40% of Michelin Workforce in High Cost Countries to Leave between 2007 and 2012
Michelin has released a “pyramid of age” for its French workforce. The company employs 22,000 workers (equivalent full time) in its home market, of which some 12,000 are engaged in production. Approximately 1,0000 will retire every year for the next decade. Taking into account a natural attrition of two per cent per annum, 1,500 French workers will leave Michelin each year. This equates to 30 per cent of the 5,000 employees that will leave the group per annum in high cost countries. In total around 30,000 people are anticipated to leave the Michelin Group in the six years between 2007 and 2012, some 40 per cent of the company’s tyre workforce in high cost countries.
Continue ReadingUSW OKs Four-Year Deal With Bridgestone
(Tire Review) The last of the major tyre-makers has a new contract with the United Steelworkers.Union workers at Bridgestone Americas’ tyre plants ratified a new four-year master contract with the tyre-maker Saturday, brining the 2009 master contract negotiations to a quiet end.
Continue ReadingNewsweek: Goodyear Among "Greenest Big Companies in America"
Newsweek Magazine has recognised Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company as one of “The Greenest Big Companies in America.” Companies were scored on factors that included environmental impact, green policies, and overall reputation as an environmentally conscientious company. The rankings were determined by Newsweek in conjunction with KLD Research & Analytics, Trucost and CorporateRegister.com. The rankings were published in the September 28 edition of the magazine. “The evaluation was based on specific criteria such as greenhouse gas emissions, water usage and ‘green’ programs,” stated Don Stanley, Goodyear’s vice president of product quality and plant technology. “We pride ourselves on the progress we’ve made over the years on these and other fronts. However, we also recognize the fact that environmental stewardship requires continuous improvement across a broad spectrum of opportunities, and at Goodyear we are committed to getting better each and every day.”
Continue ReadingMarangoni Merges Retreading Businesses
As a response to market changes and the rapid evolution of its manufacturing and distribution arms, Marangoni has decided to merge by incorporation its Marangoni Spa and Marangoni Tread SpA operations into Marangoni Pneumatici SpA. This new company, which came into being on October 1, 2009, will serve as the parent company and will be officially known as Marangoni SpA. This merger, says Marangoni, is part of a medium-term strategic plan aimed at strengthening the group and placing a greater focus on its core retreading business.
Continue ReadingConti Expresses Concerns over MAG Group Clairoix Acquisition
Continental has voiced concerns over MAG Group’s proposed acquisition of the German manufacturer’s beleaguered Clairoix facility following its receipt of the Syrian company’s letter of intent, reports Reuters. Mail-based discussions are ongoing, says the report, with MAG vice-chairman for strategy and finance Fawaz Sabri quoted as saying, “We sent… an amended version of the letter of intent and are awaiting their response. We have put everything down and all our concerns,” he told Reuters. Conti spokesman, Alexander Luehrs said that the main points of contention were the price and the transference of technology. The German manufacturer clearly wishes to protect its technology against producing a potential competitor.
Continue ReadingGoodyear to Invest $600 million in US Union Plants Over 4 Years
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has announced that its four-year labour contract with the United Steelworkers union (ratified on 18 September) could save the company as much as $555 million in savings before a potential profit sharing impact. The company also committed to investing $600 million in its USW facilities over the next four years. The seven plants covered by the master agreement are in: Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Gadsden, Alabama; Topeka, Kansas; and Union City, Tennessee. According to a Goodyear statement, these changes are expected to provide Goodyear with cost savings of approximately $215 million over the term of the contract. Combined with savings realized through “pre-bargain agreements to reduce staffing levels at five plants,” the company expects to realize $555 million in total savings over the term of the agreements. However, financial analysts at Deutsche Bank estimated that the agreement will result in $155 million of gross annual savings by 2013. Their response was to raise their share price estimates for 2010 and 2011 to $1.85 and $2.45 from $1.70 and $2.20 respectively.
Continue ReadingCooper Names Two New North American Ad and PR Agencies
Cooper Tire has announced today that it has named two agencies to manage its North American advertising and public relations efforts following a comprehensive national agency search and review. MARC USA from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will handle Cooper Tire's advertising account, while The Zimmerman Agency from Tallahassee, Florida will direct the public relations and social media efforts for the company.
Continue ReadingBigger Tyre Manufacturers Losing Global Market Share: Deutsche Bank
A Deutsche Bank analysis of the global tyre market in 2008 has revealed that the global top 11 tyre manufacturer’s share of said market has fallen considerably in this decade, while the market capacity has swelled to twice its value (not allowing for inflation) at the turn of the millennium – US$140 billion compared to 69.78 billion in 2000. In addition, the Global Big Three (Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear) have seen their market share dwindle to 46.2 per cent. In the four previous recordings, taken by Deutsche Bank at five-year intervals, their share had not dipped below 52.1 per cent. Analysts attributed the downward trend to the fact that they have a below average share of the markets that are growing most rapidly, such as China. The news is affecting Goodyear most of all, since they have reportedly lost three times more market share than either Bridgestone or Michelin.
Continue ReadingLayoffs Announced at Closing MNA Factory
In preparation for the closure of its Opelika, Alabama factory at the end of October, Michelin North America's BFGoodrich Tire Manufacturing has announced the layoffs of approximately 350 production employees, effective October 2. According to Lynn Mann, MNA director of external communications, the layoffs are part of the company’s “rampdown activities”.
Continue ReadingAnalysts Predict Michelin to Benefit Most from Market Recovery
Financial analysts are predicting that Michelin will benefit most from a margin recovery effect set to hit premium tyre manufacturers in 2010. According to Deutsche Bank, despite a significant negative volume effect, the leading tyre companies have been “very resilient” in 2009. This means they have benefitted form pricing discipline, raw material tailwinds (in the second half) and a positive OE/replacement mix. The analysts believe that next year’s volumes should rebound strongly from their low current level and, coupled with a leftover raw material tailwind and with restructuring paybacks, margins should rebound strongly. “Michelin should benefit the most followed by Pirelli. While Continental should benefit the least [proportionately] since tyres represent only 30 per cent of the group's revenues,” the investor’s note explained.
Continue ReadingYokohama Rubber Revises Projected Loss
On September 25 Yokohama Rubber let it be known that its projected consolidated net loss for the first half of the current fiscal year is now smaller than previously anticipated. Projections for the six months from April 1 to September 30, 2009 have been whittled down from the 8.0 billion yen announced on May 12 to 5.0 billion (£33.9 million).
Continue ReadingTenneco to Close Nebraska Facility
US based automotive component supplier Tenneco Inc. reports it will close its original equipment ride control plant in Cozad, Nebraska as the company continues to restructure its operations globally. The company expects to begin transferring current customer business to other ride control operations later this year, including Hartwell, Georgia, Paragould, Arkansas, and Celaya, Mexico. Tenneco expects to complete the closure in the fourth quarter 2010. Currently 460 hourly and 40 salaried workers are employed at the Cozad plant; Tenneco states that Impacted employees will receive transitional assistance.
Continue ReadingTitan to Purchase Goodyear European Agri Assets
Titan International has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Goodyear Tire & Rubber to purchase certain farm tyre assets, including the Goodyear Dunlop Tires France (GDTF) Amiens North factory. The agreement is subject to the French Goodyear operation’s “satisfactory completion” of a social plan related to consumer tyre activity at the Amiens North facility, along with completion of due diligence, a definitive acquisition agreement and other standard acquisition approval requirements.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Reschedules USW Contract Conference Call
In the US, Goodyear has rescheduled an investor conference call to discuss its new, four-year master labour contract with the United Steelworkers union. The conference call, originally set for 28 September as was reported previously on Tyrepress.com, has been moved to 14:00 (GMT-5) on Tuesday, 29 September due to a scheduling conflict. Investors, members of the media and other interested persons may access the conference call on the company’s investor relations website: www.goodyear.com/investor or via telephone by calling (706) 634-5954 before 13:55 that day.
Continue ReadingMorgan Stanley: Michelin August Sales Present Good and Bad News
Analyst reports on Michelin’s tyre sales for last month show both an improvement over Morgan Stanley’s previous predictions and the continued decline of truck tyre sales on July, albeit at a slower rate than in year-to-date figures, representing a bittersweet day for Bibendum. The analyst said that truck sales “were somewhat disappointing in mature markets,” though the figures were “on track to exceed our volume forecast for the quarter. Assuming stable share, we estimate Michelin volume in Aug declined approximately 9 per cent versus our forecast of a 12 per cent volume decline in third quarter.” Predictions in the report were also variable in optimism, since the analysts believe improving declines should “turn into outright growth” towards the end of the year. However, pricing discipline and profitability could be affected over the next two years throughout the industry, as depressed volumes and lower raw materials prices put both at risk.
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