Racism At Goodyear Warehouse?
At a Goodyear warehouse in North Brunswick (N. J.) members of the all-white management discriminated against black employees, The Akron Beacon Journal reports, quoting court documents and statements of two Goodyear managers. The eleven workers have been in court for two years in order to get more than 100 m US-$ compensation for discrimination. Goodyear has denied the claim.
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 ReadingNew Exhibitor Record For Automechanika
Automechanika – the International Trade Fair for Car Workshop and Service Station Equipment, Automobile Spare Parts Accessories – has set a new exhibitor record: 3,909 exhibitors occupied all of the approx. 300,000 square metres of indoor and outdoor exhibition space to present their latest products and technical innovations. The almost three percent increase in exhibitor numbers was the result of growth in the number of German exhibitors. 67 percent of all exhibitors came from outside Germany. The top five exhibitor nations were Germany and Italy, followed by Taiwan, the USA and Great Britain. The exhibition ran from 6 to 10 September 2000 and Messe Frankfurt welcomed around 150,000 trade visitors from all over the world during the five days of the fair, where exhibitors took many orders and transacted a lot of business. In contrast to this positive attitude at the trade fair, the background situation of the market does not look that good: The car boom of previous years came to a sudden end this year. The EU-Commission in Brussels is thinking about ending the exclusive distributor networks of car retailers. Parallel to this the car manufacturers - especially Ford and Mercedes-Benz – are restructuring their distributor networks, which means that they are reducing the number of their retailers. The pressure on the suppliers exerted by the car producers continues to increase and as a result they are showing a stronger interest in the aftermarket business. Furthermore Goodyear/Dunlops daughter company Pneumant was the fist tyre producer for several years to have a booth at the Automechanika. However, it is doubtful that this is the first example of a growing trend, as the Reifen exhibition, central event of the European tyre world, was held just a few months ago and it is to be considered that - in contrast to the alloy wheel business - the target audience of the tyre manufacturers is most probably not those who attend the Automechanika. In NEUE REIFENZEITUNG 10/2000 we review the show.
Continue ReadingPrices For Precipitated Silicas And Silicates Increase
Degussa-Hüls AG of Frankfurt/Main will again increase prices for precipitated Silicas and Silicates from their European operations effective from November 1, 2000 by 8 %. These products are used as an active filler or carrier in a variety of different applications, e.g. tyres. Degussa-Hüls has an annual capacity of more than 240.000 tons at seven production sites.
Continue ReadingNew Zealand Speed Limits For Space Savers
New Zealands land Transport Safety Authority is proposing that space saver tyres be limited to maximum speeds of 80kph. Other recommendations are that they only be used in emergencies, only one is fitted to a vehicle at a time, they are used in accordance with manufacturers instructions and to the correct tyre pressure. Recently, a parliamentary committee stated that it was concerned about the use of spacesaver tyres, but they did not want to see them banned.
Continue ReadingVehicle Recall Ordered For Ford In California
A Californian judge has ordered Ford to recall up to two million vehicles in the state. The vehicles were fitted with an allegedly faulty ignition module which, it is said, can lead to vehicles stalling. Ford says it will appeal. A law firm has filed an action against Ford to recall nationwide all of the vehicles fitted with the module and to reimburse customers who have been injured or who have lost out economically. It is estimated that there are 23 million such vehicles in the USA.
Continue ReadingJoint Venture Between Continental and Nisshinbo
Continental Teves and the Japanese concern Nisshinbo Industries (Tokyo) have now signed the joint venture in the field of brake and chassis systems for the Japanese and Korean markets. Continental holds 51 per cent of the joint venture which will be enhanced to become a far-reaching system supplier. For the years 2004 and 2005 an annual turnover of 300 million Euros is anticipated.
Continue ReadingThe Heat Is On For Goodyear
There is a theory that all news stories are born equal. The level of their importance increases as the story reaches the top of the pile on the news editors desk. The Firestone recall moved latent news about possible problems with Goodyear tyres to the top of the pile. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have 58 complaints against Goodyear, 46 of which were filed after the announcement of the Firestone recall. Goodyear is facing a pincer movement, on the one hand being accused of being too slow in their introduction of changes made to the Load Range E tyre to improve safety, and on the other of carrying out a silent recall. Learn more about this in TYRES & ACCESSORIES’s December edition.
Continue ReadingShare Prices At A Low Point
With the exception of Peugeot, Porsche and Beru, other share prices from automobile and tyre companies have fallen to an all-year low. Companies in this category include DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, Kiekert, Delco Remy, Delphi, Phoenix and Johnson Controls, as well as Continental, Cooper, Yokohama, Toyo and Goodyear.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Acquires Second Tyre Plant In China
Bridgestone Corporation has acquired control of a Chinese manufacturer who produces radial passenger and commercial tyres from the Republic of Korea’s Kumho Industrial Co. The company has a current production capacity of about 3.5 million tyres a year.
Continue ReadingPeter Faber Retires
Peter Faber, who, for the last decade has been President of Michelin Japan, and before that, Sales & Marketing Director of Michelin Germany, has recently retired.
Continue ReadingKeeping The Technic Name Alive
Last year the Technic Group – the world’s largest car tyre retreader – went into Receivership and it looked as if its assets would be sold off. However, the Technic name lives on, as the company has been purchased by Phil Blood and Lucia Farmer. Phil is one of the two original founders of Technic and Lucia is the widow of the other founder, the late Tony Farmer. Phil Blood could not say how many retreads would be made by the new company (called Technic Tyre plc) but he believes that there is a market for a quality retread. One thing is for certain; production will be a long way short of the 40,000-50,000 tyres a week which Technic was turning out at its peak. Phil’s comment on future production is it will find its own level. He admits that sentiment played a large part in rescuing the company with both he and Tony wanting the name of Technic to continue in the area. Tony and I put ten years’ hard work into Technic and neither of us wanted to see it wasted Phil commented. Some of the old Technic team are back working for the company, including Martin Gledhill and Ian Smith. Phil Blood emphasises that he is not employed by the company, he is part owner of Anguilla plc, the company which purchased Technic’s retreading assets. Bearing in mind Tony Farmer’s part in building up Technic, it was perhaps fitting that the first of the ‘new’ retreads were produced on March 1st – a day which would have been Tony Farmer’s 48th birthday. More about this in TYRES & ACCESSORIES’s March issue.
Continue ReadingTeam Kooperation Annual Meeting
Last weekend, Team Kooperation held its 4th annual meeting in Kassel. A special exhibition was held alongside the event in the Stadthalle Kassel which attracted such names as Bridgestone, Conti, Goodyear, Michelin and Pirelli, displaying their group brands. Some high-powered managers attended the event too; Bandags Martin Carver flew over specially from the USA. An important milestone was the planned merger between VRG and Team. The Kooperation has its own private brand for passenger and commercial tyres, made for it by the Conti group. Teams aim is to expand not only nationally, but on a Pan-European basis, attracting enough members to give the group ample coverage of the markets.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Wins New Confidence
First quarter results due to be released on April 19th should be better than expected. The capacity utilisation in all Goodyears factories was higher than last year and the fill rate has been further improved. If Goodyear can stick to the already announced price increases in the USA (3-5%), this will mean a faster than expected recovery.
Continue ReadingA New Force In UK Tyre Distribution
Two Continental-owned UK wholesalers, Viking Express and Birkenshaw International, have merged to form Viking International. The new company is one of the UK’s largest wholesalers and will operate from twelve warehouses across the country. In charge is Alan Revie, who was MD of Birkenshaw, and he will be assisted by Grahame Rooke, who held a similar role with Viking. There will be no redundancies among the 260-strong workforce. The decision to merge was taken by Continental in Germany and was implemented very quickly, although the two companies have experience of working together, for example as suppliers to the tyre expert programme. Alan Revie is keen to point out that the merger is not the result of panic, nor is it a defensive measure, as both companies were successful in their own right. Instead it is a conscious attempt to create a single force to give a better service to customers. The merger is effective immediately, although it will obviously take time to sort out new livery and new signage. More details are available in the April issue of TYRES & ACCESSORIES.
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