OE Success For Hankook
Korean tyre manufacturer Hankook has received an order from Volvo to supply the spare tyre (size T 125/80 R17) for the models V70, S60 and S80, from 1st July this year. It is said that Michelin, who produced these tyres up till now, has delivery problems due to a reduction of production in Great Britain. The order from Volvo is worth around 5 million Euros and for Hankook, it is another foot in the Ford door after the company won its first OE order from Ford last year.
Continue ReadingAcquisition In The Automotive Field Planned By ThyssenKrupp
Last year there were rumours concerning a possible hostile takeover bid for Continental by ThyssenKrupp. However, ThyssenKrupp was not able to bring its steel subsidiary company to the stock exchange as planned and it seemed that the acquisition pressure had been halted. On January 15th, the ThyssenKrupp management mentioned during a press conference that they are planning a bigger acquisition in the automotive field. No further details were made available.
Continue ReadingLegal Action Threatened In Poland Against Michelin
Press reports say that financial investors in Stomil Olsztyn, the Polish tyre maker, are threatening to take Michelin to court over alleged abuse of the rights of minority shareholders. There is a shareholders meeting, at which the disaffected investors are set to demand the appointment of an independent auditor to look into the financial links between Stomil and Michelin. Failing this, legal action will be taken, says the investors group.
Continue Reading“Cobra” Set For European Launch
Cooper-Avon Tyres is to manufacture the Cooper Cobra VHP at its factory in Melksham. The tyre has been specially designed for European motoring and comes in H and V speed ratings, in 17 sizes and aspect ratios from 45 to 70 series. The Cobra VHP is the third Cooper brand tyre to be made at Melksham, joining the Sportmaster GLE and Discoverer Sport HP.
Continue ReadingShorter Working Week Accepted By Michelin Workers
It is reported that workers at Michelin in France have accepted the managements proposal to reduce the working week from 39 hours to 35. This move will make Michelin eligible for state aid, believed to be worth around 30 million Euro. The majority of white collar workers voted in favour, but there was a slim majority against the proposal among blue-collar workers. Overall, 60 per cent of workers voted to accept.
Continue ReadingUK Retreaders Form Marketing And Communications Group
Members of the Retread Manufacturers Association have formed a group called the Marketing & Communications Committee, intended to promote the environmental benefits of retreading. UK car retread production has fallen from 7.2 million tyres in 1995 to an estimated 1.5 million this year. Truck tyre retreads have remained steady, at around the one million level over this period.
Continue ReadingJapanese Truck Tyre Recall For Michelin
In a precautionary move, Michelin is recalling 55,000 truck tyres manufactured in Italy and sold in Japan between October 1999 and March this year. There have been no accidents but a change in design to the steel cord used in the sidewall has reduced the tyres resistance to over-inflation that could lead to rupturing of the sidewall.
Continue ReadingPolish Move By Michelin
Michelin is moving to buy out minority shareholders in Polish tyre manufacturer Stomil Olsztyn with whom it was involved in a dispute. There are no plans to call a public bid for shares. Speculation in local press is that Michelin would like to offer around 29 zlotys per Stomil share – a 20% premium on Wednesdays closing price.
Continue ReadingGrand Prix Planned For Moscow
At a press conference, Formula one boss Bernie Ecclestone confirmed that Moscow will host a Formula One Grand Prix event, probably in 2003. A new circuit is being built on a site south of the city, at an estimated cost of 112.7 m Euro. No new race will be added to the F1 calendar, so Moscow will replace an existing event. Both Italy and Germany currently stage two races, so one of these is favourite to be dropped, although a possible ban on tobacco advertising at the race in Belgium may make that event unattractive to sponsors, and thus vulnerable.
Continue ReadingTAMS For PAX
A new wheel bearing unit named TAMS (Tyre Air Management System) for an active tyre pressure regulation has been revealed by car supplier SKF for the Michelin-patented revolutionary tyre system PAX.
Continue ReadingQuarterly Dividend From Goodyear
Directors of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company have declared a quarterly dividend of 30 cents a share. The dividend is payable September 17, to shareholders of record August 17. The payout represents an annual rate of $1.20 per share.
Continue ReadingDropping General Ameri* 550 To Have Negligible Effect
Continental AG has responded to Fords removal of the General Ameri* 550 from its Firestone replacement programme by stating that it will have a negligible effect on sales performance. The company has produced some two million of the tyres and the investigation only affects 4,300 fitted to Ford Explorers. Continental is confident in the quality of the tyre and does not expect any further ramifications. However, other commentators suggest that the incident will have an overall negative effect on the company image, damaging the repositioning of the Conti General brand.
Continue ReadingWinter Tyres Business – A Hope And A Worry
Last years miserable winter tyre business has had a marked effect on many market players. Only a small number of dealers in very few regions of Germany could report a normal winter tyre business. In most parts of the country the snow came too late. If it does not snow until the beginning of November it becomes increasingly harder day by day to convince the end users to fit their cars with winter tyres. November is absolutely the most important month for retailer‘s winter tyre business. In late summer and early autumn of 2000 the tyre manufacturers were very happy about their sales to the dealers, which reached record levels. But of course the managers of the tyre industry are not so naive as to regard the lack of sales to the end users later on in the season as a problem only for the dealerships. This problem comes back to the manufacturers in two ways. First of all dealers experienced a lack of financial liquidity and there were problems in paying invoices. Secondly, having tyres in stock affects the willingness to order for next year – in this case 2001 – at the same level as before. Because merely listing the troubles would be pointless and unproductive, we tried another approach: we spoke to a lot of market players in order to form an overview of opinion and compared this with some hard figures.
Continue ReadingNew VP Of Corporate Research At Goodyear
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has appointed John Lawrence (58) as vice president for corporate research. Formerly director of materials science, Lawrence replaces recently-retired Richard Steichen. Lawrence joined Goodyear in 1970 as a senior research chemist.
Continue ReadingNo Negotiations With Continental
Trelleborg has an annual growth target of 15-20 percent. Part of this is attained through an ongoing acquisition policy. This has given rise to speculation on a possible Continental take-over. Trelleborg has felt obliged to confirm that there are currently no negotiations between the companies.
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