Shares In Bridgestone Fall Again
The bad news for Bridgestone continues, as shares in the company on the Tokyo stock exchange declined by another four percent. This means that the value of Bridgestone shares has been halved since the Firestone recall began.
Continue ReadingGhosn Stands By Bridgestone
President of Nissan Carlos Ghosn has said that the company will continue to use Bridgestone/Firestone as an original equipment tyre supplier.
Continue ReadingInternet And Tyre Dealers
Tomorrow already, today will be yesterday – there is hardly anything else coming so close to this fact than the internet. Whereas two years ago in Germany, the percentage of people being connected to the internet was around 9 per cent, this figure went up to 16 per cent in the last quarter of 1999 and achieved more than 20 per cent, i.e. 13.4 million online users by the end of March 2000. And, relying on market researchers, the peak is still far away. It is supposed that in Germany another 10 million people will use the internet by the end of the year. Thus, probably the number of people with particular homepages will continue to rise very quickly. Meanwhile, this fact has also got about in the tyre business, which can be underlined by the variety of companies who presented their websites on the REIFEN 2000 in Essen. Would it now be possible – after books, software and music – to download tyres, too? Of course, tyre dealers still have an advantage: there must always be someone for mounting the tyres. For certain reasons tyre dealers do not really want to get to like being in this position, as they often feel to be degraded to service operators. In this case, however, they should realize the opportunities of the internet for being able to distinguish themselves as service operators, although there is hardly anyone today, who can foresee the development of the tyre dealers’ business over the next five or ten years. Find out more in the November issue of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Continue ReadingExpert “Was Aware Of Firestone Problems In 1999”
A tyre expert hired by Bridgestone/Firestone has identified cracks in the belt skim – the rubber compound used to bond steel belts – as the cause of problems with some Firestone tyres. However, another tyre consultant, Rex Grogan, said that he told the company back in April 1999 that he had found the same problem. He blamed the use of inexperienced personnel working at the Decatur plant during a labour dispute.
Continue ReadingMAHA Acquires Slift
The German supplier of various items of equipment for the tyre shop, MAHA (Maschinenbau Haldenwang), has acquired lifting platform specialist Slift. With this acquisition, MAHA staff numbers increase to 1,000.
Continue ReadingPolish Opening For Kwik-Fit
In two weeks time, Kwik-Fit will open its first fast-fit centre in Warsaw, Poland. Another six, purpose-built centres are scheduled to be opened in Poland in the near future.
Continue ReadingKwik-Fit To Acquire Silver Shield Screens
Kwik-Fit is to buy Silver Shield Screens Ltd, the automotive glass repair and replacement company. Silver Shield has 57 branches and 225 company-owned and franchised mobile fitting vehicles, providing a 24-hour windscreen repair and replacement service. The purchase price was £6 million, with up to another £2 million, dependent on future events. Silver Shield is number three in its market, with annual sales of more than £20 million.
Continue ReadingFire At Michelin Warehouse
A fire started at a Michelin raw materials warehouse which is dedicated to Michelins largest plant at Clermont-Ferrand, where 5,000 people are employed.
Continue ReadingOE Contracts For Bridgestone
Nissan has chosen Bridgestone Potenza RE040 tyres for the limited edition (200 for sale in the UK only) R34 version of its Skyline GTR. The Skyline was the first production car to lap the 14-mile Nurburgring circuit in under eight minutes. Bridgestone has also been chosen as exclusive OE for the six-litre Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Coupe and Vantage Volante cars. The tyre in question is the Bridgestone S-02.
Continue ReadingDegussa-Hüls Price Increase
The worlds number two for carbon black with plants in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, Degussa-Hüls AG, is planning a price increase for this material necessary for the tyre production. In Europe Prices will rise 22 Euro/1.000 kg starting 15th March 2000.
Continue ReadingNew Power Plant To Be Installed At Michelin UK Plant
London-PowerGen CHP Ltd is to construct a new £40million combined heat and power (CHP) plant at Michelins UK manufacturing site in Stoke-on-Trent. The building of the site is viewed by Michelin as a vote of confidence in the plant, which is at present shredding 473 jobs from its 2700 workforce. It is anticipated that the CHP plant will be operational by the end of 2001 and will meet Michelins energy requirement for at least 15 years, under a long term energy supply agreement.
Continue ReadingMichelin Strengthens Commitment to Truck Tyre Retreading
In the hot cure field Michelin is the European market leader with its product Remix. Recamic, Michelin’s cold cure process six years in the making, is still eyed with curiosity.In Europe Michelin has been a strong competitor for many years and has a current market share in truck tyre retreading of 23 p.c., which it intends to raise to 30 p.c. by the year 2005.
Continue ReadingReifen-Köhrich becomes Bridgestone Partner
Reifen Köhrich, the dealer which has ten outlets in Berlin, has chosen to become Bridgestones partner in the First Stop programme. The contract runs for ten years and was signed 14th March.
Continue ReadingGood News At Last For UK Car Industry
After the recent run of bad news in the UK car industry, there was good news when Vauxhall announced it was to invest £189 m in its British manufacturing operation, creating an estimated 500 jobs.
Continue ReadingQuality Awards For Three Goodyear Facilities
Three Goodyear plants have become the first sites in the world to be certified under the new global ISO Technical Specification 16949. The plants are Fulda (Germany), Amiens (France) and the Luxembourg Technical Centre. TS 16949 is expected to be recognised as a standard by all car manufacturers worldwide.
Continue Reading
