Gottfried Hess Becomes Goodyear Finance Boss In Germany
Gottfried (Geoff) Hess (58), up till now President of Goodyear Indonesia, is returning to Germany as head of finance for Goodyear and Dunlop in Germany.
Continue ReadingRecall Does Not Prove Firestone Liable Says Ono
Chief Executive of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc, Masatoshi Ono, has told lawyers that the tyre recall in the USA had been carried out for safety reasons and was not an admission that the tyres in question were defective in any way. Neither was his public apology in September an admission that B/F Inc was admitting any liability.
Continue Reading160,000 Tyres To Be Replaced By Continental
Continental General Tire will replace 160,000 Contitrac AS MXS tyres, size P245/75R16, of which 140,000 were mounted on Fords Lincoln Navigator and 20,000 were delivered into the aftermarket. The tyres were produced in the Mayfield factory (Kentucky/USA) between January 1997 and 11th week of 1998. In 62 cases faults have been revealed, some tyres have suffered tread separations in remarkably similar circumstances to the current recall of Firestone tyres: the incidents occurred in Saudi-Arabia, where Firestone tyres have been under scrutiny, and again a Ford vehicle – the Lincoln Navigator – was affected. Up till now it is known that two people have been hurt in accidents, which could have been caused by tyre defects. The Stock Exchange Responds Quickly To The Tyre Recall From Continental. Within a few hours, Conti-shares lost around 8 % of their value.
Continue ReadingJob Cuts At Tenneco Automotive USA
Tenneco Automotive, the manufacturer of Monroe shock absorbers and Walker exhaust systems, has laid off 285 salaried workers at four sites in the USA. The move follows a steep fall in operating profits and is part of a world-wide programme of up to 700 job cuts. Tenneco has 70 factories in 21 countries.
Continue ReadingSenate Approves New Powers to NHTSA
The US Senate, last night approved legislation prompted by the Bridgestone Firestone tyre recall. The new measures strengthen reporting requirements for automotive related manufacturers. The enforcement powers given to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration allow them to impose civil and criminal penalties for misleading the government about auto defects which result in death and injury. The maximum civil penalty for violations has been raised from $925,000 to $15M, and prison terms of up to 15 years have been prescribed, alongside fines of up to $100,000 for withholding information in cases where death occurs. The legislation instruct NHTSA to conduct tests into SUV safety and issue rules requiring the fitting of safety devices to warn drivers of underinflated tyres.
Continue ReadingDrive Up Help From Continental Teves
Brake specialist Continental Teves has developed an electronic system that takes over the function of the handbrake when driving up a hill or mountain. The drive up help will go into production in the year 2002 and functions as follows. When the driver has stopped the car and presses the clutch, the brake system automatically builds up the exact brake pressure needed in order to prevent the car from rolling back on a slope. When driving resumes, the electronic system measures the brake pressure and ensures a smooth start without any jerks.
Continue ReadingAndreas Scheiba Leaves Continental Group
Andreas Scheiba, co-managing director of the Groups equities Vergölst (Germany) and Profi (Austria) has left the group by mutual consent.
Continue ReadingAnd Now for Further Growth at Bridgestone/Firestone Germany!
High growth rates in the winter tyre business brought Bridgestone/Firestone a strong 1999 result. Turnover figures were further improved over the previous year, according to the management, with prestige products WT 12 and FW 930. To ensure this is not just a one-off success, a new high-performance low-profile tyre, the Bridgestone RE 040, already fitted as original equipment on the new BMW Z8, is to be introduced this spring. In the standard tyre segment the Firestone FH 590 is also expected to convert the company’s 2000 performance into figures. A new departmental structure has been introduced at Bad Homburg to increase work efficiency and customer friendliness. Some divisions, like distribution, logistics and data processing, have been more closely interlinked. In the last few years the OE share has grown considerably so that it now amounts to one third of sales. The independent tyre trade continues to be the basis of the company’s business activities but is supplemented by other distribution channels like cooperatives, regional chains and car franchise firms, whose special requirements are, above all, seen as an opportunity to gain more know-how and to sense the needs of the market even earlier. This year again the whole public relations effort of Bridgestone/Firestone Germany will very consciously be centred round motorsport and Formula One in particular. Previous experience has shown that the manufacturer and its trade partners have benefited from the resulting image transfer to the standard tyre range.
Continue ReadingWill Rubber Prices Climb?
After rubber prices fell to a 30-year low last year, analysts are expecting a significant turnaround. The reasons are increased demand, especially from the Japanese rubber industry, and reduced output from the main natural rubber producing countries.
Continue ReadingPreserving Precious Resources: Goodyear Presents Eagle NCT 5
The new Eagle NCT 5, introduced to the trade press at Goodyear’s own South of France test track in Mireval in mid-February, is a high-performance tyre in speed categories from H (up to 210 km/h) to Y (up to 300 km/h) with the emphasis on comfort. The manufacturer claims that the new type of tyre, immediately available in more than 20 sizes, is an improvement on its predecessor, the NCT 3 – sometimes to a very considerable extent – in braking on dry and wet roads or aquaplaning both in straight-line driving or cornering. The new product is aimed at an interesting growth market. 52 million tyres of speed index H and faster are currently sold in Europe per year, and this segment already covers 28 p.c. of the market (186 million tyres). The market share of high-performance tyres in Germany is about 35 p.c. at the moment, but still rising strongly. In the new NCT 5 Goodyear’s tyre developers had ecological qualities especially in mind. Compared with its predecessor the newly developed tyre can boast rolling resistance reduced by 20 p.c. and optimised tyre noise. In addition to the reduced rolling resistance which, according to the manufacturer, saves up to 5 p.c. in fuel, the NCT 5’s mileage is said to be improved by up to 25 p.c. In naming this new tyre Goodyear quite deliberately skipped the number 4, since the Far East, one of the target markets for the NCT 5, regards the number 4 as a symbol of impending disaster.
Continue ReadingDTM Go With Dunlop And ATS
DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen-Masters), the popular German racing series, will be revitalised this year. Dunlop is supplying all participating teams (Audi, Opel and Mercedes have confirmed their participation) with tyres. AMG-Mercedes teams, eight expected, will have wheels fitted by ATS.
Continue ReadingPopular as Ever – the Motorbike
The motorcycle industry started the millennium season on an optimistic note, when the MOTORRÄDER Fair at Dortmund opened on 1st March. Not only motorcycle manufacturers showed their new products for the year 2000, but on the total 409 stands in eight exhibition halls clothes, service and accessories were also represented. Figures produced by the German Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (IVM) confirm the abiding popularity of the motorised two-wheeler: The 187,192 new motorcycle registrations are equivalent to 6.4 p.c. growth over 1998. Not least among the accessories one must mention tyres – thus tyre manufacturers also had cause to rejoice. The industry was represented by Bridgestone, Cooper-Avon, Dunlop, Metzeler/Pirelli, Michelin and the Heidenau tyre factory showing their current products, but Continental was absent this time. Some old friends from the service sector had also turned up, among them several local companies but also Stinnes. Maybe old is not the right word for Stinnes. After its acquisition (together with Gummi Mayer) by the Danish Viborg group/the British Legal & General Ventures Ltd. the Stinnes/Mayer trade and service enterprises made their Fair début under the same corporate identity. News from the Dortmund show and more about motorbike related topics you can find in the April issue of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Continue ReadingTitan Tire Guilty In Trucker Death
Titan Tire (Iowa/USA) has been found responsible and fined for safety violations connected with an explosion at the Titan plant, in which a trucker was killed on Nov. 24,1999.
Continue ReadingSuperior Industries Wins Mitsubishi Business
Superior Industries (Van Nuys, Ca.) has taken on the Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America (Normal, Il.) as a new customer for cast aluminium wheels.
Continue ReadingGerman Car Producers Profit From Positive US-Market
Once more German Car Producers were successful in the USA becuase DaimlerChrysler, VW, Audi, BMW and Porsche have increased their shares of the worlds biggest car market in April. Leader in the growth rates is the VW-brand Audi with an increase of 43.7 p.c. The complete US car market grew 10.9 p.c. in April.
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