Nanjing Automobile Corporation (Nanjing) has beaten competitor, Shangai Automotive (SAIC), and acquired the assets of the MG Rover from the administrator, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The news owner reports that it intends to revitalise the MG brand and create a range of vehicles from manufacturing centres in China and the UK.
The Aftermarket Show has signed up a number of new exhibitors say organisers, as the campaign to book potential exhibitors is intensified.
One of the new exhibitors includes Beissbarth UK. Managing director, Philip Hodges, said: “As a supplier of automotive service equipment to garage workshops, we believe that The Aftermarket Show is the ideal avenue for us to unveil and demonstrate our next-generation products to the garage and consumer.
“The event has some very exciting plans for its ongoing development and we are determined to play an active role in this, championing the cause for the garage equipment sector.”
Michelin has revealed that an eighth team has approached Michelin looking for a Formula supply agreement. Michelin stated that since its return to Formula One it has noticed an imbalance of teams requesting its tyres, with seven teams currently using its products.
With so much to gain, why is the service and repair industry not heeding the wake up call asks Beissbarth UK’s managing director Phillip Hodges. “This is the last chance saloon for those in the industry who are plainly not up to the job, and giving competent operators a bad name, “ added Mr Hodges. If the industry cannot regulate itself then government will do it and the smaller firms will sink without trace under the weight of the subsequent red tape. This is the final wake up call.”
Mr Hodges cites a litany of damning consumer research reports ignored by the industry, compounded by threats from the National Consumer Council (NCC) to make a super complaint’ about the service and repair sector to government ministers, which could result in an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.
(Akron/Tire Review) MEMA’s Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) has established the China Aftermarket Forum, a new discussion group for aftermarket executives heading their businesses’ Chinese operations. The China Aftermarket Forum will meet quarterly to discuss industry issues and solutions, share best practices and network with peers.
The future of MG Rover is likely to be decided in the next few days after Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation re-entered the bidding in partnership with a former Ford executive.
SAIC’s confirmation of a strategic collaboration with Magma, which is run by Martin Leach, a former Ford Europe boss, and Ed Sabisky, a former General Motors executive, came after the administrator (PricewaterhouseCoopers) had threatened to sign a deal with its Chinese rival, Nangjing Automobile Corporation.
Hayes Lemmerz Inci, Hayes Lemmerz International’s Manisa, Turkey operation, has received the 2004 Hyundai Assan Otomotiv Best Supplier Award. The award recognizes Hayes Lemmerz Inci for its quality, delivery, cost and customer service. At a special ceremony held recently in Izmit, Turkey, Hyundai Assan presented a total of three awards. Hayes Lemmerz Inci is a producer of steel wheels for the automotive industry for the international passenger car markets.
Trend Tracker Limited, the UK automotive research, consultancy and training firm established in 2004, has formed an exclusive alliance with German-based automotive aftermarket consultancy Wolk & Partner Car Consult GmbH.
This alliance, says the firm, will result in UK suppliers benefiting from: Access to market expertise on the German aftermarket; the availability of English-language reports on the German aftermarket; and the introduction of a range of web-based tools only previously available to companies in Germany.
Credential Environmental Limited (CEL), the tyre, automotive and special waste collector and reprocessor, has acquired Betta Special waste and Betta Environmental Solutions. The deal, details of which were not revealed, effectively doubles the size of CEL’s hazardous waste division.
(Akron/Tire Review) A new study by the Polk Center for Automotive Studies reveals that American consumers may not yet be sold on the idea of hybrid vehicles, despite fast-rising gas prices. The primary reason for their hesitation? Their feeling that there are added costs connected to hybrid technology.
As many as two million motorists in the UK are putting their lives at risk by never checking their tyre pressure or tread, according to a survey launched by the RAC foundation today. The warning comes at the start of “National Think Before You Drive Month”, which is launched by the RAC Foundation in association with the FIA Foundation, Bridgestone.
Shanxi-Phoenix Conveyor Belt Systems Co Ltd has launched a new production line in Changzhi, Shanxi province, China. Gerhard Lerch chairman of ContiTech AG, which has owned Phoenix since the end of 2004, inaugurated the new production facility for heavy-duty conveyor belts. The new line will be used to manufacture heavy-duty steel-cable conveyor belts for surface and underground mining. Belts produced at this facility are capable of satisfying extremely tough quality standards, and especially those required by the numerous coalmines. The belts will also be installed in storage and handling facilities at ports.
Monbat may not be a well known brand in the UK at the moment but according to the company all that is about to change. The brand has been driving sales across Europe and having signed a contract with Squadron Batteries earlier this year the UK is Monbat’s next target.
Partly owned by Texaco Chevron, Monbat has been manufacturing batteries for over 45 years. The company specialises in heavy duty, high specification batteries for rail and military applications, as well as manufacturing UPS batteries for the telecom industry. Its car and commercial vehicle batteries are produced in the same manufacturing facility and to the same quality standards says the battery manufacturer.
Continental is to supply the new BMW M5 Limousine and the M6 Coupé. The German automotive supplier will provide both its MK60 E5 brake system and ContiSportContact 2 tyres. “Once again, BMW is placing its trust in our know-how and expertise for its top sporty models, following the current M3 and M3 CSL models. We’re very pleased about this,” said Dr Karl-Thomas Neumann, president of Continental Automotive Systems and member of the Continental AG Executive Board.
(Akron/Tire Review) JD Power/LMC Automotive Forecasting Services predicts that new vehicles powered by hybrid electric or clean diesel engines will garner 11 per cent of US sales by 2012. Currently, such vehicles hold a 4.8 per cent market share, said the firm.
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