Goodway Reports Full-Year 2008 Loss
Goodway Integrated Industries Bhd registered 12,559 million Malaysian ringgits of pre-tax loss in the year ended 31 December 2008, compared with 6,702 million ringgits of pre-tax profits in 2007. Chief operating officer Alison Wong Ping Kiong told Malaysian Insider: “It was difficult for us to pass down the cost to customers as the prices fluctuated so much that by the time we price in the extra cost, the rubber prices increased again and vice-versa.” Wong said 75 per cent of the company’s revenue were derived from rubber compound while the remaining 25 per cent came from tyre retreading focused in the local market.
Continue ReadingDunlop Adds New Sizes to Roadsmart Bike Tyre Range
Dunlop Motorcycle in the UK has announced that it has extended its popular Roadsmart tyre range. Created to meet the needs of all-weather, year-round riders on sports-touring, naked street bikes and supersport machines, the Roadsmart range has been extended to provide tyres for the increasingly popular large capacity trail bikes used for road riding. The tyre is now available in sizes 110/80 R19 (59V) and 150/70 R17 (69V) to be fitted on popular trail bikes for road use. Lisa Faulkner, motorcycle manager, UK and Ireland stated, “We’re very happy to be able to bring the Roadsmart range to even more riders. Large capacity trail bikes have become an increasingly popular choice for road use, Roadsmart is one of the best all round tyres and it was only natural that we would develop a tyre for these bikes.”
Continue ReadingToyo Reports 10 billion yen 2008 Net Loss
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. has announced a full-year 2008 net loss of 10,722 million yen (£72.87 million) on the back of what the company termed “extremely severe” management conditions. In its full-year 2007 results Toyo had reported net profits of 6,137 million yen (£41.7 million). Compared to 2007 net sales decreased to 328,371 million yen (down 8.1 per cent). Toyo’s tyre segment posted net sales of 242,009 million yen (£1.644 billion), a figure that fell at half the rate of the group as a whole, down £70.7 million yen or 4.1 per cent compared to 2007). Toyo’s tyre business reportedly accounts for 73.6 per cent of total sales. According to the company report, sales volumes and net sales of original equipment tyres for the domestic market fell drastically below the previous year’s level, due to the global recession, especially the sharp reduction of domestic car production in the fourth quarter of 2008. While the company’s North American branch experienced the same kind of dramatic decline seen across the whole market, in the European market sales volumes and net income were the same level as full-year 2007, partly due to sales expansion activities. Even more positively Middle Eastern and South East Asian market sales volumes and net sales “significantly exceeded” prior year levels. However, sales volumes were the same level as 2007 and net income fell below.
Continue ReadingPirelli Introduces Specialist Superbike Qualifying Tyre
Pirelli has developed a new “qualifying tyre” for the Italian track, with the specific aim of reducing lap times and enhancing the spectacle of Superpole action. The tyre will be given non-permanent white “long P” markings and yellow lines have been imprinted on the tyre’s surface, which will reveal the strategy of teams and riders to motor-racing fans looking on. Pirelli presented the new 200mm tyre at the first Italian round of the Superbike World Championship. It is unique to Monza, being equal in measurement, profile and structure to Pirelli’s race tyres for this circuit. Giorgio Barbier commented, “We continue to put forth significant efforts in developing additional tyre options available to every rider of the Superbike and Supersport grid, and we are satisfied with all the results, including this new qualifying tyre which guarantees more excitement and visibility into the strategies of each team during Superpole for all spectators, both live and on television.”
Continue ReadingDr. Klaus Mühlbäck Leaves Rösler Group
Rösler Group and sales and marketing vice president, Dr. Klaus Mühlbäck (35), went their separate ways in April. Mühlbäck had been with the Dortmund-based company since 1 March 2006 where he was responsible for acquiring potential new international Schelkmann licensees. Speaking to Tyres & Accessories’ German sister magazine, Neue Reifenzeitung, Paul Rösler senior stressed that the move was a separation by mutual agreement.” Dr. Klaus Mühlbäck, had until recently been studying for his doctorate at the University of Bratislava in Slovakia in the field of economics. Here he gained his doctorate with a thesis on the internationalization of small and medium-sized businesses. Now T&A understands that he will continue his career in teaching, although there aren’t yet any official details of where this will take place or in what capacity. Rösler group has not yet been decided on a successor for the vice president of sales and marketing.
Continue ReadingInfinity Commits to International Events
Infinity tyres, distributed in Europe by the Infinity Tyres Europe Limited, has given details of the company’s strong commitment to raising its profile through attendance at future international events. Infinity (alongside related brands) will shortly be exhibiting at both Autopromotec (Bologna, May 20-24) and Automechanika Middle East (Dubai, May 31 – June 2). In addition the company has already committed to exhibiting at Reifen 2010 in Essen, Germany. Infinity Tyres Europe will have substantial stands at each of the exhibitions and will be showcasing two new Infinity products in Bologna and Dubai. Infinity tyres are available through UK distributor, Bond International. Bond was formed in 1970 and has expanded its operations consistently over the last 40 years. The company now has four warehouses across the UK, with over 250,000 square feet of warehousing, half a million tyre capacity and a fleet of over 70 vehicles.
Continue ReadingPurcell Buys Goodyear OTR Retread Business
In the USA, Goodyear Tire & Rubber is exiting the OTR tyre retreading business, selling the assets of its operation to Purcell Tire & Rubber. Purcell plans to move the operations and equipment – located Salisbury, North Carolina, and Winona, Minnesota – to its Potosi, Missouri base. Purcell already has five retread plants in the western US and some 60 retrail and commercial tyre centers. “This should be a shot in the arm for our Missouri operations,” Purcell executive president Keith Butcher told the St Louis Business Journal. Goodyear will continue to operate its commercial truck tyre retreading operations. (Tire Review/Akron)
Continue ReadingConti, Marangoni Tie Up on Retread Plan
Under a new agreement, Marangoni Tread North America will produce custom pre-cure retreading stock for Continental Tire North America. The new ContiTread will features the same rubber compounding, tread designs and fuel-saving technologies as new Continental tyres, said CTNA, and will be available to fleets in the US and Canada. In addition, CTNA and Marangoni are working to establish “a total retreading business model” for dealers that will “include setups of retread operations with Marangoni equipment, and sales of the ContiTread products.” Marangoni will produce ContiTreads based on the Continental HDL Eco Plus and the HTL Eco Plus tyres, both of which are EPA SmartWay certified. Initially, the retread stock will be produced in Marangoni’s Ringtread technology; later, cut-to-length precure stock will be made available. (Tire Review/Akron)
Continue ReadingGoodyear ‘Poised for Significant Earnings Improvement’
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company reported first quarter 2009 sales of $3.5 billion, down from record sales of $4.9 billion in first quarter of 2008. However, Goodyear only reported net losses of $333 million, compared with Goodyear net income of $147 million (60 cents per share) in the 2008 quarter. While obviously significant the losses certainly weren’t as bad as they could have been for two reasons. Firstly, they were, according to financial news sources, ahead of mainstream analysts’ opinions; and secondly because the total losses are roughly equal to the increases in raw material costs the company experienced in the first quarter ($332 million, up 31 per cent). The explanation for greatly reduced turnover was said to be the tyre market’s sharply reduced demand at the start of 2009, however as various sources are predicting that the US market has bottomed-out and raw material prices are believed to have stabilised, Goodyear could be in for a better second half of 2009. This view is certainly supported by Deutsche Bank analysts who sent out an investor’s note along these lines a week after Goodyear’s results were published. Despite reporting losses of $333 million in the first quarter of 2009 Deustche Bank analysts predict a short to medium term improvement in Goodyear’s financial performance: “Subtracting $1.38 billion (around $36 a tyre) of raw material costs from Goodyear’s first quarter 2009 results, and $1.33 billion ($28 per tyre) of raw materials from Goodyear’s first quarter 2008 results, we noted that GT’s non-raw material costs of goods sold declined to $1.6 billion from $2.2 billion.”
Continue ReadingAvon Tyres Raises Money for Guide Dogs For The Blind
Avon Tyres helped to raise more than £200 for the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity recently by raffling off a set of ZZ3 high-performance tyres. The raffle was held via the National Tyres and Autocare (NTA) stand at a Yorkshire Water Health & Safety event. The set of ZZ3s was won by Mr Tim Wragg. Meanwhile, NTA account manager Terry Waite, presented Guide Dogs for the Blind branch organiser, Thelma Wilson, with a cheque for the £212 raised in the raffle. Avon Tyres national account manager, James Steventon, said: “We were very pleased to be able to help out such a worthwhile cause with the prize of the ZZ3 tyres. The charity helps some 21,000 blind and partially-sighted people experience true independence every year, and NTA has always done a sterling job selling Avon Tyres across the UK.”
Continue ReadingPirelli Launches 4×4 Dealer Award
Pirelli has introduced a 4x4 dealer of the Year Award which will judged businesses on key areas of 4x4 tyre customer service. Each 4x4 Key Dealer Club member will be “mystery shopped” once a quarter by an independent agency in order to ensure regular assessment of credentials. The announcement follows the launch of the Pirelli Performance Centre of the Year Award for Pirelli’s UHP focused network in 2006. Pirelli will announce the winner of the inaugural 4x4 Key Dealer of the year award in December. Pirelli established its 4x4 Key Dealer Club 11 years ago in response to demand from this unique segment of the tyre market. Initially consisting of four members, the network of 4x4 specialist dealers now stands at 14 members who cover 100 points of sale. All member companies offer end users specialist advice on 4x4 tyre related matters and are required to stock a range of key Pirelli 4x4 fitments.
Continue ReadingAutomechanika Thailand 2010 Postponed
The third Automechanika Thailand scheduled for March 2010 has been postponed, apparently due to Thailand’s political situation and the effect of the global financial crisis on the automotive market. Show organisers Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd and Ipex (International Promotion & Exhibition Co Ltd), announced the postponement on 8 May 2009 when Stephan Buurma, managing director of Messe Frankfurt Asia Holding Ltd said: “In light of the prolonged political circumstances and the slumping automotive market affected by the current economic climate, we have opted to postpone this show. We trust that it is the best solution to all parties concerned despite the fact that previous shows were well-received by the industry. We will monitor the situation closely and reschedule the show at a more appropriate time.” cja
Continue ReadingNokian Introduces ‘Truck F’ Dedicated Winter Steer Tyre
The Nokian Hakkapeliitta truck tyre family is being expanded through the introduction of the Hakkapeliitta Truck F, a truck and bus steer tyre designed for winter conditions. The Truck F extends the range that began with the Truck E drive tyre a year ago and enables users to equip their entire vehicle with tyres from the Hakkapeliitta line-up. According to Nokian, the development goal its designers applied was to introduce the world’s best winter steer tyre. The manufacturer reports that this multipurpose tyre comes into its own on medium to long-haul usage, and while it is at home on main arterial routes and motorways it can easily cope with winding, narrow roads.
Continue ReadingVolkswagen 1st European OEM Supplied by Hankook Hungary
Volkswagen has become the recipient of Hankook’s first-ever OE delivery to a European vehicle manufacturer from its Dunaujvaros factory. The supply of Hungarian produced tyres to Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge in Hanover, Germany is taking place under an agreement to fit the Hankook product as original equipment on Volkswagen’s Transporter, Caravelle, Multivan and California van models. Europes largest automobile manufacturer is kitting out the fifth generation of its “T5” van family with the size 215/65 R16C version of Hankook’s new Radial RA 28. Hankook describes the tyre to be fitted as a “specially balanced tyre perfectly suited to the variety of uses of such vehicles”, and notes it is exclusively supplied to Volkswagen in Germany.
Continue ReadingBridgestone Fundraisers Cycle for Transaid in Zambia
Acting on the company’s nomination of Transaid for Bridgestone’s charity of 2009, two avid cyclists from the tyre manufacturer’s Midlands base are gearing up to cycle 420 kilometres across Zambia. Graham Hooper and Gary Grove are undertaking the Transaid Cycle Zambia Challenge, which will see them tackling all terrains – including off-roading through traditional Zambian villages – to help raise awareness and vital funds for the charity’s projects across the country. The pair are hoping to raise £4,000 through donations from colleagues at Bridgestone, as well as family and friends, which will support Transaid’s work in Zambia, improving infrastructure and building local knowledge on the importance of road safety. In addition to the cycling challenge a number of other fundraising activities are to be organised by the firm throughout the year.
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