Goodyear India: Annual Results
For the year-ended December 2004, Goodyear India recorded a turnover increase of 26 per cent to 7.031 billion rupees (£88.3 million), while the operating profit margin dropped to 3.6 per cent from 4.7 per cent. Helped by the sharp drop in the interest costs, the post-tax earnings rose to 52 million rupees from 10 million rupees the year before. The company repaid high-cost debt by borrowing from its parent Goodyear Tire, US. As a result, the interest cost dropped to 75 million to 133 million rupees.
Continue ReadingFirestone East Africa Becomes Sameer
The company formerly know as Firestone East Africa was given a new logo and rename Sameer Africa at a ceremony in Nairobi. The new company will operate as an independent tyre maker, according to reports by Nairobi’s The Nation newspaper.
Continue ReadingMichelin’s Confident AGM
Executives at Michelin’s AGM have reiterated their target of achieving at least the same operating profit margin in 2005 as they did in 2004, despite lower volumes in the first half of this year. At the same time the company appointed Michel Rollier as new managing partner.
Continue ReadingCordenka to Increase Tyre Rayon Production
Cordenka has announced that it will invest 5 million euros in the modernisation of its rayon production facilities in Obernburg. The move is designed to further increase the plant’s capacity for rayon yarns destined for reinforcing (ultra) high-performance car tyres. In 2004 the company expanded its capacity by 1500 tonnes. Now Cordenka is aiming to expand by a further 1500 tonnes, taking the total capacity to some 32,000 tonnes. The company reports that it would like to make the 40,000 tonne mark in subsequent years. According to the Cordenka, the ongoing strong demand for rayon tyre yarns has resulted from developments in the field of ultra high-performance tyres and also reflects growing market interest in run flat tyres.
Continue ReadingMontupet 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.
Continue ReadingToyo Increases Production at Kuwana Plant
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd is to increase the volume of passenger car and light truck tyres produced at the company’s Kuwana Plant by approximately 1,000,000 units and 120,000 units a year, respectively, by the end of 2005. The company plans to invest 2.8 billion yen in this expansion of production, designed to address flourishing demand in overseas markets. Toyo is also working to build a manufacturing base in North America, raise the production capacity of a joint-venture plant in China, and launch another joint-venture plant for truck and bus tyres in China. The increase in output at the Kuwana plant is said to be part of this ongoing effort.
Continue ReadingRalph Schumacher Gets Tyre Penalty
Ralf Schumacher has been given a half-second penalty after a mix-up with his cars free practice tyres for the Monaco Grand Prix. Stewards discovered Schumacher had used a left front tyre on his Toyota that had not been officially allocated to him during the session. Supplier Michelin blamed human error for the mistake and Schumacher will now have to add a half-second to his aggregate qualifying time as a penalty. It’s the second time in three races that Schumacher has been penalised. He lost a point at the San Marino Grand Prix after being given a 25 second penalty for a pit-lane offence.
Continue ReadingVredestein’s New 4 Xtreme
This week saw the official launch of Vredestein’s first high performance SUV winter tyre the Wintrac 4 Xtreme. The manufacturer has transferred the characteristics of its passenger car tyre Wintrac Xtreme to the 4 Xtreme in an attempt to enter the growing 4x4 tyre market, a segment Vredestein describes as “a phenomenon.”
Continue ReadingBandag Retreading Material Prices
(Akron/Tire Review) Bandag Inc is increasing prices on “most of its retreading materials” for North America, the company has announced. According to Bandag, all tread rubber products in the US will increase by a per-pound weighted average of 12 cents (US). In Canada, the increase will be 17 cents (Canada). Both increases take effect on 1 May. Bandag officials said that increasing raw material costs cannot be offset by increased efficiencies or productivity.
Continue ReadingNHTSA Denies RMA Petition
(Akron/Tire Review) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has formally denied the Rubber Manufacturers Association’s petition to establish recommended cold inflation pressure using a tyre pressure reserve. The petition requested that NHTSA include a reserve tyre pressure sufficient to allow tyres to carry the maximum load of a vehicle at the new tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) regulation trigger point. The Tire Industry Association (TIA) had supported RMA’s petition and expressed disappointment with the agency’s ruling. “We are disappointed that NHTSA decided not to build in an additional safety measure and grant the petition for reserve inflation pressure,” said Roy Littlefield, executive vice president of TIA, in a statement. “With this decision coming on the heels of the TPMS ruling, TIA is frustrated with NHTSAs apparent lack of interest in what the tire industry has to say.”
Continue ReadingSMMT Appoint New President
Roger Putnam, chairman of Ford of Britain, is to take up the position as president of the SMMT. He succeeds Tod Evans, former chairman, Peugeot Citroën Automobiles UK Ltd, in leading the motor industry trade association for the 12 months from June 2005. Commenting on the announcement, Roger Putnam said: “I am proud and honoured to become SMMT president for 2005-06. The industry faces some significant challenges in balancing the needs of its customers, in coping with regulatory pressures, and in dealing with a challenging manufacturing environment. I want to play my part in ensuring that issues like skills, R&D and productivity are given the profile they deserve.”
Continue ReadingCooper Sets Price For Tender Offer
(Akron/Tire Review) Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. announced that it has priced its fixed-spread tender offer to purchase the $350 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of its 7-3/4 per cent notes due 15 December, 2009. Cooper will pay $1,095.05 for each $1,000 principal amount of the notes tendered and accepted for payment in the tender offer, plus $34.44 for accrued but unpaid interest, said the company. The tender offer is scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, May 20, unless extended, Cooper said.
Continue ReadingDeaths Caused by Exploding Tyres
An unnamed 19-year-old man has died after a tyre exploded while he was inflating it at his workplace. The man was working at a tyre firm in Cleland, Lanarkshire when the tyre threw him backwards into a wall, the BBC has reported.
Continue ReadingNew Toyo Advertising Campaign
Toyo is set to launch what it calls “an astonishing new, £600,000 advertising campaign.” The innovative Vital campaign is the latest in a string of mould breaking campaigns, designed to position Toyo as the thinking drivers alternative to ordinary tyres. The campaign features a series of images from inside the human body. Toyo tyres are depicted as parts of the body vital to life, such as blood cells. These executions neatly mirror the tyres function, which is essential to driving. Developed with Northampton agency Engine, the anatomical illustrations, coupled with bold, stripped down copy, offer a thought-provoking message.
Continue ReadingRussian State to Control Sibur Plants
Russian tyre manufacturer Sibur is to become state-owned company. After a long period of confusion about a possible merger between the gas monopolist Gazprom (that owns almost 100 per cent of Sibur’s shares) with the state-owned oil company Rosneft, the Russian government now has decided to take over the majority of Gazprom’s shares itself, according to Russian media reports. Currently the Russian government owns about 38 per cent of Gazprom but will increase this share up to more than 50 per cent by the end of June, when Gazprom’s annual shareholder meeting takes place. Sibur operates four tyre factories in Russia where it produced more than 15 million tyres in 2004.
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