Stop Start Facility From Continental
Continental AG is to supply an integral flywheel, starter and alternator for General Motors full size hybrid pick-ups in 2004. The ring which replaces the flywheel, also replaces the vehicles starter and alternator allowing the hybrid petrol V8 and electric engine to have an effective stop start process. The system will stop the engine when the vehicle is stationary, saving up to 15 percent in fuel costs.
Continue ReadingSemperit Sport Grip With New Sipe-Technology
Continental’s subsidiary Semperit introduced its new winter-tyre Sport Grip for stronger motorised passenger cars to the press at the end of September in Austria. With its new sipe-technology called Add Traction and a corresponding profile structure, the new tyre has been designed to meet the most difficult driving conditions of the winter season. In addition, modern silica tread technology will guarantee a balanced handling up to speeds of 210 kilometres per hour. The Add Traction sipe consists of three parallel ordered straight sipe pieces which are angled in a z shape. In the immobile middle of the block they double the effective length of the grip edges, thus significantly increasing traction. The directional profile of the Sport Grip is also characterised by diagonal profile blocks and enlarged grip edges that optimise traction and side stability. Initially, the Sport Grip is available in 21 sizes from 185/65 R15 Q up to 225/50 R16 H, which represents a market coverage of about 83 percent.
Continue ReadingKelly On The Way Out
In Europe the Kelly brand will be removed as part of a plan to reduce the number of Goodyears brands in Europe. Kellys removal is expected to be followed by other brands (Sava, Debica), with appeal only in Eastern Europe. The decision to scrap Kelly comes only seven months after the brand was comprehensively relaunched in the UK at Tyrexpo Europe.
Continue ReadingEnhanced Warranty In Cooper Settlement Agreement
Cooper Tire and Rubber Company has filed tentative agreement to settle 32 lawsuits brought against the company in the past 10 months. This involves a five year plan offering free replacement tyres for all Cooper produced steel-belted radial tyres, made between 1985 and 2001, that suffered tread separations.
Continue ReadingNew President For The Swiss Tyre Dealer Association RVS
The Dr. Jürgen Gerster & Partner AG is no longer leading the association. Together with Mrs. Maggie Soder, he has been made an honourable member of the association. Gersters successors are Fischer & Sievi, a law and consulting firm.
Continue ReadingSmithfield Show 2000
The most important UK exhibition for agriculture, and thus for those supplying tyres in this sector, is the biennial Smithfield Show, held in November last year. TYRES & ACCESSORIES talked to the tyre companies at the show and their views are given in our review of the event. What can the tyre producer do to help the farming community? Are things as bad as they seem, or are there grounds for optimism?
Continue ReadingHeavy Fines For Scrap Tyre Abuse
In January, two men pleaded guilty at Worcester Magistrates court to charges relating to the illegal dumping of scrap tyres in a case brought by the Environment Agency. The two men were fined a total of £12,250 and ordered to pay costs of £5,500.
Continue ReadingNew Communications General Manager At Continental
Dr. Heimo Prokop (43), director of communication at VAW Aluminium AG (Bonn/Germany), is to become the new director of communication of the Continental Group, Hannover, beginning the new job on 1st April at the latest. He succeeds Peter Schwerdtmann, who has already left the tyre manufacturer. Prokops main task will be the internationalisation and intensification of the communication activities of the Continental Group, underlining that it has changed from a pure tyre producer to a company that also offers chassis management solutions.
Continue ReadingContract For Supply Of BMW Mini Wheels And Tyres Goes To Pirelli
In the UK, Pirelli Tyres Ltd has been awarded the contract to supply all wheel and tyre assemblies for the new BMW Mini. The project includes conventional and run-flat tyres from 15 to 17. The tyres and wheels are assembled at the companys Burton-on-Trent factory and transported to BMWs renovated plant at Oxford. Pirelli says that it will develop its own run-flat tyre for the contract, rather than use other manufacturers products, although different brands of conventional tyres will be supplied.
Continue ReadingMMS Annual Poll 2000/2001: German Tyre Retailers Have Missed Their Targets
In the German tyre retailing business, the mood has swung towards the negative side over the last year. This is the main result of an annual poll carried out by the Marketing + Management-Systeme (MMS) among 2,400 German tyre retailers. According to the MMS-report, 80 percent of tyre retailers have been disappointed in their economic expectations. Among the co-operation members this is even higher at 85 percent. The main reason for the depressed mood has been the disaster of the winter tyre business in 2000 and there is no sign of any compensation in the form of new business activities. For 80 percent of the companies questioned, their central goal is to improve their service quality during this year. One year ago 30 percent of the retailers had stated that their expectations had been more than fulfilled, for 49 percent the expectations had been fulfilled. This time there are just three percent for whom the expectations have been more than fulfilled and another 17 percent who had achieved their aims. The most serious problem is the high quantity of winter tyres in stock. They block the capacities for the coming summer tyre season and cost a lot of time and money. First calculations are that 28 percent of the winter tyres have been not sold, which means a volume of five million units. With an average worth of 85 DM this adds up to an amount of approximately 400 million DM up to 425 million DM.
Continue Reading2000 Was The Most Successful Business Year Ever For ContiTech
The ContiTech Group of the Hanover-based Continental AG closed 2000 as the most successful business year in its history and, for the first time, each of its business units posted a positive operating result. Compared to 1999, the company increased sales by 4.2 per cent to 1.79 billion Euro. In 2000 ContiTech generated 68 percent of sales with automotive manufacturers and 32 percent with industrial customers in the non-automotive sector. The operating result (EBIT) experienced a disproportionate increase of 6.8 per -cent to 139 million Euro.
Continue ReadingDespite Sales Growth, Continental’s Profit Drops Significantly
The Continental Group is reporting a turnover of 2.578 bn Euro, compared with 2.426 bn Euro for the first quarter of 2000, and EBIT figures fell from 135 to 106 million Euro. Despite the fact that the Automotive Systems business unit showed a large increase in turnover from 749 million Euro (Q1 2000) to 879 million Euro, EBIT came down from 29 to 26 million Euro. Only ContiTech – which is up for sale – reported more or less unchanged figures. ContiTechs turnover makes up 18.5 per cent of the groups turnover, but 42 per cent of the groups EBIT comes from ContiTech. The performance of the passenger car tyre division was quite good, with a growth in sales from 588 to 636 million Euro and an EBIT rising from 36 million Euro (Q1 2000) to 46 million Euro. The situation at General Tire North America, now named Continental North America, is dire. For the first quarter of last year, the company achieved an EBIT of 15 million Euro. For the same period this year, it reported a loss of 23 million Euro. At the moment, there are no signs of a turnaround for the tyre division in North America.
Continue ReadingRubber Parts Unit For Toyo
Toyo Tyre and Rubber Co has announced the establishment of a wholly owned US subsidiary. The $20million plant will begin manufacturing vibration resistant rubber auto parts by July 2002. The companys main outlets will be Japanese motor manufacturers operating in North America.
Continue ReadingWheels Division Of ArvinMeritor Honored
ArvinMeritor Wheels Division announced at its plant expansion ceremony in San Luis Potosi (Mexico) that it was named General Motors Supplier of the Year for its superior performance in quality, service, technology and price. The award was given during ceremonies Saturday, April 28 at the historic Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. This marks the 9th consecutive year the division has been honored with this prestigious award.
Continue ReadingRevised Earnings Forecast From Bridgestone Imminent
Bridgestone has said that it will hold a press conference today to give a revised earnings forecast and details of revised output plans for its US subsidiary. Last years results were hit by the Firestone recall, with group net profit falling 80 per cent. President Shigeo Watanabe is scheduled to attend the news conference.
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