Bridgestone Announces US Price Hike
Bridgestone is to join Goodyear, Continental, Michelin, Cooper, Pirelli, Yokohama and others in raising tyre prices in the USA to compensate for raw material price increases. Effective June 1st, Bridgestone tyre prices will rise 4%. Historically, Bridgestone has taken advantage of other manufacturers price increases in order to gain market share, so this latest announcement seems to indicate that this time the price rises will stick.
Continue ReadingLand Rover Sale Finally Agreed
The sale of Land Rover to Ford by BMW – a deal which was in doubt recently – has been finalised. BMW agreed to Fords stipulation that one third of the asking price of 3 bn Euros will not be paid until the year 2005.
Continue ReadingStahlgruber Forms Best Enterprise Alliance
Over the years the Stahlgruber group and its international subsidiaries has sold tens of thousands of items of capital equipment to the tyre industry. The company feels that consolidation in the equipment manufacturing industry has led to a narrowing of sourcing opportunities and a consequent adverse effect on price and customer choice. The answer was to form a ‘Best Enterprise Alliance’ in which a number of companies group together to form a product range, based on their individual areas of expertise. These companies are Stahlgruber, Butler (the Stahlgruber-owned manufacturer of tyre changers), Cemb, Hunter and Rotary Lifts. Butler will make a range of tyre changers, called Promont, and Cemb a range of wheel balancers, called Probalance, which will be exclusive to Stahlgruber and its subsidiaries. Hunter wheel alignment equipment and Rotary lifts will also be sold. Stahlgruber will continue to sell Butler tyre changers alongside the Promont range. Further information on what the alliance means to the companies involved, and of the ‘own name’ ranges of machines can be found in TYRES & ACCESSORIES 6/2000.
Continue ReadingMore Organosilanes From Degussa-Hüls
Degussa-Hüls AG is doubling capacity at one of its production plants in Antwerp, Belgium for sulphur-functionalised organosilanes. These rubber silanes are used as coupling components when precipitated silicas are used as fillers to reinforce rubber. Together with rubber silanes and rubber carbon blacks, precipitated silicas are the major component in Green Tyres which feature reduced rolling resistance and thus help to cut fuel consumption.
Continue ReadingBlimp Celebrates Its 75th Birthday
Even more so than the original symbol of tyre maker Goodyear – the Wingfoot – the Goodyear Blimp has become a corporate icon. In June 1925 the Pilgrim, first of what was to be hundreds of Blimps, was launched at Wingfoot Lake airship facility near Akron, still headquarters of the worlds # 1 in tyres.
Continue ReadingAll-Time Records For Superior
Superior Industries (Van Nuys/California), North Americas Leading oe supplier of aluminium wheels, announced record revenues of more than 331 m US-$ (+13.5%) and record net income to more than 40 m US-$ (+16.3%) after tax.
Continue ReadingTop Tyre In Test: ContiPremiumContact
The UK consumer motoring magazine Auto Express recently put ten tyre brands through a series of wet and dry braking and handling tests. Continentals PremiumContact came out on top, followed by the Vredestein Sportrac and Goodyears Eagle Ventura.
Continue ReadingFord Wants Faster Recall
Ford Chief Executive Jacques Nasser has described the news that the recall of Firestone tyres in the USA might take until next spring as unacceptable. Originally, the recall was scheduled to take until summer, but Bridgestone/Firestone announced the revised spring time scale this week. Production of Firestone tyres has doubled and imports have been increased to meet demand. Ford is said to be considering a number of ideas to quicken the recall, including providing rental vehicles for those who are anxious about the delay.
Continue ReadingNow Continental General Tire Responsible For 18 Deaths?
Tyre failures of the product General 52 S for the Ford Bronco are responsible for the deaths of 18 people, say lawyers in the USA who have filed a law suit against the Group. The lawyers also claim that Continental has deliberately covered up safety faults. Continental rejects all accusations and claims that it has cooperated fully with the NHTSA at all times.
Continue ReadingNo Improvements In Sight For Goodyear Group
Goodyear, together with Michelin, has benefited from the Firestone crisis, increasing turnover but not able to improve profits. Last year the company paid a dividend per share of US$ 1.41; in 1998 the figure was $4.43 per share. It is expected that this years dividend will be similar to last years. Perhaps the turnaround might happen next year.
Continue ReadingCutting Back Jobs At Cooper Tire
Cooper Tire & Rubber is cutting back on 1,100 jobs and scaling back, or shutting some 18 plants world-wide. Cutbacks at US plants in Michigan, North Carolina and Texas do not appear to affect tyre manufacture. Lay-offs at European plants have still to be confirmed and would be undertaken in consultation with employee representatives. The cutbacks come alongside announcements of record third quarter profits.
Continue ReadingReorganisation For Cooper Tire
The Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has reorganised its Tire Group, naming three divisional presidents. Mark Armstrong is president of the North American Tire Division. D. Richard Stephens is president of the International Tire Division and Larry Enders is president, Commercial Products Division.
Continue ReadingNew Technical Centre Building For Bridgestone in Tokyo
Bridgestone Corporation celebrated the completion of a major addition to its Tokyo Technical Centre on Monday, November 13th. The new building is part of a year-long series of events to mark Bridgestones 70th anniversary in March 2001. On hand for the completion ceremony were 56 Bridgestone executives, employees and guests, including Bridgestone President and Chief Executive Officer Yoichiro Kaizaki. The company has invested about 65 million Dollars in the project. The new Technical Centre Building stands eight stories tall and offers a floor space of around 34,000 square metres, bringing the total floor space at the Technical Centre to around 53,000 square metres.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Supply Problems Continue
Goodyears fill rates in the USA remain low. Dealers are very unsatisfied and are making their opinions strongly known.
Continue ReadingStock Prices: Risers And Divers
In the fourth week of 2000 the share prices of the tyre manufacturers Bridgestone, Continental, Cooper and Goodyear have hit a 52 weeks low. In this week alone, Toyo Tyres fell 10%, Bridgestone 6% and Goodyear 5%. Just a week before Toyo had marked an increase of 12% while again Goodyear (-8%), Michelin (-8%) and Cooper (-8%) did not fare so well.
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