Alcoa Restructures Passenger Car Rim Business
Alcoa is planning to develop a range of forged aluminium passenger car rims, which will be produced alongside the company’s forged truck products. The wheels will be produced at Alcoa’s Samara, Russia, plant and will also be made available for sale in the European market. At the same time the company is set to embark on a restructuring programme designed to improve efficiency, shedding five per cent of its total international workforce. This means up to 800 jobs in the company’s wheel business could be lost. The wheel restructuring programme is expected to cost the company between $65 and $70 million – roughly half of this will be down to severance costs. Alcoa acquired the casted wheel business as part of the large purchase of competitor Reynolds in 1999. This acquisition saw the company take over factories in Italy (Ferrara), Venezuela and North America. However, Alcoa never really seemed happy with its casted aluminium passenger car rim strategy.
Continue ReadingUnder Inflated Tyres Cost UK Motorists £1 Billion
Avon Tyres believes motorists are wasting more than £1 billion a year and increasing the risk of accidents by not checking tyre pressures. According to the manufacuturer’s calculations, up to 90 per cent of vehicles on Britain’s roads do not have the correct pressure in their tyres. This, in turn, is believed to have a knock effect that stings consumers to the tune of an extra £230 million on new tyres every year. Researchers said that at any one time, 90 per cent of vehicles had at least one tyre under-inflated by 10 per cent of the recommended pressure. This equates to a 15 per cent reduction in the life expectancy of the tyre or an extra £5.12 per year cost to the driver - or £230 million if extended to all UK drivers.
Continue ReadingMichelin Sues Dynamic Over Look-Alike Tyre
(Akron/Tire Review) Michelin North America (MNA) has filed a suit in the federal court of Birmingham, Alabama, against Canadian distributor Dynamic Tire and Chinese manufacturer, Aeolus Tyre, claiming tyre design patent infringement. Robert Sherkin, president of both Dynamic Tire Corp and Aeolus Tire in North America was also named in the action. “We will not tolerate look-alike tyres trading on Michelin expertise and will bring the full resources of Michelin North America to bear on those seeking to profit from our innovations,” said Luc Minguet, COO of MNA’s Michelin Americas Truck Tyres unit. MNA claims that the tread design of the Aeolus HN-308 medium truck tyre is identical to its patented design for the Michelin XDA-HT.
Continue ReadingMichelin To Close French Truck Tyre Plant
Michelin is preparing to close a small truck tyre plant in France, Deutsche Bank analysts have reported. According to the analysts, the company will close its Poitiers plant (which employs some 500 people) and transfer truck tyre production to Tours. The larger Tours plant has 2000 employees. ”Since we expect 30 per cent of the group’s Western European workforce (or 17,000 people) to be retired by the next five years, this will underline a significant reorganisation of the groups industrial organisation, involving their 31 European plants,” the analysts commented. 26 of Michelin’s European plants can be found in Western Europe, while the remaining five are in Central Europe.
Continue ReadingRoesler/USW Reach Stalemate Over Bryan OTR Plant
If you ask the USW in Bryan, Ohio, whether or not Roesler are going to buy Continental’s OTR tyre plant, they will say no. Ask Roesler management and it’s a completely different answer. This week local representatives of the USW published a statement saying that the proposed plan to sell the CTNA plant to the German Roesler Group was off because the two sides had failed to agree on a satisfactory labour agreement. “We went the extra mile in trying to reach a new contract agreement,” said John Bowling, the USW/Continental Tire Unit chairman. “We just couldnt get a deal.”
Continue ReadingGoodyear Plant Workers Vote For Union
(Akron/Tire Review) Workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s wire plant in Asheboro, North Carolina, voted to be represented by the United Steelworkers (USW). A secret ballot election was held last week, with a final vote of 173-147 in favor of union representation. The USW said that Asheboro workers participated in a card check election in 2004 “that validated the USW as the official employee representative.” However, some workers there dissented, and legal action was taken. The National Labor Relations Board was brought in to conduct the secret ballot vote.
Continue ReadingNiznekamskshina Looks to Global Cooperation
Management company Tatneft-Neftekhim’s CEO Zagit Sharafeev announced that European tyre makers Michelin, Pirelli and Nokian have expressed their intention to invest 30 million euros in the expansion of agricultural machinery tyre production at Nizhnekamskshina. The investment will be in the form of technology transfers and equipment supplies. “In our view, Nizhnekamskshina should benefit from the cooperation with the global tyre majors,” Russian CentreInvest analysts reported. cja
Continue ReadingMosely: Michelin Should Compensate Fans
FIA president Max Mosely has given his opinions about what happened at the recent US grand prix. Amongst other things, Mr Mosely called on Michelin to “compensate fans on a fair basis,” and give away free tickets to next year’s event. The news is set against a back drop of other F1 dealings including, BMW’s shock purchase of the Sauber team, which will become effective from 1 January 2006.
Continue ReadingGEA Golf Day Returns
The annual GEA golf day, held to raise funds for BEN, is returning to Staverton Park Golf Club, near Daventry, on Wednesday the 17th August. The competition is open to everyone and not just to GEA members. Anyone who would like to enter should contact Dave Garratt on 01327 3112616. “Everyone is very welcome to come along and join in with the golf day. If you haven’t got a team, don’t worry, we can create teams for you,” says Mr Garratt.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Integrates Chemical Biz into North American Tire
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co has reported that it has “reclassified” financial information to reflect the integration of its chemical products business segment into its North American tire segment. The reclassification applies to financial information for each of the three previous years, ending on 31 December 2004.
Continue ReadingNatural Rubber Prices Continue Upward Climb
(Akron/Tire Review) By 7 June, natural rubber prices had risen to a 12-month high of $3.12 a pound on the Tokyo Commodities Exchange. Tyre output in China rose 27 per cent, to 239 million units last year, and the country’s tyre exports nearly doubled, to 34.8 million units. At the same time global manufacturers continue to purchase more natural rubber as its synthetic counterpart becomes more costly, according to experts monitoring the data. Data reported by Bloomberg, for example, indicates that US Gulf spot prices for butadiene, the petrochemical used to make synthetic rubber, have risen 93 per cent, to 57 cents a pound over the past year.
Continue ReadingSchedule Outlined For A1 Grand Prix
(Akron/Tire Review) The new A1 Grand Prix has released a 12-race schedule that features races in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and South and North America. All cars running in the A1 Grand Prix series will race on Cooper tyres produced by Avon racing. The series kicks off at Brands Hatch on the 25 September and then will continue with races at Lausitzring in Germany on 9 October and at Estoril in Portugal on 23 October.
Continue ReadingDunlop Signs Three-Year Motorsport Deal
Dunlop Motorsport has confirmed that is has signed a deal with EERC (European Endurance Racing Club). The agreement will see the manufacturer act as sole tyre supplier to the Britcar and Production S1 series including the Willhire 5 HR and Silverstone 24 hour events until 2008. In addition the Birmingham based Motorsport operation is committing to support the championship with team incentives and marketing activities. Dunlop is the sole tyre supplier and has been involved with the championship since its inception.
Continue ReadingYokohama Raises OTR Tyre Prices
(Akron/Tire Review) Yokohama Tire Corp has announced “across the board” price increases on its OTR tyres. The increases, effective July 15, will range from 5 per cent to 8 per cent, the manufacturer said. Yokohama cited escalating petroleum-derived material costs, energy and freight costs as well as social cost adjustments as reasons for the increases. Detailed pricing will be provided to dealers prior to the increase, Yokohama said.
Continue ReadingSchieben Goes to Bridgestone
Rumours that Dr Rainer Schieben (43) will be the new managing director of Bridgestone GmbH Deutschland have been confirmed. Dr Schieben will take up the position from 1 October 2005 replacing former MD Guenter F Unterhauser, who has become senior vice president sales and marketing Europe. When the decisions come into effect Dr Schieben will report to Mr Unterhauser.
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