Continental To Explain Bad 2001 On April 11th
Continental will hold a press conference on April 11th to explain its balance sheet and profit- and loss accounts for 2001, the year when the group suffered a loss of 258 million Euro, partly due to costs related to plant closures.
Continue ReadingVRG and Gummiwerke Fulda End Relationship
Gummiwerke Fulda has informed the third biggest cooperation in Germany, VRG, that it will terminate the contracts between the two of them. The tyre manufacturer is not satisfied with the situation, both in the past and at present, and believes that the relationship is not an equitable one, with VRG asking too much and offering too little.
Continue ReadingSafety Regulations For South Africa
South Africa is set to adopt UN safety regulations concerning vehicle components, such as lights, brakes and tyres. This will make it easier for South African companies to sell abroad, as well as making the roads safer. Transport Minister Dullah Omar told a conference that there was a need to educate the public and officials about proper tyre management. He also said that, although SA has no standard for the manufacture of tyres, this would be reviewed this year. The South African Bureau of Standards said that it wanted to assume a bigger role in regulating the tyre industry, as self-regulation by the industry has not worked so far.
Continue ReadingGoodyear: Good Or Bad News?
According to DB analyst R. Lache from NY, quoted in a business newspaper in the US, the problem for Goodyear at the moment is that the manufacturer has cut high discounts for 8 distributors, who are now reluctant to buy tyres from Goodyear, thus putting more pressure on the company. The good news is that Goodyear is sticking to higher prices. Despite the fact that the analyst is sticking to his 36 US$ expectation, he reduced the share from Strong Buy to Buy.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Shares In Free Fall
Due to the unexpectedly weak sales in the first two months, Goodyears share price yesterday fell by more than 9 per cent in a few hours. Analysts regard some of the problems as self-inflicted and reduced the share from Buy to Market Perform.
Continue ReadingYear To Date Performance From Goodyear
Goodyear has released details of the groups performance in various markets, for the year to date, to end February. Brief details are as follows: North American Tire: February industry shipments of consumer replacement tyres were 8 per cent up on last year. Goodyear shipments to dealers were flat, as some dealers pre-bought at the end of last year. Goodyear shipped 400,000 tyres as part of the Ford replacement programme. Industry shipments of commercial tyres were 14 per cent up on last years levels. Goodyears shipments were up, but not as high as the industry figure. Industry shipments of OE tyres were up 10 per cent for car tyres and down 17 per cent for commercial tyres. Goodyears unit shipments outperformed the industry. European Union: Consumer replacement tyres: industry shipments + 3 p.c. Goodyear shipments lower. Commercial replacement tyres: industry shipments - 6 p.c. Goodyear shipments reflect this figure. Consumer OE tyres: both industry and Goodyear shipments up. Commercial OE tyres: both industry and Goodyear shipments down. Eastern Europe: No segmentation available, but Goodyear replacement tyre sales were up, due mainly to market recoveries in South Africa and Turkey. Goodyear OE tyre sales were down slightly. Latin America: Goodyear replacement tyre sales down, mainly in Brazil and Argentina. OE sales were up. Currencies in Brazil and Mexico were revalued, but this was offset by devaluations in Argentina and Venezuela. Asia: Replacement tyre sales were up from last year, while OE unit sales were slightly down. Improved volumes in China and India helped improve operating margins over last year.
Continue ReadingFulda Will Not Be At Reifen 2002
After Michelin and Bridgestone, Gummiwerke Fulda is the latest company to announce that it will not be attending the Reifen 2002 show. Peter Hülzer, managing director of the German dealer association BRV, was extremely disappointed, saying that MD Hoffmann had told him two weeks ago that Gummiwerke Fulda would definitely participate. It seems to be unavoidable now that the Association, the dealers and manufacturers will come together to discuss the future of one of the best tyre shows in the world. For Reifen 2002 the impact seems to be limited, as according to press comments from the organisers, the show is more or less sold out.
Continue ReadingMichelin – Greater Than Expected Growth
Michelin has done quite well in the first two months with an increase in volume of about 4 per cent. Analysts hope that this growth has not led to an inventory build-up among dealers. All in all they see Michelin as the best company among the big tyre manufacturers.
Continue ReadingWorld’s Largest Tyre From Michelin
Michelin has produced what it claims is the worlds largest tyre. The new radial XDR 59/80 R63 has been developed in conjunction with Caterpillar for its new 797B, the largest truck in the world, designed for use in large surface mines and weighing more than 600 tons. The tyre is more than 13 feet high, nearly five feet wide and weighs more than five tons. The tread depth is 4.5 inches and the tyre can carry a load in excess of 100 tons.
Continue ReadingTyre Modelling Software Devised By Sumitomo
In conjunction with the Japan Research Institute, Sumitomo Rubber Industries has developed tyre modelling software for car manufacturers. It is based on SRIs existing DigiTire virtual design technology and features a simplified display that makes it simple to calculate properties such as tyre load.
Continue ReadingFire At Japanese Fibre Plant
Japanese chemical company Asahi Kasei Corp. suffered a fire at its synthetic fibre plant in Nobeoka, in the southwest of the country. Nobody was hurt, but 9,400 people were evacuated as a precaution against possible toxic fumes. The company supplies nylon resins to all Japans tyre manufacturers, but even though the factory will be out of commission for some considerable time, the effect on the tyre producers is expected to be limited, with manufacturers switching to other suppliers or, in the case of Bridgestone, to in-house production.
Continue ReadingVredestein Ultrac
Vredestein and Giugiaro have teamed up for a second time to produce a stylish ultra high performance car tyre - the Ultrac. This follows the success of the Giugiaro designed Sportrac, which encouraged Vredestein to ask the Italian design studio to work with them on their first venture into the UHP segment. The result is a variation on a theme, the now familiar extended deep vee tread pattern has been touched by natural influences and now follows a sweeping pattern taken from nature, using the veining of a leaf as inspiration. Many will wonder whether a tread pattern designed by a stylist is as effective as a tread pattern designed by a tyre technician, but by adopting the rule that form follows function, the result is a tyre which appears to perform as well as any of its UHP competitors. The real innovation though is in the compound and the building of the tyres. The Silica Silane compound turned the mixing process into a chemical reaction which had to be time and temperature controlled. Further, the tyre building required an accuracy offered only by new tyre building lines. Vredestein invested some 50 million Euro in production facilities for the Ultrac. It is a venture which leads the Dutch manufacturer into the burgeoning UHP sector, however, MD Rob Oudshoorn told NRZ, We dont consider this as a growth market, we see it as another opportunity to sell tyres.
Continue ReadingTire Pressure Control At CeBIT
IMST GmbH (Kamp-Lintfort/Germany) and Automotive Technology NOLEX AG (St. Motitz/Switzerland) claim its jointly developed Tire Pressure Control (TPC) system to be a highlight of its own booth at the CeBIT computer show in Hanover. According to IMST the system is the first equipment of this kind for passenger car and truck tyres with bi-directional communication. In contrast to the current systems this allows to read out directly the sensors inside the tyres, giving the opportunity to receive the actual pressure situation at a touch of a button – independently of automatic intervals. This new system is a one-antenna-only design, which can reduce the time needed for installation. Due to the special housing design with a variable docking to the valve the tyre module can – as IMST and NOLEX say – be used for every wheel form without mechanical adjustments. It is ready to operate world-wide by only small amendments. TPC also opens up the possibility to combine tyre pressure control with keyless entry with the pressure data transmitted to the remote control key when opening the car.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Employees Hold 22 Per Cent Of Stock
In conversation with analysts, Goodyear disclosed that it holds 35 million Goodyear shares in its 401 K Savings Plan, 20 million from salaried employees and 15 million from blue collar workers. This means that Goodyear employees hold 22 per cent of outstanding Goodyear stock. Some analysts, including those from Deutsche Bank, are sticking to their buy recommendation.
Continue ReadingCooper Predict Greater Than Expected Earnings
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company expects its earnings for the quarter ending 31st March, to be at least 50 percent higher than initially announced. This is directly due to the exceptional success of sales so far this year.
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