Good Figures For Peugeot
Sales for the French car manufacturer for 2000 were 19 per cent up on 1999 figures, reaching 2.82 million cars. The management is optimistic that it will manage another 6 per cent this year, increasing sales figures to 3 million vehicles. The additional sales will come from the launch of new models.
Continue ReadingDelay On Westbury Tyre-Burning Application
The Environment Agency has announced a delay on the decision whether or not to approve the application from Blue Circle Cement to burn tyres for fuel at the companys Westbury cement plant. A decision was expected on 21 February, but the EA says it is still considering matters raised during the consultation period. The EA says it will carry out a compliance audit at the site and new date has been set.
Continue ReadingExtreme Arctic Adventure And Test Of Character – “Fulda Challenge”
Sixteen, mostly young, people were participants in the first Fulda Challenge; a sporting competition held at the end of February in the North-west of Canada. Dog sled racing was only one discipline of the Challenge. Each member of the winning team receives a gold nugget worth 5,000 Canadian dollars. Driving is the most important discipline in the competition. Over 1,500 miles by car were covered by the participants in the ten days. The tour led straight across the North-west of Canada. With their jeeps, the competitors started in Whitehorse on the Yukon River, travelled to the old gold-prospecting town of Dawson City, up the Dempster Highway, and into the Arctic Circle. Along the way, various tasks awaited the participants. For example, the participants had to climb up a 20-m high ice wall in the dark, then master a ski slalom, or race through snow-covered forests and over frozen rivers on skidoos. The tour was jointly worked out and planned by Fulda, the rally driver, Jutta Kleinschmidt, the racing driver, Hans-Joachim Stuck, the Olympic skiing gold medallist, Markus Wasmeier, and the mountaineer, Olaf Reinstadler. The four celebrities accompanied the tour as well. And then in Tuktoyaktuk, everything came to an end – the American continent included. Only those who drive over the frozen Mackenzie River got to Tuk on the Arctic Ocean. Almost only Eskimos live in the town, which has 1,000 inhabitants and colourful wooden houses – a suitable backdrop for the igloo building competition. The inhabitants of Tuk were amused by the diligent Europeans who had taken over their village for several hours, and who, at minus 40 degrees Celsius, and dazzling sunshine, were stacking up lumps of snow to make wonky igloos.
Continue ReadingTalking Together – Stahlgruber’s “7th Round Table Reifentechnik”
At the end of April the seventh round-table conference concerning tyres and tyre technology organised by the Tip Top Stahlgruber company took place in Munich. This years 91 participants came from many, varied backgrounds: There were tyre dealers, retreaders, material suppliers, representatives of associations (ADAC, BRV, DEKRA, TUV etc.), scientists and representatives of the vehicle and tyre manufacturing industries. Some of the highlights of the event included Hans-Jürgen Drechsler, deputy managing director of the BRV (Association of Tyre Traders and Non-Industrial Vulcanisers), speaking about development trends in the German retreading industry, which is characterised by a fall in sales, specially in the passenger car tyre segment, and a consolidation process among the companies in that sector. Furthermore Drechsler gave an overview about the actual status of ECE regulations 108 and 109 and their transformation into national laws. Other topics concerned the efforts in reducing tyre-surface-noise, the wrong tyre pressure as one of the main causes for serious accidents and last but not least the presentation of various non destructive methods of tyre examination. Due to the fact that the organiser of the meeting shortened the list of speakers, there was much more time left for intensive discussions; something which was appreciated by the conference delegates.
Continue ReadingQuestionable Offer For Cooper Shares
Cooper Tire and Rubber has issued a warning about offers being made for company shares by TRC Capital Corporation. The company is trying to buy a small amount of Cooper stock at a price below market value. Investors assume the price offered is at a premium and accept, selling shares at below market value. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has been asked to review the offer for potential illegalities.
Continue ReadingPolish Move By Michelin
Michelin is moving to buy out minority shareholders in Polish tyre manufacturer Stomil Olsztyn with whom it was involved in a dispute. There are no plans to call a public bid for shares. Speculation in local press is that Michelin would like to offer around 29 zlotys per Stomil share – a 20% premium on Wednesdays closing price.
Continue Reading84% Drop In Pirelli Profits
Pirelli reported a first quarter fall in profits to 148m Euro, an 84% drop on the first quarter of 2000. The company stated that the slump was artificially large as Q1 2000 figures included proceeds from the sale of two cable companies to Cisco Systems. Profits before tax, however, are up, sales are up, and operating profit rose by 5.6% to 57 m Euro. Pirelli expects full year net profit to be at least in line with that of 2000.
Continue ReadingWet Weather Boosts Sales
Unseasonable wet weather has boosted sales of Goodyears Aquatread 3 passenger car tyre in North America. Sales of the wet weather tyre have risen by 30%, setting record sales levels for the premium tyre brand. Some nine out of ten users said they would buy the tyre again, setting new records in customer loyalty achievements.
Continue ReadingThousands Of Tonnes Of Tyres For Pyrolysis At Coalite
Coalite, the UK-based manufacturer of smokeless fuel, has gained a major variation to its Licence to Operate at Bolsover, Derbyshire. The company has modified its pyrolysis batteries to deal with tyres. The first battery comes into operation in September 2001. Within 18 months a total of six batteries will be in operation processing some 90,000 tonnes of tyres per annum, making it the largest single tyre recycling unit in Europe.
Continue ReadingDefect Investigation For Ameri*550
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that it is to open a defect investigation into the General Ameri*550 AS P235/70R16. The tyre is manufactured by Continental Tire North America and has been used as a replacement tyre for Firestone Wilderness ATs on Ford Explorers. The investigation follows initial research results show tread separation claims running at 124 per million. This exceeds the rates for any of the other tyres on the NHTSA list of tyres to be examined. The claims against the General Ameri*550 include seven crashes in which the tyre separation allegedly led to injuries. The NHTSA states that the defect investigation does not mean that it has determined these tyres to be unsafe, or to have a safety related defect. Simply that it warrants further investigation.
Continue ReadingSpokesman Required At Goodyear
Goodyear vice-president of global communications, John Perduyn, is to retire at 62 at the end of this year. The company has engaged Korn/Ferry International to search for a replacement spokesman. Internal candidates will be considered for the post which handles a wide range of tasks, from advising senior executives on how to communicate their messages to operating the Goodyear Blimp, not forgetting dealing with the media.
Continue ReadingMore Bad News For Ford
Ford has agreed to settle lawsuits alleging that faulty ignition switches cause vehicles to stall without warning while in use. The problem is said to affect millions of vehicles manufactured between 1983 and 1995. Press and analyst figures vary from 5 to 22 million vehicles. Some months ago, a Californian judge ordered a recall of up to 1.7 million vehicles in the state because of the problem. Ford denies any defect but has already settled a number of cases and the latest offer of settlement will mean replacing ignition switches on vehicles which have travelled less than 160,000 kilometres. The proposal will be reviewed by the judge and, if approved, analysts estimate that the cost to Ford could be up to $1 bn; a figure which Ford says is substantially overstated. Among the models affected are the Escort, Explorer and Taurus.
Continue ReadingEuropean E-Commerce Director For Goodyear
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has appointed George Rietbergen (37) as its European director of e-commerce. He comes to the tyre manufacturer from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, where his most recent post was director, e-commerce and commercial development.
Continue ReadingDT818 And DT824 Complete Goodyear’s Optitrac Product Family
Only a few weeks before the start of the Agritechnica fair, Goodyear presents its brand new Optitrac DT818 and Optitrac DT824 tyres – the latest additions to the Optitrac family of agricultural tyres, to which the super volume tyre DT830, introduced at the end of last year, also belongs. The DT818 is the familys super-wide tyre, created primarily for use on todays higher horsepower tractors with large implements. According to the tyre manufacturer, the DT824 is the perfect choice for very heavy machinery including harvesters and combines. Both tyres hold a much greater volume of air than standard-width tyres, and, because they are wider, have a much larger footprint. The weight is distributed over a greater surface area, reducing the pressure at any single point and minimising soil compaction which has negative effects on the plants‘ development. The DT818 and DT824 have also been designed for optimal traction in all types of weather. They feature deeper, more powerful curved lugs for greater draw-bar pull and broad square shoulders provide extra grip. The tread area between the lugs has been specially shaped for better self-cleaning of the tyres. During the presentation of the new tyres Serge Daleiden, responsible for the farm tyre division in Europe at Goodyear, mentioned that future developments in the farm tyre sector could possibly also include the companys BioTred technology. This is not a promise, just an idea, said Daleiden.
Continue ReadingTruck Tyre Production Ceases At Burnley
Michelin has announced the closure of its truck tyre plant at Burnley and an end of the production of steel cord at Stoke on Trent, with the loss of a total of 732 jobs. The closures are said to be due to the downturn in the US truck market. Burnley is to close in March 2002, steel cord production in September.
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