Steinmetz Bridgestone Americas’ new HR chief
As of 7 December, Jan Steinmetz has taken over as chief human resources officer at Bridgestone Americas. He succeeds Christine Karbowiak, who held the position since February in addition to her roles as the company’s chief administrative officer and chief risk officer. Steinmetz will lead the company’s international human resource programming for nearly 55,000 employees, and is located at Bridgestone’s Nashville-based Americas Support Center and headquarters.
Continue ReadingIcahn offers counterbid for Pep Boys
Bridgestone Americas’ cash tender offer to acquire US automotive service and retail chain The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack for US$15.00 a share has been challenged by Icahn Enterprises L.P. The New York-based master limited partnership and owner of automotive aftermarket distributor Auto Plus has written to the Pep Boys’ board, proposing to pay a cash sum of $15.50 per share to acquire the entire outstanding stake in the company – an offer it believes “clearly superior” to the Bridgestone transaction.
Continue ReadingBridgestone CEO accepts Thai investment advisor position
The chief executive officer and chairman of the board at Bridgestone Corporation, Masaaki Tsuya, has been appointed honorary investment advisor to the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI). The role was established last month with the purpose of assisting the BOI in promoting Thailand as an attractive investment destination both in Southeast Asia and throughout the world.
Continue ReadingAlliance appoints new head of marketing, Europe
Alliance Tire Group (ATG), has appointed Ole Baek as head of marketing, Europe, based in Halsteren, Netherlands. He started on 1 November 2015.
Continue ReadingJK Tyre production affected by Chennai flooding
Following Apollo’s admission that flooding in Chennai had affected its tyre factory, JK Tyres has reportedly experienced disruption to eight of its shifts. This equated to roughly 700 tons of tyres, according to the local Business Standard newspaper.
Continue ReadingVW Group sales down 20 per cent
While November saw a rise in car sales, SMMT figures show that it was far from a good month for the VW Group in the UK: Volkswagen sales in Britain tumbled in November with new car registrations of VW-branded models falling 20 per cent year-on-year in the wake of the diesel emissions rigging scandal.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Wranglers fitted to anti-poaching vehicles
Rangers on the Forever Wild Rhino Protection Initiative team have fitted Goodyear Wrangler tyres to their vehicles. This is the fourth year that the tyre manufacturer is sponsoring the rugged, all terrain 4x4 tyres to help give the anti-poaching teams an advantage when patrolling the countrys nature reserves.
Continue ReadingFloods affecting Apollo Chennai tyre factory
Apollo Tyres Ltd has confirmed that tyre production at its Oragadam, near Chennai factory has been disrupted by heavy rain and flooding in the area.
Continue ReadingGoodyear implements direct online sales in US
Last January at its annual dealer conference, Goodyear unveiled plans to launch direct-to-consumer online sales across the US through its Goodyear.com website. Since then, Michelin has bought into two large European e-tailers and Apollo has acquired another. Clearly 2015 has been the year that tyre majors have allowed their online retail strategies surface. And while approaches differ between manufacturers and markets, Goodyear’s US approach is by far the most direct. At the moment, this approach centres on North America, however what we learn from Goodyear’s case is valuable in any market. In mid-November Tire Review editor Jim Smith met with Goodyear’s Mike Dauberman, senior director of marketing and interactive, and Bill Friel, general manager of consumer dealer retail, and here gives Tyres per cent Accessories readers access to their conversation.
Continue ReadingZenises hosts Rome partners day
Zenises recently held its first Italian convention to present its brand portfolio at the historic 900 year old Castello della Castelluccia in Rome. Fifteen partners from various Italian regions attended the gathering at which the 2016 brand development strategies in Italy were unveiled. In addition to cementing Zenises commercial agreements, new marketing concepts were also presented to ensure that the Italian market will be well served for 2016.
Continue ReadingTrelleborg receive double awards from AGCO
Trelleborg has been named AGCO 2015 ‘Best Quality Performance’ for China and also received the AGCO EAME 2015 ‘Supplier of the Year’ award in the “Logistics” category. Paolo Pompei, president Agricultural & Forestry Tires at Trelleborg Wheel Systems, says: “This double recognition of Trelleborg as a partner to AGCO is an exceptional achievement for us and a testament to the commitment that we share with AGCO; to improve the efficiency, productivity and sustainability of future farming. We are extremely proud of these awards since they acknowledge the huge efforts Trelleborg is making to support joint-initiatives with AGCO.”
Continue ReadingCEAT signs Pirelli distribution deal
CEAT, India’s second largest two-wheeler tyre company, has signed an exclusive distribution partnership with Pirelli. Pirelli was once the owner of CEAT - Cavi Electrici e Affini Torino SpA – but RPG acquired CEAT in India in 1982. Nevertheless Pirelli continued to hold the global rights for the brand until five years ago.
Continue ReadingSambo Motors buys ailing tuner Carlsson
Sambo Motors Co. Ltd. is to take over insolvent Carlsson Autotechnik GmbH including all employees on 4 December 2015. The Korean automotive supplier with annual revenues of more than US$1 billion in 2014 and 3,000 employees wants to expand the production of special editions for car manufacturers and strengthen the production capacities at the historic plant in Merzig/Saarland.
Continue ReadingLassa unveils first global TV ad campaign
Lassa Tyres has launched its first global TV advertising campaign on Eurosport. The 20-second commercial will air across 54 European countries starting from 1 December for a period of one month. It will be followed by the main advertisement campaign which will start as of January 2016 and last till May 2016.
Continue ReadingTrelleborg buys Brazil-based industrial tyre manufacturer Standard Tyres Group
On 30 November 2015 Trelleborg’s Trelleborg Wheel Systems agreed to buy Standard Tyres Group, a Brazil-based privately owned industrial tyre manufacturer. The company is the market leader in industrial tyres in Brazil and the main supplier to locally based, global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of materials handling vehicles.
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