Goodyear Dunlop Adds To Commercial Sales Team
Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK has appointed Jason Tyers as regional sales manager for the North, as part of the overall restructuring of its commercial department. The appointment follows the recent introduction of Clive Powell as director of Goodyear Dunlop’s Commercial Department.
Continue ReadingNew Michelin Guide
Michelin has released a new guidebook. ‘Main Cities of Europe’ contains details of 5083 of the 45,000 hotels and restaurants listed in the complete 2005 Michelin collection, from across Europe. The choices are made by a team of inspectors, who travel throughout Europe, all year round, visiting new and existing establishments, looking for consistent quality for customers.
Continue ReadingDunlop Race Academy II
The Dunlop Race Academy is back and will again offer driving enthusiasts the chance to race at Silverstone in a televised championship race.
Continue ReadingBeissbarth Group For Sale
Beissbarth Automotive Group (BAG) is up for sale, German sources have reported. A number of bidders are said to be interested in the acquisition, although it is not clear which one is most likely to succeed. BAG is a 100 per cent subsidiary of French Company Facom and itself owns some well-known names including Zippo, Fog and Sicam in addition to Beissbarth GmbH. Former BAG managing director, Jean-Loup Bourjot is said to have made an offer together with another unspecified investor. This is why Mr Bourjot stepped aside from the position of managing director. Consequently Facom CEO, Thierry Paternot, will temporarily lead BAG.
Continue ReadingWin The 15,000th Hofmann Wheel Balancer
Quality comes at a price, or so they say. However, Hofmann is offering visitors to the Brityrex show a once in a lifetime opportunity to win quality for free! Visitors to the Hofmann stand (M7) can enter a free competition to win a Geodyna 4801 computerised wheel balancer worth over £3,000.
Continue ReadingBBS Sales Up, Earnings Down
Despite tough conditions overall, in 2004 BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik AG increased consolidated sales by 1.2 per cent to 190.4 million euros. This rise was exclusively driven by business outside Germany, which expanded 4.3 per cent from 94.6 million euros to 98.6 million euros. Consolidated EBIT fell from 10.5 million euros to 7.2 million, while consolidated net income for the year decreased from 4.4 million to 1.0 million euros.
Continue ReadingMichelin Recommends Two New Supervisory Board Members
After consultation with supervisory board, the Groupe Michelin managing partners will submit a resolution to appoint two new supervisory board members at the company’s annual shareholders meeting on 20 May 2005.
Continue ReadingThe End of the Line for One GM Brand?
After issuing a profit warning last week, General Motors has suggested that it may phase out one of its weaker brands if sales fail to meet projections, company vice chairman Bob Lutz said on Wednesday. A Detroit News report described GM’s Buick and Pontiac as “damaged brands” due to lack of investment over the years, something that GM is working to correct with an array of new vehicles coming to market, Mr Lutz told a Morgan Stanley automotive conference in New York. But if some of its brands fail to meet sales projections, “then we would have to take a look at a phase-out. I hope we don’t have to do that. What we’ve got to do is keep the brands weve got.” According to the report sales for both Pontiac and Buick have lagged in recent years.
Continue ReadingHankook Brand “Most Powerful”
(Akron/Tire Review) Hankook Tire Co.’s Optimo passenger tyre line made the list of South Korea’s “most powerful brands,” as determined by the Korea Management Association. According to a report by Chosun.com, the KMA surveyed the brand power of 2,576 brands in 164 industries to develop its list.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Accepts Blame for Slow Ferrari Start
Bridgestone has taken the blame for Ferraris poor start to the Formula 1 season. Bridgestone Motorsport’s technical director Hirohide Hamashima told the daily Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday that there was no doubt tyres were to blame. “Even if the entire package is important, in this race the responsibility for such a negative result is undoubtedly down to our tyres,” said Mr Hamashima. Seven teams in Formula 1 use Michelin tyres, including Renault who have won both races so far this season. “The fact that (Fernando) Alonso and (Jarno) Trulli lapped a couple of seconds faster than us is certainly not explainable by different fuel loads. Obviously we have had long discussions with Ferrari to create tyres of a new generation and we are counting on having found some that will allow us quickly to be competitive again,” said the Bridgestone chief.
Continue ReadingEuropean Aftermarket to Suffer 1.2 Billion Euro Dip
New research from independent market analysts Datamonitor suggests that Europe’s 146 billion euro light vehicle aftermarket is in decline. The analysts say that revenues could drop by one per cent compared with those of today – a 1.2 billion euro shrinkage.
Continue ReadingCar Legend and Wheel Factory Founder Dies
John DeLorean, who created a legendary car of the same name in Belfast in 1972, died at the age of 80 in Los Angeles last weekend. Mr DeLorean’s DMC 12 sports car played a central role in the “Back To The Future” film series, where it gained worldwide attention. DeLorean went bankrupt in the beginning of the 80s, since that time French company Montupet has produced 800,000 aluminum cast wheels each year for OE customers in the former Belfast DeLorean plant.
Continue ReadingMichelin Man Moves to Toyota
Pascal Vasselon, former motorsports project manager at Michelin, will soon make a return to the pitlane, this time in a Toyota uniform. According to reports the Frenchman will take up a position in Cologne’s R&D department prior to the San Marino grand prix late next month. Asked what Mr Vasselon’s next move might be, motorsport director Pierre Dupasquier said in Melbourne: “It’s up to him. He loves Formula One.”
Continue Reading‘You and ME!’ – Wheel Manufacturer BSA Pushes Towards Europe
In the past the European alloy wheel market was heavily influenced by the decisions of large local producers. However these companies successfully chose to focus more and more on the original equipment business. As a consequence they had to neglect the aftermarket. This created a vacuum, which newcomers from Europe and the Far East have tried to fill. One such company is BSA from Malaysia. In Malayasia, these three letters represent a premium brand, although this is not the case in Europe - and this is something that is unlikely to change overnight. However when the Rudersdorf, Germany based wheel manufacturer, SMC, manufactured with BSA, the company found that it had gained rapid entry into the catalogues of important European wholesalers. BSA’s slogan is “The Sign of Quality.” These words represent the company’s intention to bring quality into the aftermarket. Rolf Bene, managing director and owner of SMC GmbH is particularly interested in developing good customer relations, exclusively in the aftermarket business. BSA chairman, Dato’ Cam Soh Thiam Hong, summed this up when he said that it was all about: “You and ME!”
Continue ReadingPirelli Dividend Shrinks
Pirelli Spa & C will pay a smaller dividend for the 2004 financial year than it did for 2003. The Italian company has proposed to pay a dividend of 0.021 euros per ordinary share and 0.0314 euros per savings share. The ordinary share dividend is 30 per cent lower than last year, when the company paid out 0.031 euros and 0.414 euros respectively. In spite of the dividend decrease the company paid out 113 million euros, more than it did in previous years.
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