Dunlop Shapes Things to Come
Dunlop has unveiled its new aerodynamic SP 30 tyre, which, according to tests creates the same effect as removing your side mirrors.
Dunlop has unveiled its new aerodynamic SP 30 tyre, which, according to tests creates the same effect as removing your side mirrors.
Hayes Lemmerz has posted its first quarter 2004 results, which reflect a 15% sales growth, reduced debt and a stronger balance sheet. Sales of the global supplier for the first fiscal quarter rose to $594.1 million from $515.3 million of the previous year. Earnings from operations for the first financial period climbed sharply to $26.2 million, compared with $14.4 million a year earlier.
Despite its dire financial situation Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co. has paid its chief executive $1.5 million US, in salary and bonuses last year.
SmarTire Systems Inc., in conjunction with is master distributor in China, Beijing Boom Technology Co. Ltd., closed a deal to supply the Taiwanese tour bus industry.
The Tyre Industry Association (TIA) has announced that Jon Rich, president of Goodyear’s North American tyre business, will be the keynote speaker at the 2005 TIA World Tyre Expo.
The North American exhibition of the commercial tyre, retreading, repairing and tyre and rubber recycling industries will be held in Kentucky 20 – 22 April 2005.
Chinese car manufacturers produced 30.5% more cars in May than they did 12 months ago. In May China produced 215,000 vehicles, 10.2% less than in April. Compared with previous growth rates, 30% looks relatively meager. In April 2003 production went up more than 42% and February 2003 saw a staggering 62% increase. To put number this into perspective, figures for March show that UK car production rose by only 7.4% to 163,123 units.
This year’s Reifen 2004 exhibition was the most international yet. Exhibitors and visitors alike are already looking forward to the next show, which will take place from 23 to 26 May 2006.
The German tyre manufacturer Continental AG has to wait for another two weeks before they hear whether or not the European Commission will approve the take-over of automotive supplier, Phoenix. The Commission says that the legal examination will be completed by 29 June but did not give any reasons for the extension of the deadline.
At the end of April Continental started the take-over bid of its Hamburg based competitor. In the middle of last week Continental acquired the majority of the Phoenix shares.
The 8th Moscow international specialised exhibition for the tyre and rubber industry will take place at the Expocentre, Moscow from the 1st to the 4th of February 2005. With analysts predicting an annual growth rate of between 15 and 20 percent over the next 4 years the Russian tyre market presents fertile ground for investment and commercial evelopment. This show serves as a shop window and offers a meeting forum for Russian and international companies.
For further information contact:
Alla Shevchenko
Maxima International Exhibitions
Office 219
3, Profsoyuznaya Street
Moscow 117036
Russia
Tel: +7 095 1247760
Fax: +7 095 1247060
Email: shevchenko@maxima-expo.ru
Web: www.maxima-expo.ru
The Aftermarket Show returns to the NEC from 13-16 January 2005. Organiser Haymarket Exhibitions says the event will give a high profile to suppliers from the tyre, wheel, accessory, consumables, parts, electrics and garage equipment sectors.
Last January’s inaugural show attracted more than 24,500 dedicated trade visitors, part of a combined total of 91,000 business and motorsport enthusiasts who visited the show and sister attraction Autosport International.
The Tyre Industry Council (TIC) will again sponsor the tyre sector of the show, which will aim to attract interest from a broad cross section of manufacturers, wholesalers, equipment and services suppliers. Dutch manufacturer Vredestein has already confirmed its return in 2005.
TIC secretary Peter Taylor said: “We are working with Haymarket to develop a number of innovative concepts that will appeal to specific sectors of the industry. The response to the first show in January was very encouraging, which makes 2005 a real opportunity to create an exhibition that delivers something new, exciting and valuable to the trade.”
The Aftermarket Show – Exhibitor Contacts: Tel: +44 (0)207 267 8300 www.theaftermarketshow.com
New passenger car registration in Europe reached 1,240,539 units in May this year according to statistics published by the ACEA today. These figures represent a rise of 1.2% in comparison with 1,226,000 units produced in May 2003. This marginal increase has been put down to fewer working days in most EU countries but also to declining consumer confidence in some countries. Cumulative figures for the first five months of this year show an increase of 2.8% in line with most predictions.
National figures for the month of May show increases in a majority of countries. Among the five main markets Italy (+12%) was the best performer, ahead of Spain (+8.9%) and France (+4.8%), while Germany (-7.3%) and the U.K. (-2.8%) posted decreases. Cumulative figures show increases in 11 countries with +2.7% in the U.K.
Registrations in the new EU Member States were down 5.6% with the Czech republic and Poland posting significant decreases, while Lithuania was the best performer.
Workers at Ronal’s plant in St. Avold, France, have gone on strike in a protest against restructuring plans. The aluminium cast wheel manufacturers angered employees after using redundancies as a way of cutting costs. Part of the restructuring programme would have meant producing wheels for the high-quality aftermarket segment, but would have led to decreases in annual output.
Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc. has appointed Mohsen Sohi to its board of directors.
Currently president and CEO of Freudenberg-NOK, Mr. Sohi has a wealth of experience and an extensive skills profile to bring to his new role.
On 10 June Continental announced that it had reached the 50% mark in its planned takeover of Phoenix. “With 50.02% we have already attained a majority interest and feel that our confidence in procuring over 75% of the shares as targeted has been affirmed,” said Manfred Wennemer, chairman of the Continental executive board.
The company believes that the proposed merger of the two companies is good “industrial logic” and that it has offered Phoenix shareholders a good price. Following sales of around 1.8 billion in 2003 Continental’s ContiTech division see the move as a step towards strengthening its position as one of the world’s leading rubber and plastic technology specialists.
Cooper Tire and Rubber Company and its subsidiary company, Oliver Rubber won a 10-year contract to retread US Postal Service tyres across the United States. Oliver Rubber produces and distributes tread rubber and retreading systems through a large network of licensed dealers. The company plans to use this network exclusively in order to service the 208,000 vehicles that the Postal Service maintains. 142,00 of these vehicles are considered long-life vehicles, which will undoubtedly provide additional retread opportunities for the company.
“The Postal Service speculates that they are currently using retreads on 20 percent of their fleet; however, they want to increase that number to 70 percent,” said Phil Boarts, Oliver director of retread sales and marketing.
“While the size of this whole project seems to be growing daily, we are making good progress in learning what we need to know about the current Postal Service operations,” continued Boarts.
The company plans to use precure and mold-cure technologies. Mold-cure technology will be employed on the majority of long-life vehicles and will, according to the company, “allow for improved ride characteristics.”
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