Cooper Tire to raise prices 1 June, confirms possible F1 tyre supply

Adapted from Tire Business & Rubber and Plastics News staff reports

Findlay, Ohio -- Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. will increase prices up to 7.5 percent for all passenger and light truck tyres shipped in North America, effective 1 June.

The percentage increase will vary between product lines, and all customers in all channels will be affected, Cooper said. The Findlay-based tyre maker attributed the price hike to rising raw material costs.

In separate news, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile has approached Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.'s Avon Tyres Motorsports business about supplying the FIA's Formula 1 world championship with tyres starting next year.

“As a major motorsport tyre manufacturer, Cooper Tire, through its Avon Tyres Motorsport operation, has been approached to supply Formula 1,” the company said in a prepared statement. “The company is in discussion with the relevant parties and cannot comment further at this stage.”

The FIA, organiser of the global Formula 1 championship for single-seat, open-wheel racing, is working to secure a race tire supply contract for next year and beyond. Bridgestone Corp., the sole tyre supplier for the past four seasons, told the FIA last year that it would end its tyre supply contract after the 2010 season.

Officially, no tyre company has tendered a bid to take over the contract. Prior to the 2007 season, F1 maintained open competition among tyre companies.

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Tire Business (a Crain publication)

Rubber and Plastics News (a Crain publication)