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Carlisle Net Sales Increase in 2007

Carlisle Companies Incorporated reported net sales of US$675.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2007, an 11 per cent improvement over its fourth quarter 2006 net sales of $608.7 million. For the full year ended December 31, 2007, net sales were $2.88 billion, a 12 per cent increase over net sales of $2.56 billion in 2006. Organic growth of 7 per cent was driven by increased sales volumes across all reporting segments.

“2007 was another successful year for Carlisle with fourth quarter and full year sales growth in all of our segments,” commented company chairman, president and CEO David Roberts. “Our attention is now turned to the opportunities ahead. We have established a five year average sales growth target of 10 per cent and have set our sights on achieving a 15 per cent operating income margin by 2012. We plan to reach these goals through a combination of operating excellence and strategic growth.”

13th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo’s Domestic Retail Network Aims at Women

According to Apollo Tyres representatives, the recent opening of retail network partner National Tyres has effectively helped to position Apollo as a premium brand that “caters for brand and performance conscious passenger vehicle owners in the city of Patiala and the neighbouring markets.” Importantly, the ambience of the showroom also encourages a steady but growing number of women drivers to personally visit this store for a tyre change or recommendation.

According to the company, the initiative has been recognised in the form of a ‘gold award’ in the 2008 In-store Asia Visual Merchandising & Retail Signage Awards in the transportation category. The In-store Asia awards are the country’s most respected recognition in the booming Indian retailing and merchandising sectors. This is the first time that a tyre showroom has been given this coveted award.

11th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Fred Sutter Carlisle Tire Transportation Products President

David Roberts, Carlisle Companies’ chairman, president and CEO, has announced a series of “key management changes” that include the appointment of Fred Sutter as Group President of the firm’s Transportation Products division. Sutter joins Carlisle from Graco Inc. where he most recently served as Vice President and General Manager of the Applied Fluid Technologies Division. During his tenure at Graco, Sutter also served as Vice President of the Industrial and Automotive Equipment Divisions and as Vice President, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Sutter joined Graco from the Emerson Process Group, a division of Emerson Electric. Sutter holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

11th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

JK Tyre – Past, Present & Future

When JK Tyre & Industries vice-chairman and managing director Raghupati Singhania introduced truck radial tyres onto the Indian market in 1976, people questioned the sense of the decision. Yet more than three decades on JK Tyre has not only been vindicated through the widespread adoption of the technology by its competitors; today the manufacturer holds a 70 per cent market share in this segment.

Speaking with India’s Financial Express newspaper, Mr. Singhania expressed no doubt that decisions, such as that he made in the 1970s, are vital for a company’s well being. “That’s what leadership is all about. It may not be the popular view but you have to have your own understanding and judgment.” This understanding and judgement has aided JK Tyre during its occasionally bumpy journey from a small player with an annual capacity of 500,000 units 30 years ago to today’s tyre major with a presence in 75 national markets.

8th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Chicago Pneumatic Buys Japanese Tool Manufacturer

Chicago Pneumatic Vehicle Service Division recently acquired Tokyo based KTS Co. Ltd., a leading Japanese maker of handheld air tools for the vehicle service market. The agreement, which was signed in December 2007, further strengthens the presence of CPVS, and its range of tools and associated products to the automotive aftermarket sector, in Japan and Asia.

KTS’ product range includes Power Magnum branded tools as well as air tools sold under other OEM brands. KTS serves the second largest automobile market in the world, providing Chicago Pneumatic with a brand, sales force and manufacturing arm which will facilitate fast growth in Japan and throughout Asia.

8th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti – Low Cost Cars & Emerging Markets a Strong Growth Area

Continental’s chief technical officer has expressed confidence that the strong global demand in the low cost car segment for vehicles such as Tata’s Nano will lead to an expansion of the company’s research and development capacities in emerging markets. Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann commented during an interview with dpa news agency that Conti will substantially expand its R&D capacities in Asia and South America to meet the growth of low-cost car segments in these regions. The segments will be profitable, he believes, in spite of the obvious pressure to minimise production costs.

Increasingly, it is low cost vehicles in the emerging markets such as India, China and Russia that drives growth in the global vehicle industry, and Continental predicts that by 2017 around 14 million cars with a retail price below 10,000 euros will be sold each year.

7th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

CBp Carbon Acquires Global Ownership of Green Carbon Technology

The largest investor in recycled carbon black producer CBp Carbon Industries Inc. (CBp) has added a further US$20 million to its initial investment. This action comes at a time when the company is scaling up its development plans in Europe and setting up operations in North America and the Asia Pacific region. Capacity at the CBp facility in Hungary is to be more than trebled – from 3,000 to 10,000 tonnes, and the company reports that the roll out of a number of new plants, each with a capacity in the vicinity of 30,000 tonnes, is in progress.

7th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Fifth Azerbaijan Autoshow to be Held in March

The fifth annual Azerbaijan International Automotive Exhibition – Autoshow 2008, takes place between 13 and 16 March 2008 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Alongside it Autoparts 2008 will showcase the region’s aftermarket offerings. The event is organised by the British Company ITE Group PLC (www.ite-exhibtions.com) and it’s partner in the Caucasus – ITECA Caspian LLC (www.iteca.az). AutoShow 2008 presents the opportunity to meet the traders and representatives of business circles from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Iran and Central Asia. You can visit the official site at www.autoshow.az.

6th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Acquires Asian Retail Outlets

Bridgestone’s retail network in Asia has been boosted through the acquisition of operations in Thailand and Malaysia. Bridgestone Holdings (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (BSHT), a joint capital investment between Thai Bridgestone and a local partner, acquired Shell Autoserv (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (SAT) from the Shell Group on February 4. SAT owns 64 “Shell Autoserv” stores in the capital city Bangkok and in other locations throughout the country, an independent network providing car maintenance service including tyre and lubricant sales. In addition to the Thai transaction, Bridgestone also announced an agreement between Bridgestone Tyre Sales (Malaysia) SDN.BHD. (BSTM) and Shell Group for the BTSM acquisition of eight “Shell Autoserv” car maintenance stores in Malaysia.

4th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Performance Fibers Appoints New COO

Manufacturer of polyester fibre for the tyre industry, Performance Fibers, has named Alexander J. Carnevale to the position of vice president/chief operating officer to manage business operations worldwide, and Marc Sicre to lead the company’s European business. Mr. Carnevale’s role is a newly created position, formed at a time when the company reports it is continuing to experience ‘aggressive growth’.

The addition of the COO position to the global leadership team will, the company states, strengthen Performance Fibers’ organisational structure, which is centred around strong regional businesses in Europe, North America and Asia, supported by global functions. Under the new structure, the leaders of each of the three regions will report to Carnevale and maintain the company’s strong regional focus, while Carnevale will be responsible for developing a cohesive global plan for the company.

1st February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho US Plant a Step Towards Global Leadership

The president and chief executive of Kumho, Oh Sae-cheul, has described plans for his company’s $165 million factory in the US state of Georgia as being part of Kumho’s efforts to become a global tyre manufacturing leader. The signing ceremony for the new 123.6 acre facility took place on January 29, and was attended by Mr. Oh and Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue.

“With this plant in the United States, the world’s biggest tyre market, we want to save shipping costs to that market and to emerge as a global leader,” said Mr. Oh to South Korea’s JoongAng Daily newspaper. The establishment of a facility in the US marks Kumho’s first step out of Asia in terms of production; currently the company operates three facilities in China and one in Vietnam in addition to its three South Korean factories.

29th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Autopromotec 2009 Makes Indian Connection

Autopromotec 2009 has extended its publicity campaign to include new visits in Europe, America and Asia. Within the framework of a promotional mission supported by the Italian Government, and with the participation of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Commerce – Mrs Emma Bonino, Autopromotec’s organisers are running a workshop on the Italian automotive industry for Indian professionals and press. The event is scheduled to run in New Delhi on February 7, 2008 and is designed to promote the company’s 2009 event, which will take place 20-24 May.

25th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyrexpo Asia 2009 Opens for Business 6 Months Early

Tyrexpo Asia 2009 organiser, ECI International, has distributed more than 10,000 thousand brochures about the seventh staging of the popular tyre and equipment show. The exhibition will again take place in the Singapore Expo Centre, but the dates have been brought forward by six months to 24-26 March 2009. Traditionally held in September, the show has opted for the earlier dates to secure an exclusive slot in the increasingly-congested Asian exhibition calendar. The move is also designed to give exhibitors and visitors greater flexibility in scheduling their marketing and exhibition activity for the year. 45 per cent of exhibitors have already decided to appear again in 2009.

25th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone to Increase PCR Capacity in Thailand

Bridgestone Corporation has announced that its subsidiary in Thailand, Thai Bridgestone Co. Ltd., will boost capacity at its Nong Khae passenger car tyre facility. Daily production capacity will increase 6,000 units by the end of 2010, giving the plant a total daily capacity of 36,500 tyres. The pcr tyres produced at the Nong Khae plant, including UHP products, are sold on the domestic market and are also exported to other parts of Asia, Europe and North America. The increase in capacity will reportedly be mainly used to supply export markets.

21st January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess India to Begin Tyre Chemical Production in 2010

Specialty chemicals group Lanxess AG intends to invest 50 million euros in relocating production of rubber chemicals from Thane, in the Indian state of Maharastra to Jhagadia, in Gujarat. Production will begin in 2010 and will supply the rapidly growing Indian tyre market. Lanxess is the only western company to establish such operations in India.

Lanxess will employ about 250 people at the Jhagadia site during its first stage of expansion. The head office of Lanxess India Private Limited will, however, remain in Thane. Jhagadia will become the company’s second production site in India after Madurai in Tamil Nadu, southern India, and will be the larger of the two.

18th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors