Pirelli Releases New Scorpion Zero
At last year’s SEMA show, Pirelli made an impact with the introduction of a 25 inch diameter 315/40VR25 XL (120) M+S Scorpion Zero radial that the company dubbed, “Dub plus 5.” This year Pirelli believes it has gone “one better” with the announcement of the biggest Scorpion Zero ever, the 315/40R26 Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico.
Continue ReadingArvinMeritor to Divest Businesses Units
Arvinmeritor has announced that it will divest the company’s Light Vehicle Aftermarket (LVA) business group and take a “non-cash goodwill impairment charge” of $190 million (£103 million) in its fourth quarter budget. In addition, the company announced its plan to divest its Roll Coater coil coating business, a wholly owned subsidiary.
Continue ReadingPirelli Attempts to Hip-Hop the Vote
Pirelli Tire North America and the Hip Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) have teamed up to produce 15-second public service announcements with leading Hip Hop artists encouraging young people to register and get out to vote.
Continue ReadingMAHA UK Awarded Distributor of the Year
MAHA UK has won the distributor of the year award at this year’s MAHA international sales meeting in Haldenwang, Germany. This is the second successive year that MAHA UK has won this award, having last taken the title in 2003.
Continue ReadingAmcast Vice President Resigns
Francis J Drew, vice president of finance and chief financial officer, has advised Amcast that he will resign his position as of 5 November, 2004. Mr Drew has informed the company that he will make himself available on a consulting basis for as long as necessary to ensure a smooth transition.
Continue ReadingScottish Tyre Safety gets Record Airtime
A record number of radio stations are taking part in this year’s Scottish tyre safety campaign. 18 local and national Scottish radio stations are supporting this years tyre safety initiative by echoing the TIC’s tyre safety messages as part of a down the line radio promotion.
Continue ReadingTenneco Embarks on Restructuring Programme
Tenneco Automotive has announced that it will cut up to 250 salaried positions, about six per cent of its workforce. The majority of the job losses will come from the middle and senior management levels and will be cut from the company’s worldwide workforce. Tenneco describes the redundancies as part of its “global restructuring” programme, which also includes plans to reduce the number of strategic business units to six.
Continue ReadingIndia’s Apollo Tyres’ Sales Jump
Indian tyre Manufacturer, Apollo Tyres is expecting sales to increase 18 per cent, a company official has said. Last year the company recorded sales of 23.14 billion rupees and this year expects to see sales rise to almost 27.3 billion rupees, nearly £327.8 million. We will maintain 18 per cent growth in sales. It would be more than double of the projected industry growth rate of 8 percent, Neeraj Kanwar, chief operating officer at Apollo, told a news conference. At the same time Mr Kanwar warned that the profit margins of tyre companies are under pressure due to spiralling costs of raw materials.
Continue ReadingDunlop’s ‘Black-Clad Hit Squad’
Dunlop is calling on UK drivers to look out for a mysterious calling card, placed on their windscreens by what the company calls its “black-clad hit squad.” The promotion will see the “hit squad” leave their calling cards on vehicles in town centres across the UK.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Wrangler Selected for 2006 Hummer H3
Goodyear has been chosen to supply tyres for the latest Hummer, the 2006 H3 model, which is due to arrive at dealerships in spring 2005. With its off-road capabilities the new H3 will be positioned among the mid size SUV segment. According to Hummer, the H3 will also provide “the refinement, comfort and convenience required for on-road driving.”
Continue ReadingNokian’s New Records
The Finnish tyre manufacturer, Nokian, is reporting new record figures. The company’s turnover increased by 15 per cent to 39.8 million euros in the first nine months of 2004. Operating profit was also on the up and increased by 57 per cent compared with the first nine months of last year to reach 6.2 million euros. Management confirmed that they had significantly outperformed last year’s record results.
Continue ReadingFurther Success for Michelin
A second win for Markko Märtin has clinched both runner-up honours for Ford-Michelin in the 2004 Manufacturers World Championship and has promoted the Estonian to within three points of Petter Solberg in the competition for the silver medal in the Drivers classification.
Continue ReadingTitan’s Promising Third Quarter
Titan International has reported net sales of $116.5 million for the third quarter ended 30 September. Sales were up 47 per cent from $79.2 million recorded in the third quarter of 2003.
Continue ReadingBorgWarner’s Beru Announcement
BorgWarner Germany, Heidelberg, a subsidiary of BorgWarner, US, has announced a voluntary public tender offer for Beru AG of 67.50 euro a share. A share purchase agreement of 62.21 per cent from major shareholders and a share purchase option agreement for 0.82 per cent has already been signed. All that is left to be approved by the relevant authorities is the closing of the share purchase agreement and the finalisation of the share purchase option agreement.
Continue ReadingMatador Gains Strength in the OE Market.
Matador has completed a majority share purchase agreement with joint-stock company Pal-Inalfa from Vrable, Slovakia. The acquisition will now provide the group with access to the suppliers and producers segment of the car industry.
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