SmarTire Secures $5 Million Bus Order
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.
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Goodyear President Announced as TIA Expo’s Keynote Speaker
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.
New Passenger Car Registration Statistics
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.
Chinese Car Production Up 30%
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.
Reifen 2004 the Most International Yet
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.
Continental to wait another fortnight
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.
Tires & Rubber 2005
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 2005
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
Mohsen Sohi Appointed to Hayes Lemmerz’ Board of Directors
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.
Worker’s Strike at French Ronal Plant
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.
New Director at Cooper
Cooper Tire and Rubber Company has announced that Michael Cati will be the company’s new director of sales and marketing for Asian operations. This means that Mr Cati, who was European marketing manager until recently, will now be responsible for sales and marketing in China.
Mr Cati originally joined Avon Tyres shortly before Cooper Tire and Rubber Company acquired it in 1997 after graduating from the school of European Business studies at Swansea University. During this time he was a territory sales manager in Europe and was responsible for achieving operational improvements at Cooper-Avon, France.
Toyo Chooses Bartow County
Following what the company have called “robust overseas demand” Toyo has announced that its new tyre plant will be situated in Bartow County, Georgia in the USA. The site, situated outside the state capital, Atlanta, was chosen above other prospective locations mainly based in the south-eastern United States.
The new facility will use the company’s automated tyre manufacturing system, which enables it, according to Toyo, “to maintain a high standard of quality while realising the flexibility to produce small production runs of multiple lines if tyres.” A new subsidiary company, Toyo Tire North America Inc., will own and operate the manufacturing facility.
The tyre producers plan to spend a total of nearly $400 million on the plant. In the first phase the company will spend $146 million on the plant and hope to begin production in 2006. Initially 350 employees will run the plant. In the second phase the company will invest $127 million and will create 300 more jobs. The third phase will include a further $119 million of investment and will see the work force expand to around 900. When finished, the site will have a total floor area of 96,000 square metres. Toyo estimates that the factory will produce two million passenger and light truck tyres a year. The site in Bartow County will also include a 40,000 square metre warehouse that will service the south-eastern states.
Oliver Rubber to Retread US Postal Service
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.”
Continental Acquire half of Phoenix
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.
Bridgestone Europe establishes new company: ”Bridgestone Retread Systems”
Bridgestone Europe NV/SA announced today, that it has formed a new subsidiary company, Bridgestone Retread Systems NV/SA, in a joint venture with Italian retread specialist Marangoni Tread S.p.A as minority partner. The new company, headed by Managing Director Ing. Marcello Gambarini, will have its dedicated headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
