Goodyear Truck Force Full Service Supplier For Ewals
Ewals Cargo Care is a Dutch Fleet Company with around 2,000 trucks. Now the just in time specialist, which supplies parts to car manufacturers factories, has signed a contract whereby Goodyear Truck Force becomes the exclusive partner in tyre support and tyre service. In this way new tyre sales, retreading and (breakdown) service will be sourced from a single supplier.
Continue ReadingManagement Buy-Out At National Tyre Service And Viking
A double management buy-out of former Conti-owned tyre retailer National Tyre Service and wholesaler Viking International was announced today. The buy-outs, which were for an undisclosed sum, were led by Chairman and Chief Executive Alan Revie. The two companies will continue to trade as separate businesses, under the umbrella of a new holding company, Axle Group Holdings Limited. In addition to National and Viking, the group includes a property company.
Continue ReadingOE Contracts For Kumho
Kumho has announced that it will supply 200,000 tyres in 2002 for VWs new Polo. This follows another OE contract awarded last October, which saw the Korean manufacturer supply tyres for VW Beetles, produced at VWs factory in Mexico. Kumho says it will supply 250,000 tyres for the Beetle in 2002.
Continue ReadingLight At The End Of The Tunnel For Firestone?
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has taken a major step forward in its efforts to draw a line under the tyre recall saga by hammering out a settlement to avoid lawsuits by US States. The company will pay $500,000 to each of the 50 states and to the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. BF Inc. will also spend $5 million on a consumer education campaign and a further $10 million for the states legal costs. Up to another $10 million could be spent reimbursing those motorists who have not yet replaced their tyres. Total costs could reach $51.5 million (57.5 Million Euro).
Continue ReadingNew Member for SupplyOn
Siemens VDO Automotive is to join SupplyOn, the internet marketplace for the automotive supply industry. Among the other members are companies such as Bosch and Continental. SupplyOn represents a buying volume of around 35 billion Euro.
Continue ReadingNew V-Rated Winter Tyre From Vredestein Carries The Load
Vredestein has introduced the Wintrac V XL, a V-rated winter tyre that has the same load capacity as W, Y and Z-rated summer tyres. With few, if any, winter tyres available at these higher speed ratings, drivers have previously had to fit V-rated winter tyres with lower load-carrying capabilities. The Wintrac V XL will be available for this years winter tyre season.
Continue ReadingSecond ContiTech Fluid Joint Venture in China
ContiTechFluid, the business unit of tyre producers subsidiary ContiTech, has recently purchased 51 percent of shares of Chinese hose producer Grand Ocean (Chang Chun). From January 2002 the 100 employees will produce parts for VW models Jetta and Bora and the Audi A6. The project in the north of China requires an investment by ContiTech of up to five million euro.
Continue ReadingReorganisation In Store As Hayes Lemmerz Files For Chapter 11
Hayes Lemmerz, the wheel manufacturer that has been undergoing difficult times recently, has filed for restructuring under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The company is at pains to point out that it has not gone bankrupt, neither is it going out of business and that Chapter 11 is a court-supervised restructuring proceeding, not a liquidation proceeding. It also applies only to Hayes Lemmerzs own operations in the USA and that operations outside the country (except for one plant in Mexico) and joint ventures are not included. Declining market conditions and excessive debt were blamed for the action. Hayes Lemmerz shares fell to 52 cents at the news.
Continue ReadingInvestor Update From Goodyear
Goodyear has published its monthly investor update, giving brief details of the companys performance in various world markets. In North America in October, industry shipments of OE and replacement tyres fell. Goodyear made production cutbacks, which continued during November. European industry-wide replacement tyre shipments fell for both passenger and commercial and Goodyears sales followed this trend. For OE, Goodyear shipments of consumer tyres were up on last year while those of commercial tyres fell. In Eastern Europe, Goodyears shipments of OE and replacement tyres fell from October 2000 levels. Replacement shipments in Latin America fell and OE shipments rose, while in Asia, OE and replacement shipments both rose.
Continue ReadingLogistic Centre Opens In Poland For Debica
Jarro Kaplan, Goodyears President for Middle and Eastern Europe, Africa and the Near East, recently officially opened the new Debica logistic centre in Tarnow, Poland. The storage area is 30,000 square metres and the warehouse has 30 loading docks for trucks. 200 new jobs have been created and the investment is estimated at $12 million.
Continue ReadingAccreditation And Tax Credits For Tirex
Tirex, the Canadian company which has developed a cryogenic tyre recycling process, has been officially accredited as an authorised tyre recycler by the Provincial Government recycling agency, Recyc-Quebec. Tirex has also benefited from tax credits, totalling $Canadian 86,825 net.
Continue ReadingNew Polish Factory For Tenneco Automotive
Tenneco Automotive has officially opened a new factory in Gliwice, Poland, to supply shock absorbers to European-based vehicle manufacturers. The facility is 21,000 square metres in area and will make six million units annually by the year 2005, eventually employing 120 staff. Tenneco says that the $20 million investment is the latest stage in the companys strategy to expand in Eastern Europe.
Continue ReadingMulti-Million Investment For Pirelli UK Plant
Pirelli is to spend more than 11 million Pounds on extending its factory at Carlisle in the UK to manufacture tyres for 4WD vehicles. For some time, Carlisle has been Pirellis centre of excellence for SUV tyres and the factory produced 530,000 SUV tyres last year. The new investment will see this figure rise to 1.1 million next year and eventually to 1.6 million. 80 per cent of these will be exported to Europe and the USA. Carlisle also produces high performance tyres and total unit production at the plant will reach 4.25 million units in 2002.
Continue ReadingBuy-Out At Just Tyres
On 10th November it was announced that 38 Just Tyre outlets had been sold to a team which includes three Just Tyres managers. Major shareholder in the buy-out is Ian Grant, who was Chief Executive of the Just Tyres Holdings group. The purchase price was not revealed, but it is understood that around 100 jobs have been secured by the deal. The group called in the Administrative Receiver in mid-October and 40 Just Tyres outlets were closed immediately. A further 12 were closed last week, leaving the most profitable 38 depots in the chain. Ian Grant said he was encouraged by discussions with suppliers.
Continue ReadingRacing Agreement Between Michelin And Porsche
Michelin and Porsche have signed a partnership agreement with Porsche for the exclusive supply of racing tyres, effective from the first of January 2002. It concerns all Porsches competition activities, the national Porsche cups, plus the current and future official entries of Porsche Motorsport. The Porsche Super-Cup, which traditionally runs alongside several Formula 1 Grands-prix, including the Indianapolis GP, will henceforth be known as the Porsche Michelin Super-Cup. The German Porsche Carrera Cup will also be run under Michelin colours. Michelin, as the official partner, will be involved in all future motorsport development for Porsche.
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