Jaguar to make crossover vehicle in Solihull, creating 1,300 jobs
Jaguar Land Rover is to manufacture a new “performance crossover” vehicle at its Solihull production plant. According to the announcement made at the Detroit Motor Show, together with a bid to extend its expertise in aluminium and lightweight technologies, the company will create 1,300 new jobs. These are in addition to the 1700 created in 2013 for the introduction of the Jaguar XE. The companys headcount has doubled over the past few years to more than 32,000 globally, of which 30,500 are in the UK.
Continue ReadingAeolus Tyre fined for falsifying 2011, 2012 financials
In a Chinese-language statement submitted to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on 9 January, Aeolus Tyre Co. Ltd reports that the Henan office of the China Securities Regulatory Commission has fined the company for falsifying its financial results for the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years.
Continue ReadingPirelli underwrites new revolving and term loan multicurrency facility
On 9 January, Pirelli signed a new revolving and term loan multicurrency facility worth a total of €1.0 billion and with a maturity of five years. The facility replaces an existing €1.2 billion revolving line of credit that is due to expire in November 2015 and which, as a consequence, will be cancelled in advance. The new revolving credit line totals €800 million while the Term Loan amounts to €200 million, with an amortisation structure which reflects the Pirelli Group’s cash flow generation and deleveraging trends.
Continue ReadingContinental aiming for 5% sales growth in 2015, releases preliminary 2014 results
The European replacement tyre market displayed a “pronounced weakness” in the four quarter of last year, says Continental Corporation, however during the 2014 fiscal year the company as a whole managed to grow year-on-year, and achieved an annual turnover of approximately €34.5 billion. The company’s adjusted EBIT margin exceeded 11 per cent.
Continue ReadingBandvulc first tyre firm to join SEDEX ethical exchange
Bandvulc Group has become the first tyre company to join the SEDEX ethical business information exchange organisation. Bandvucl reports “Our involvement with SEDEX and this sharing of information was initiated by our customers Tesco and as a result we at Bandvulc believe we are the first transport industry supplier to become compliant.”
Continue ReadingShow review: Reifen China 2014
The eighth annual “Asian Essen”, Reifen China took place at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in the first week of December, with some of the Chinese tyre industry’s major players rubbing shoulders for the last time in 2014. The European side of the Sino-German partnership behind the annual show, Messe Essen stated that it expected the presence of around 120 exhibitors in hall W1 and 15,000 trade visitors. This latter figure, unconfirmed at the time of writing, takes into account the other three-quarters of the twin exhibition; RubberTech China 2014 and the International Exhibition on Rubber & Elastomer, led by the China United Rubber Corporation, comprised around 500 exhibitors across another three halls (W2-4). Messe Essen CEO, Oliver P Kuhrt stressed the importance of the ‘Reifen’ brand’s presence in China, stating in his introduction to the show that it “stands for the success of a fair made in Essen extending across borders”. With about two thirds of the exhibitors at May’s Reifen 2014 visiting Essen from outside Germany, Messe Essen also noted the importance of Reifen China in recruiting Asian participants, whose attention the exhibition organiser has drawn in Shanghai.
Continue ReadingDunlop Aircraft Tyres to supply 10,000 tyres a year to Boeing C-17 fleet
Birmingham-based Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has won a deal to support the world’s fleet of more than 270 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft. News of the deal – one of the biggest in Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ 105-year history – follows the announcement that the company is investing in establishing its first ever tyre distribution and retreading facility in the United States.
Continue ReadingATG inaugurates new tyre plant in India
The new, 54,000 ton per annum Alliance Tire Group factory in India’s Gujarat state is now in operation. The company reported the inauguration of its third facility (the others being Hadera, Israel and Tirunelveli, India) in the second half of December 2014, and said the US$150 million facility in Dahej will reach full capacity in early 2016. At this date it is expected to employ some 1,500 workers.
Continue ReadingKumho Tire exits debt programme
On 23 December, Kumho Tire emerged from the debt workout programme it was placed under at the start of 2010. More than 75 per cent of the company’s creditors, in terms of debt held, decided that Kumho Tire had reached the threshold for ‘graduating’ from the programme. The tyre maker’s debt ratio, which hit a high of 858 per cent in 2010, declined to 290 per cent during the first half of 2014. Its credit rating also improved from BBB- to BBB.
Continue ReadingToyo Tire rings in the New Year with management, organisational changes
As of 1 January, several alterations have occurred amongst Toyo Tire & Rubber’s senior management and corporate organisation, including the appointment of company president Takuji Yamamoto as general manager of Toyos North American Business Unit and Tire Business Group Headquarters.
Continue ReadingApollo Tyres ‘pleased’ with final dismissal of Cooper case
The legal dispute between Apollo Tyres and Cooper Tire & Rubber has now ended following the final dismissal of litigation filled by Cooper Tire against Apollo.
Continue ReadingMichelin acquires land for German plant expansion
The German town of Bad Kreuznach reports Michelin’s acquisition of a 70,000 square metre land plot alongside its facility there, an area that will be used to expand the plant. The land is part of the ‘Marshall Kaserne’ site, a former US Army barracks in the Rhineland-Palatinate that closed in 2001.
Continue ReadingChinese court victory for Bridgestone design lawsuit
A court in China has ruled in favour of Bridgestone Corporation, determining that two Chinese companies, Jianxin Rubber (Fujian) Co. Ltd and PT.Beststone Rubber Industries Co. Ltd., infringed the Japanese tyre maker’s design rights. The Zhengzhou Higher Peoples Court ruled that a pre-cure tread the companies manufactured and sold for truck and bus tyres violated Bridgestone’s design rights.
Continue ReadingThe Parts Alliance awarded ‘Best UK Automotive Transactions’
The Parts Alliance has been recognised for providing the ‘Best UK Automotive Transactions in 2014’ in Deal Feed International’s inaugural Sector Success Awards. The website’s new business awards examine mergers and acquisitions across the globe, asking a panel of financial professionals and writers to judge award winners across various segments. The Parts Alliance’s victory comes on the back of “the group’s rapid growth and financial performance as well as other key strengths such as customer service, employee development and overall strategy,” according to the Alliance’s statement.
Continue ReadingBekaert acquisition of three Pirelli steelcord plants finalised
The sale of Pirelli’s tyre steelcord activities at three sites was finalised on 18 December. Bekaert is now the official owner of the Figline facility in Italy, the Slatina plant in Romania and the operation in Sumaré, Brazil, however it still awaits local regulatory approvals for the transfer of Pirelli’s steelcord facilities in Izmit, Turkey and Yanzhou, China. It is expected that these approvals could be obtained in the first quarter of 2015, however the companies can give no assurance that this timeframe will be met.
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