The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has appointed ex-Brisa and Bridgestone executive Hakan Bayman as president of Goodyear’s consumer tyre business in Europe, effective 1 July 2020. Bayman will be based in Brussels and report directly to Chris Delaney, president Goodyear EMEA.
ZC Rubber is launching its second generation of Westlake WSA2LT, WAS2, WDA2LT, WDA2, WSM2 and WDM2 all-steel truck and light truck tyres into the European market effective 1 July 2020. According to the company, the range is designed for “European fleets who seek both tyre performance and cost saving”.
Following ACEA’s latest assessment that new car sales in the European Union will fall by 25 per cent in 2020, GlobalData’s automotive analyst David Leggett, says: “In May, the European passenger car market (EU+EFTA+UK) suffered another sharp drop, with new registrations falling by 57.2 per cent on last year.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) predists that the market for cars in Europe will be down a quarter in 2020. The association revised its forecast radically due to the economic challenges the COVID-19 pandemic poses to the auto industry. Around 3 million fewer cars will be sold in 2020 according to the forecast. EU sales numbered 12.8 million in 2019, but are now forecast to be as low as 9.6 million in 2020.
Responding to the 52.3 per cent fall in May European car registrations, the NFDA says UK showrooms are reporting “positive trading” in the two weeks since reopening. The latest figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) show that the decline has become less severe. In April, sales had declined by 76.3 per cent.
European passenger car registrations plummeted 52.3 per cent during May, according to the latest ACEA figures. Although COVID-19 lockdown measures were eased in many countries last month, the number of new cars sold across the European Union fell from 1,217,259 units in May 2019 to 581,161 passenger cars in May of this year.
Following news that Exide Technologies entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 19 May 2020, Exide has been bought by long-term lenders who have injected cash, but remains up for sale until the end of July. Specifically, the new owners of Exide EMEA and Asia-Pacific are subject to conditions outlined in the transaction document to “maintain continued employment of the company’s workforce in these regions”. For example, as part of the agreement, the ad hoc lender group has provided additional liquidity of up to $75 million. The agreement also includes a “go-shop” period with a bid submission deadline and auction to be held in early July 2020.
On 19 May battery manufacturer Exide Technologies entered chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, announcing “a comprehensive strategy to best position its businesses in North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific to benefit its employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders across the globe.” In short, the strategy puts the Exide’s US business in chapter 11 and sells the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to the firm’s long-term lenders.
For the first time in nearly a decade, the Goodyear Blimp will take flight over Europe. The Goodyear Blimp operating in Europe will be a Goodyear-branded, Zeppelin NT airship, operated by Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei GmbH of Friedrichshafen, Germany. This marks the latest chapter in a nearly 100-year relationship between Goodyear and Zeppelin.
Financial analysts from Jefferies described Continental AG’s plan for fiscal improvements during the corona-crisis “encouraging”, according to an analyst report published 15 May 2020. That Conti’s management highlighted “positive data points in China and the European replacement tyre market”, would seem to be positive indications for the whole tyre business. Specifically, replacement tyre demand was described as “strong” in Germany. However, R&D budgets are likely to be cut and there was even the suggestion that European tyre factory numbers could also be cut back.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has reported a first quarter 2020 net loss of $12 million, compared with net income of $7 million in same period last year. Unit volume decreased 15.8 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2019. Net sales decreased 14.1 per cent to $532 million. Operating loss was $6 million, or 1.2 per cent of net sales, compared to operating profit of $26 million, or 4.3 per cent of net sales, in 2019.
TECH Europe has partnered with Italmatic as its new distributor in Italy. According to the company, the news means Italmatic is “positioned now more than ever to offer a complete line of tyre repair materials and wheel service solutions to the Italian market, which includes everything from motorbike to OTR repairs, along with the essential chemicals and tools to ensure a safe and high quality repair”.
In April 2020 many European countries reached the peak of new infections resulting from the coronavirus, something that is likely to lead to a massive fall in trailer production in the second and third quarters of 2020, according to analysts Clear. During April many trailer manufacturers closed their business in April in order to comply with government recommendations on social distancing but also because there was little or no business to be done. Now manufacturers are having to consider how they can resume production to at least meet the low level of demand that will exist in Q2 2020.
On 29 April, the European Parliament announced that new tyre labelling rules have moved a step closer to implementation. The European Parliament and the Council of EU reached an informal agreement on the labelling scheme in November 2019. The Council formally endorsed the rules in February 2020 and Parliament’s industry, research and energy committee voted in favour of them on 28 April 2020. The Parliament as a whole must now approve the deal in order for the new labels to be rolled out.
As well as providing its retreading partners with the necessary materials to contribute to securing people’s basic needs across Europe and keeping truck rolling, Kraiburg reports that it is also committed to those who fight on the medical “front lines”.
ZC Rubber
ACEA
ACEA
Exide Technologies
Goodyear
Continental AG
Elevate; Pexels.
European Parliament