Point S presenting consolidation strategy at Reifen
While Point S used the 2012 Reifen show to announce the signing of partnership agreements in South Africa, Slovenia and Canada, at this year’s event the retail cooperatives will be reporting details of its consolidation strategy.
HiQ appoints property agent to aid ‘ambitious’ network growth plans
HiQ has hired property agent CPBigwood to identify new sites as it seeks to increase its number of branches. HiQ retail director Farrell Dolan told Tyrepress: “Our growth plans for our network are ambitious, but we are in the process of developing a new retail model that will make it easier for prospective franchisees to join the HiQ network.”
UK and European motorists increasingly buying tyres online
UK and European motorists are increasingly choosing to purchase tyres through the Internet. The latest research published by one of the largest tyre e-tailers, Delticom also suggest – perhaps unsurprisingly – that consumers are increasing tending towards their online retail platforms. These results of the research have been published in the Delticom Report “Tyres Online 2014”.
Pirelli and Rosneft in synthetic rubber cooperation talks
Rosneft president and chairman of the management board Igor Sechin has held negotiations with Pirelli’s top management including Marco Tronchetti Provera on the subject of expanding the two companies well reported cooperation.
Brembo reports huge double-digit rises in 1Q sales, margin and EBITDA
Brake manufacturer Brembo has reported very strong increases in first quarter revenues - up 20.2 per cent to 446.9 million euros; operating margins - EBITDA at 69.1 million euros (+46.1 per cent); and pre-tax profits - EBIT of 45.9 million euros, +75.6 per cent.
Pirelli figures suggest improved European tyre demand
The latest Pirelli tyre market watch figures suggest demand is continuing to improve in the European market in both the original equipment and replacement sectors.
First off the European car tyre market (excluding Russia) showed a positive trend in April despite the unfavourable comparison.
European Commission to get tough with car manufacturers?
Since 2010, most vehicle manufacturers in Europe have been reluctant to engage on the topic of a meaningful and binding industry code of good conduct designed to foster clearer and fairer relations between dealers and manufacturers, says the NFDA (National Franchised Dealers Association).
This position has been adopted by the manufacturer body, ACEA, despite consistent lobbying on the part of dealer representative bodies such as the NFDA, ECD (European Car Dealers - a Division of CECRA) and support from the European Parliament.
Increased OE activities and higher global sales part of Cooper’s growth strategy
At its Investor Day, held in New York on 15 May, Cooper Tire & Rubber outlined the measures it will implement to support the company’s goal of sustained annual operating profit in the eight to ten per cent range and, over the long term, operating profit above ten per cent plus annual net sales in the vicinity of US$5 billion to $6 billion.
Goodyear to present at KeyBanc Capital Markets conference
Goodyear Tire & Rubber says it will webcast its presentation at the KeyBanc Capital Markets’ Industrial, Automotive, and Transportation Conference on 29 May, with Laura K. Thompson, executive vice-president and chief financial officer, providing a business overview. A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available at 10am EDT (3pm BST, 4pm CEST) on the company’s investor relations website: http://investor.goodyear.com. A replay of the webcast will be available following the event.
Bekaert enjoys Q1 organic growth, falls victim to currency effects
Steel cord manufacturer Bekaert reports organic sales growth in the first quarter of 2013, however the influence of changing exchange rates ensured this positive trend was more than cancelled out. In the first quarter of 2014, Bekaert achieved consolidated sales of €782 million and combined sales of €990 million, respective decreases of 2.1 per cent and 4.4 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2013. On a constant currency basis, Bekaert’s consolidated revenues increased 4.2 per cent and combined sales rose 4.9 per cent.
Bridgestone has put its money where its mouth is by adding a number of all-electric BMW i3 vehicles to the car pool attached to its European headquarters near Brussels, and by equipping the headquarters site with recharging points. The tyre maker says the presence of electric vehicles in its fleet underlines its faith in the concept of sustainable mobility.
Tom Williams joins Kenda as vice president engineering
Kenda has appointed former Hankook tyre engineer Tom Williams as vice president engineering of the Taiwan based tyre manufacturer. According to the company, he has been vice president engineering at Kenda in Taiwan since the beginning of March.
Net income at online tyre retailer Delticom took a dive in the first quarter of 2014, despite a year-on-year rise in sales revenue. While the addition of Tirendo sales and an early start to the summer season drove revenues up 16.4 per cent to €94.3 million in the three months to 31 March 2014, the good news ended there. EBITDA declined 26.0 per cent to €2.4 million in the first quarter, and ppa-effect pushed EBIT down to €0.3 million, a year-on-year reduction of 88.4 per cent. EBIT margin was 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, as opposed to 3.1 per cent a year earlier. Net income shrank – to use the word Delticom applied in its 3-Month report – by 98.8 per cent, to €20,400.
Although it is the smallest of the three Korean tyre makers, Nexen has surprised some observers by being the only company in the country to increase both sales and operating profits in the first quarter of 2014. Of course the figures also show that both Kumho and especially Hankook remain significantly bigger than Nexen in terms of both measures, but the news caps a strong quarter for Nexen, which also announced the opening of a European factory and a number of awards and OE deals in the period.
Apollo to build 500 million euro tyre factory in Eastern Europe
Apollo Tyres’ board has approved plans to build a new tyre factory in “Eastern Europe”, with 500 million euros earmarked for the project. According to the company, the greenfield project will see the tyre manufacturer invest half a billion euros over the next years, funded by “accruals and debt at the companys European subsidiary”. The capacity is expected to be 16,000 passenger car radial (PCR) tyres a day and 3000 truck and bus radials a day.
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