Subsidiary Of Continental Stops Retreading Activities
It has been officially announced that the retreading activities of Vergölst, a subsidiary of the German tyre manufacturer Continental, will cease completely by the end of the year. This will not affect the nationwide retail chain. 262 employees will be made redundant at Bad Nauheim as a result. Final figures show 600,000 passenger car tyres and 124,000 truck tyres being retreaded annually.
Continue ReadingTruck Point – Independent Service
The formation of ContiNetwork, a service based partnership with independent dealers, has been much in the news recently. Bridgestone/Firestone UK has been running a similar network for over five years, called Truck Point, and the company was embarking on an exercise to raise the profile of the network. Our article examines whats on offer to the dealer and to the fleet operator – the timing of the article is particularly appropriate, as Bridgestone/Firestone UK recently announced that it had won the contract to service the 3,000-strong BRS commercial rental fleet.
Continue ReadingMichelin Promotes Jean Michel Guillon
Jean Michel Guillon, who used to be head of sales for Michelin in Germany before he assumed responsibility as Vice President Sales for MAST (Michelin Americas Small Tires), has become Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Michelin North America Inc.
Continue ReadingWeb-Based Ordering System From Michelin And IBM
Michelin and IBM have announced that the tyre manufacturer has installed for all Europe a new Web-based system – based on a Web-enabled IBM eServer zSeries mainframe – that improves service to its network of 50,000 European distributors by allowing them to place orders for Michelin products directly over the Web any time of the day or night. The system is initially being deployed for use by Michelins large European distributors in the United Kingdom, Germany and France and will be made available to the most of the companys European network tyre distributors. Full deployment will be by 2004.
Continue ReadingTruck Tyre Agreement Between Conti And Kings Road Tyres
Following the recent shake-up of its UK truck tyre operations, Continental has announced a strategic agreement with wholesaler Kings Road Tyres, whereby KRT will become the sole distributor of Uniroyal truck tyres in the UK and Ireland, effective September 1st. The new business will be separate from KRTs wholesale operation and will be called Uniroyal Truck Tyres. Uniroyal car and van tyres are unaffected by the agreement and will still be managed by Continental.
Continue ReadingReturn To Indy Racing For Goodyear?
There are reports that Goodyear is planning to return to the Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis 500 as the sole tyre supplier for the 2003 season. An earlier return is not possible, as Bridgestone/Firestone has an exclusive agreement until 2002.Goodyear has supplied tyres to the IRL in the past, but ceased in 1999.
Continue ReadingHighest Prices For Passenger Cars In Germany
The latest comparative study of the European Commission regarding car prices, shows that 46 of a total of 81 passenger car models cost over 20 percent more in Germany than in at least one of the other Euro-zone markets. Companies such as PSA, Fiat, VW, Ford, Opel and some Japanese manufacturers follow a high-price strategy in Germany. The cheapest prices for new cars to be found in the Netherlands, Finland, Spain and Denmark, which does not even belong to the Euro zone.
Continue ReadingGloomy Outlook For World Auto Industry – Report
The latest report from industry consultants Autopolis makes gloomy reading. The title A sharp decline to come: the outlook for the global vehicle industry to 2005 and 2010 says it all. It predicts that car and truck sales will drop by 11% from their peak before the end of next year. That is six million units, or the equivalent of the whole Japanese market and the report predicts fundamental changes to come in the worlds auto industry.
Continue Reading2,000 Jobs Cut By Michelin North America
Michelin North America has announced that it will cut 2,000 of its 26,500 workforce. The cuts will target the whole company, not just specific job classifications, and will be spread across not just the 23 plants but the whole company. Most will be achieved through normal losses and voluntary redundancies. Michelin wants to trim $75m in annual costs beyond the already announced $125m, and does not want to wait until the weak North American market begins to improve but rather to develop lean structures and create the ability to react to the market independently, whether the market improves or not.
Continue ReadingOfftake Agreement Between Nokian And Russian Producer
Nokian Tyres has entered into negotiations to start tyre manufacturing in Russia as soon as possible. The possible partner has not been named.
Continue ReadingCar Servicing As An Opportunity For Tyre Retailers
The disastrous sales of winter tyres in Germany at the end of last year have shown at least one thing: hope has no place in the calculations of business administration, and whoever has not yet understood that will have no future in this business. All the hand wringing of the tyre retailers does not help in this situation. Considering declining gross yields and the many new distribution channels for tyres, tyre retailers are forced to diversify and widen their service offers in order to compensate for loss of profit. One example of how this can be achieved is car servicing, which brings in gross yields between 40 and 50 per cent on average. A lot of business members have long ago realised this fact and extended their range of service offers. So car servicing is no longer a question of if but of how. The differences between the service offers and the quality of tyre retailers engaged in car servicing are huge. They range from the traditional Fast-Fit-Sector, covering the classical elements (exhausts, brakes and shock absorbers) to the fully equipped and professional working car repair station, offering every kind of car servicing. In this issue of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG the present level of involvement of German tyre retailers in the car servicing business will be explained and described, including some examples.
Continue ReadingMultiple Causes Of Accidents Cited By Bridgestone/Firestone
Bridgestone/Firestone has issued the results of its four month investigation into the accidents in the USA involving certain Firestone tyres. A number of causes were identified, including unspecified manufacturing problems at Decatur, tyre design in the shoulder area, driver abuse (travelling too fast and at the wrong pressure) and the weight of the Ford Explorer vehicle, particularly an alleged uneven weight distribution on the back axle. Ford denies that the margin for error between the load capacity of the tyres and the weight of a fully-laden Explorer is too slim.
Continue ReadingA Change For The Better – Cooper-Avon Tyres
In 1997, Avon Tyres, a British-owned rubber goods and tyre manufacturer for over 120 years, was taken over by the American manufacturer Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. The subsequent three years or so have been among the most eventful in Avons long history; fears that the British company (annual turnover in excess of 100 million Pounds) would be absorbed by its new parent (annual turnover approaching $4 billion) proved to be groundless. This came as a relief to locals, as Avon was (and still is) the town of Melkshams largest employer and plays an important part in community life. On the contrary, Cooper has invested heavily in its first manufacturing base outside the USA and Avon has reorganised, rethought its product offering and, in an uncertain economic climate, prospered. Our article examines how the company has changed and examines its prospects for the future. Managing Director Ron Shield and Marketing Director Julian Baldwin outline the events since the takeover and the way that the Cooper-Avon relationship has developed.
Continue ReadingWinter Tyre Sales Stable In Germany
Sales of Winter Tyres for 2000 were in line with those for the previous year. Roughly 16 million winter tyres were supplied to dealers in Germany last season. 1999 was a record year with sales of 16.1 million winter tyres. However, the Continental Group has been successful in increasing its market share of that figure to around 33%.
Continue ReadingUS Consumer Watchdog Group Beleaguers Bridgestone/Firestone
The Consumer Group Public Citizens is urging Bridgestone-Firestone/USA to recall another 7 million Wilderness tyres and is citing an alleged 1,000 consumer reports. The management of the tyre manufacturer insists that all Firestone tyres are safe and that a recall is not necessary. Only a few weeks ago the same group strongly urged Goodyear to recall 13 million Goodyear tyres which are, according to the files of the consumer group, not safe. Goodyear also refused to do so, claiming that the products are perfectly okay.
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