Pirelli’s Truck Business In South America Not For Sale
Some weeks ago, Pirelli announced that it was to take control of Telecom Italia. At the same time, the company said that it would sell its truck tyre operations. Now there has been a partial climb down: truck tyre activities in South America are considered of strategic importance to the Group and are consequently not for sale.
Continue ReadingReceivership For Colway and Motorway
KPMG has been appointed as official receiver for Colway Tyres and Motorway tyres. Production at both firms has ceased and the assets of the firms are to be sold. Total output from the retreading operations amounted to some 1,000,000 tyres in the preceding year. The demise of the retreading operation will indubitably have an effect on the UK retread market, and potentially on the waste tyre problem.
Continue ReadingGerman Acquisition For Watts
Watts Industrial Tyres has strengthened its European operations by the acquisition of Kollenbach, of Rheinberg, Germany. Said Jean-Paul Mindermann, MD of Watts-Industrie Reifen: We had outgrown our own premises in Langenfeld and the Kollenbach acquisition has enabled us to double our operation in the Ruhr area.
Continue ReadingMexican Recall For Bridgestone/Firestone
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc is recalling 8,000 Wilderness LE tyres made in Mexico and fitted on GM SUVs because of adhesion problems. Around 150 tyres, made on April 24 last year, are affected, but one weeks production is being recalled to be on the safe side.
Continue ReadingNew Car Fleet Service From Stapleton’s
In the UK, wholesaler Stapletons Tyre Services has announced that it is to invest two million Pounds in an internet-linked network of service outlets, called Tyreserve, aimed at the car fleet market. Stapletons retail division (50 outlets) will be the first member and Tyreserve will begin trading next April. The new move has the full backing of Itochu, Stapletons parent company.
Continue ReadingInternet Usage Inefficient
According to research from Deloitte & Touche, businesses are not making the best use of Internet trading facilities. Most, they say, concentrate only on the supply chain element of their e-trading. According to the Deloitte & Touche report a full integration of the demand chain and supply chain, from basic supplier to consumer, offers greater shareholder value, increasing profitability by up to 70 percent.
Continue ReadingNew Management Team At Pneumant
Gerd Stubenvoll (39), who has worked for Dunlop for ten years in different positions in the mid-European sales companies, has been named as managing director of Pneumant, with special responsibility for sales. Jeffrey Smith (53) has been appointed production director in Fürstenwalde. His predecessor, Alexander Bleider (42) is now responsible for production at the Luxembourg plant. Dr. Rainer Schieben (38), MD of Pneumant until last autumn, has, for some months, been responsible for sales as sales and marketing director for associated brands at Goodyears European HQ in Brussels.
Continue ReadingSubsidiary Company To Develop Nokian Intelligent Tyre Technology
Nokian has established a subsidiary company for commercialising and internationalising its recently-created intelligent tyre technology (ITT). The company is called RoadSnoop Ltd. and it will be responsible for the product development, production and marketing of ITT. Called the RoadSnoop Safety System, it consists of lightweight sensors installed in the tyres which monitor tyre pressures and temperatures. Should the pressure drop, the system sends an alert to the drivers mobile phone, in-car computer, or even to a separate display at a garage forecourt.
Continue ReadingISO 9002 For Firestone East Africa
In a ceremony in Kenya, Firestone East Africa was awarded ISO 9002 quality accreditation. A spokesman said that Firestone will invest heavily in Uganda and Tanzania to boost its market share. The company already claims a 50 per cent share of the Ugandan tyre market.
Continue ReadingVietnamese Rubber Producers Call For Export Limit
Vietnams rubber producers have called for a limit on exports of crude rubber. Exports to countries such as China have increased to the stage where the domestic rubber processing industry is facing a shortage of raw materials.
Continue Reading“Supplier of the Year” Award For Bosal From GM
Bosal has been named as a General Motors Supplier of the Year for its superior performance in quality, service, technology and price. 165 suppliers from 19 countries were named in total, and this is the fifth time that Bosal has won the award. The company supplies exhausts for a number of GM vehicles.
Continue ReadingConflict May Damage Stomil-Olsztyn
Ongoing rows between minority shareholders and main shareholder Michelin may have an adverse effect on company results for 2001. The company is already suffering from decreased demand, a weak Euro and rising raw materials costs. Benoit de la Breteche, president of Stomils board said This year is going to be a difficult one and we should focus on business.
Continue Reading35 Million Euro Revamp At Continental
Continental announced that the overhaul of its Belgian truck tyre plant at Herstal would cost 35 million Euro and result in a loss of 560 jobs. The workforce would be reduced to 200 and redundancy packages have been agreed this week. The saturated European truck tyre market had raised questions about the profitability of Herstal, which resulted in this restructuring. Truck tyre manufacture is being shifted to Eastern Europe where overheads are lower.
Continue ReadingNo Recommendation For Conti Shares At The Moment
Analysts regard the price of Conti shares as relatively cheap, at 16.5 Euro. On the other hand, prospects for the group do not look very good; Continentals Letter to Investors revealed that results in Europe for the first quarter of the year were better than expected. However, the situation for Conti General in the USA is very difficult, with results much worse than forecast and with little prospect of improvement. The plan to sell off the profitable Conti-Tech division will probably have a negative impact on the share price, analysts also believe.
Continue ReadingSUVs Come Under Fire In The USA
It is not only the Ford Explorer that might show a tendency to rollover in critical situations; the US Consumer Report has revealed through its own tests that the Mitsubishi Mondero (known in Europe as the Pajero) shows a tendency to lift two wheels in critical situations. That, according to the magazine, is not acceptable and is a safety problem. Mitsubishi denies that there is any safety problem at all.
Continue Reading
