Montupet to Construct Bulgaria Plant
Montupet S.A., the French aluminium wheel manufacturer, is to put 70 million levs (£24.6 million) in the construction of a new production plant in Bulgaria, according to the Bulgarian investment agency.
Montupet S.A., the French aluminium wheel manufacturer, is to put 70 million levs (£24.6 million) in the construction of a new production plant in Bulgaria, according to the Bulgarian investment agency.
Michelin will supply the tyres for the eight Renault Trucks vehicles taking part in the Silk Road 2005 expedition between 2nd April and 9th June. The teams will travel 20 000 km across Europe, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyztan and the Inner Mongolian region of China, following the path of the legendary Silk Road. Michelin will fit the trucks with specially designed all-terrain tyres, sized 395/85 R20 XZL.
The Turkish government is planning to privatise its national communications company, Türk Telekomünikasyon AS (Turk Telecom). Two tyre manufacturers have been linked to the prospective bidders. One of the favourites to complete the purchase is Oyak, the Turkish army pension fund, which is involved in a joint venture with Goodyear. But at the same time Telecom Italia, controlled by Pirelli, is also said to have a good chance of winning.
Pirelli energy and cable systems has announced that its Comergy subsidiary has won a 25 million euro contract to supply the SP PowerAssets, a subsidiary of Singapore Power. The contract will see the company supply and install 400kV PPL oil filled power cables, auxiliary cables and accessories in order to reinforce the county’s power transmission network within the country. Pirelli’s Eastleigh and Bishopstoke, UK plants will manufacture the 400kV power cables and accessories, whilst Pirelli plants in Turkey and Indonesia will supply the auxiliary cables.
”We are delighted to have secured a second 400kV contract with SP PowerAssets in the extremely competitive Asian marketplace for power cables,” Valerio Battista, managing director of Pirelli Energy Cables and Systems commented. “The award of this second contract is important recognition of our capability of supplying competitively priced solutions for high voltage networks. It also demonstrates the client’s trust in our ability to deliver such projects on time and within budget.”
Only two years after its foundation, Cevher Alloy Wheels (Izmir, Turkey) has achieved the impressive feat of becoming an original equipment (OE) manufacturer of aluminium casting wheels. The company’s first assignment will be producing wheels for the Volkswagen T5, followed by a contract to work with Ford in the company’s Turkish car plant. In a promising development for the company, there have also been discussions with BMW. The acceptance of the company into the OE ‘circle’ is down to years of OE experience producing a range of other aluminium car parts says group president and CEO, Haluk Oezyavuz.
Hayes Lemmerz International has formed an aluminum wheel joint venture in Manisa, Turkey. The new company, Jantas Aliminyum Jant Sanayi ve Ticaret AS (Jantas Aluminum Wheels), will predominantly serve the Turkish market, but will also deal with other European markets. Production is scheduled to begin at the end of 2005 and it is estimated that it will produce up to 1.5 million wheels annually.
Three companies are involved in the business venture; 40 per cent will be owned by Hayes Lemmerz, 35 per cent by Cromodora Wheels and 25 per cent by Inci Holding A.S. Financial. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Hayes Lemmerz International received three prestigious quality awards at the Toyota Motor Europe Manufacturing supplier awards ceremonies recently held in Brussels, Belgium.
Sakip Sabanci passed away at 6:00 am on Saturday 10th April, following a long battle against cancer. He was 71. As head of the Sabanci group, he presided over the establishment of Lassa in 1974 and the later joint venture with Bridgestone in 1988, as a result of which the company name changed to Brisa. A new factory was built at Izmit and production began in November 1990. Married with three children, he was the author of 13 books and, during his lifetime, was awarded no fewer than 11 honorary doctorates by Turkish and US universities. Other awards include the Crystal Globe by the European Economic Institute and the Turkish State Distinguished Service Medal. In 1999 Sakip Sabanci was elected “Businessman of the Year” by the FABSIT foundation in New York and was given the “Award for promoting Turkey” by the Turkish-American Businessman Association. With an estimated fortune of 2.65 billion Euro, he was reckoned to be Turkey’s richest man.
IBS America, Inc., one of the world’s leading suppliers of Internet-based software and services for quality and compliance management, has announced that the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s East Europe, Africa and Middle East business unit has gained full regional certification for quality, safety and environmental standards using its QSi System. The global standards organisation Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQi) issued the multi-site certification for Goodyear EEAME’s regional headquarters in Brussels and six manufacturing facilities located in Turkey, Slovenia, Poland, Morocco and South Africa. Each of these locations is fully compliant with critical business standards including ISO/TS 16949:2002, ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001, Adapazari (Turkey), South Africa, Poland and Slovenia. ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, Izmit (Turkey) and Morocco.
Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc. has acquired an additional 35 per cent of its joint venture, Jantas Jant Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., in Turkey. Hayes Lemmerz now owns 60 per cent of the company, which is part of Hayes Lemmerz’ European Wheel Group. The remaining 40 per cent is held by Inci Holding A.S., Cevdet Inci, and members of his family. The joint venture has been renamed Hayes Lemmerz Jantas Jant Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.. Jantas has the capacity to produce over 1.2 million wheels annually. “Jantas supplies over 175 customers in 50 countries,” said Curtis Clawson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hayes Lemmerz International. “We are confident in the tremendous opportunity Jantas provides to increase our market share in Western and Eastern Europe and Asia.”
Hayes Lemmerz has named Fred Bentley (38) as president of the company’s European Wheel Group, succeeding Giancarlo Dallera, who has retired. Bentley joined Hayes Lemmerz in 2001, before which he held senior positions with Honeywell Consumer Products and AlliedSignal. In his new post, he reports direct to Curtis Clawson, chairman of the board and CEO, and will have responsibility for the European Fabricated Wheel and Cast Aluminium Wheel businesses, plus wheel operations in Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and India.
Lassa has announced the appointment of John Westwood as the new senior director responsible for the running of its London-based European export sales operation. He joins the company after a long and distinguished career with Goodyear in a variety of senior sales and marketing positions. Mr. Westwood will replace Gunduz Akin as European Sales and Marketing Director, responsible for all Lassa brand sales in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and the UK. Mr Akin has returned to Turkey to work for Lassa’s parent company, Brisa.
Lichfield-based Sherbrook International Ltd is entering the alloy wheel market and aims to hit the big time. It may be a new name in the wheel sector but the company has a long-standing heritage in the automotive industry and, for a newcomer to the wheels’ market, has an excellent record for getting things right. This could be just another player trying to make a few extra pennies from selling wheels while the market lasts but nothing could be further from the truth.The company has grown to a staff of 25, sourced from the automotive industry, each an expert in his or her field, carrying out negotiations between both ends of the supply chain. The company offers a 24/7/365 office service to the trade with constant monitoring of schedule performance and awareness of in-transit goods. This is built on effective customer communication and enables stock to be ordered from across the continent, or around the globe to meet Just In Time production processes. Rapid reaction to customer demands and a local technical support team result in quick problem solving which, with an agreed stock buffering system, eliminates supply chain down time from the manufacturing process.Now the company has a turnover in excess of 30 million Pounds and the financial backing of a large Turkish commercial organisation. Koç, this Turkish conglomerate, took over Sherbrook in 1998 giving the company a secure financial future and access to an even wider market and production base. Koç operates in Turkey on many levels, and its company logo of a Ram’s head in red outline is visible everywhere, especially in the Izmir area. In 2000 the Koç group had 9.2 billion Dollars of consolidated sales from 92 group companies employing 35,500 people. Core businesses cross many sectors, including automotive, banking, construction, household appliances, IT, and food and tourism. In the automotive sector the company has strong links with Land Rover, Ford, Iveco, Fiat and in components covers almost all areas. However, it is the Döktas foundry business which has led the company into wheel distribution in the UK.
Cooper-Avon has launched a range of precure treads as an addition to its remould materials range. The treads were designed in collaboration with Oliver Rubber, which is part of the Commercial Division of Cooper Tire & Rubber, and they will be manufactured by Rekor Rubber, of Turkey. Initially, eleven profiles will be launched, in a total of 59 pattern sizes.
The oe alloy wheel suppliers get a lot of orders from car manufacturers these days. Even Volkswagen – in urgent need of a large quantity of alloy wheels – is looking for a qualified supplier in Turkey. But for a lot of companies this has bred complacency. So take care, alloy wheel manufacturers, because the steel wheel producers have not been sleeping in the meantime. Several new car models are being fitted with the latest in steel wheel designs. Concerning the weight of the wheel, the light steel version can be favourably compared with the level of the average alloy wheel. As far as price is concerned, steel is more economic and, in the field of design, a lot of developments have taken place.
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