Tiger Wheels Realign Investments
South African Tiger Wheels is planning to realign its investments in wheel manufacturing, which might lead ultimately to an overseas listing for the company. This was announced by CO, Eddie Keizan, as he unveiled an impressive set of financial results for the six months to December.
Continue ReadingSafety Award For Pirelli
In the USA, Pirelli has received a prestigious award from the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) for its excellent worker health and safety record over the past year. The Safety and Health Improvement Program (SHIP) award was presented to Pirelli at the RMAs annual meeting. The award was created in 1981 to recognise advances in workplace health and safety and this year 174 plants from 29 member companies supplied data for the annual survey. Pirellis MIRS plant in Georgia was the clear winner with a remarkable zero incidents record.
Continue ReadingAutomatic Tyre Pressure Monitoring Tyre IQ System
Goodyear, in co-operation with Siemens VDO Automotive has launched the first commercially available battery-less tyre-based pressure monitoring system. The new Tyre IQ system relays specific tyre information to drivers, and provides appropriate warnings when improper inflation is detected.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Gets Loan Extension
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has announced that the company has been granted an extension on its loan agreements. The waivers were due to expire on March 7, but the extension is until April 4. Goodyear has secured agreement from JPMorgan and Citigroup to underwrite a new, three-year, $1.3 billion asset-based credit facility and this, says Robert W. Tieken, Goodyears executive vice president and chief financial officer, provides additional liquidity that offers financial and operational flexibility for our businesses.
Continue ReadingHayes Lemmerz Vice President
Patrick E. Miller has been appointed Vice President of Sales and Product Engineering for Hayes Lemmerz North American Wheels Business Unit. Prior to his new appointment, Patrick was a Vice President and General Manager for Alcoa Engineered Automotive Products.
Continue ReadingTitan International 2002 Results
Titan International has reported its 2002 financial results. Turnover for the year was $462.8 million (2001: $457.5 m), while operating results showed a loss of $14.1 million (2001 loss: $33.5 m). The net loss was $35.9 million for the year (2001 loss: 34.8 m) and this figure includes two investment losses, totalling $12.4 million. Titans President and CEO Maurice Taylor Jr., pointed to the improvement in operating results as evidence that Titans quest to rebound are proving successful and he paid tribute to the companys workforce for their efforts.
Continue ReadingDeath Of MRF Chairman
The death of Mamen Mappilai (80), chairman of Indian company MRF, has been announced. He passed away after a short illness. MRF was floated in 1961 and is one of the best-known tyre companies. Mr. Mappilai is survived by a wife, three sons and a daughter.
Continue ReadingBridgestone To Build Third Tyre Plant In China
Bridgestone has announced that it is to build its third tyre plant in China at Wuxi, Jiangsu province. The plant, which will be the first one in China wholly owned by Bridgestone, will produce 8,000 car radial tyres a day for the domestic and export markets, starting from September next year. Bridgestone says that the investment totals $99 million and the company plans investments in its other factories to increase production of car, truck and bus tyres.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Challenges “Belly Up” Statement
Quoted in an article in Tire Business, Dr. Dennis Byrne, Professor Emeritus of economics, said during the Clemson University Tire Conference that Goodyear would be forced to file for Chapter 11, saying: I see very little reason for optimism, I think they will go belly up. This provoked a spirited response from Goodyear, who said that, while Dr. Byrne might live in the Akron area, he has no special insights or knowledge of the company and he has not taken into account the measures taken by Goodyear to achieve a turnaround. His assertions are off the mark, said the company in a statement. This is reminiscent of the statements issued when columnist Diane Evans criticised Sam Gibara in the pages of the Akron Beacon Journal. Goodyear said then that Evans ignored any facts that did not fit in with her ideas. On the other hand, it is a fact that a year ago, DB Global Equities recommended Goodyear shares as a strong buy with a target price of $36. Today the price is $4. Time will show whether it is Dr. Byrne or Goodyear who is right.
Continue ReadingTransense Pick Up Value
Transense Technologies shares recently crashed when the company announced that it could not enter volume production of its tyre pressure sensors until late 2004. However last week saw the shares rise to 26p after Bridgewell Securities assisted the rise by clearing out a big seller at 14p on Thursday. Rumours that Michelin, the tyremaker and existing Transense licensee, is set to inject cash in return for equity are believed to be unfounded.
Continue ReadingRecord Loss For Fiat In 2002
2002 results were the worst-ever in Fiats history. The group posted a net loss of 4.3 billion Euros (2001: - 791 million). The auto division lost 1.3 billion Euros (2001: - 549 million) and Fiat announced that it would refinance the auto division to the tune of five billion Euros. A three billion Euros increase in capital would subscribed immediately but it was not made clear whether the remaining two million would come from a rights issue, or whether General Motors would be asked to contribute.
Continue ReadingEx-Pirelli Man Proposed As Fiat Chief Executive
Giuseppe Morchio, a former executive at Pirelli Tyres, has been invited to become the new chief executive of Fiat. This follows the appointment of Umberto Agnelli as chairman, taking over after the death of his brother Gianni last month.
Continue ReadingUS Grand Jury Starts Ford/Bridgestone Investigation
A US federal grand jury is conducting a criminal investigation related to Bridgestone tyres that were linked to deaths and injuries involving Ford Explorers, according to a subpoena issued to lawyers suing the companies. The subpoena, by the United States attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, requests that lawyers suing the Bridgestone Corporation and the Ford Motor Company in tyre-related cases turn over documents to the grand jury. Among the requested documents are sworn statements by John T. Lampe, chief executive of Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc. The investigation follows accusations by Congressional investigators that Bridgestone and Ford misled federal officials about the safety of their products.The subpoena does not identify the focus of the criminal investigation, simply that the documents being sought are pursuant to an official criminal investigation of a suspected federal offense. Safety officials say flaws in Firestone tyres contributed to 271 deaths and more than 700 injuries. After a recall of Firestone tyres began in 2000, President Bill Clinton signed a law that made it a crime to withhold tyre safety data.
Continue ReadingMazzucconi Interested In Speedline
The Speedline group, aluminium wheel producers and since 1997 part of North American Automotive supplier Amcast Industrial Corp. based at Dayton, Ohio, is for sale. Negotiations are said to be taking place with the Italian Mazzucconi group which operates from Ponte San Pietro, Bergamo. Fonderie Mario Mazzucconi S.p.A. is specialised in the production of aluminium components for the automotive OE market, where customers include Fiat, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi/Volkswagen, Iveco.
Continue ReadingKwik-Fit “No Comment” On Rumours
Having recently sold a number of its Stop n Steer centres in the UK, there are rumours that Kwik-Fit is set to rationalise its European operations. Our information, which comes from sources close to Kwik-Fit, but who did not want to be named, is that the company is looking at selling its operations in Poland, Belgium, Spain and Ireland in order to concentrate on the UK, Netherlands, France and Germany. We contacted Kwik-Fit in the UK to see if this was indeed the case and received the following reply from a company spokesperson: Kwik-Fit is undertaking a review of all its operations. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment on future plans at present.
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