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Apollo Net Profit Down 52%

Apollo Tyres’ India operations profits were less than half that of last year according to the year-end financial report released today by the manufacturer (April 2008-March 2009). While net sales grew 10 per cent from 36.9 billion to 40.7 billion rupees in the period, operating profit came down to 3.3 billion from 4.7 billion rupees and net profit more than halved from 2.1 billion to 1 billion rupees. Despite the relative gloom of the full year figures, Apollo came closer to matching the January-March 2008 quarterly operating profit in the same period this year, down merely 40 million rupees from 2.14 billion to 2.1 billion. The board of directors recommended a dividend payout of 45 per cent to shareholders.

29th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Ruia Pledges Dunlop India Stake to Refinance Loan

It has been revealed that the Ruia Group has pledged 51 per cent of its 74.5 per cent shareholding in Dunlop India with a private bank in order to raise Rs 6 billion (US$125 million) to refinance a hedge fund debt. Although this deal was arranged with the Singapore branch of ICICI bank in October 2008, details of the transaction were only made public in April 2009.

27th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Rajmahaal Geared Up for Expansion in Western Europe

Indian retreading equipment manufacturer Rajmahaal Tire Equipments sees itself in a position to expand its export programme into Western Europe. According to company managing director M.V.D Rajendran, Rajmahaal already sells autoclaves, buffing machines, spreaders and other products in Eastern Europe. Now, armed with a newly developed low-energy autoclave that can accommodate up to 24 tyres, it has its sights set on conquering all of Europe.

27th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian Govt Ponders PCR Duty

India’s government intends to introduce import duties for passenger car radials in an attempt to protect the domestic industry against the growing quantities of the product being shipped into the country. According to an anonymous official, the Directorate General of Safeguards, a section of the national Revenue Department, is examining an industry filed complaint. Tyre manufacturers allege that the sharp increase in imports over the past year is causing them harm. A formal case is likely to be initiated by the Director General of Safeguards.

24th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Rubber Prices May Plummet 35% as Tyre Sales Slow

International News

Global sales of passenger car and commercial vehicle tyres may decline to 1.32 billion units in 2009 from 1.41 billion last year, said No Dock Moung, an analyst with the Singapore based International Rubber Study Group. The drop of almost 6.4 per cent would be the steepest since at least 1975, he said. And according to a Singapore based trading manager from Marubeni Corp., Japan’s largest rubber trading company, this could lead to natural rubber prices weakening by as much as 35 per cent.

21st April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Malhotra Growing in the Radial Business

Not many companies successfully negotiate the transition from retreading to the new tyre industry. India’s Malhotra Rubber Ltd., however, is one such firm. The company began producing cold cure retreading materials more than fifty years ago, but it was only in the late 1970s that it began the manufacture of new tyres. Much later, some five years ago, the Indian company entered the radial market with a commercial vehicle tyre intended for the domestic market. Despite this, the company’s offering in European markets continues to focus on the supply of cold cure retreading materials, which are sold under the ‘Malhotra’ brand name. The company stressed at Tyrexpo Asia that it also supplies materials for the as-yet not widespread Indian mould cure retreading industry – a line-up that includes bonding rubber and repair patches.

21st April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

China Provides Optimistic Rubber Counterpoint

China has increased its rubber imports from 180,000 tonnes in the first two months of 2009 to 190,000 in March, Bloomberg has today reported. A rise of 10 per cent in automobile sales year-on-year (according to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers) has led to the rise following government subsidies. Incentives to the industry Japan, Germany and France are also offering incentives.

Bloomberg suggests that any revival in rubber demand from recovering car sales may be mitigated as tyre-makers switch to cheaper oil-based alternatives. The mix of synthetic to natural rubber in tyres is roughly 60 to 40 per cent, said Lawrence Orlowski, an analyst at S&P Equity Services in New York. Usually about 5 to 10 per cent of a tyre’s material can be switched, he said. (Tire Review/Akron)

20th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Alliance Appoints Trio of VPs

Alliance Tire Group has announced that the Company appointed Jean-Paul Spijker as vice president sales global OEM, B.S. Rama Murthy as group vice president commercial and D. Suresh as vice president of Technology function at the end of February.

17th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Positive Feedback for Automechanika Malaysia

The organiser of the Automechanika Malaysia exhibition has reported on the success of this year’s show. Messe Frankfurt states that the exhibition, held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre between March 25 and 28, attracted 133 exhibitors from 14 countries and regions, plus 4,521 visitors. The top five visitor countries and regions outside Malaysia were Singapore, China, Thailand, Korea and Egypt.

Receiving official recognition can substantially boost a show’s standing, and Messe Frankfurt comments that the Malaysian government “understands the needs of having an automotive parts and aftermarket trade fair to boost the industry”. Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of International Trade & Industry, YB Dato’ Jacob Dungau Sagan officially opened Automechanika Malaysia. He is quoted as saying: “I am happy to note that Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong proceeded with this event although the automobile industry is experiencing a bumpy ride.”

15th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Evergreen Global Ready to Enter Europe

During the past 25 years Evergreen Global has developed from a small Singapore based wholesaler into a well-known truck tyre supplier offering its own brands, “United”, “Global Star” and “Matrix”. The next stage in the company’s development, outlined general manager Lancy Nazareth during Tyrexpo Asia, is to establish a presence in the European market.

Since the early 1980s, when company founder Ram Niranjan Jatia moved his business – which in those days dealt exclusively with the yarn trade – from Mumbai to Singapore and entered the tyre business, Evergreen has seized the opportunity to set up branch offices in numerous global locations: Today the company’s network of offices includes sites in Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, Dubai, India and Brazil.

14th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

MRF Lands OE Deal with Military Aircraft Manufacturer

MRF, the first Indian tyre manufacturer to produce aviation tyres for military aircraft, has secured an order from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), one of Asia’s largest aerospace companies. The initial supply contract, reports the Financial Chronicle, is for some 400 to 500 tyres for HAL’s Chetak multi-purpose helicopter. India’s defence authorities have also reportedly asked the company to develop tyres for other types of military aircraft.

14th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

BKT Announces Further Significant Investment

When 95 per cent of a company’s sales are achieved in export markets, it would be well advised to ensure its presence at international exhibitions. This is the view held by Balkrishna – also known as BKT – the central business unit of India’s Siyaram Poddar Group. The last two years in particular have been a time in which the agricultural, earthmover, industrial, ATV and small tyre manufacturer has been able to distinctly expand its market share in Asia. As executive director Anurag Poddar explained during an interview with Tyres & Accessories, the company intends through its own marketing plant to further increase sales in the region. During the Tyrexpo Asia exhibition in Singapore the company displayed the first steel belt radials for earthmoving equipment to be produced in an Indian factory, and this landmark product can be used to symbolise the company’s sizeable ambitions for the Asian markets.

9th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon Tyres supports Formula Student teams

Avon Tyres Motorsport is supporting Formula Student competitions around the world by offering a preferential rate on its Formula Student-specific tyres to any colleges and universities who take part in the events. Run in the UK by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and known internationally as Formula SAE, the Formula Student concept pits educational institutions from around the world against each other in order to promote excellence in engineering.

Teams from as far afield as India, Russia and Canada will join establishments from across Europe at Silverstone in July, with over 100 universities hoping to take part in Formula Student 2009. All will have to design and build a small single-seater racing car to perform well in several areas including sprinting, acceleration, skid pan, endurance and economy tests, as well as being judged on the car’s design, cost and presentation.

3rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

MWS Introduces Xlite CV Wheel Range

New from MWS Distribution, supplier of international brands such as Kronprinz, Gianetti, Magnetto Topy and Wheels India, is the Xlite range of forged aluminium commercial vehicle wheels. The line-up is available through the company’s MWS Wheel Systems and MWS Aftermarket divisions to both OE and replacement market customers.

Xlite wheels, currently available in 17.5, 19.5 and 22.5-inch sizes, are forged from a single aluminium billet, using computerised numeric control to produce a truer running wheel that delivers reduced vibration, aiding longer wear on surrounding components. The products are available with either a machined or a polished finish, and are available with ‘xbrite’, a surface coating that MWS says helps the wheel maintain its shine while minimising the need for cleaning.

25th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

A Global Concern

The increasing globalisation of the automotive industry is an indisputable fact. Today’s leading companies, such as Toyota, General Motors, Renault/Nissan, Volkswagen and a handful of others, view expansion into as-yet untapped markets as a means of ensuring the profitable growth that established – and increasingly saturated – markets cannot deliver. A replacement for the masses of two and three wheeled vehicles still serving as family transport in various parts of the world is a well recognised need, and in several emerging markets the race is on to introduce “people’s car” that offers the right blend of modernity, efficiency and price. Exactly who will be first to produce such a widely-accepted car remains to be seen: It may be one of the smaller international manufacturers that seizes the inititave, or perhaps an emerging market company such as India’s Tata or China’s Chery. What is more certain, however, is that the the companies best placed to grow in the future are those that locate their centres of production in the markets where growth is taking place – and this is every bit as true for wheels as it is for the vehicles they are fitted to.

24th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors