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Old 18 Jan 2019, 11:45 (Ref:3876944)   #1
eamonn ledwidge
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Cooper tyres to close Melksham facility?

Just on BBC news:

US firm Cooper Tire and Rubber Company will stop light vehicle tyre production in Melksham, Wiltshire, and transfer it to other "global" centres.

What about supplies of Avon race tyres??
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Old 18 Jan 2019, 12:23 (Ref:3876957)   #2
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Mmm, we need to find out! Can do without another ‘Dunlop’ situation....
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Old 18 Jan 2019, 12:39 (Ref:3876961)   #3
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Agreed, and a likely Avon Motorsports closure has potentially a much broader impact across many competition disciplines.
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Old 18 Jan 2019, 13:28 (Ref:3876977)   #4
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It'll have quite an effect on my local economy. Not good news for this little corner of Wiltshire.



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Old 18 Jan 2019, 13:36 (Ref:3876982)   #5
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Yes, of course. Must always look at the bigger picture!

I’ve emailed BMTR to ask if any repercussions for us racers. I see the original announcement was back in October.
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Old 18 Jan 2019, 13:53 (Ref:3876989)   #6
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I have bittersweet news.

Our local paper has today announced 300 job losses but 400 will stay to produce specialist tyres including motorsport.

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Old 18 Jan 2019, 14:01 (Ref:3876990)   #7
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Good, that confirms the reply I just got from BMTR. They have stock of race tyres and more are being produced- but there is long term concern.....
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Old 8 Nov 2022, 18:13 (Ref:4133020)   #8
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Old 9 Nov 2022, 08:02 (Ref:4133061)   #9
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Would I be right to assume that this is the old Avon Tyre company building? (Or am I putting 2 + 2 together and making 5, just because it's in the same town?)
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Old 9 Nov 2022, 08:39 (Ref:4133065)   #10
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Would I be right to assume that this is the old Avon Tyre company building? (Or am I putting 2 + 2 together and making 5, just because it's in the same town?)
Viv, Avon Tyres is owned by the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. (Yes I deliberately spelt Avon with Tyres and Cooper with Tires.)

https://www.avontyres.com/en-gb/abou...bber%20Company.
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Old 9 Nov 2022, 11:02 (Ref:4133081)   #11
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Viv, Avon Tyres is owned by the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. (Yes I deliberately spelt Avon with Tyres and Cooper with Tires.)

https://www.avontyres.com/en-gb/abou...bber%20Company.
Thanks Chris, that's put my mind at rest. Next question: Am I also remembering correctly that Bernie owned the company at one time? (I just have a feeling that some time in the 70's/80's there was an F1 tyre supply problem and Bernie 'sorted things out').
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Old 9 Nov 2022, 13:26 (Ref:4133097)   #12
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Viv, Avon Tyres is owned by the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. (Yes I deliberately spelt Avon with Tyres and Cooper with Tires.)

https://www.avontyres.com/en-gb/abou...bber%20Company.
The whole Cooper Tires/ Avon group is now owned by Goodyear, along with Dunlop.

My understanding is that production continues until 20 Dec 2022 at Melksham but there is no decision on if, where or when the “Avon motorsport tyres” will be made after that. Bit of a concern.

From my own selfish point of view 13 inch tyres for the Caterham and Escort are getting increasingly difficult to source, and I hear rumours that a couple of other manufacturers of 13inch “Trackday” type tyres that I use (and which are used in many club race series) may be considering stopping production of that size. Not definitive yet, just a rumour!
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Old 9 Nov 2022, 13:38 (Ref:4133100)   #13
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You should contact South American tyre manufacturers.
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Old 9 Nov 2022, 14:55 (Ref:4133104)   #14
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Longstone tyres in the U.K. are very good at liaising with the tyre manufacturers to get small production runs of odd sized tyres made, which they then become the sole stockist and trader for. I liaised with them on behalf of the quattro owners club to get Pirelli to manufacture a batch of 15 inch tyres for the quattro that were long out of production. Produced from the original moulds but in Turkey. Pricey, though.
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Old 9 Nov 2022, 16:04 (Ref:4133108)   #15
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Being involved with Caterham racing who Avon supply all the race tyres for the series. We were told mid october that from the end of 2023 the whole of Avon is no more and that there were no plans to continue any race tyre production. Caterham i understand are looking at alternatives as Avon supply all road and race tyres for them so a difficult situation to find an alternative supplier
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Old 9 Nov 2022, 16:23 (Ref:4133112)   #16
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Being involved with Caterham racing who Avon supply all the race tyres for the series. We were told mid october that from the end of 2023 the whole of Avon is no more and that there were no plans to continue any race tyre production. Caterham i understand are looking at alternatives as Avon supply all road and race tyres for them so a difficult situation to find an alternative supplier
Thanks, I had heard that but didn’t want to say that out loud as I only had second hand info.
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Old 10 Nov 2022, 13:47 (Ref:4133183)   #17
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Blimey, that'll impact the Spa 6hrs entrants.
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Old 11 Nov 2022, 10:00 (Ref:4133254)   #18
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Blimey, that'll impact the Spa 6hrs entrants.
Not only the 6 H entrants but a lot more! I cant imagine so many cars standing on the rims, hope at least Goodyear/ Dunlop will fill the huge gap.
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Old 11 Nov 2022, 10:13 (Ref:4133260)   #19
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Not only the 6 H entrants but a lot more! I cant imagine so many cars standing on the rims, hope at least Goodyear/ Dunlop will fill the huge gap.
I am not confident, sadly. A year or so ago I contacted Goodyear about re-starting manufacturing for the Dunlop CR311 tarmac rally tyres which were very good and very popular (Goodyear having taken over Dunlop in Europe) but I was told that, even though they still had the moulds, it was not worth their while and the business case did not stack up as the volumes were so (relatively) low and other companies could make similar tyres cheaper.
I hope I am wrong and I hope that those others companies continue to make those similar tyres!
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Old 11 Nov 2022, 10:48 (Ref:4133267)   #20
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I hope I am wrong and I hope that those others companies continue to make those similar tyres!
Taking the Avon ZV7 as an example, the production was located in Serbia or Slovenia till 2021 then was moved to China. As a result, we experienced many issues with the new product with our MX5's. The UK championship had a GB made product which was almost a racing tyre, really fantastic. Not road legal but FIA homologated. Not any company can make a proper racing tyre. Not even a good road tyre in fact.
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Old 11 Nov 2022, 12:03 (Ref:4133268)   #21
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Taking the Avon ZV7 as an example, the production was located in Serbia or Slovenia till 2021 then was moved to China. As a result, we experienced many issues with the new product with our MX5's. The UK championship had a GB made product which was almost a racing tyre, really fantastic. Not road legal but FIA homologated. Not any company can make a proper racing tyre. Not even a good road tyre in fact.
Agreed. And the Avon ZZR was very good but the “extreme” non road legal compound version was about 2 secs a lap faster around Donington on a Caterham compared to its road legal equivalent. Of course it didn’t last anywhere near as long and a lot of the really quick folks were using a new set of tyres for every race. I used them for about 3-4 races, whereas the road legal versions used to last a season for me!
The Kumho V700 is probably the equivalent of the ZZR.
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Old 11 Nov 2022, 18:51 (Ref:4133308)   #22
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Talking about equivalence and 13" tires, we often hear that what is called here semi slicks Toyos and Yokos are equivalent. But being an average racer I've always been satisfied with Yokohamas (like the 048 medium compound) while I was unable to cope with the Toyos (RWD car, 1100 kilos, c 220 bhp). Cant say about the V700, not tested yet.

Our MX5 championship will move from ZV7 to Firestone, compound TBC. At least its same choice for the whole grid.
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Old 11 Nov 2022, 19:13 (Ref:4133310)   #23
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Melksham is our nearest town, and the loss of 300+ jobs will be felt, but not as much as full closure would have been felt a few years ago. "The Avon" used to be a major employer round here, with the factory covering road tyres, inflatable boats and loads of products in between. It had dwindled to just tyres with the Cooper take over.

It must be difficult facing Christmas without secure employment, and even though it's "only" 300 or so I feel for them. We're a fairly productive region so hopefully other companies can take up the slack.

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Old 11 Nov 2022, 19:54 (Ref:4133313)   #24
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Melksham is our nearest town, and the loss of 300+ jobs will be felt, but not as much as full closure would have been felt a few years ago. "The Avon" used to be a major employer round here, with the factory covering road tyres, inflatable boats and loads of products in between. It had dwindled to just tyres with the Cooper take over.

It must be difficult facing Christmas without secure employment, and even though it's "only" 300 or so I feel for them. We're a fairly productive region so hopefully other companies can take up the slack.

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More manufacturing jobs gone.
Tyres may not be the most important example but I cant help feeling that one of the lessons of the last couple of years is that Govt should start to look at what strategic industries we need, and start to invest in our own capabilities again.
Did someone mention “levelling up”?
Instead of “offshoring”, perhaps we should work on an element of self sufficiency and secure supply chains from “secure” partner countries?
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Old 12 Nov 2022, 08:37 (Ref:4133341)   #25
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Instead of “offshoring”, perhaps we should work on an element of self sufficiency and secure supply chains from “secure” partner countries?
Its not about tires, but it seems that paracetamol production is a concern here… Will be improved next year they say.
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