Cooper To Raise Prices In US
An item in our News In Brief for 13th March suggested that tyre prices in the USA would soon rise. Since then, the Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has announced price increases of between 2 and 5% for passenger and light truck tyres, effective mid-April. Increases in raw material costs were cited as the reason for the rise, which applies only to the US market.
Continue ReadingMichelin Germany: Record Investments but Reduction in Profits
In the 1999 business year Michelin Reifenwerke KGaA (workforce: 6,747) increased its turnover by 3.2 p.c. or approximately 100 million DM to 3.215 billion DM (1998: 3.115 billion DM). The largest part of total turnover was generated in the German market, where it rose by another 6.3 p.c. compared with the previous year to approximately 60 p.c. of total turnover. As a member of the international manufacturing combine, however, the German factory also supplies the distribution organisations of its European sister. In this Michelin Germany also showed a slight improvement. Total tyre production – measured in tonnes – rose by 2.6 p.c. Sales were up by 4.6 p.c. Michelin sold 8.8 p.c. more light truck and nine per cent more truck tyres in 1999. In winter car tyres in particular the company recorded significant sales growth over the previous year, partly due to the launch of the new products Michelin Alpin and Michelin Pilot Alpin. Our target for 1999 was the modernisation and enlargement of production capacity to improve our competitiveness, said Dr. Klaus Neb as spokesman for the management. In the course of last year the company invested a total of about 128 million DM in its five German factories and plans to make another significant investment this year in modernising and increasing capacity, especially in the truck tyre factories. Neb is convinced that these high investments will pay off. Although economic development will differ from country to country, we expect further growth in Europe for the year 2000. Read more in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG 5/2000.
Continue ReadingRonal Strengthens Aftermarket Business
Ronal is back in the aftermarket is the current message of the leading European aluminium wheel producer Ronal (Germany), who concentrated on oe business during recent years. With a complete program, availability and optimised market service, Ronal wants to return to its former strong position in the aftermarket.
Continue ReadingA New Factory For Marangoni Tyre
The May issue of TYRES & ACCESSORIES contains an interview with Andrea Vassura, managing director of Marangoni Tyre. Speaking at the launch of Marangoni’s extended range of high performance tyres, Mr. Vassura revealed that the company was planning to build a new factory with an annual capacity of 4.5 million tyres. The existing plant at Anagni, which can produce three million tyres a year, is currently running at 90% capacity. The site of the plant has yet to be decided but the choice seems to be between Southern Italy or somewhere in Eastern Europe. There are substantial grants on offer from the Italian government for those who invest in the area, but Mr. Vassura says that no decision will be made until later on in the Summer. Marangoni Tyre had been offered the Cisterna di Latina factory, recently shut down by Goodyear, but it did not meet the company’s requirements. As a profitable tyre manufacturer, would Marangoni Tyres make a tempting takeover target in these days of consolidation? Mr. Vassura has no fears about this, as the sheer size and diversity of the parent group offers sufficient protection, he believes. On the other hand, Marangoni Tyre is small enough to be flexible and allow Mr. Vassura to make decisions quickly.
Continue ReadingHigher Marketshare for Cooper Tire
Tyre business was better than expected for Cooper in the first quarter of 2000. Due to the Cooper management the company succeeded in entering into new business relationships with some huge companies in the USA. Doubtless the joint venture with Pirelli was helpful in this.
Continue ReadingNew President For Alliance
Zwika Meiri is to succeed Yinon Esroni as President of Alliance Tire Co. (Hadera/Israel) within the few next weeks.
Continue ReadingAnother Electronic Platform
Continental AG and Robert Bosch GmbH, together with a number of other companies, intend to create an electronic communication and transaction exchange. The reason is to simplify and speed up business transactions between automotive companies and their suppliers.
Continue ReadingLosses For Vredestein Group
After good a result for 1999, Vredestein NV has reported losses for the first half year in spite of satisfying results in the tyre business sector. The main reason for the bad figures was given as the consequences of an acquisition by subsidiary company Hevea, a producer of boots.
Continue ReadingAttorney General: Charges Justified In Recall Case?
US Attorney General, Janet Reno, is looking into whether or not Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone violated any civil or criminal laws in the way that complaints about allegedly faulty tyres were handled.
Continue ReadingFord Wants Faster Recall
Ford Chief Executive Jacques Nasser has described the news that the recall of Firestone tyres in the USA might take until next spring as unacceptable. Originally, the recall was scheduled to take until summer, but Bridgestone/Firestone announced the revised spring time scale this week. Production of Firestone tyres has doubled and imports have been increased to meet demand. Ford is said to be considering a number of ideas to quicken the recall, including providing rental vehicles for those who are anxious about the delay.
Continue ReadingExplorer Sales Unaffected For Now In The US
September sales figures for the Ford Explorer – the vehicle at the centre of the Firestone tyre recall – were higher than for the same month last year at 37,510 (37,119). Ford expects sales to drop over the next few months, due in part to the company ceasing vehicle manufacture temporarily in order to make more tyres available to the aftermarket.
Continue Reading“XL” Winter Tyre: The “ContiWinterContact TS 790 V”
In the context of summer passenger car tyres the V speed rating is a common application. However, in the last year V-rated winter tyres have also entered the market; a development that even quite recently was unthinkable. This year German tyre manufacturer Continental is launching a V-rated winter tyre – the ContiWinterContact TS 790 V XL. According to the press release it is the first true V-rated winter tyre, allowing for speeds of up to 240 kph. The XL stands for extra load, meaning that the new tyre has been developed with a higher load index than competitors products. This compensates for obligatory load reductions which usually mean a tyre with a normal load index is permitted to drive at up to 220 kph on a full load, or the wheel load has to be reduced by 9 % to allow it to run at 240 kph. With the higher load index on the Continental TS 790 V XL no compromise will be required, and the tyre may be run at 240 kph at full wheel load. The new tyre is available in ten sizes to cover 96 % of the market segment. Prices will be 11 % higher than the H-rated version of the TS 790. Find out more in the November issue of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Continue ReadingTelephone Jobs For Michelin Workers?
Former apprentice engineer with Michelin, now multi-millionaire businessman, John Caldwell, has pledged to try to find work within his mobile phone empire for the 950 Michelin workers facing the axe. Caldwell already employs 2,000 people in North Staffordshire and Crewe. He runs some 110 Phones 4U shops throughout the UK and has plans to take on 1,000 more people within the next year. The bulk of the new posts would be in communications positions.
Continue ReadingJoint Venture Between Michelin And Blue Circle
In the UK, Michelin and cement manufacturer Blue Circle Industries have set up a joint venture company to prepare scrap tyres for burning in BCIs cement kilns. Called Sapphire Energy Recovery, the company will prepare up to 200,000 tonnes of car and truck tyres a year for burning. BCI aims to make eventual energy savings of £6 million by replacing part of its coal and coke requirements with shredded tyres.
Continue ReadingThird Tyre Factory For Bridgestone In Thailand
Bridgestone has announced that it will build its third tyre factory in the Chonburi province, in the southeast of Thailand. They will produce radial truck tyres, about 90 per cent of which will be exported to European countries and to the USA. The plant will create about 1,000 jobs.
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