JD Power Success For Michelin
For the fifth consecutive year Michelin has come top of the JD Power survey for satisfaction in passenger vehicle original equipment and top in the light truck OE tyre satisfaction league. The study has been based on reports from 33,700 consumers in their first three years on new vehicle ownership and reports on satisfaction with OE tyres. Michelin had the lowest percentage of owners reporting a tyre problem in the first year of ownership and more than 60 per cent of users said they would buy Michelin tyres as replacements. This is the highest level of repurchasing of any OE tyre brand.
Continue ReadingCo-operation On Tyres In Formula 1?
Press reports at the weekend suggest that Formula 1 team McLaren wants to pool R&D information on tyres with rival team Williams. Both teams run on Michelin tyres and McLaren MD Martin Whitmarsh believes that sharing information will serve both teams common interest in getting closer to Ferrari.
Continue ReadingToyota “Will Build Fifth Plant In US”
Toyota President Fujio Cho has said that the company will need to build a fifth factory in the US if things go as planned in North America. The company wants to sell two million vehicles annually in the US by 2005 and is aiming at a 15 per cent share of the US market by 2010 - its current share is almost 10 per cent. In addition to the four existing US plants, Toyota has a factory in Canada.
Continue ReadingLafarge To Burn Tyres At Hope
Lafarge has applied for permanent permission to burn tyres at its Hope plant in Derbyshire. The application follows a successful trial early in the year and the company already uses tyre chippings at its other plants at Cauldon, Westbury and Dunbar. Lafarge will be undertaking a major public relations and information exercise with local residents. Possibly the greatest cause for concern might be the possibility of increased traffic through the picturesque Hope Valley in the Peak National Park. However, the plant does have its own railhead and it may be possible to divert transport to the rail network from remote terminals.
Continue ReadingYokohama Sales Down, Profits Up
Global economic factors presented Yokohama with a difficult year in 2001. The market was stable in Europe but the slowdown in US growth limited market development. The strong Japanese private sector capital investment was countered by a sluggish consumer market. However Yokohama still increased sales in the domestic market, though this was offset by a strong Yen which affected exports. Net sales dropped by 1.1 per cent in 2001 to 387.9 billion Yen (3,1 bn Euro). Cost reductions and improvements in efficiency raised operating income by 4.2% to 19.8 billion Yen (168,7 million Euro).
Continue ReadingAll Superior Industry Plants To Be ISO 14001
Superior Industries International is expanding its commitment to customers, employees and the environment by ensuring that its production facilities are all certified to ISO 14001 within the next six months. Already, plants at Pittsburg, Kansas, Arkansas, Chihuahua, Mexico and Tatabanya, Hungary are registered to ISO 14001, other plants at Arkansas, California and Tennessee should also gain certification within six months. Executive Vice President, Steven J. Borick said, ISO 14001 certification underscores our commitment to quality and productivity, as well as to the quality of life of our employees and the communities in which we work.
Continue ReadingEU Approval of Grant To Continental
The European Union has approved grants given by the Portuguese government to Continental as an incentive to establish projects in Lousado, Portugal. The Swedish government had raised objections when Continental closed a production plant in Sweden (Gislaved) and transferred work to Portugal (Mabor). The EU reserves the right to re-examine the case if new evidence arises.
Continue ReadingFour Blimps Together
Goodyear is intending the first four blimp formation in forty years at Pittsburgh on the 6th September. The occasion will be the naming of the latest addition to the fleet, the Spirit Of America. It will be joined by, Eagle, Stars and Stripes and Spirit of Goodyear.
Continue ReadingBrodsky Bids For Alliance
Harvey Brodsky, best known for his involvement with Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB), has made a 50 million dollar bid to buy 51 per cent of Israel-based Alliance Tire Co. Alliance has issues a memorandum of understanding and the due diligence process is under way. At the conclusion of the due diligence period either party has the option to walk away from the proposal.
Continue ReadingAnalysts Downgrade Ford
UBS Warburg has downgraded Ford stocks from a Hold rating to Reduce, citing cash outflows for years to come due to a mixture of non-competitive operations and weakness in the pension fund. The analysts estimate that Ford will contribute $5-7 billion to the pension fund up to 2007, although they stress that, with cash reserves of 23 billion, there is no question of insolvency. The downgrading is in response to the belief that Ford requires a more stringent restructuring plan if it is to prosper, and the chances of such a plan being implemented are very small.
Continue ReadingTiger Wheels Grow
South African Tiger Wheels has benefited from a weak Rand pushing attributable earnings up by 63.3 per cent for the year to June. Revenue was up by 22 per cent and earnings by 49 per cent. According to the company the average euro-to-rand rate of R8.95 had most benefited the German-based division, ATS which became one of the main drivers for the growth in revenue. The company reported an improvement in production at its Babelegi plant in South Africa, increased production from the new Polish facility and the first phase of a new US wheel manufacturing facility at Auburn, Alabama was now under way. The US expansion has come about to meet the demand for wheel rims from DaimlerChrysler.
Continue ReadingCeat To Import Pirelli To India
Indian manufacturer Ceat Ltd has caused a stir by agreeing to outsource some 10,000 tyres per month from Pirelli. Recently Indian companies have sought to find cheaper alternative products by buying from other, lower cost markets but this move goes against the trend with Ceat importing higher cost, higher quality products from a world leading brand. The reasons are said to be to fill the gap left by the collapse of the Ceat - Goodyear JV to produce radials and to try and give the company a foothold in the growing radial tyre market without setting up another manufacturing operation in India. It may also offer a low risk opportunity to test the Indian markets capacity for high quality, high cost premium brand products. The outcome of the exercise may alter the nature of the Indian tyre market according to some commentators.
Continue ReadingChinese Auto Market Stalled
The Chinese automotive market, expected to be the largest growth market for the coming decade has so far not lived up to expectations. Vehicle manufacturers are prepared to meet the expected demand but Chinese finance regulations have not been adapted to allow lending to facilitate purchase of cars. Currently only 10 per cent of private purchases are financed in Chine compared to 75 per cent in the USA. According to General Motors sales dont start rising until financing packages are available from the manufacturers. Currently finance is only available from the rapidly expanding Chinese banks where automotive finance business has grown by over 50 per cent per year for the past three years.
Continue ReadingSouth African Waste Tyre Legislation Delay
South Africa produces 90,000 tonnes of waste tyres per year and currently only recycles 10 per cent. The country has one large tyre recycling company and some 10 smaller operations, with another 16 waiting to develop business when waste tyre legislation is developed. However, a white paper on waste expected in July has not yet been issued and the SA Tyre Recycling Process Company (a not-for-profit organisation hoping to establish itself as the governing body for the industry) reports that some landfill sites are already refusing to take tyres and others are charging up to 15 Rand (1,40 €) per tyre. The company suggests a collection fee, payable by the consumer, of 6 Rand (0,60 €), which will fund the recycling process collection and management. The subsidy is needed, say the company, because recycling operations need to receive the tyres at virtually no cost to be profitable.
Continue ReadingToyota Plans Assault On China
Toyota is launching a joint venture with First Automotive Works, Chinas biggest car manufacturer, to make luxury sedans, SUVs and cheaper, smaller cars in China for the local market. The target is to sell up to 400,000 vehicles a year by 2010 and an unconfirmed report suggests that the investment will total 1.29 billion Euros.
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