Poor Profits For Vredestein
Vredesteins profits for the year 2000 have fallen to only 200,000 Euro (compared with 10.4 million in 1999). High raw material costs and the disappointing sale of winter tyres were cited as the main reasons.
Continue Reading“Snowprox S950”: Toyo’s New Winter Tyre
At the beginning of April the presentation of Toyos new winter tyre, Snowprox S950, took place in Rovaniemi, Finland. The new product was already introduced to the market at the end of last year. The S950 covers the 55- up to the 40-series and has been released in 15 dimensions (from 185/55 R 15 up to 215/40 R 16). For the coming winter season five additional sizes in the 17-inch-sector and with a V speed index are planned.
Continue ReadingUltra High Performance Tyres
Ultra High Performance Tyres (uhp) are not only for super sports cars nor high performance marques, but also for the top models of volume car makers. They are the biggest customers of the European uhp tyre manufacturers nowadays. From the middle of the decade, uhp OE sales begin to slacken, but aftermarket sales continue to grow. At the moment the OE sector accounts for the majority of uhp tyre sales, but this will turn around in a couple of years. Nowadays, 16 tyres are usually the smallest in the uhp market; 17 and 18 increase, 19 and 20 are still comparatively rare. 55 and 50 series aspect ratios are the usual sizes, but tyres as low as 30 series can be fitted. Looking ahead, the V speed rating looks set to explode. In W/Y/Z speed ratings, the premium tyre manufacturers dominate, but for V-rated tyres, the not-so-well-known brands can get a slice of the cake. In 1999, sales of V, W, Y and Z-rated tyres in Western Europe were in excess of 20 million units and by 2005, this will be doubled. In volume terms, Germany will be the biggest market – even today, one in three uhp tyres sold in Europe is bought by a German. But Germany is the leader only on numbers sold; when it comes to uhp tyres as a percentage of the tyre market as a whole, last year this sector accounted for 30% of the German market. The leader in percentage terms was Switzerland, with 38%.
Continue ReadingMinicar-Segment Entered By Nissan
As announced in a press conference in Tokyo, car manufacturer Suzuki will supply 3,000 so called minicars a month to Nissan from 2002 onwards. With this agreement Nissan will enter the small car segment – with a maximum capacity of 660 cc – which already has a market share of 30 percent in Japan.
Continue ReadingNo Comment From Pirelli Group On Lucent
Pirellis cable and fibre optics firm has declined to comment on its position regarding a bid for Lucents fibre optic operation after the collapse of discussions on the proposed $23billion merger between Lucent and Alcatel.
Continue ReadingCooper Tire Announces Intent to Buy Hercules Retreading Assets
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. announced the intention, as of June 30, 2001, to purchase certain manufacturing assets used in Hercules retread operation and will soon begin to supply retread products to customers formerly served by Hercules. This purchase will significantly increase sales in the Oliver Retreading Systems and Products unit, which is a part of Coopers new commercial division. Also included in this sale are certain assets of the Cedco equipment division, which will benefit Oliver’s Salisbury equipment operation. The final price is subject to certain valuations at closing but will not exceed $8.5 million.
Continue ReadingTauzin Data Forwarded To Ford
Republican Senator Tauzins data on 11 replacement tyre models has been forwarded to Ford. Tauzin, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has asked Ford for a comprehensive explanation of how it decided which brands of tyres to use as replacements. He has also asked Ford to run rig tests on all replacement tyre brands before installing them. This follows Committee investigators claims that 11 of the replacement tyre models had higher damage and injury rates than the Firestone Wilderness ATs being replaced.
Continue ReadingApproval For Continental By Jaguar
Continental Tyres has gained approval for fitment of its ContiSportContact and CH95 tyres for the new Jaguar X-Type. The sizes are 225/45 R17 V (ContiSportContact) and 205/55 R16 (CH95).
Continue ReadingTruck Tyre Agreement Between Conti And Kings Road Tyres
Following the recent shake-up of its UK truck tyre operations, Continental has announced a strategic agreement with wholesaler Kings Road Tyres, whereby KRT will become the sole distributor of Uniroyal truck tyres in the UK and Ireland, effective September 1st. The new business will be separate from KRTs wholesale operation and will be called Uniroyal Truck Tyres. Uniroyal car and van tyres are unaffected by the agreement and will still be managed by Continental.
Continue ReadingRestructuring For Smartire Strategic Alliance
Smart tyre technology market leader Smartire has announced a restructuring of its strategic alliance with TRW. Elements of agreements entered into during the research and development process in 1998 will be cancelled. Smartire is to pay TRW $3.3 million (3.7 million Euro) in cash and debt in regard to the transaction. TRW will continue to hold a considerable equity in Smartire, but the restructuring of the alliance will allow both companies to fully pursue a wide range of global market opportunities.
Continue ReadingContinuing Satisfaction From Michelin In J. D. Power Study
In the US, The J.D. Power & Associates 2001 Replacement Tire and Retailer Customer Satisfaction Study has rated Michelin as the brand offering most customer satisfaction among both passenger vehicles and light truck owners. This is the tenth year of the study and Michelin has taken top spot for the last seven years (light trucks) and the past three years for passenger vehicles. Light trucks include pick-ups, SUVs and full-size vans, passenger vehicles, cars and compact vans. Customers mentioned reliability, durability , performance and handling above price.
Continue ReadingContinental Candidate For Takeover?
HelabaTrust (the investment and research subsidiary of Landesbank Thueringen-Hessen) believes that Continental could be a candidate for a takeover. Reasons given are the enormous debts of 3.6 bn Euro and the weak level of the shares.
Continue ReadingLighter Steel And Alloy Wheels
Hayes Lemmerz is the worlds leading global manufacturer of automotive and commercial highway wheels and one of only a few companies producing wheels from both steel and aluminium. Regarding steel wheels, the company, whose headquarters are in the USA, is the worldwide market leader. Regarding aluminium wheels, Hayes Lemmerz is among the leading manufacturers in Europe. Recent years have seen a move from steel to aluminium wheels in original equipment. Looking purely at price, the steel wheel is absolutely unrivalled, but obviously the two criteria of weight and styling have proved more important to the car manufacturers. Realising that it was not enough that the steel wheel is cheaper, the manufacturers decided to become competitive also in the matter of weight. With its newest development of a steel structure wheel, Hayes Lemmerz has attained this target; this kind of wheel is now fitted in a 16 inch size on the newest Ford Mondeo model. But it must be said that is was not only an achievement of the wheel company but also for the producers of new kinds of steel which gives the wheel more rigidity and stability than before and offers the opportunity to make the wheels thinner and therefore lighter. Regarding styling, Hayes Lemmerz tries to mimic the smart aluminium wheels with new finishes that look like aluminium or chrome or are even coloured. Another opportunity is to create a very well-fitting wheel cap. Being also one of the most sophisticated aluminium wheel manufacturers, Hayes Lemmerz tried to develop lighter alloy wheels too. One competitor (Stahlschmidt & Maiworm) has already made much progress with hollow spokes and this kind of wheel is fitted on the top models of Porsche, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz. The idea of Hayes Lemmerz engineers was not to use the spokes but the rim bead section for cavities: they call the invention Hollow-Hump Technology.
Continue ReadingNew Distribution Warehouse For Michelin
Michelin is to invest 12m Euro in a new tyre warehouse at its Alava plant in Spain. The 30,000 square metre warehouse will employ 40 staff and will be for the exclusive distribution of the production from the Alava factory. The warehouse should be operational in 2002.
Continue ReadingMarangoni begins pre-cure rubber production in Brazil
Marangoni S.p.A. has started production of precured tread rubber at Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in response to Brazils growing demand for retreads. The purpose designed, 14,000-sq.-ft. plant cost Marangoni around 13 million Euro to build and equip. Initial employment will be 60, but this should rise to 140 over time, Marangoni said. The company expects the new venture to generate sales of 6.1million Euro in the first full year of operation, rising up to 25.6 million Euro within four years.
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