Name Change For Pacific Dunlop
Shareholders of Pacific Dunlop in Australia have voted to change the company name to Ansell Ltd. The name change is to reflect the organisations future focus on its protective products divisions.
Continue ReadingGround-Breaking Ceremony For Hyundai’s US Plant
Today sees the ground-breaking ceremony for Hyundais first car assembly plant in the USA. It is sited in Montgomery, Alabama and represents an investment of $1 billion. The factory on the 1,600 acre site will employ 2,000 people and produce 300,000 saloons and SUVs a year by 2005. Alabama offered incentives of over $252 million to attract Hyundai and the Korean company joins Honda and Toyota as foreign car companies with plants in the state.
Continue ReadingCaravan Tyres – Obsolescence
Last year, on the 21st December, the Gütersloh police force released a press statement concerning their intervention concerning a car-and-trailer combination which had become stranded. The trailer had broken down due to overloading and one of its tyres was flat. According to its documents, the trailer had a maximum total loading capacity of 200 kg, but a weight check showed the load it carried weighed no less than 2000 kg. Granted - this example is extreme. However, practice shows that many car-and-trailer drivers are oblivious to the danger of overloading. Not only are tyres being put under unnecessary strain, but at the same time, the driving performance is bound to be greatly impaired by trailer overloading also. As far as the tyres are concerned, the problems become even more acute due to the fact that drivers tend to worry about the round black rubber things on their trailers even less than they do about the ones on their cars. Caravans represent a big potential danger. For most of the year, they are left in some parking lot, only to be loaded up to the full at the beginning of the holidays, then hooked up behind a car, and out they go for long journeys on the motorway. The ADAC and the Association of Caravan and Mobile Home Builders as well as other institutions close to the camping business, are regularly and emphatically warning about the possible dangers concerning tyres: dangers not only due to overloading, but also due to tyre obsolescence, as well as to incorrect tyre pressures, which are mostly too low.
Continue ReadingSupersport motorcycle tyres ContiForce Max
During the presentation of the ContiForce on the Contidrome near Hanover this spring, Jörg Essiger, Marketing Manager Motorcycle Tyres at Continental, hinted that the corporation did not intend resting on its laurels after the introduction of this newly developed radial motorcycle tyre. It was suggested that work was being carried out on the development of a tyre for Super Sport Motorcycles, in order to make the ContiForce product range complete. Now, the waiting game is over: the Hanover people have now fulfilled their promise in the form of the ContiForce Max, recently introduced to the trade press on the Ricardo Tomo track in Valencia, Spain. This new tyre is available in the dimensions 120/70 ZR17 (58W) for the front wheel, and 180/55 ZR17 (73W) and 190/50 ZR17 (73W) for the back wheel, and Continental wishes it to be known that some two years of research and development have been invested here, which goes to underline Continentals new and growing interest in this market segment. And, the introduction of the ContiForce Max is by no means the end of Continentals involvement in the motorcycle tyre segment. Already last year, at the presentation of the ContiForce, Essiger hinted at what was to come and stated :Our new products are already in the pipeline! He did not, however, reveal what Continental was hiding behind these remarks. Now, after all, the Motorcycle Exhibition Intermot will be taking place in Munich this autumn, and perhaps some of Continentals plans for the coming season will be revealed there!
Continue ReadingMarangoni’s plans for the Stunner brand
As from this spring, Marangoni Tyre is launching an effort to broaden its customer base in Germany - at the same increasing its tyre sales in general - for their second brand Stunner. New partners are being sought in the trade for the distribution of this second brand. The German market has so far not been very much exposed to Marangonis second brand, and the corporation hopes to introduce the tread design formerly known as Zeta ESC to the market under the name of Stunner Scudo. The Zeta Linea, successor to the Zeta ESC, will take its place within the Marangoni product range, now that it is available in many new dimensions up to 19 inch. Further, at the Essen tyre trade show, Marangoni intends to announce that the Vanto tyre model will take over from the Heron model and the Italians will officially present this new tyre to the international trade press soon afterwards. The asymmetrical Vanto will be available in sizes up to 16 inch, maximum 235/55 R 16W and, according to PR and Communications Manager Mario Apolloni, its introduction will herald a very special and important moment for Marangoni.
Continue ReadingQuo Vadis, Continental?
The German manufacturer made a loss of more than 250 million Euro last year, due mainly to restructuring expenses. This means that the group is going to close tyre factories in Mexico as well as Austria, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. While the European Car tyre Division remained very successful, the same cannot be said for the Truck Tyre Division and the American tyre activities are also in deep water, facing big losses. On the other hand, the group has had to pay over 200 million Euro for the remaining 40 per cent of Temic, having purchased the first 60 per cent from DaimlerChrysler earlier last year, but Continental has been unable to sell ContiTech; nobody was willing to buy that part of the group, which the management believes is worth about 1 billion Euro. What are the choices facing Continental now? Will the group not be forced to sell General Tire and the Truck Division in order to focus on passenger car tyres and ContiTeves in the automotive field?
Continue ReadingPirelli Is On Track
In an interview with Neue Reifenzeitung, Dr. Francesco Gori, who is head of the tyre divisions worldwide, revealed that in 2001, Pirelli achieved almost the same turnover and EBIT figures as it had in 2000. In the future, Pirelli will invest more in passenger car tyres and less in the truck tyre business, but will not sell the Truck Division. Pirelli is successful with truck tyres mainly in southern Europe and Latin America. From July 1st, Pirelli will change the terms of its agreement with its alliance partner Cooper in the USA and will once again resume full responsibility for the Pirelli brand. In Europe, the company is optimising its structure, moving responsibilities increasingly towards its Milan headquarters, to oversee European operations as a single market.
Continue ReadingLatest On The Kwik-Fit Sale
Speculation continues over the future of Kwik-Fit, with investment bank Goldman Sachs handling disposal of the chain. The word is that Ford would prefer to sell the group in one go, rather than in job lots. As well as talk of a management buy-out, there has been interest from venture capitalists CVC, Cinven and KKR, among others. Senior automotive analyst with Datamonitor Simon Hodson, suggests that there could be interest from a rival vehicle manufacturer. He also says it is possible that a US automotive market company, such as Penske Autocentres, could make a bid.
Continue ReadingRe-Election Of Goodyear Directors
Goodyear shareholders have re-elected three directors to the companys board for three year terms. The three are: Sam Gibara (chairman and CEO), William J. Hudson (retires president and CEO of AMP Inc.) and Martin D. Walker (retired chairman and CEO of M.A.). Goodyear also declared a quarterly dividend of 12 cents per share.
Continue ReadingBullish Stance From Lampe
Speaking at a National Manufacturers Association conference in Nashville, John Lampe, chief executive of Bridgestone/Firestones US subsidiary, was extremely upbeat about the companys future. Im convinced we have emerged from the recall stronger than ever before he said, crediting the companys making it right information programme with the restoration of consumer confidence. Analysts say that planned restructuring and cash reserves should be sufficient to deal with any further problems arising from the recall and lead to profitability of all divisions. Lampe added that the company intends to build market share for both Bridgestone and Firestone brands with new products.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Loses Big Customers Due To Kmart Insolvency
Mass-Merchandiser Kmart, one of the biggest competitors of US-Giant Wal-Mart, filed for chapter 11 some months ago, trying to restructure the group and avoid a total crash. Because of this crisis 563 Penske Auto-Service Centers closed last week. These centers were operated by Penske Auto Centers (PAC) at Kmart locations. PAC is owned 1/3 by Kmart and 2/3 by Penske corporation. Penske Auto Centers used to be the biggest independent tyre dealer in the US and was one of the important key-customers of the Goodyear-group.
Continue ReadingGoodyear: Annual Shareholder Meeting
This monday Goodyear holds its shareholder meeting in Akron/Ohio. In daily newspapers, as well as in business papers, complacent-sounding analysts are quoted, who point the finger at what Gibara has promised and failed to deliver in recent years. The loss of 203.6 million US-Dollars was not according to plan. The long term debt at 31st December 2001, at 3.1 bn US$, passed another milestone (2000: 2.4 billion US$). And it is known that the first quarter of this year also was disappointing. The analysts agree that there will be no improvements before the second half of the year.
Continue ReadingFirestone Truck Tyres Found To Be Okay
NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has closed an investigation into Firestones truck tyres STEELTEX, saying that there is no design- or manufacturing defect. Good news for a change for troubled Bridgestone/Firestone in the USA.
Continue ReadingCooper Earnings Exceed Expectations
The Cooper Tire & Rubber companys earnings per share for the first quarter of 2002 will be around 35 to 37 cents; significantly more than the previous estimate of 30 cents. This is due to an increase in market share and increased light vehicle production in North America. Full results will be published on April 18.
Continue ReadingRise In Turnover For Apollo Tyres
Indian tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres has reported an increase in turnover of 17 per cent for the twelve months ended March 31st. Revenue was 17 billion Rupees (394.9 m Euro), compared with 15.54 bn Rupees (360.9 m Euro) for the previous twelve months. Apollos shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange rose 7.27 per cent at the news.
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