CAS Sues Ford And Bridgestone
In the USA, the Center for Auto Safety (CAS), the consumer group founded by Ralph Nader, has filed a lawsuit against Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone to try to force the companies to replace all Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness tyres, irrespective of tyre size or place of manufacture. CAS says that the numbers involved would be at least double the current recall figure of 6.5 million tyres.
Continue ReadingAdministrative Receivers Appointed For Finelist PLC
Administrative Receivers have been appointed to Finelist plc and its trading subsidiaries, which includes Motorworld. Finelist produces motor components and has a turnover of 500 million Pounds. The company employs almost 5,500 people in 600 UK locations. The receivers hope to sell the business as a going concern.
Continue ReadingNew Radial Motorcycle Tyre From Continental
Continental has launched a new radial tyre for motorcycles, targeting the sport touring segment. The ContiForce is available in three sizes for the front and in eight sizes for the rear.
Continue ReadingNew Pressure Monitoring Agreement for Goodyear
Goodyear has developed an agreement with Phase IV Engineering of Boulder, Colorado aimed at fully developing a tyre pressure monitoring system. After the recent agreements with Michelin and Cycloid Systems this is the third such agreement Goodyear has completed. The long term aim of this strategy is not only to develop a fully operational system, but to extend Goodyear beyond the automotive tyre field.
Continue ReadingReorganisation For Cooper Tire
The Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has reorganised its Tire Group, naming three divisional presidents. Mark Armstrong is president of the North American Tire Division. D. Richard Stephens is president of the International Tire Division and Larry Enders is president, Commercial Products Division.
Continue ReadingNew Technical Centre Building For Bridgestone in Tokyo
Bridgestone Corporation celebrated the completion of a major addition to its Tokyo Technical Centre on Monday, November 13th. The new building is part of a year-long series of events to mark Bridgestones 70th anniversary in March 2001. On hand for the completion ceremony were 56 Bridgestone executives, employees and guests, including Bridgestone President and Chief Executive Officer Yoichiro Kaizaki. The company has invested about 65 million Dollars in the project. The new Technical Centre Building stands eight stories tall and offers a floor space of around 34,000 square metres, bringing the total floor space at the Technical Centre to around 53,000 square metres.
Continue ReadingPirelli Makes It Clear
In reply to an article in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG entitled Bremsspuren im Odenwald (Pirelli Shows Brake Lights in Germany) Dr. Wentz assured the Darmstädter Echo in an interview that the company was about to conclude an extraordinarily good 1999 business year and that there would be no personnel cuts. The correct version is: In the year 2000, Pirelli Germany (by which we mean Pirelli AG, Metzeler, Drahtcord and Pirelli Reifenwerke) will not be sacking 140 white collar workers, as previously reported, but only 45. On the other hand, Pirelli says it is going to employ 48 more blue-collar workers. These are the official figures from the office of Dr. Wentz, which we have no cause to doubt. Having said that, the numbers do not correspond with information that we have from other sources and they apply only to the year 2000. Further details will be given in future issues of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG. In October 1999, Pirelli chief Tronchetti Provera explained, against the background of falling profits, the need to reduce staff numbers in the Tyre Division by 800 in the year 1999.
Continue ReadingA New Name For Woosung
The Korean tyre manufacturer Woosung wants to change name and corporate identity. According to present information, this will be announced in Korea on 10th Febuary this year.
Continue ReadingNews from the Detroit Motor Show
DaimlerChrysler denied interest in acquiring a stake in or taking over Daewoo.
Continue ReadingCooper-Avon Adjust UK Production
Cooper-Avon Tyres has announced that it is to phase out the production of medium sized truck and bus tyres at its Melksham, UK plant. The company intends to concentrate on passenger, light truck, motorcycle and racing tyres.
Continue ReadingNew Record in Winter Tyres Sales
Never before so many winter tyres were sold in Germany. The dealers association BRV estimated 17 million units (= +15.3%) for 1999. Also the aftermarket in summer tyres was in plus (+0.9%) with 23 million in total.
Continue ReadingBad News For British OE Suppliers
The bad news for British oe suppliers continues. It is still uncertain what will happen to Rover Cars; Honda wants to cut production by more than 50 per cent, and there are rumours that Ford plans to close its Dagenham plant as a result of European overcapacity.
Continue ReadingChanges at ContiTech
The new Managing Director of ContiTech Vibration Control is Heinz-Gerhard Wente (49). Wente succeeds Dr. Volker Härtel, who has assumed new functions in Strategic Technology within the Continental group. The new Managing Director of ContiTech Power Transmission Systems is Konrad Müller (48). Also a member of the board of this division is Hans-Jürgen Duensing, formerly of ContiTech Conveyor Belt Systems.
Continue ReadingDr. von Grünberg To Become Member Of Telekom Supervisory Board
Dr. Hubertus von Grünberg will be elected as a member of the German Telekom Supervisory Board on 25 May. the former CEO and Chairman of Continental is already Chairman of Continental Supervisory Board and member of the Board at Allianz, MAN and holds similar positions at BHF-Bank, Dresdner Bank and Schindler Holding (Suisse).
Continue ReadingGood US Scrap Tyre Recovery Performance
Significant progress has been made in the management and disposal of scrap tyres in the USA, says Terry Noteboom, senior environmental engineer for Goodyear. Last year over 71% of the 272 million scrap tyres generated in the US was recovered, exceeding the recovery rates for aluminium, glass and paper.
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