Man Accused Of Reselling Recalled Tyres
In Michigan, used tyre dealer Vernald Cole has been accused of selling recalled Firestone tyres on the wholesale market. The tyres have had the US DOT number removed from the sidewall - in accordance with recall instructions, but experts believe that this could have weakened the tyres. Dealers are then supposed to cut the tyres to make them unusable. Cole, whose slogan is Cole Tire, the poor mans friend, is believed to have sold the tyres in Miami and Mexico. If convicted, he faces fines up to $20,000 and ten years imprisonment.
Continue ReadingEuropean Bank Takes Stake In Russian Tyre Venture
The European Bank For Reconstruction And Development will provide 20 million dollars in funds to Michelin Russian Tyre Manufacturing, giving it a 49 per cent shareholding in the plant at Davydovo. Production at the new facility is expected to reach 2.1 million units by 2005.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Sole Tyre Company In FT Top 500
The Financial Times has published its list of the worlds 500 largest companies, ranked by market capitalisation. No tyre companies appeared on last years list and this years includes only one tyre company; Bridgestone. The Japanese manufacturer is listed at number 386, with a market cap of US$ 11.826 billion. It is also ranked the 38th largest company in Japan.
Continue ReadingPositive AGM For Cooper
At Cooper Tires AGM chairman, president and chief executive officer Thomas A. Dattilo emphasised the successful implementation of the Companys strategic plan and post-acquisition restructuring. Investors are recognising our accomplishments and our future opportunities and the improvement in our share price is beginning to reflect that, he said. Shareholders reelected Edsel D. Dunford and Dennis J. Gormley to new three-year terms as members of the Board and elected John F. Fiedler to his first three-year term as a director.Following the Annual Meeting, the board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 10.5 cents per share on common stock, payable June 28, 2002, to stockholders of record on June 3, 2002.
Continue ReadingDunlop Divests In South Africa
Dunlop Tyres International (formerly Dunlop Africa) has sold off its international products division to Specialised Belting. The price was not revealed. The international products division includes conveyor belt and hose manufacturing and the sale, according to Dunlop CEO Mike Hankinson, follows Dunlops decision to concentrate on the core business of tyre manufacturing
Continue ReadingShredding Mystery Causes Fall In Cooper Shares
Shares in Cooper Tire & Rubber fell dramatically (by as much as 25 per cent at one stage, although they later recovered to 11 per cent down) after reports that someone in the company had shredded documents relating to a personal injury court case against the company. Cooper denies that executives ordered the documents destroyed and blamed two, low-level, non-management rogue employees for the destruction of the documents. The case in question results from a fatal accident in 1998. Cooper denies that the tyre in question suffered from a manufacturing defect.
Continue ReadingAuto Industry To Recover After Next Year – Report
Auto industry consultants Autopolis have released their latest report on the global automobile industry. It predicts a decline this year, with vehicle sales falling in the three largest markets (North America, Europe and Japan). A global 5 per cent decline (2.6 million vehicles) is predicted this year and a further 2.5 per cent decline the year after. However, Autopolis predicts that the global car and truck market will return to year 2000 record levels (54.9 million vehicles) by 2005 and, by 2010, demand will exceed 61 million vehicles.
Continue ReadingSavvy Goodyear Buy More Sava
Goodyear has strengthened its hold on Sava by increasing its stake in the Slovenian tyre manufacturer to 80 per cent, with a right to purchase the remaining 20 per cent between 2004 and 2005. Goodyear has invested over 90 million dollars in modernising Sava Tires. Sava employs some 1,400 staff, manufactured over six million tyres in 2001 and posted sales in excess of 230 million dollars.
Continue ReadingGood Year For GreenMan
US recycling giant, GreenMan Technologies has reported its sixth profitable quarter in a row. Net Sales for the second quarter ended 31 March 2002 totalled 5.561 million dollars, an increase of 21 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2001. The company processed the equivalent of 5.6 million passenger car tyres in the second quarter of 2002, an increase from 4.8 million in the same quarter of the previous year. Operating profits for the six months to the end of March 2002 have increased by over 100 per cent to 932,000 dollars.
Continue ReadingApollo To Build New Radial Plant
Indias second-largest tyre manufacturer, Apollo Tyres, is to invest 1.1 billion Rupees (24.7 m Euro) in a plant to make radial truck and bus tyres. The plant will be sited at Baroda, in Gujarat, next to an existing Apollo factory and will use technology from Continental, with whom Apollo has an existing collaboration. Apollo claims a 25 per cent share of the truck and bus tyre market but poor infrastructure and a large number of two-axle vehicles mean that radialisation in this sector is a very low 2 per cent.
Continue ReadingCourt Overturns Class Action Ruling Against Ford And Firestone
An appeals court in the USA has overturned the decision of a lower court granting class-action status to non-injury lawsuits against Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone over faulty tyres. The court decided that a class action (with all cases decided on the result of a single trial) would be unmanageable because of the large number of claims and the wide geographic spread. Claims affected by the ruling are for financial compensation only and not those alleging personal injury or death. Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone welcomed the decision.
Continue ReadingFirst Quarter Figures From Continental
Continentals profits after tax rose almost 62 per cent in the first quarter of the year to 68 million Euro (2001; 42 million). Corporation sales increased by 6.1 per cent to 2.734 billion Euro (previous year 2.578 bn). Ignoring changes from consolidation (mainly the inclusion of Conti Temic), sales fell slightly by 1.7 per cent. In the same period, EBITA (EBIT before goodwill amortization) rose 16.5 per cent to 148 million Euro (2001; 127 million). Cash flow was positive and the numbers of workers increased by 291 to 65,584.
Continue ReadingIncreased Investment For Yokohama
Yokohama has increased its share of the joint venture company Hangzhou Yokohama Tire Co Ltd. From 45 to 80 per cent. The other two shareholders, YHI Holdings Pte. Ltd and Hangzhou Rubber (Group) Co. each have 10 per cent of the holdings. At the AGM in March seven out of nine directors were already appointed from Yokohama. Production of Yokohama radial car tyres in China will begin in May 2003 with the construction of a tyre plant with a capacity of 750,000 units per annum. This will be increased in time to 1.5 million units.
Continue ReadingPrecure Treads From Cooper-Avon
Cooper-Avon has launched a range of precure treads as an addition to its remould materials range. The treads were designed in collaboration with Oliver Rubber, which is part of the Commercial Division of Cooper Tire & Rubber, and they will be manufactured by Rekor Rubber, of Turkey. Initially, eleven profiles will be launched, in a total of 59 pattern sizes.
Continue ReadingChina To Introduce Certification System
Tyres are among 132 different products which will have to carry the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) mark from next month if they are to be sold in the Peoples Republic of China. This applies to domestically-produced and imported products. The CCC mark is a product safety and quality certification system and the mark can be acquired from the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the PRC.
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