New Tyre Concept From Goodyear
Concerning tyre design its no longer the geometric dimensions which represent the state of development, but rather the intended application. Goodyear is meeting this challenge with its most recent generation of radial tyres, the Optitrac product family. Segmentations which were popular in the 70s or 65s series have been replaced by the terms wide or volume. The launch of the Optitrac DT818 as a super-wide tyre and the DT824 as a volume tyre is regarded as a considerable step forwards towards the completion of this concept.
Continue ReadingRestructuring For Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.
US company Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has announced a new corporate structure from Dec. 1st. The reorganised company will be known as Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding Inc (BFAH), which will be the holding company for a number of subsidiaries. John Lampe will be CEO and president of BFAH. The change has been made to take advantage of better financing rates and to re-focus on core businesses.
Continue ReadingExtended Break For Pirelli Factory
Workers at the Pirelli factory in Carlisle, UK, will enjoy a longer-than-usual break this Christmas. The plant will be closed from Christmas Eve to New Years Eve, instead of re-opening as planned on December 28th. Pirelli UK says that the move is in accordance with a decision by the parent company to reduce stock levels worldwide and it has been taken with the full agreement of the Unions. The Carlisle factory produces 10,000 tyres a day.
Continue ReadingRise in Pirelli Management
The Board of Directors appointed Giovanni Ferrario Managing Director, who also keeps the position of General Manager Pirelli. Responsibilities for all Operating activities are delegated to Giovanni Ferrario. Finally, Francesco Gori was appointed General Manager Tyre Sector.
Continue ReadingBrazilian Recall For Bridgestone/Firestone
The Brazilian subsidiary of Bridgestone/Firestone is recalling almost 40,000 tyres, fitted on Ford F-250 and F-350 pick-ups. This follows 16 tread separation incidents, but Bridgestone/Firestone stresses that the recall is purely a preventative measure and there have been no accidents or injuries reported.
Continue ReadingExclusive Distribution of Alliance
German wholesaler Bohnenkamp (Osnabrück) has been the exclusive distributor for the Israeli agricultural tyre manufacturer Alliance in Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic since the beginning of July. With this step Bohnenkamp intends to underline its leading position in the distribution of imported tyres. The company has been chosen by Alliance due to its elaborate distribution network and flexible logistics. Alliance offers more than 500 different sizes in the agricultural, MPT-, EM- and industrial tyres sectors and presents – in the neighbourhood of Bohnenkamp – a completely renewed product range with many new profiles and dimensions.
Continue ReadingTie-Up Between Titan And Case New Holland
In the USA, Titan tyres and wheels will be available from any of the thousands of Case New Holland dealers. CNH is the second largest North American company in farm equipment sales. Titans aim is to generate an additional $100 million of business over the next few years and the offer may be extended to other equipment dealers.
Continue ReadingTravel Ban At Continental
Employees of the business unit Continental International are being encouraged to travel less and to hold more video conferences instead. It is understandable that travel in dangerous regions or countries is not advisable, but the complete travelling prohibition is just justified by the need to save money. The complete business unit is highly insecure and seems to be on the point of collapsing. In any case the directory board has made it clear that acquisitions in the Asian region are no longer to be considered and that the restructuring process has only just started. By this means the advances made in past years have been wiped out.
Continue ReadingLight At The End Of The Tunnel For Firestone?
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has taken a major step forward in its efforts to draw a line under the tyre recall saga by hammering out a settlement to avoid lawsuits by US States. The company will pay $500,000 to each of the 50 states and to the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. BF Inc. will also spend $5 million on a consumer education campaign and a further $10 million for the states legal costs. Up to another $10 million could be spent reimbursing those motorists who have not yet replaced their tyres. Total costs could reach $51.5 million (57.5 Million Euro).
Continue ReadingTruck Racing Loses Its Sponsor Continental
Continental wants to guarantee the supply of race tyres for the Truck Racing Championship next season. However, the sponsorship activities will be finished at the end of this season. This cost saving activity is justified with the promise of other accents on marketing, by which fleet managers can be targeted more efficiently.
Continue ReadingSecond ContiTech Fluid Joint Venture in China
ContiTechFluid, the business unit of tyre producers subsidiary ContiTech, has recently purchased 51 percent of shares of Chinese hose producer Grand Ocean (Chang Chun). From January 2002 the 100 employees will produce parts for VW models Jetta and Bora and the Audi A6. The project in the north of China requires an investment by ContiTech of up to five million euro.
Continue ReadingCash Injection For Firestone From Parent
The Bridgestone Corporation is to inject $1.3 billion (1.46 bn Euro) into its North American subsidiary, which is expected to post a loss of $1.6 billion for this year. Debts currently stand at $2.7 billion and BF Inc. has suffered from costs involved in the closure of its Decatur plant, litigation costs and falling sales following the recall. It was announced that BF Inc. is to be reorganised under a holding company structure and Bridgestone President Shigeo Watanabe is optimistic that the company would soon return to profitability, saying that the company has become a leaner and more efficient organisation.
Continue ReadingConti’s Santa Claus Event in Scotland
It has become a tradition that the tyre producer Continental invites the press to a Santa Claus Event around the 6th of December each year, presenting a certain topic/issue about the market. Whereas the group had been international for a couple of years, Conti returned to the original concept of an only German speaking group in 2001. Last years topic was the development and construction of 4x4 winter tyres and the problems this presents in addressing the contradictions in the expectations of performance. In addition, an optimisation of existing test methods of 4x4 tyres off the road was discussed with the journalists. The event took place in the Scottish Highlands. One outcome: Tyre suggestions for 4x4 cars can only ever be just a compromise - even if on a high level. The tyre has to perform well off the road and on the road. Safety aspects have to be taken into consideration as well: braking, handling and high speed performance have to be convincing as well. In addition there is the strong goal-conflict between driving performance and rollover danger. To put it in a nutshell: The ideal tyre that fits perfectly on every SUV for every use does not exist. This statement is as true as it is simple - and was demonstrated to the journalists group in the Highlands. The cars (Land Rover and M-Class) that had been equipped with Continentals 4x4WinterContact had to capitulate very soon in the muddy ground, because the tyres have been developed for different ground conditions. What makes it even more difficult for tyre producers is the fact, that there are insufficient testing standards for tyres on 4x4 cars. Tests are made either by the car industry of by the car magazines. Uniform procedures have not been developed yet. There can only be recommendations for the best case scenario.
Continue ReadingWaste Tyres: A Problem Or A Resource?
Waste tyres are a problem around the world. The prominence given to dealing with the problem varies, depending upon the local conditions. So, on searching for news on illegal tyre dumping, we will find it is accepted that tyre disposal is recognised as a problem in all the leading, or developed, economies. The USA, Britain, Germany, New Zealand and Australia amongst others, all have severe problems with disposing of waste tyres. In many third world countries there is less of a problem, possibly due to a lower level of use, to lower environmental awareness, and, partly to economic pressures in catching up on the developed world. In the race to catch up many developing nations feel they have the right to use the same freedom from environmental restrictions that were enjoyed in the developed nations during the first 200 years of the industrial revolution. It is difficult for them to look at the USA or Europe and see what we have lost and compare it to what they have yet to lose. It might be argued that the burden of dealing with the environmental problems in the developing nations is possibly a problem which ought to be carried by the leading economies, rather than by the embryonic economies around the world. Whoever carries the cost, we must surely recognise that the tyre industry has a duty to ensure that the products created have as efficient a life span as possible. The production and the ultimate destruction of the tyres created must also be as efficient and as least damaging to the environment as is feasible. Right now, the leading nations are taking steps to address the problem of waste tyres. The biggest single step is the ultimate banning in landfill of waste tyres. However, this in turn, creates other problems for the tyre industry. If we produce millions of waste tyres every year, they will all, one day, have to be disposed of. It is estimated that some 21% of these tyres currently get landfilled. They get landfilled because there are no other uses for these tyres. If there are no other uses and the tyres can no longer be landfilled, what do we do with them? Alternative uses for old tyres would indubitably be more beneficial and more economic in the long-term. The environmental lobbyists at Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace continually scream that recycling old tyres as retreads is a far better option than burying or burning. However, there are problems associated with that too. The obvious one is that there is an insufficient market for retreaded tyres. The industry could doubtless remanufacture as many tyres as it could get its hands on, but where are they going to be sold? Instead of having massive stockpiles of old tyres, we end up with massive stockpiles of retreaded tyres no-one wants to buy. And in todays Just-In-Time economy, no manufacturer wants to stockpile unwanted goods. So that is not a real solution to the problem. Then, again, there is the reality of retreading. That it is only extending the life of the tyre, and, at the end of the day, it will still need to be disposed of. Retreading could reduce the number of new tyres manufactured and extend the lifespan of a tyre carcass, reducing the demand for raw materials - which most would argue is a good thing. The producers of the raw materials in South East Asia and the oil producing companies might disagree. So we need to find other uses for the end product. Turn the waste tyre into a raw material which can be mined to create a new product. This is not a new idea, and there are a number of possibilities available. Each though has its own costs and benefits which must, in turn, be considered. Sometimes the obvious options turn out to be less acceptable than we might expect.
Continue ReadingTyres And Motor Sports
Of course, most media interest in respect of tyres in motor sports nowadays is in Formula 1. In this top discipline Bridgestone and Michelin are the rivals, even the phrase war of tyres has been coined. But there are also World Championships in Motor Cycle Sports, national competitions with an exclusive tyre supplier or different tyre manufacturers take place. Sometimes the engagement in motor sports may lead to technical progress for tyres, but in the first line it is an instrument of marketing.
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