Quo Vadis, Continental?
The German manufacturer made a loss of more than 250 million Euro last year, due mainly to restructuring expenses. This means that the group is going to close tyre factories in Mexico as well as Austria, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. While the European Car tyre Division remained very successful, the same cannot be said for the Truck Tyre Division and the American tyre activities are also in deep water, facing big losses. On the other hand, the group has had to pay over 200 million Euro for the remaining 40 per cent of Temic, having purchased the first 60 per cent from DaimlerChrysler earlier last year, but Continental has been unable to sell ContiTech; nobody was willing to buy that part of the group, which the management believes is worth about 1 billion Euro. What are the choices facing Continental now? Will the group not be forced to sell General Tire and the Truck Division in order to focus on passenger car tyres and ContiTeves in the automotive field?
Continue ReadingPirelli Is On Track
In an interview with Neue Reifenzeitung, Dr. Francesco Gori, who is head of the tyre divisions worldwide, revealed that in 2001, Pirelli achieved almost the same turnover and EBIT figures as it had in 2000. In the future, Pirelli will invest more in passenger car tyres and less in the truck tyre business, but will not sell the Truck Division. Pirelli is successful with truck tyres mainly in southern Europe and Latin America. From July 1st, Pirelli will change the terms of its agreement with its alliance partner Cooper in the USA and will once again resume full responsibility for the Pirelli brand. In Europe, the company is optimising its structure, moving responsibilities increasingly towards its Milan headquarters, to oversee European operations as a single market.
Continue ReadingRe-Election Of Goodyear Directors
Goodyear shareholders have re-elected three directors to the companys board for three year terms. The three are: Sam Gibara (chairman and CEO), William J. Hudson (retires president and CEO of AMP Inc.) and Martin D. Walker (retired chairman and CEO of M.A.). Goodyear also declared a quarterly dividend of 12 cents per share.
Continue ReadingBullish Stance From Lampe
Speaking at a National Manufacturers Association conference in Nashville, John Lampe, chief executive of Bridgestone/Firestones US subsidiary, was extremely upbeat about the companys future. Im convinced we have emerged from the recall stronger than ever before he said, crediting the companys making it right information programme with the restoration of consumer confidence. Analysts say that planned restructuring and cash reserves should be sufficient to deal with any further problems arising from the recall and lead to profitability of all divisions. Lampe added that the company intends to build market share for both Bridgestone and Firestone brands with new products.
Continue ReadingName Change For Pacific Dunlop
Shareholders of Pacific Dunlop in Australia have voted to change the company name to Ansell Ltd. The name change is to reflect the organisations future focus on its protective products divisions.
Continue ReadingGround-Breaking Ceremony For Hyundai’s US Plant
Today sees the ground-breaking ceremony for Hyundais first car assembly plant in the USA. It is sited in Montgomery, Alabama and represents an investment of $1 billion. The factory on the 1,600 acre site will employ 2,000 people and produce 300,000 saloons and SUVs a year by 2005. Alabama offered incentives of over $252 million to attract Hyundai and the Korean company joins Honda and Toyota as foreign car companies with plants in the state.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Loses Big Customers Due To Kmart Insolvency
Mass-Merchandiser Kmart, one of the biggest competitors of US-Giant Wal-Mart, filed for chapter 11 some months ago, trying to restructure the group and avoid a total crash. Because of this crisis 563 Penske Auto-Service Centers closed last week. These centers were operated by Penske Auto Centers (PAC) at Kmart locations. PAC is owned 1/3 by Kmart and 2/3 by Penske corporation. Penske Auto Centers used to be the biggest independent tyre dealer in the US and was one of the important key-customers of the Goodyear-group.
Continue ReadingGoodyear: Annual Shareholder Meeting
This monday Goodyear holds its shareholder meeting in Akron/Ohio. In daily newspapers, as well as in business papers, complacent-sounding analysts are quoted, who point the finger at what Gibara has promised and failed to deliver in recent years. The loss of 203.6 million US-Dollars was not according to plan. The long term debt at 31st December 2001, at 3.1 bn US$, passed another milestone (2000: 2.4 billion US$). And it is known that the first quarter of this year also was disappointing. The analysts agree that there will be no improvements before the second half of the year.
Continue ReadingFirestone Truck Tyres Found To Be Okay
NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has closed an investigation into Firestones truck tyres STEELTEX, saying that there is no design- or manufacturing defect. Good news for a change for troubled Bridgestone/Firestone in the USA.
Continue ReadingCooper Earnings Exceed Expectations
The Cooper Tire & Rubber companys earnings per share for the first quarter of 2002 will be around 35 to 37 cents; significantly more than the previous estimate of 30 cents. This is due to an increase in market share and increased light vehicle production in North America. Full results will be published on April 18.
Continue ReadingRise In Turnover For Apollo Tyres
Indian tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres has reported an increase in turnover of 17 per cent for the twelve months ended March 31st. Revenue was 17 billion Rupees (394.9 m Euro), compared with 15.54 bn Rupees (360.9 m Euro) for the previous twelve months. Apollos shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange rose 7.27 per cent at the news.
Continue ReadingJudges Threatens Firestone Lawyers
A judge presiding over a Ford Explorer lawsuit, in which a student was left paralysed, has threatened lawyers acting for Firestone with a fine and a custodial sentence for deliberately causing a mistrial. The lawyers referred to the fact that the student bought a bag of marijuana before the accident, despite the fact that the judge had expressly forbidden any mention of the drug in case it prejudiced the jury. The judge has asked the lawyers to demonstrate why he should not fine them each $500 and impose six months in jail for knowingly violating a court order in an attempt to obtain a mistrial.
Continue ReadingConti: High Losses And No Dividend
Although Continental AG increased turnover in 2001 to 11.2 bn Euro (+11.1%), high losses of 257.6 million Euro have been announced. The reasons for the bad figures are restructuring costs (especially the closing of tyre factories), plus the business units Continental Tire North America (CTNA) and the Commercial Tyre Business are again in the red. The shareholders will not receive a dividend.
Continue ReadingContinental Refuses Offer For Traiskirchen
The Austrian industrialist Mirko Kovats has made an offer to Continental to acquire the Semperit factory in Traiskirchen. Kovats wanted to take over not only the plant for the symbolic price of 1 Euro, but also the tyre moulds and the rights to the brand. This was unacceptable from the outset for Continental and the Board could not take the offer seriously. It is now definite that more than 900 employees will lose their jobs. The ministry of economic affairs has announced the establishment of a foundation with capital of 21.3 million Euro for the Semperit employees, with 25 percent of this sum coming from Continental.
Continue Reading$17.9 Million For Nasser
Former Ford Chief Executive Officer Jacques Nasser received $17.9 million in compensation last year when he was replaced at the helm of the second-largest automaker amid losses and declining sales.
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