Ford And Scheele Take The Helm At Ford
To nobodys great surprise, Jacques Nasser has been replaced as Chief Executive of Ford, following losses, a dividend cut and the expensive wrangle over Firestone tyres and the Ford Explorer. William Clay Ford Jr. assumes the role of Chief Executive Officer and Sir Nick Scheele, until recently in charge of Fords European operations, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer.
Continue ReadingInsolvency Of ASS Reifen- und Autoservice
ASS Reifen- und Autoservice, which has depots in Hamburg, Hanover and Berlin, has been declared insolvent. It is said that the Dunlop group (Dunlop, Pneumant and the equity Holert Konz) is the biggest creditor.
Continue ReadingSmithfield Show 2000
The most important UK exhibition for agriculture, and thus for those supplying tyres in this sector, is the biennial Smithfield Show, held in November last year. TYRES & ACCESSORIES talked to the tyre companies at the show and their views are given in our review of the event. What can the tyre producer do to help the farming community? Are things as bad as they seem, or are there grounds for optimism?
Continue ReadingTemporary Closure Of Seven Vehicle Plants In North America
In an attempt to reduce vehicle stocks, Ford and General Motors have announced the temporary closure of seven factories in North America. GM is to close five plants (sited in Oklahoma City, Ontario, Michigan and Ohio) for a week, affecting over 14,000 workers. The two plants which Ford is to close temporarily manufacture vans and are situated in Ohio, employing 4,150 hourly workers.
Continue ReadingUK Version Of NASCAR To Use Goodyear Tyres
Goodyear has announced that its tyres will be the sole make in use in a form of motor sport new to the UK: ASCAR, or Anglo-American Stock Car Racing. This is based on the US-style stadium stock car racing, NASCAR, and will consist of a nine-race series, beginning later this year on a specially-built banked oval track in Northamptonshire, at Rockingham.
Continue Reading2000 Figures From Titan International
Titan International has announced net sales for the fourth quarter of $113.4m, down from the previous fourth quarter of $134.4m. Net sales for the year 2000 were $543.1m, compared to $588m for the previous year. The fourth quarter (2000) loss recorded was $8m, as against $6m for the same quarter 1999. The full year results showed a net income of 4.5m against a loss of $11.4m in the previous year.
Continue ReadingRubberNetwork Moves Forward
RubberNetwork.com, the electronic global purchasing marketplace set up by six tyre manufacturers, has taken a step forward. Transactions are due to begin in April and Bob Webster has been appointed as vice president of operations. A chief executive officer will be appointed at a later date. The organisation has also launched its own website.
Continue ReadingNew Face At Simex Europe
Raof Daud, Managing Director of Simex Europe, is leaving the company after almost nine years in the post. He is going to Lec Refrigeration (like Simex, a member of the Sime Darby group) in a senior sales capacity. Taking over at Simex Europe as General Manager is A. K. Lee, who was previously Export Manager, based in Malaysia.
Continue Reading“Technical Manual” From Fulda
A new edition of Fuldas Technical Manual has been introduced. Experts and end users will find a lot of information about all different types of tyres, about tyre technology and, last but not least, about legislation. The completely revised manual is available in English and German versions.
Continue ReadingPositive Result For Michelin’s Germany Subsidiary
Michelins German subsidiary has improved its results for 2000 in every aspect. Expectations have been more than fulfilled with an increase in turnover of 6.4 per cent to 1.75 billion Euro and a 70.2 per cent increase in profit to 57.8 million Euro. The Michelin Group as a whole has increased net earnings by 35 per cent to 438 million Euro (1999: 325 million Euro). The turnover of 15.4 billion Euro is around 11 per cent higher than the previous years figure of 13.88 billion Euro.
Continue ReadingSubsidiary 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.
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