Head of the LLC Goodyear Russia" Benjamin Willet, answering the questions of the editors and visitors ZR. EN, spoke about self inflating the tires, tires for the Veyron and the Goodyear plant in Russia. . .
Benjamin Villotte, 39, from the Belgian city of Vervio, has taken the post of Director General at the Russian branch of Goodyear several months ago and is therefore not used to the traffic in Moscow. But he has been working for fifteen years at the world famous company, so he was ready to answer almost any question, composed by both journalists and readers of ZR. RU ZR. RUU:-Mr Villoth, and us, and our readers are very interested in the "kitchen" of the car creation. The choice of the tyre supplier's car manufacturer is one of the elements of this "kitchen"? Can you slightly open the veil-how is the process organized? How different are different manufacturers with their approach to selecting a bus provider? Is it possible to say that one, for example, is primarily interested in the price, while others are above all quality? B. B. :-The general scheme of work is one. The manufacturer has a bus specification for a particular car model. The specification (it is easy to place on a standard sheet of paper) specifies the requirements for rolling resistance, durability, coupling properties and other basic parameters. The specification is sent to all tire companies, who may be interested in the delivery and cooperation with which the automaker believes it is possible (you can understand that the manufacturer of supercars will not pick up their cars with littoral tires). After that, the talks begin-separately between the engineers, separately between the managers who discuss the volumes of supplies and the price. This is probably the beginning of the differences-the negotiations with different automakers go in different ways. But I can't get into the details. ZR. RU: But if the parties are unable to agree-which is more often the cause? The price of a question-or perhaps sometimes before Goodyear is the task that the company can't perform? B. B. :-Automakers never demand anything supernatural from the shinnikov. All their requests are doable. And commercial issues usually become a stumbling block. ZR. RU:-A lot of noise was around Michelin tires created specifically for the supercar Bugatti Veyron. Goodyear has been able to become a tire supplier for this car, has the company sent a specification to its tires? B. B. :-When it comes to such important orders, all information is confidential-and I cannot answer either "yes" or "no" to your question. But let' s say this: in the vast majority of cases, if the automaker is preparing to launch a new model (from low-littles to supercar)-one of the requests is sent to Goodyear. For example, the car of Rolls-Royce Phantom at the plant is equipped with Goodyear tyres only. With Benjamin Willot, the editor of ZR is talking. RU Vladimir Solovyov ZR. RU:-Each new bus is now becoming slightly better than the previous one. But if we are not talking about incremental improvements, but about technological breakthroughs-in what areas can they be expected? Where is the greatest "stock" for further technological improvements? B. B. : The development and improvement of tyres is a search for an ideal balance between the three most important parameters: rolling resistance, high durability and high coupling. There is no point in significantly improving one measure to the detriment of the other two. Therefore, in the area of improvement of tyre design and materials, manufacturers are moving relatively small steps. Breakthroughs are possible in the area of "additional equipment" of tyres. For example, Goodyear's research center specialists in Luxembourg are working on Air Maintenance Tyres-tyres, which will support the recommended air pressure with the help of the built-in pump. Of course, this technology will not appear in the market tomorrow. But our researchers have received grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and one of the EU institutions for up to 1.5 million dollars. It's a question from Seselchak, a ZR visitor. RU:-Producers invest large amounts of money in improving the coupling properties of tyres. But is there a point? Does security not depend primarily on the adequacy of the driver? If you drive with your head, you can slow down and turn even on the cheapest tyres. And the constant moloing in the media about the extent to which certain tyres are "tenacious", I think only reduces the adequacy of drivers-people are deliberately starting to drive more risky by putting "cool" tires. Perhaps it would be better to invest the same money in the work on the durability of tyres. B. B. :-Using this logic, we can go a long way. Let' s not put pillows and seatbelts on the cars, we won't work on stabilization systems, because the car is not bought to use it. We don't encourage drivers to ride on the limit. But anyone, even the most careful driver, may not be in the extreme of being in an extreme situation-and we are glad that the Goodyear tires will have the necessary supply of coatings. Again, the extreme situation is relative. And if Goodyear's specialists do not work continuously to improve the coupling, many of the situations that you now consider absolutely innocued would be extreme. According to numerous polls that determine the main wishes of drivers, consumers in Russia themselves expect more drawbar properties especially from winter tires. This is the foundation of security-and it must not be neglected. ZR. In fact, Goodyear traditionally pays special attention to the fight for road safety. If we summarize the company's long-term experience in this field, what methods have proven to be most effective? B. B. :-We prefer to maintain security initiatives that are sponsored by governmental or public organizations. This includes the information available to us (collected continuously, not through any short-term campaigns) and by providing experts on a wide range of issues related to road traffic. Benjamin Villlot has studied economics and business administration at the Universities of Liège (Belgium) and Leicester (Great Britain). RU:-Does Goodyear plan to return to Formula 1 where a lot of races have been won on tires of this brand? B. B. :-Not just a lot, Goodyear is the most successful brand in the history of Formula 1. Our tires were bringing the racers to victory 369 times, and no one's ever surpassed that record. But right now, we don't think Formula 1 is the best way to make money. In our view, it is much more important to invest in research that improves the road tyres that millions of drivers use, not two dozen riders. Question from naTuycu, a ZR visitor. RU:-There are plans to replace Duragrip tyre (the issue also included a bus Excellence, but it has already been replaced by the Efficent Grip model. [ ...] B. B. : In time, this model will give way to the new-but Duragrip has appeared in the market not so long ago to plan a specific time frame for its replacement. Question from Mileshin S. B. , a ZR site visitor. RU:-Several world-famous brand names have already started their factories in Russia-but not Goodyear. Does the company have plans to open its production in Russia? B. B. " First of all, I want to say that Goodyear sees Russia as a market with a very high potential: the potential of this is due to the size of the country, the population size, and the active modernization of the fleet. The Russian market is growing, we also want to increase our sales-and by no one-two percent per year. There are several ways to do this, and the opening of our own production is one of them. We are carefully considering all options, but no specifics, unfortunately, I cannot share yet. The question from the Fondec, the user of the ZR site. RU:-Do you accept your own tires? B. B. -Yes, there are three Goodyear dealers in Russia-in Moscow ("Proextor-Necst"), St. Petersburg ("Good Wheels") and Togliatti ("Volga tyre company"), which are engaged in stripping and retreading of tyres on our certified equipment. But it is necessary to clarify that it is only about tires of trucks. ZR. The traditional question for those who have recently come to Russia is under the curtain. What are your first documents from our country-positive and negative? B. B. : "I am impressed by how diverse the Moscow car park is: there is a" Victory " that was issued fifty years ago (which exploits like a car every day, not a museum piece), and an exclusive version of some supercar not even met in Monaco. And by itself, it shocks the traffic. I've worked in many big cities-from Tokyo to Sao Paulo, but nowhere your work schedule is so heavily dependent on road traffic. In Moscow, when you plan your day, it is necessary to check the traffic map! P.S. Since the site's issue from the company Grunwald is linked to the inter-corporate relations between the company, the answer will be addressed to the company. The request of the representative of the company Grunwald to contact the editorial office by writing an email to news-info@zr. ru Prior to the head of OOO Goodyear Rush, Benjamin Villa was engaged in marketing of cargo tires and relations with automakers