US Officials To Review Tire Requirements In Wake Of Firestone Recall
Following the recall of certain Firestone tyres, federal officials in the USA are reported to be working on tougher standards for tyres for SUVs and light trucks. Stephen Kratzke, of the safety agency, is studying a requirement for off-road tyres to meet the same test criteria as car tyres, also that they should be tested to at least 100 mph. Current tests require car tyres to run at 75, 80 and 85 mph, each for half an hour. The test for off-road tyres is 5 mph slower, although the Firestone tyres were tested to the car standards.
Continue ReadingExplorer Sales Unaffected For Now In The US
September sales figures for the Ford Explorer – the vehicle at the centre of the Firestone tyre recall – were higher than for the same month last year at 37,510 (37,119). Ford expects sales to drop over the next few months, due in part to the company ceasing vehicle manufacture temporarily in order to make more tyres available to the aftermarket.
Continue ReadingShares In Ford Fall
Bridgestone is not the only company whose share price has suffered because of the tyre recall, as Fords stock has slipped from $29 at the beginning of August to just over $25 this week. Although this is nothing like the scale of the Bridgestone fall, it comes at an embarrassing time, as Ford was widely expected to announce a plan to buy back more than $4 bn worth of its own stock. Whereas the falling share price makes such a move even more desirable, many experts believe that to do it now would be a public relations disaster.
Continue ReadingConsolidation of Bridgestone/Firestone US Operations
John Lampe, new CEO at Bridgestone/Firestone USA, has already taken steps to change the way the business operates. Since early 1990 the firm had operated on a decentralised basis with some 21 different operations, these will now be consolidated into four divisions, each reporting directly to John Lampe: U.S. commercial tires, U.S. consumer tires, international tire operations, and manufacturing and technology. These changes are critical moves in our efforts to begin to restore consumer confidence and revitalise the Firestone brand, according to John Lampe. Lampe alluded to more changes in the coming weeks, but provided no details.
Continue ReadingKenyan Partnership For Goodyear
In Kenya, Goodyear has formed a partnership with leading retreader Treadsetters. The new company will be called Goodyear Kenya and will begin operations from its Nairobi HQ in January, dealing in new Goodyear tyres. According to Goodyear Logistics Director Gordon Wilmot, the partnership has been formed to exploit the large market potential.
Continue ReadingProduction Capacity To Be Reduced At Firestone USA
Bridgestone/Firestone will cut production capacity in two of its US plants as a result of the tyre recall and decline in demand for Firestone tyres. Approximately another 1,100 employees will lose their jobs.
Continue ReadingBMW Gives Goodyear The OK For Two EMT Tyres
BMW has given Goodyear the go-ahead for fitting EMT tyres to the Protection Models BMW 740iL and 750iL. Delivery commences this month.
Continue ReadingPirelli: Investments In Telecommunications And Internet
According to Italian financial analysts Pirelli will use the US$ 2.15 bn received from the purchase by Cisco of their Terrestrial Optical Networking Systems for investments in telecommunications and the Internet.
Continue ReadingNew Managing Director at Vergölst
Frank Jung (40) will take over as Managing Director at the Conti subsidiary Vergölst, following the departure of Andreas Scheiba. Jung was previously responsible in-house for the German tyre replacement business at Continental.
Continue ReadingRally Triumph For Pirelli
With the teams Burns/Reid and Kankkunen/Repo on Subaru Impreza as well as Auriol/Giraudet on Seat Córdoba Pirelli supplied those with its PZero tyres who won the first three prizes of the Safari-Rallye.
Continue ReadingR.R.W. Reifenrecycling GmbH In Receivership
The tyre recycling company, R.R.W. Reifenrecycling, which is located in Wismar, the eastern part of Germany, is in receivers hands.
Continue ReadingMichelin Germany Increased Investments By 50 %
In 1999, Michelin increased its investments to 128 million DM (1998: 87 million DM). Sales grew to 3.215 bn DM (3.115 bn in 1998), and employment numbers (6,747) were stable. Earnings before income and taxes fell to 69 million DM (87 million DM).
Continue ReadingHans J. Rupp At Hofmann
Hans J. Rupp has been appointed Director of Sales worldwide at Hofmann Werkstatt-Technik (Pfungstadt/Germany).
Continue ReadingMichelin Mourns For Pascal Hoffmann
Aged only 40, Pascal Hoffmann, responsible for truck tyre aftermarket business in Germany, has died unexpectedly. From 1995 until 1997 Hoffmann headed Michelin Austria, he joined the French tyre maker in 1986.
Continue ReadingFirst Quarter Results Of Michelin Better Than Expected
Michelins Q1 sales rose by 14.8% to 3.59 bn Euro; 464 m Euro more than for the same period last year. The EBIT level is, as expected, in the region of 10% of turnover.
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