Further Price Increases Necessary Soon
Recently announced price increases effective from the 1st November have not been sufficient to compensate for constantly increasing costs. The Continental Group therefore sees the necessity to increase prices again. The company expect to announce rises of around four to five percent early in the new year, Jescow von Puttkamer told NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Continue ReadingPirelli Sells “Terrestrial Optical Networking Systems”
Cisco has agreed to buy Pirellis Terrestrial Optical Networking Systems for US$ 2.15 bn and also plans to invest US$ 100 million to take a 10% stake in Pirellis Submarine Optical Transmissions. The Photronic Business accounts for a turnover of 395 million Euros.
Continue ReadingPirelli in Motorcycle Sports
Pirelli is to be the exclusive tyre supplier to the European Superstock Championship 2000.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Sued By Customer
In the USA, Goodyear is defending a product liability lawsuit brought against the company by former customer Heatway Systems. Heatway alleges that Goodyear supplied it with millions of dollars worth of defective hoses, used in heating systems for buildings, which caused up to $2 bn of damage. Heatway has already paid $6.5 m to settle 119 claims.
Continue ReadingMichelin Open For Alliances
Edouard Michelin, CEO of the French tyre giant, can see opportunities for technical alliances with competitors, a French magazine reports. As an example, he cites the new tyre and wheel system Pax, which will be presented jointly by Michelin and Pirelli in Geneva.
Continue ReadingPirelli Buy Energy Cable Activities From BICC General
With the acquisition of the energy cable activities from BICC General for US$216 million Pirelli is strengthening its world-wide leadership in this particular business which will bring it up to US$ 3.4 billion in turnover. Their nearest competitors are Alcatel (sales - US$2 bn) and Sumitomo (sales - US$1.5 bn).
Continue ReadingCooper-Avon To Shed Jobs
Cooper-Avon has announced that it will be making 80 staff employees redundant in Europe. Locations affected are the Melksham (UK) HQ and offices in Switzerland, France and Germany. The cuts are blamed on the high level of the Pound and large numbers of imported tyres from the Far East and have been made, says Cooper-Avon, to reduce costs and increase job security for the remaining 900+ employees.
Continue ReadingRussian – Made Tyres For Conti?
An article in the newspaper Handelsblatt suggested that Continental is about to open a tyre factory in Moscow and that negotiations were close to final agreement. An investment in the region of 30 million Euros was reported. In September last year, Neue Reifenzeitung reported on negotiations between Continental and Moskauer Reifenwerke, which was very close to bankruptcy, although the financial situation may have improved as the main shareholder Yukos has sold its stake in the company. NEUE REIFENZEITUNG asked Continental for more details, but the company said it was not in a position to comment and could not confirm the figures quoted. Continental is only one of the tyre companies involved in negotiations in this area, with Michelin being another.
Continue ReadingStrength in Unity: The MFP 2000 Annual Meeting in Karlsruhe
The fifth annual meeting of the MFP partners, held by invitation of Michelin this year at Karlsruhe, had new performance standards for market progress, Markt-Förderungs-Programm (MFP), and current products as the main themes of its agenda. Approximately 500 guests had gathered under the slogan Gemeinsam am Markt erfolgreich (Successful in the Market Through Unity). Patrice Kéfalas, as spokesman for Michelin Germany’s sales management and the person responsible for the car and transporter tyre division, combined in his welcoming address the question: What added value can the MFP partner expect from the Michelin group? with a short résumé/look ahead, We have increased our car and truck tyre production capacity considerably and improved price competitiveness. Now we are vigorously investing in our high-performance tyres. We shall also rejuvenate the Kléber and Riken products and their brand images. And we are doing all this with the aim of being successful with our partners and more successful than the competition. The strength of the Michelin group with its more than ten per cent worldwide turnover growth last year also safeguards its partners’ future security, he said. Of increasing importance for the Clermont-Ferrand tyre manufacturer is the high-performance tyre market, not only because of the company’s commitment to Formula One. The market in fast tyres is booming, and Michelin is determined to emphasise its strong presence in this market with the new Pilot Primacy and Pilot Exalto. In order to be successful in the market through unity Michelin offers quite a number of solutions, which are described in the May issue of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Continue ReadingDedicated Dunlop Tyre Lines Available At Goodyear Retailers
In the USA, Goodyear has announced that three new dedicated Dunlop tyre lines will be available from Goodyear and Gemini outlets. These are the Dunlop Citation, the Citation HP (both for passenger cars) and Dunlop Pioneer for 4x4 vehicles.
Continue ReadingFurther Investment In The Aiken Factory From Bridgestone/Firestone
Bridgestone/Firestone is to invest another US$ 24 million to expand the mixing capacity of its Aiken factory. This plant was built with an investment of US$ 435 million and was opened in November 1999. The factory produces nearly 20,000 SUV tyres daily and employs around 800 people, or team members.
Continue ReadingGood Start For Continental In The First Quarter
Continental increased its turnover in the first quarter of this year by around 10.7 p.c. compared with the first three months of the previous year to 2.426 billion Euro. The EBIT comes to 135 million Euro, 65 million Euro coming from the tyre business. ContiTech contributed 46 million Euro and the balance comes from the Teves business. Despite the increased turnover in the tyre business from 1.1 billion Euro up to 1.228 billion Euro, tyres contributed 14 million Euro less to the EBIT, which is a consequence of the ongoing decline in prices.
Continue ReadingMitas Buys Trelleborg Motorcycle Tyre Business
Czech tyre manufacturer Mitas is to purchase the motorcycle tyre manufacturing business from Trelleborg. The purchase (the price of which was not revealed) includes the license of the trade mark Trelleborg and increases the Mitas motorcycle tyre portfolio by 15 designs in 57 sizes.
Continue ReadingBlimp Celebrates Its 75th Birthday
Even more so than the original symbol of tyre maker Goodyear – the Wingfoot – the Goodyear Blimp has become a corporate icon. In June 1925 the Pilgrim, first of what was to be hundreds of Blimps, was launched at Wingfoot Lake airship facility near Akron, still headquarters of the worlds # 1 in tyres.
Continue ReadingContinental To Buy Back Own Shares
Continental AG is to buy back up to 10% of its own shares, worth around 260 million Euros at the moment. This could be seen as a precautionary defensive measure in light of the rumours regarding a planned takeover attempt by a German conglomerate. Weeks ago, Klaus Friedland, Chief Financial Officer of the Group, said that it was likely that the Group would buy back shares in order to give these to interested institutional investors at a later date.
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