Bridgestone Announces US Price Hike
Bridgestone is to join Goodyear, Continental, Michelin, Cooper, Pirelli, Yokohama and others in raising tyre prices in the USA to compensate for raw material price increases. Effective June 1st, Bridgestone tyre prices will rise 4%. Historically, Bridgestone has taken advantage of other manufacturers price increases in order to gain market share, so this latest announcement seems to indicate that this time the price rises will stick.
Continue ReadingSave Gas With Goodyear
Goodyears Chief Engineer of Product Design has warned of the economic cost of tyre under-inflation as gasoline prices reach a new high in the USA. Petrol consumption and tread life are adversely affected. A Goodyear survey showed up to 28p.c. of vehicles had seriously under-inflated tyres.
Continue ReadingEuropean Down-trend Halted: Michelin With New Product Lines And New Strategies
Since the early 90s, French tyre maker Michelin has continuously lost market share year on year in the passenger car and light truck sectors. The company used to have a 25% market share Europe-wide and this had fallen to 17% last year. According to Michelin, prices were too high vis-a-vis those of major competitors and were no longer competitive, as the end user is prepared to pay only around 10-15% more for a premium product. The necessary price cuts can only be achieved if the company is able to increase productivity. Market experts are convinced that the productivity of Bridgestone/Firestone exceeds that of Michelin by 40%. Michelin is currently undergoing a restructuring programme which will lead to the job losses – or at least early retirement – of around 10% of the European workforce over the next three or four years. Jean Michel Coulon (52), head of the passenger and light truck tyre division in Europe expressed confidence in talks with this magazine that the erosion of market share has now been halted once and for all. Coulon made it clear that he is not aiming to gain market share – his goal is to stop the erosion of market share, to implement an effective multi-brand strategy, to improve the product mix and, finally, to avoid a price war.
Continue ReadingHigh Performance Growth Predicted By Michelin
Michelin recently described the V/Z sector as the most dynamic sector in todays market, increasing by the rate of 15% per year in Europe and growing five times faster than the overall market. By 2003, Michelin estimates that 35.7 million tyres will be sold in this sector, accounting for almost one quarter of the replacement tyre market.
Continue ReadingAvon Azaro Does Well In Tests
Avon Tyres new Azaro II motorcycle tyre performed well in a series of tests conducted by Motor Cycle News, the UKs leading bike newspaper. Seven brands were tested on six different motorcycles and the Azaro was placed first or second in these.
Continue ReadingPrice Increase For Rubber Blacks From Degussa-Hüls In Europe
Degussa-Hüls AG, the worlds second largest carbon black manufacturer, with production sites in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, has agian announced a price increase of 50 Euro per metric ton for its range of rubber blacks, effective from September 1st, 2000, in Europe. A continuing combination of the weakness of the Euro and unprecedented high prices for crude oil and crude oil products is leading to substantially higher carbon black production costs.
Continue ReadingPirelli With Ford In World Rally Championships
Pirelli will supply the Ford Focus WRC from the beginning of 2001 in the World Rally Championships. Drivers will be Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz. Pirelli also equips Subaru with rally tyres as part of a long-term contract and cooperates with Seat.
Continue ReadingNew Plan Aims To Make National Tyre Service Profitable Within Five Years
When Continental bought the UK retail chain National Tyre Service a decade ago, the company regarded its equity as a way of gaining a foothold in the market and increasing its market share. To put it simply, National was merely a vehicle for moving tyres. In the last few years, the German parent has realised the strategic importance and benefits of having its own chain and has re-thought its attitude. National turns over £150 m annually and it is no secret that the company has been making a loss over recent years but this, says Chief Executive Adrian Dunleavy, is due to change within the next five years, with the aim being profit and a sustainable market share. In an exclusive interview with TYRES & ACCESSORIES, Dunleavy discusses the details of the plan and the investment promised by Continental. He also gives frank answers to the critics of National’s two tyres for the price of one offer, who regard this as being responsible for today’s price cutting. And how does he respond to the widespread condemnation of the National Motor Dealer offer, which was designed to encourage motor dealers into the tyre business? The five-year plan requires time and investment and Continental have granted both. Dunleavy accepts that the pressure is on him to deliver results within the designated time frame.
Continue ReadingShares In Bridgestone Rise Despite Saudi Ban
In Tokyo, shares in Bridgestone have risen 3.09 per cent to 1,300 Yen, having recovered from an eight year low earlier this month of 1,067 Yen. This comes despite the news that Saudi Arabia has banned Firestone tyres; an action described by Bridgestone as uncalled for and extreme.
Continue Reading2002 Explorer “Will Not Have Firestone Tyres As Standard”
A report on BlueOvalNews, the alternative website for Ford users, says that Ford has reversed its earlier decision to make Firestone tyres standard on the new 2002 Ford Explorer and Goodyear and Michelin will be fitted as OE.
Continue ReadingTop Spot Again For Michelin In US Survey
In the US, J.D. Power and Associates conducted an OE tyre satisfaction survey among 31,000 buyers of new vehicles. Michelin came top in the car and minivan category for the third year running and won the light truck category (including pickups and SUVs) for the second consecutive time. Runners-up in the car segment were (in order) Continental, BFGoodrich and Dunlop. In the light truck category, Michelin was followed by Dunlop, BFGoodrich and Firestone. The survey took place before the Firestone tyre recall.
Continue ReadingJoan Claybrook Attacks Goodyear
Whilst working at the National Highways Transportation Safety Administration in 1979 Joan Claybrook forced Firestone to recall the S 500 Tyre. Later, as president of Washington-based Public Citizen consumer protection group she was at the forefront of pressurising Bridgestone/Firestone into their second large scale recall. Now she is turning the guns on Goodyear and is joining the growing band of lobbyists for a Goodyear recall on Load Range E tyres. As reported previously in TYRES & ACCESSORIES, there have been 15 deaths related to tread separations on Load Range E tyres and a larger number of non-fatal accidents, with some 58 incidents being reported to the NHTSA. Goodyear emphatically deny that there is any tyre fault and cite the low number of accidents in relation to 27 million tyres sold since 1991. Two years ago the company recalled 600,000 tyres and has voluntarily recalled tyres on other occasions, on one instance the fault was as a result of faulty tyre fitting procedure at Chrysler, but Goodyear handled the recall. So why not this time? Now several consumer action groups, including Public Citizen, Strategic Safety and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety are calling for a recall based on the existing accident statistics to prevent further incidents. They suggest that the reason for Goodyear not recalling the tyres is the tremendous cost involved in recalling an estimated 13 million tyres still in use. The cost would run to several hundred million dollars, much more than the costs Firestone have recently incurred. Again, Goodyear deny that this is the case, explaining that in the previous recalls there were clear faults with the tyres, this they say is different, the separations are, they claim, subject to many different causes and are not the responsibility of Goodyear.
Continue ReadingConcentration In Japan: SRI Raises Stake In Ohtsu To 51 Per Cent
Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has raised its 41% stake in Ohtsu to 51% and will pay about 30 million Euro. This transaction makes SRI the second biggest tyre manufacturer in Japan after Bridgestone.
Continue ReadingChina Tire Holdings Seeks $3.5 bn Damages From Goodyear
China Tire Holdings, listed on the NY Stock Exchange since 1993, has brought a law suit against Goodyear in Ohio. Amongst other things the Chinese company accuses Goodyear of violating the RICO statutes and is seeking US$ 3.5 bn in actual and punitive damages from the American rubber giant.
Continue ReadingPirelli Wants to Grow Faster than the Market
Dr. Paolo Masera, the current boss of Pirelli Reifenwerke, is convinced that Pirelli has every reason to look to the future as a profitable, independent tyre manufacturer. The revolutionary production method MIRS will not only make it possible for the Italian manufacturer to gain cost leadership, he believes, but the automated production process also promises a great improvement even on today’s quality. He stresses Pirelli’s role as the well-accepted technology partner of the motor manufacturing industry in Europe, supplier to Porsche, BMW, Rover, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Volkswagen, Audi, Opel and others. Pirelli will not offer a multi-brand strategy because users are less interested in so-called cheap brands; they would rather buy first-class brands at a more favourable price. That does not exclude arrangements with larger customers for the supply of certain group house brands, e.g. Courier, if there is a call for it. The German organisation is facing a fundamental change. In future the emphasis will be more on key accounters, and so-called channel marketing is to be strengthened.
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