Japanese Car Production Falls
For the first time in 21 years, car production of the eleven Japanese manufacturers 1999/2000 (March 31) fell below ten million due to the weakness of exports.
Continue ReadingISO 14001 Accreditation For Hayes Lemmerz
The worlds leading wheel producer Hayes Lemmerz has been awarded environmental certification ISO 14001 for its Czech facility Autokola (Ostrava).
Continue ReadingCar Tyre Production To Cease At Fort Dunlop
Earlier in the year we reported that truck tyre production was to stop at the Fort Dunlop factory in Birmingham, UK. There was another devastating blow for the ageing plant when it was announced that car and van tyre production will be phased out by the end of the year. This will lead to 600 job losses, on top of the 650 redundancies earlier in the year. When all the losses have been implemented, the workforce at Fort Dunlop will have fallen from 1,700 to 500 inside twelve months. The latest move is as a result of Goodyear’s review of operations, following the joint venture with Sumitomo and has been blamed on over-production, the strength of Sterling and a reduction in domestic car production. Dunlop brand car and van tyres will continue to be manufactured at the company’s more modern factory in Washington in the North East of England as well as other European factories in the Goodyear group. Production at Washington will increase from six days a week to seven. Around 12,600 car tyres are manufactured daily at the plant. With truck, car and van tyre production gone from the Fort, that only leaves motorsports tyres, of which a mere 250,000 are made a year. The article in TYRES & ACCESSORIES 6/2000 outlines local reaction to the news and ends with the possibility of further bad news, as Goodyear is reported as saying that substantial further restructuring is still needed.
Continue ReadingProfit Warning from Goodyear
After Goodyear gave a profit warning for the second quarter its share prices fell yesterday by 10% to US$22.5; in June 1999 the price was US$58.7. The increase in raw material costs (rubber, oil, carbon black), the failure of securing better prices and extremely competitive prices in the UK and Germany, as well as the weak Euro against the dollar are the main reasons. US economy magazines yesterday wrote about the necessity for Goodyear to make immediate drastic moves over there (meaning Europe).
Continue ReadingService Centre For Michelin’s Agricultural Tyres
In Karlsruhe Michelin has introduced an Agricultural Service Centre for the three agricultural tyre brands Michelin, Kleber and Taurus. All questions from German customers regarding use and sale of tyres as well as mounted wheel and tyre systems will be answered.
Continue ReadingStrong Car Sales In USA
Sales up till July seem to be in line with last years strong performance. Ford is one of the winners, GM is stagnating and Chrysler heavily losing market share. BMW, Porsche and some of the Japanese and Korean car manufacturers are performing particularly well.
Continue ReadingNew Trailer Tyre Offered By Continental
Continental has introduced the trailer tyre size HTR 385/55 R 22.5 for heavy trucks in regional traffic. The HSR tyre in the same size for steer axles will be available from this autumn.
Continue ReadingNet Earnings From Bridgestone Decline Sharply
Bridgestone has announced a sharp decline in net earnings for the first half of this year, which were US$ 178 m. The reason for the decline is the voluntary tyre recall in North America. Sales were down 4.8%, reaching US$ 9.35 for the first half year. The decline in the tyre sector was 5.9% and that in the non-tyre sector was only 1%. Operating profit fell by 7.6% to US$ 890 m. Interestingly, operating profit in the most profitable country, Japan, climbed once more, but operating profits in the Americas and Europe were well down.
Continue ReadingFirst Stop in Germany
First Stop is a partnership program of Bridgestone/Firestone Europe in cooperation with independent tyre dealers. The chain started five years ago in Scandinavia and Great Britain and now numbers about 1.100 Outlets in sixteen European countries. All the First Stop dealers have the same corporate identity with a black, grey and red livery. In Germany, the First Stop concept started one and a half years ago with perhaps 30 Outlets, based on the experiences gained in the other European countries and successful marketing measures at Germanys Bridgestone/Firestone own chain A3. Nowadays First Stop has 75 service stations all over Germany and plans for the end of 2000 to reach hundred - representing between 80 and 90 dealers. Marketing and advertisement support is part of the First Stop concept as well as training in technical, business administration and sales aspects. The efforts of the Bad Homburg headquarters also include car servicing (shock absorbers, brakes, exhausts and oil) which is not very strong at many German tyre stations. Also the cooperation guarantees benefits in the purchase of workshop equipment and other parts such as wheels. The dealers can also participate in a three phase tyre offer for cars (for trucks Bridgestone/Firestone developed the Truck Point system): the premium brand Bridgestone, the well known brand Firestone in medium segments, and FST 2000 tyres. FST 2000 is a car summer tyre in nearly 30 sizes from 135/80 R13T up to 195/50 R15V, produced only in Europe and exclusively distributed through its First Stop partners who need an offer for the end user who is more price-conscious. And of course the worlds leading rubber company guarantees best quality. Now Bridgestone/Firestone has added First Stop Winter to complete the program for the dealers. Details can be found in issue 10/2000 of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Continue ReadingRenault Recalls Kangoo Model
French car manufacturer Renault has recalled 25,000 of its Kangoo cars, equipped with Kléber tyres, due to quality problems with the tyres. It is expected that Kléber will release further details shortly.
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 ReadingGreater Share Of Australian Cable Co. For Pirelli
Pirelli Group, already 51% shareholders in Pirelli Cables Australia Ltd is making a take-over bid, offering 52.7 European cents per share. Pirelli claims that the offer represents a 66% share premium to the average share price in the past month, 46% against the last three months. Liquidity, according to Pirelli is low, with only two shareholders owning 70% of the stock.
Continue ReadingJoint Venture Between Autobytel And Continental
Tyre manufacturer Continental intends to engage itself more in the e-business arena – especially on the B2C (Business to Consumer) level. The company has therefore decided to begin cooperation concerning tyre distribution with autobytel.com, an independent US-American internet-platform which offers a complete car service to its customers covering the complete life cycle of the car. Working together with tyre retailers, a complete service package will be offered to customers. All retailers interested in this project will be given the opportunity to participate, even if they do not possess the necessary infrastructure at the moment. The two companies explained during a press conference in Frankfurt what they are going to do. Continental is initially investing about 15 million Euro, most of it for the creation of a tyre portal. At present the whole project exists only on paper but Continental wants to arrange the basics of this project by the end of February 2001, and the operative start is planned for autumn 2001. During the press conference, Conti CEO Kessel underlined his interests in working closely together with the professional tyre trade.
Continue ReadingYokohama Restructures To Face The Future
A year ago, there were rumours that Yokohama was seeking an alliance with Michelin. TYRES & ACCESSORIES recently visited the company and, in addition to factory and R&D facility visits, interviewed the President of Yokohama Rubber Company, Mr. Yasuo Tominaga. Mr. Tominaga spoke of the companys wide-ranging restructuring plan and whether a company the size of Yokohama can survive alone in a global market dominated by the big three manufacturers.
Continue Reading“No U-Turn On Job Cuts”, says Edouard Michelin
Edouard Michelin has confirmed that Michelin will go ahead with plans to reduce its European workforce by 10%, referring to the initiative as not just a cost-cutting plan or headcount reduction. It is a productivity plan that has an upside of speeding up growth. In the same interview, Edouard Michelin said that tyre industry consolidation was not at an end. Michelin, he said, will eventually have to make some kind of link, alliance, or even acquisition in Asia. He also suggested that medium-sized tyre companies will either merge or join the club of the large companies.
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