After a seven-year gap, Continental AG, Hanover, is back in Dax. On September 22 the international automotive supplier will return to the German’s stock market’s blue chip index. The announcement was made yesterday by the Deutsche Börse AG in Frankfurt/Main. Continental, a founding member of the index, thus becomes the first company in Dax’s fifteen-year history to stage a comeback into the circle of Germany’s 30 largest companies.
Whilst it was Digital data gathering that set the ball rolling for RL Automotive, today it caters for the tyre market’s every need.
RL Automotive is a far cry from the usual tyre parts supplier. Here is a business where, from the outset in 1998, technology was always going to be at its core. Unlike many opportunists who see the tyre industry as a market for their latest software packages, RL Automotive is much more directly linked to the tyre business and offers technology in such a way that even the most Luddite of mechanics (is that a contradiction in terms?) can understand the benefits.
It began with the understanding that the emphasis on tyre costs was moving away from the cheapest-to-buy policy, to the cheapest-to-run, cost-per-kilometre approach to tyres. The tyre management theory of extending tyre life through a proper monitoring and maintenance schedule is in itself nothing new, but it is something that can only truly be worked efficiently by using computers to analyse the data gathered.
With the advance of computer technology there is no difficulty in compiling statistics and generating maintenance schedules from the statistics. The problem lies in the gathering of the data. Amazingly, it is still being done manually onto bits of paper, often using “less than perfect” tread probes. The whole process leads to poor quality data on reams of paper that more often than not can not be analysed correctly. It is also a system which cannot function in wet weather!
Mark Longden, MD of RL Automotive, saw an opportunity to develop digital tyre reading equipment that made life simpler for the collector of the data. It also created a platform that can, with wireless technology, enter and then deliver data from the tyre depth gauge into the vehicle record back at base. Where relevant, this same information can then effortlessly be collated at Head Office and the information used in countless ways.
At the same time as developing this digital product range, the company has built up a mainstream Tyre Service Products distribution business by selecting high quality products from around the world.
Ten years of quiet growth have brought this Bradford firm to a leading position in the automotive equipment market.
Equipment Services is a Bradford-based garage equipment supplier specialising in the fast-fit sector. The business was founded in 1993 as a garage equipment service and maintenance operation. As the business developed the then partners decided that since there was a potential volume to be attained by the business they would make the move into selling equipment and latterly to become importers and sole distributors of garage equipment wherever the opportunity arose.
As the stature of the company grew so too did the service contracts, amongst which could be counted Charlie Browns, Chessington Tyres, F1 Auto Centres, Kwik-Fit and Nationwide Autocentres. The business grew on these contracts and in spring 2003, Equipment Services became a UK PLC. The company now has five directors, John Prout is the managing director, Carl Allenson the sales and marketing director responsible for all sales operations and marketing the company. Paul Duckworth the service director looks after the service operation and Andrew Marshall the field operations director is responsible for ongoing training, development and quality in the field. The financial director is B.S. Panesar whom has a wealth of business and financial knowledge has recently been named by Natwest entrepreneur of the year 2003.
In the space of five years Equipment Services has committed to volume and through its sole distribution contracts with Teco, tyre changers and wheel balancing equipment, Parise compressors and OMA vehicle lifts. The company offers a full equipment range under its own Equip brand and also has a full range of reconditioned and used garage equipment to meet all requirements.
The head office in Bradford has a fully fitted showroom and training centre with a comprehensive range of fully operational equipment always on display for both sales and training purposes.
Equipment Services also offer a range of service options on three main levels. There is a nationwide service division responding to call outs to service and repair equipment wherever it may be in the UK at the beck and call of the trade at large. Secondly there is a preventative maintenance division carrying out preventative maintenance work under contract, and thirdly there is the nationwide installation division that undertakes anything from installing a single tyre changer through to complete garage design and fitting out services.
Equipment Services also offer a comprehensive project management facility from initial measurements and drawings through to commissioning equipment. The company has a great deal of experience in working with the vehicle inspectorate and installing and calibrating equipment to VI standards and will readily undertake class 1,2,4,5 and 7 full MoT bay installation to turnkey standard.
TRW is introducing its second generation direct Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) for a major Japanese vehicle manufacturer on a 2004 model year application.TRW, in c-operation with Michelin, has developed the “EnTire Solution,” an advanced direct TPMS. The system delivers accurate readouts and has the ability to indicate what tire is under-inflated, front or rear, left or right, and offers other major benefits to the driver. Using predictive algorithms, the driver can be warned that there will be a low-pressure tire problem in the near future. This alerts the driver to take action before getting on a long stretch of motorway.
False alarms are another concern that can cause a true low-pressure warning to be ignored even by the most conscientious driver. TRW Automotive and Michelin have incorporated such advanced monitoring algorithms into the EnTire Solution TPMS that detect slow leaks, yet also account for driver habits and environmental conditions to reduce the occurrence of false warnings.
Continental’s 2Q results have exceeded the forecasts of industry experts.
Compared with 2Q 2002, turnover was down 3.4 per cent to 2.825 billion Euro
(2.925 bn), but operating income rose 11.3 per cent to 216 million Euro
(194 m). The group’s operating margin was 7.6 per cent and, while the car
tyre and truck tyre divisions were slightly below this (6.7 and 7.4 per
cent). ContiTech and Continental Automotive Systems achieved 8.5 and 9.0
peer cent respectively. Conti’s CFO Dr. Hippe was cautious about the
second half of the year, although he said that annual operating profits
could “considerably exceed” the stated target of 700 million Euro.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has reported results for the second quarter of the year. Net income was $13 million, compared with the all-time record earnings of $39 m for Q2 last year. Turnover was up slightly at $840 m ($836 m) and operating profit was $38 m. The Tire Group reported turnover up 4 per cent to $432 m ($414 m) while operating profit declined to $14 m from $37 m in Q2 2002. The high cost of raw materials was blamed. Overall, unit sales of Cooper brand tyres rose 8 per cent in the quarter.
The Bologna trade fair centre was host to the 20th Autopromotec exhibition. There is little doubt that Autopromotec has become one of the most important trade shows in Europe for automotive equipment, machinery and services for the transport industry. This is borne out by the ever-increasing number of exhibiting companies. This year, there were 936 exhibitors, 662 from Italy, 184 from the EU and a further 90 from other nations. These were located in 12 halls, covering an area of 80,500 square metres, plus 3 outside demonstration areas of 10,500 square metres. In real terms, this is only a slight increase over the previous show in 2001, in terms of participation. During its five-day run 83,850 trade visitors attended Autopromotec, a small rise over 2001. Of this number, 13,464 were from abroad, which was a 5.5 percent improvement. What was significant was the visit by a record 21 official foreign trade delegations specialising in strategic markets within the automotive industry.
The Department of Trade & Industry is to invest 15 million Pounds in the creation of an automotive industry academy, aimed at raising skill levels in the industry. There will be a central hub in the West Midlands and 12 satellite centres around the country.
Royal Philips Electronics has just delivered its 100 millionth automotive sensor chip for ABS systems to Continental Teves. The two companies have been working together for ten years. In 2001, total demand for all types of ABS systems reached 33.8 million units and this is expected to rise to 40.9 million units in 2006.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company’s Cooper-Standard Automotive has increased its ownership position in Jin Young Standard of South Korea from 49 to 90 percent and has changed the name of the company to Cooper-Standard Automotive Korea, Inc. This transaction will give Cooper-Standard Automotive a significant presence in Korea through a well-established company, and will facilitate the expansion of its automotive sealing operations in the growing Asian automotive market. Dug Soo Kim, president of Jin Young Standard prior to this transaction, will continue to head the company’s operations.
Auto Shanghai 2003, the 10th International Automobile and Manufacturing Exhibition, proved to be a great success, with 730 exhibitors from 23 countries and a show area of 81,000 square metres. The event ran from 21st to 25th April and attracted almost 200,000 visitors to the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. The 200 or so exhibitors from the automotive supply industry included a group of 50 companies from Germany. The show was held against a background of rising numbers of cases of SARS and in view of this problem, the organisers took a number of precautionary measures. Shanghai’s municipal authorities took the decision to close the show three days early in order to avoid the expected floods of visitors from other regions of China over the weekend. In general, this was welcomed by exhibitors, many of whom said that the visitor response had been so positive that they had achieved their trade fair objectives, despite the early closure.
The Automotive Trade Show, which was eventually renamed as Auto 1 and which was subsequently cancelled, is to return in 2004. It will run alongside the Commercial Vehicle show at the NEC, Birmingham, in two adjacent halls. Visitors will be able to visit both shows with one entrance ticket and the exhibition dates are March 23 – 25 2004.
Bridgestone is to build a factory in China’s Jiangsu Province to make anti-vibration products for automobiles, both for the domestic market and export. Total investment in the four hectare site will be US$ 16 million, with production planned to start late 2004 and reaching 150,000 units a month in 2005. The plant, which will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, will operate as Bridgestone (Changzhou) Automotive Products Co. Ltd.
The CV Show is a very different automotive experience from the usual exhibition. Unlike most automotive shows the aisles were not bulging with the public ogling the latest dream car which most will never be able to afford. Admittedly there were a few truckers taking a look at the latest models, but by and large the visitors to the CV Show are there to do business, either at the show or shortly afterwards. It is a show where the emphasis is in selling rather than showing. This year attendance was stable and early figures from the SMMT suggest visitor numbers around 22,500 through the doors over the three open days of the show.
One of the ugliest corporate feuds in the United States has quietly come to an end. After 97 years of business and even close relations between the two families, Bridgestone-Firestone delivered its last batch of tyres to the Ford Motor Co.’s Kansas City assembly plant on the first of April. This final delivery marks the ending of one of the biggest and most expensive tyre recalls – accompanied by a lot of finger pointing and heated rhetoric – ever recorded in automotive history. The trigger for this disastrous story was a number of car accidents at the end of the last decade. Accidents that were supposedly caused by deficient car tyres, produced by Bridgestone-Firestone.
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