100 Years Of Firestone
Harvey Firestone established his sales company for tyres and technical rubber products in the summer of 1900 and began production of tyres in Akron, Ohio, three years later. Thanks to a big order from Ford for the famous model T, the company was immediately successful and grew rapidly. In the twenties, Firestone was, for some years, the biggest tyre manufacturer in the world. Due to a badly-managed recall in the late seventies, the company ran into extreme difficulties; it tried to avoid the recall, but eventually its hand was forced, severely damaging the companys reputation as a result. After this episode, the Firestone management was forced to sell assets every year to plug the biggest holes in the balance sheet. John Nevin was appointed CEO, but despite his extremely strict guidance, which was focused purely on shareholders, he did not manage to turn the company around. In 1988 Bridgestone acquired Firestone, turning the Japanese company into a true global player overnight. This was Firestones only realistic hope for survival. Today, Firestone is once again a world-famous and accepted tyre brand, very successful in the US and also in Europe. The revitalisation of the brand was made possible through its involvement in motorsports, especially the Indy series in the US. In May, the famous Indianapolis 500 race was won by a car fitted with Firestone tyres - this was the 51st such victory for Firestone in the history of the Indy 500. Full details can be found in the June edition of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Continue ReadingBetter First Quarter Results For Pirelli
The Pirelli group has increased its turnover in the first quarter of this year by 18 p.c. The cable division achieved to a turnover of 1.05 billion Euro and an Operating Profit of 52 million Euro. The tyre division turnover increased by 12 p.c.up to 700 million Euro and the Operating Profit was 54 million Euro. Despite of fierce price competition Pirelli could achieve a 17 p.c. increase units and evidently win market shares.
Continue ReadingBRV Agrees To Cooperate With ZDK
During its 14th annual meeting, the German tyre dealers association BRV voted for an intensified cooperation with the association of the German passenger car dealers and manufacturers (ZDK). The aim of this cooperation is to increase the political influence and to enlarge the knowledge base. The BRV currently has 1,150 members and the ZDK has 48,000.
Continue ReadingOlaf Papke Succeeds Manfred Riemer
After working for Vredestein for 30 years, Manfred Riemer – responsible for agricultural tyre sales for the past 15 years – has retired. His successor is Olaf Papke, who was already engaged in the agricultural tyre business at Trelleborg before joining Vredestein.
Continue ReadingAll-Time Records For Superior
Superior Industries (Van Nuys/California), North Americas Leading oe supplier of aluminium wheels, announced record revenues of more than 331 m US-$ (+13.5%) and record net income to more than 40 m US-$ (+16.3%) after tax.
Continue ReadingShares In Bridgestone Fall Again
The bad news for Bridgestone continues, as shares in the company on the Tokyo stock exchange declined by another four percent. This means that the value of Bridgestone shares has been halved since the Firestone recall began.
Continue ReadingGhosn Stands By Bridgestone
President of Nissan Carlos Ghosn has said that the company will continue to use Bridgestone/Firestone as an original equipment tyre supplier.
Continue ReadingInternet And Tyre Dealers
Tomorrow already, today will be yesterday – there is hardly anything else coming so close to this fact than the internet. Whereas two years ago in Germany, the percentage of people being connected to the internet was around 9 per cent, this figure went up to 16 per cent in the last quarter of 1999 and achieved more than 20 per cent, i.e. 13.4 million online users by the end of March 2000. And, relying on market researchers, the peak is still far away. It is supposed that in Germany another 10 million people will use the internet by the end of the year. Thus, probably the number of people with particular homepages will continue to rise very quickly. Meanwhile, this fact has also got about in the tyre business, which can be underlined by the variety of companies who presented their websites on the REIFEN 2000 in Essen. Would it now be possible – after books, software and music – to download tyres, too? Of course, tyre dealers still have an advantage: there must always be someone for mounting the tyres. For certain reasons tyre dealers do not really want to get to like being in this position, as they often feel to be degraded to service operators. In this case, however, they should realize the opportunities of the internet for being able to distinguish themselves as service operators, although there is hardly anyone today, who can foresee the development of the tyre dealers’ business over the next five or ten years. Find out more in the November issue of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Continue ReadingExpert “Was Aware Of Firestone Problems In 1999”
A tyre expert hired by Bridgestone/Firestone has identified cracks in the belt skim – the rubber compound used to bond steel belts – as the cause of problems with some Firestone tyres. However, another tyre consultant, Rex Grogan, said that he told the company back in April 1999 that he had found the same problem. He blamed the use of inexperienced personnel working at the Decatur plant during a labour dispute.
Continue ReadingMAHA Acquires Slift
The German supplier of various items of equipment for the tyre shop, MAHA (Maschinenbau Haldenwang), has acquired lifting platform specialist Slift. With this acquisition, MAHA staff numbers increase to 1,000.
Continue ReadingPolish Opening For Kwik-Fit
In two weeks time, Kwik-Fit will open its first fast-fit centre in Warsaw, Poland. Another six, purpose-built centres are scheduled to be opened in Poland in the near future.
Continue ReadingKwik-Fit To Acquire Silver Shield Screens
Kwik-Fit is to buy Silver Shield Screens Ltd, the automotive glass repair and replacement company. Silver Shield has 57 branches and 225 company-owned and franchised mobile fitting vehicles, providing a 24-hour windscreen repair and replacement service. The purchase price was £6 million, with up to another £2 million, dependent on future events. Silver Shield is number three in its market, with annual sales of more than £20 million.
Continue ReadingFire At Michelin Warehouse
A fire started at a Michelin raw materials warehouse which is dedicated to Michelins largest plant at Clermont-Ferrand, where 5,000 people are employed.
Continue ReadingOE Contracts For Bridgestone
Nissan has chosen Bridgestone Potenza RE040 tyres for the limited edition (200 for sale in the UK only) R34 version of its Skyline GTR. The Skyline was the first production car to lap the 14-mile Nurburgring circuit in under eight minutes. Bridgestone has also been chosen as exclusive OE for the six-litre Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Coupe and Vantage Volante cars. The tyre in question is the Bridgestone S-02.
Continue ReadingDegussa-Hüls Price Increase
The worlds number two for carbon black with plants in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, Degussa-Hüls AG, is planning a price increase for this material necessary for the tyre production. In Europe Prices will rise 22 Euro/1.000 kg starting 15th March 2000.
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