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British retread tyre manufacturer Colway Tyres offers its customers the new “Formula Colway” range for market segments previously regarded as the domain of “second tier” replacement tyres – such as the fleet car and van sectors – of large new tyre manufacturers.
A year ago, there were rumours that Yokohama was seeking an alliance with Michelin. TYRES & ACCESSORIES recently visited the company and, in addition to factory and R&D facility visits, interviewed the President of Yokohama Rubber Company, Mr. Yasuo Tominaga. Mr. Tominaga spoke of the company’s wide-ranging restructuring plan and whether a company the size of Yokohama can survive alone in a global market dominated by the big three manufacturers.
At the beginning of May the Slovak tyre manufacturer Matador celebrated the 50th anniversary of the company. The rubber factory in Puchov continued the long tradition of the trademark, which started in Slovakia’s present capital, Bratislava, in 1905. In the thirties Matador tyres were already original equipment on all vehicles then produced in Czechoslovakia. In those days Matador’s market share in the CSR was more than 20 p.c. Building work at the Puchov factory started in 1947, and the first tyres left the new production facility three years later, on 1st May 1950. In 1953 restructuring of the Czechoslovak tyre industry took place. A new trademark was created: Barum, combining the three manufacturers Bata, Rubena and Matador. From then on the Puchov factory also produced under this brand name. After the partition of Czechoslovakia in 1993 the Barum brand was taken over by Continental. The Puchov factory, however, was not part of the deal and reverted to the old brand name Matador. Today Puchov exports more than 80 p.c. of its output under this registered trademark. The 1999 turnover of the group of companies was about 600 million DM, with the tyre activities claiming a 65 p.c. share. Investments amounted to almost 15 million DM, and 12 million DM was spent on the research and development sector. This year investments are scheduled to double. More financial resources will be directed towards sales support measures and marketing for a further improvement in market acceptance. Since January 1999 Matador has produced radial truck tyres in a production joint venture with Continental, but with the distribution of the tyres still handled separately by the two partners. In the course of an ambitious restructuring programme the Puchov factory is to be thoroughly modernised to become the largest radial truck tyre factory in Europe. Read more in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG 5/2000.
In the US, Goodyear has introduced the second in its Wingfoot line of tyres, designed for the cost-conscious customer. The Wingfoot DTR is a drive traction radial initially available in size 295/75 R22.5. Three more sizes – 11R22.5, 11R24.5 and 285/75 R24.5 – will be introduced this autumn. The DTR replaces the G124.
Goodyear reported a net loss for the third quarter of $6.6 million and a net income of $109.1 m (Q3 1999: $3.3 bn). High raw material and energy costs were contributory factors. World-wide Q3 sales were $3.5 bn and sales for the first nine months of the year were $10.5 bn (1999: $9.3 bn). Before these figures were revealed, analysts – following a statement towards the end of September by Samir Gibara, describing a “difficult outlook” for the tyre industry – had widely expected Goodyear to break even at best.
Cooper-Avon has announced that it will be making 80 staff employees redundant in Europe. Locations affected are the Melksham (UK) HQ and offices in Switzerland, France and Germany. The cuts are blamed on the high level of the Pound and large numbers of imported tyres from the Far East and have been made, says Cooper-Avon, to reduce costs and increase job security for the remaining 900+ employees.
Pirelli recently invited journalists and analysts to its factory at Bicocca, Milan in order to see first hand the company’s new manufacturing process MIRS (Modular Integrated Robotized System). MIRS reduces the steps in tyre manufacturing from 14 to 3 and a tyre can be produced every three minutes. Tyres are built round a special drum, with the instructions given to the robots (the process is totally automated) through a barcode. The tyres are said to be more uniform and consistent. As well as its speed and flexibility, MIRS has the advantage of compactness and a line capable of producing 125,000 tyres a year can be sited in an area of a mere 350 square metres. Pirelli Chief Executive Marco Tronchetti Provera said that Pirelli will invest 50 million Euro over the next three years in 80 MIRS lines, increasing output by ten million tyres a year. Two of these lines will be located at Pirelli’s Burton-on-Trent factory in the UK, concentrating on SUV and 4×4 tyres. Burton stopped making tyres in 1994 and the news is a welcome change for the UK tyre manufacturing industry. It is a large factory, and there is ample scope for more MIRS lines to be added in the future, should this be Pirelli’s strategy. The figures associated with MIRS are truly impressive; investment costs are lower than for traditional factories and the minimum economic batch size has been reduced from 3,200 units to 375. The time taken to change sizes comes down from 375 minutes to 20. Workforce productivity is increased by 80% and MIRS uses less energy than a ‘normal’ plant. The manpower needed is significantly reduced too – it is estimated that 850 staff will be needed to produce the proposed ten million tyres. There is one other figure which, in these days of competition and falling prices, is even more interesting – a MIRS tyre is 25% cheaper to produce than a conventional tyre.
Not many years ago the large tyre manufacturers still thought they had better make haste and claim a stake in the apparently huge markets of China and India, since life does not favour latecomers. Their enthusiasm was kindled by the example of some car manufacturers, which quickly calculated and estimated a gigantic (sales) potential in these two countries alone with their joint populations of two billion. Some car manufacturers learnt quickly that opportunities are not limitless. Tyre manufacturers fared similarly. Pirelli supplied China with some know-how, which was gratefully received but did not provide Pirelli with a strong base. Nor did the Italians make money out of the technology transfer. Conti’s big plans for India are hardly mentioned any more. The “Big Three” – Goodyear, Bridgestone and Michelin – are present in both countries, but business is quiet. In India, 29 manufacturers run 41 factories with a maximum capacity of about 43 million tyres, but only 34 million pieces were manufactured in 1997/98, most of them (73 p.c.) for trucks and buses. And 60 p.c. of passenger car tyres are still cross-ply tyres, 1998 has only seen 3,3 million radials in this segment. Our British sister magazine TYRES &ACCESSORIES reported on the Indian tyre market at length; we publish an excerpt in this issue in our December issue, including a brief presentation of some individual companies active in this market.
The Fürstenwalde production base of Pneumant Reifen GmbH is under threat in the long term, Dr. Rainer Schieben, Commercial Managing Director, announced at the Pneumant head office in Fürstenwalde at the beginning of September. As early as this autumn the company will draw winter tyres from the Japanese production for cost reasons, and part of the summer tyre production will also be transferred to Japan. And, according to Schieben, the new owner, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, has already cut the production planning for the year 2000 by 200,000 tyres, which cannot be without repercussions on investment and employment. Schieben gave too high energy costs at Fürstenwalde as the reason for the problems. The current price per megawatt hour for the process temperature is roughly three times higher than in similar factories of the Dunlop parent company in Germany. By international comparison within the Goodyear group the high energy price has become even less justifiable. Pneumant employs a workforce of 550 plus 40 apprentices at the Fürstenwalde production base. 325 people are employed at the company’s second factory in Riesa. The tyre manufacturer is one of the few former GDR companies to have survived successfully. Thanks to an investment volume of 250 million marks since 1996 by the Dunlop parent company Pneumant possesses the most modern production facilities in Europe. In the car tyre replacement market the company is the clear market leader in the new federal states.
The Vredestein NV group consists of five companies with activities in car, transporter, agricultural and industrial as well as bicycle tyres, boots for consumer markets and industrial applications, recycled rubber, compounds and sealing extrusions. The company employs about 2,200 people in total. The first half of 1999 developed according to forecast, with net profits increased to 600,000 euros – 200,000 euros more than in the first half of 1998. Consolidated net turnover yields rose by ten per cent from 98.1 million euros to 108 million euros, and during the period in question cash-flow was up by 1.1 million to 9.9 million euros. Vredestein Banden’s turnover increased during the first quarter due to the long winter and the resulting good opportunities for selling winter tyres. The first half year was characterised by the “Sportrac” introduction, a new tyre for the high speed sector (up to 240 km/h) developed in close conjunction with Guigiaro Design, the renowned Italian designer firm. Sales of the new Sportrac have exceeded expectations, according to the manufacturer. Several sizes are not yet available, so the impact of its introduction should be felt in full during the second half of 1999. In the agricultural tyre sector the recently launched AS radial (Traxion+) was well received. Industrial tyre sales developed positively. An important part of the Vredestein group’s annual result is traditionally achieved in the second half of the year, mainly due to the strong influence of Vredestein Banden’s winter tyre sales. Assuming that economic conditions remain stable in the most important European markets, the company is optimistic that it will once again be able to increase last year’s profit.
In its August issue NEUE REIFENZEITUNG reported that Pirelli had fallen behind with its plans for Germany, in parts by 20 p.c., and that the attraction of the Pirelli brand was on the wane, with price erosion as the consequence. Dr. Wentz, the Pirelli Reifenwerke boss, it was said, had to postpone his intended retirement, because G. Sala, his successor-designate, was unable to take up his post for health reasons. We also mentioned the possible return to Höchst of Dr. P. Masera as Pirelli Reifenwerke boss. Pirelli declared that Dr. Wentz would stay in office for several more years, and that there was no question of the Pirelli brand becoming less popular, rather the contrary. Results were good, we were told, Pirelli was doing very well in Germany and no redundancies were planned. One month later the head of the group, Tronchetti Provera, announced 2,800 job cuts for this year, 800 of them on the tyre side. In this context Milan made special mention of the significant price reduction in the winter tyre segment and in super-high-performance tyres, especially in the German market. In the meantime Dr. Masera has taken over as Chairman of the management. Dr. Wentz will leave Pirelli Reifenwerke by the end of the year but retain his seat on the board of Pirelli Deutschland AG and is also in line for a seat on the supervisory board.
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