Recycling Consultants, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; • Russell Devens (incumbent), director of safety and risk management, McCarthy

Tire Service Co. Inc., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; • Billy Eordekian, president of 1-800EveryRim OEM Wheels, Santa Fe Springs,

Calif.; • John Evankovich, director of Sam’s Club Tire & Battery Centers, Bentonville, Ark.; • Travis Glidden (incumbent), regional sales manager, Stellar Industries Inc.,

Garner, Iowa; • Ed Jones, director of sales, Bartec USA LLC, Sterling Heights, Mich.; • Gary MacCausland, senior vice president of operations, VIP Tires & Service,

Auburn, Maine; • Eri Muca, global a ermarket TPMS manager, ATEQ TPMS Tools, Novi, Mich.; • Craig Stevens, sales manager, Big Horn Tire, Gillette, Wyo.; • Craig Tinklenberg, sales and safety trainer, Fuller Brothers Inc., Clackamas,

Ore., and; • T.J. Trum (incumbent), general counsel, Pomp’s Tire Service Inc., Kansas City, Kan.

TIA members can vote via paper ballot or online via TIA’s tireindustry.org site.

Nokian Tyres plc and Michelin Group are both leaving their production facilities in Russia due to the ongoing con ict in neighboring Ukraine.

For Nokian, it means closing the tire plant in Vsevolozhsk, where just a year ago the company produced 80% of its passenger tires.

Nokian says its assets in Russia and Belarus totaled about 400 million euros, as of May 31. e company will record impairments of about 300 million euros during the second quarter.

In recent months, Nokian has worked to After 17 years of tire production, increase capacity at its other factories in Finland Nokian says it will exit Russia, home and in the U.S. Nokian also has decided to invest of its second tire plant. The site in in new capacity in Europe. Michelin says it is “technically impossible to resume production” at its tire plant in Davydovo, Vsevolozhsk produced 80% of the company’s passenger tires in 2021. Photo: Nokian Russia. e tiremaker plans to leave the plant and transfer it to local Russian management by the end of 2022. e plant has the capacity to produce between 1.5 million and 2 million tires a year, mostly for passenger cars. Michelin suspended tire production there in March. (Michelin’s sales in Russia account for 2% of its total global sales.) ■