Scrap Tyre Disposal
The subject of scrap tyres is one which continues to exercise the minds of all sectors of the tyre industry and, with a ban on landfilling of tyres imminent, alternative methods of disposal are being urgently sought. The UK Government has produced a number of reports on the subject and these are looked into as part of our feature on scrap tyre disposal. Also included are details of possible disposal methods and machinery as well as latest news on the subject, for example the temporary closure and planned refurbishment of the SITA tyres-to-energy power station in the Midlands. Those disposing of tyres are under increasing pressure; not only to find new outlets to take scrap, but also from steep rises in overheads such as fuel. The problem of scrap tyres affects the industry from top to bottom and most observers expect the Government to introduce some method of producer responsibility if the industry does not come up with its own solution in the near future.
Continue ReadingJoint Venture ContiTech Air Spring Systems And Dae Won Kang
ContiTech Air Spring Systems, a business unit of Continental AGs ContiTech group, announced a Letter of Intent for founding a joint venture company with South Korean company Dae Won Kang to build up a plant for producing complete air spring systems. Dae Won Kangs market share in this field in Korea is nearly 100 per cent.
Continue ReadingFord “Has No Plans To Drop Firestone”
Jason Vines, Ford Vice President, has said that the company has no plans to drop Firestone as a tyre supplier, although the relationship will be reviewed on a day-to-day basis. Fords new Explorer 2002 SUV (on the market next year) will be fitted with Firestone tyres, but tyres from another manufacturer, thought to be Michelin, will also be offered.
Continue ReadingTop-Executive Succession At Continental AG
Dr. Wolfgang Ziebarth (50), former member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, will be appointed to the companys Executive Board with effect from October 1st, 2000. In December, Dr. Ziebarth is to assume responsibility for the Continental Automotive Systems Group, thus succeeding Hans Albert Beller (62) who is to begin his planned retirement after building up the unit for the past seven years.
Continue ReadingDividend of 30 Cents Per Goodyear Share
Directors of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. have declared a quarterly dividend of 30 cents per share. The dividend is payable December 15, to shareholders of record on November 16. The payout represents an annual rate of $1.20 per share.
Continue ReadingMMP-Factory In Timisoara Opens
It was the biggest day in Timisoara since the revolution, and it will perhaps set off another – this time in the tyre industry. The new tyre production facility was opened 20th October by Continental president, Dr Kessel, and Romanian Prime Minister, Mugur Isarescu, the latter facing the possibility of losing office in the coming election. Amongst the 400 attending the opening were representatives from Continentals key suppliers and selected customers, as well as German and Romanian journalists. When the factory has reached its final stage it will produce 8 million car tyres a year, employing about 1,000 people. The article in November’s TYRES & ACCESSORIES shows that the factory tour revealed little new; we were shown assorted Japanese vulcanising equipment and ancillary machinery, but the state-of-the-art tyre construction machines were still under wraps. The iron curtain may have fallen, but for now there is a rubber curtain round the new technology at Timosoara.
Continue ReadingFirestone/Ford Issue Hits Courts
Lawyers from both plaintiffs and defendants argued in front of a panel of federal judges in Washington as they tried to decide how to deal with the 200 pending lawsuits. The judges will decide within two weeks whether to combine all the evidence and gather all the suits in one process. Ford, Firestone and lawyers for some plaintiffs argued for consolidation, saying it would simplify the process. Others say it might drag out the process unnecessarily. The multi-district panel hearing has caused the postponement of a hearing scheduled for 16th October. This latter case being sought by the Center for Auto Safety (Ralph Nadars organisation), seeks to widen the recall of Bridgestone/Firestone tyres. The alleged death toll has risen to 119, with injuries increasing to 500, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Continue Reading4×4 By Michelin
Michelin is to introduce two new off-road tyres. Prototypes were shown to the public for the first time at the Essen Motor-Show. The Diamaris is primarily designed for street use and will be available in sizes up to 20 inches. Synchrone has been developed mainly for off-road use.
Continue ReadingGroup In Crisis: Pacific Dunlop Ltd.
Pacific Dunlop itself is in deep water, but now also the daughter company South Pacific Tyres, which is a 50:50 joint-venture with Goodyear, going back almost 15 years, is itself experiencing big problems. The company will cut 495 of 1,865 jobs at its three Melbourne-plants and stop making truck tyres altogether. South Pacific Tyres will import 100 % of its truck tyre needs.
Continue ReadingNew Distribution Channels in the Tyre Trade
The tyre trade as we know it is fighting a defensive battle, finding it harder and harder to maintain its 60 p.c. market share of sales to the user. Not only car franchise firms with their recently acquired considerable strength give the tyre trade a hard time in competition, but new forms of distribution, which may be grouped together under the loose label Fast Fit, are on the advance. Many Volkswagen, Fiat, Ford (to name but a few marques) so-called contract dealers have had their contracts terminated and are looking for new means of earning a livelihood. These companies, mostly family-run, will not easily be displaced. They will specialise in marketing replacement parts complete with a competent and reasonably priced service. Fichtel & Sachs, a Mannesmann group subsidiary, offers a franchise system under the AutoCrew name, naturally also for the optimum marketing of its own products, shock absorbers. Bosch, the giant in the electrical field, is also looking for new openings for its service workshops. The objective is to gain marketing expertise in tyres by cooperation with Goodyear, with Bosch offering Goodyear’s tyre trade partners know-how in the automotive field in return. Specialist markets like ATU with their increasing importance in tyre marketing should not be overlooked either. In the nineteen nineties ATU grew from zero to the current number of 230 outlets throughout Germany, all of them with high turnover figures, i.e. each of them probably turning over well above 2.5 million euros. ATU founder Peter Unger’s appetite, however, is not nearly satisfied, the expansion will go on. The article in the January issue of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG describes the individual tyre marketers. It queries many things, asks many questions without being able or willing to provide the answers. Only one thing remains clear: To found a new company exclusively for tyre trading (including the services related to it) is dangerous. The chances of surviving a long start-up phase are regarded as relatively small. The gist of the article is this: In future we will see an ever increasing number of Fast Fitters making the bulk of their turnover with tyres, while Automobil, Bosch, AutoCrew and similarly derived Fast Fitters will focus mainly on other products, with tyres nevertheless generating a significant share of total turnover, somewhere between a quarter and a third.
Continue ReadingContinental To Introduce Short-Time Working
Due to the low demand for truck tyres, Continental is to introduce short time working at three factories in Austria, Belgium and Stöcken, in Germany. The 400-strong workforce at the Stöcken plant has been divided into two, with only one half working at a time on a two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off basis.
Continue ReadingLightest Wheels For Concept Car
General Motors recently introduced a Precept Technology Demonstration Vehicle at the Detroit Motor Show as part of the project PNGV (Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles) – a co-operation of American car makers, suppliers and the federal government. The concept car is fitted with the lightest 3.8 kg 16-inch fabricated aluminium wheels by Hayes Lemmerz.
Continue ReadingRenault Sales 2.29 Million In 1999
Renault car sales last year totalled 2.29 million; a 7.4% increase. The company also announced that, in the future, it will use Nissans production capacity outside Japan to produce and market Renault cars.
Continue ReadingDegussa-Hüls Invests Euro 80 Million
To boost market position Degussa-Hüls wants to invest Euro 80 million to expand the production of precipitated silicas at its factory in Wesseling/Germany. Silicas, along with rubber silanes and rubber carbon black, are important components in reducing the rolling resistance of tyres.
Continue ReadingScrap Tyre Open Forum
Around forty people from all sectors of the tyre industry, the waste collection industry and the trade press met in an open forum meeting to discuss the different aspects of the scrap tyre situation and to examine market trends. Among the topics on the agenda were retreading, recycling and re-use. Retreading in the UK (especially car tyre retreading) is going through what is probably its worst-ever period for sales. The situation at the forum was described as an environmental disaster by one delegate. Recycling suffers from a lack of investment; backers are scared off by the instability of prices in the scrap tyre collection market, at least at local level. Re-use brought up the subject of part-worn tyres, the UK market for which is estimated at around three million units. The futures for landfill engineering and energy recovery were also discussed at length. It was not only the various disposal methods that were under discussion – there were complaints about whether the playing field was as level as it should be and the Environment Agency was criticised by some for the length of time it took to evaluate test results. Possible future statutory control measures were discussed, particularly the fear that these might be imposed on the industry as a whole, or on one sector. Unless the industry can come up with an effective voluntary scheme, this was regarded as inevitable. More about this in TYRES & ACCESSORIES’s March issue.
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