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Viking International Strengthens Senior Management Team

Viking International, one of the UK’s leading tyre, exhaust and automotive wholesale company’s, has appointed Mike Curry as National Sales Manager. As part of the senior management team, Mike will be responsible for eleven business development managers that cover the country from nine strategically positioned regional warehouses. He will also play a leading role in key national account expansion.Mike Curry has over twenty years sales experience working with blue-chip companies in a variety of senior positions. His most recent appointment was as sales and marketing director with Tenneco Automotive who manufacture Walker exhaust systems and Monroe shock absorbers.

26th November 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Difficult Year For SmarTire

The Company reported a net loss of $6.8 million ($0.41 per share) 2002 compared with a net loss of $5.5 million ($0.39 per share) in 2001. Gross revenue for 2002 totalled $1.0 million, up from $0.8 million for 2001.

28th October 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Tough Year For Amcast

Joseph Grewe, CEO at Amcast said, “The year to August 2002 had been a tough year, but things were getting better.” North American wheel division continued to perform well with sales up 25 percent, more than doubling their operating income. Automotive sales increased by 30 per cent in total for the final quarter of the year against the same quarter in the previous year. Improved performance of the wheels operations and cost cutting exercises were offset by losses incurred at the Richmond plant affected by launch problems with five major new product launches. An underestimation of demand from the motor manufacturers forced Amcast to increase purchases and develop new unplanned capacity to meet the requested production flow.Despite the general good news the company performed slightly worse in 2002 than in 2001. Largely due to the problems at Richmond and continued poor performance from Speedline. Flow Control also saw a drop in income of 51 percent due to a lower market and one time IT expenses. However, the company reports that five out of eleven production facilities operated profitably in 2002 against only three out of eleven for 2001.

21st October 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Components Business Boosts Cooper 3Q Results

Cooper Tire & Rubber has published its third quarter figures. Turnover rose 6 per cent to $839 million (3Q 2001: $791 m). For the first nine months, sales have totalled $2.5 billion, with a net income of $88 million, up 87 per cent on the same period last year. Tyre sales were almost static in 3Q at $464 million ($462 m), while auto component sales were up 14 per cent at $381 million. The company’s overall net income for the quarter was $23 million, compared to a loss in 3Q 2001 of $20 million, due largely to charges relating to settlement of class action litigation.

17th October 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Asia Vital To Auto Industry – Report

Automotive consultants Autopolis pinpoint Asia as “critical” to the world’s car and truck manufacturers in the coming years. While sales are expected to continue falling in Europe and North America, over the next decade sales in Asia (excluding Japan) will grow at over seven times the global average, autopolis predicts, with the fastest growth in China and Thailand. Sales of vehicles in China for the year 2010 are predicted to be 4.75 million; more than double the figure for the year 2000.

14th October 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

LitWatch Spreads Cover On Tyre cases

LitWatch, the litigation news service, is expanding coverage of lawsuits filed in state and federal courts against tyre producers and auto manufacturers. This expanded coverage has been triggered by the demise of the multi-district federal class action, now on appeal to the US Supreme Court. Individual SUV rollover and tire failure cases are now proceeding simultaneously in many separate state and federal courts.”The federal courts have declined to handle this as one organized case, which means that it’s every plaintiff’s lawyer for himself. This will be the Oklahoma land rush of this decade, with hundreds of cases, seeking billions of dollars in damages, filed throughout the United States,” said John W. Toothman, Editor-in-Chief of LitWatch. Toothman notes that “Something unique about these cases is the conflict between the automotive and tire industries, which makes every case a potential land mine for both.”An example of this expanded coverage is the trial transcript from the recently-settled Hernandez case from LA County Superior Court, in California, the first case against both Firestone and Ford to go to trial against both. That case settled in the middle of trial for an undisclosed amount after key testimony was admitted from Jacques Nasser, former Ford CEO, and from another Ford official.This key information includes admissions that Ford was aware that 6.5 million Firestone tyres were defective and that using a replacement would have cost just 10 cents more per tire.

30th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Bosch and Michelin establish joint venture

Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart, and the Michelin Group, Clermont-Ferrand, have established a joint venture company for integrated vehicle dynamics management systems. The new company is called Integrated Safety Systems ISS and is based in Paris. The purpose of the joint venture company is the market introduction of new systems resulting from the partners’ joint development activities. In 2001, both companies had announced their cooperation in the fields of tires and chassis control systems, with the objective to improve safety and mobility of automobiles thanks to an optimized coupling between tire and electronic brake control technologies. Bosch produces automotive technology in 140 plants on all 5 continents. In 2001, it achieved sales of € 23.2 billion in this business sector, with 143 000 employees. Last year, the Bosch division chassis systems, a leading manufacturer of braking systems, had 18 000 employees and achieved sales of around € 4.5 billion. Michelin produces and sells tires for all kind of vehicles, including passenger car, light and heavy trucks, 2-wheels, aircraft, agricultural and earthmover vehicles, as well as the US space shuttle, and develops suspension and anti-vibration systems. Michelin counts 80 production sites in 5 continents, has 130 000 employees and sales operations in over 170 countries. The Group achieved around € 15,8 billion sales in 2001.

28th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

15 Million Euro Investment By TRW

TRW Automotive has opened a new 15,000 square metre state of the art braking friction manufacturing facility dedicated to the aftermarket. The 15 million Euro investment at Olvega, in Spain’s Castilla-Leon region, has been opened in to meet demand for TRW’s breakthrough heavy metal free Lucas brake pads. TRW now has nine dedicated European aftermarket manufacturing sites in addition to 23 OE braking, steering and suspension plants, supporting the company’s ambition to have the best original equipment based chassis systems programme in the aftermarket. Currently, production at Olvega is running at almost two million pad sets a year; at full capacity, the site will produce in excess of five million pad sets annually. The plant employs 200 workers.

19th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

TRW To Launch Aftermarket Steering And Suspension

TRW’s steering and suspension components currently marketed under licence by Federal Mogul, are to be sold under the TRW brand. Martin Hendricks, director and general manager for TRW Automotive Aftermarket Europe said, “We have a clear branding strategy – Lucas for braking and TRW for steering and suspension. Our OE position and the reputation for excellence for Lucas braking and TRW steering and suspension makes this an obvious direction for us.”

19th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Alcoa Realigns Business

Alcoa announced today that it has realigned its existing businesses to provide a closer fit with customer needs in the automotive, aerospace, and commercial transportation market sectors. Bob Hughes, 57, Executive Vice President, will lead a new Alcoa Automotive and Allied Products Group, which will include the businesses that support automotive customers by providing electrical distribution systems, cast and forged automotive wheels, cast and assembled components, and other products.

19th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

42-Volt Prototype From Lithium Technology

Lithium Technology Corporation, has announced that together with its German lithium polymer battery company partner, GAIA, the two companies have completed and shipped their first prototype 42-Volt automotive battery to BMW under the auspices of the European Union-sponsored “Astor” program (Assessments and testing of advanced storage systems for propulsion and other electrical systems in passenger cars). The Astor consortium consists of seven European auto companies: VW, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Opel, Fiat, Volvo, and Peugeot. The prototype lithium battery, which is now undergoing testing in Europe, delivers 7-8 kiloWatts of power at ambient temperatures, with a capacity of 27 Amp-hours, a pulse power capability of up to 6 kiloWatts for starting at an operating temperature of -25 degrees C, and an estimated life of 8 years. The battery is designed to meet the 42-Volt battery specifications of the Astor project.

19th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Chinese Auto Market Stalled

The Chinese automotive market, expected to be the largest growth market for the coming decade has so far not lived up to expectations. Vehicle manufacturers are prepared to meet the expected demand but Chinese finance regulations have not been adapted to allow lending to facilitate purchase of cars. Currently only 10 per cent of private purchases are financed in Chine compared to 75 per cent in the USA. According to General Motors sales don’t start rising until financing packages are available from the manufacturers. Currently finance is only available from the rapidly expanding Chinese banks where automotive finance business has grown by over 50 per cent per year for the past three years.

3rd September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Suppliers Halt Daewoo Production

Three Daewoo factories have been idle for two days after Korea Delphi Automotive Systems shut off component supplies in a row over payment. KDAS is Daewoo’s largest parts supplier and is said to be owed US$ 109 million by the car manufacturer. 200 other suppliers are also said to be considering cutting off supplies.

30th August 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyota Plans Assault On China

Toyota is launching a joint venture with First Automotive Works, China’s biggest car manufacturer, to make luxury sedans, SUVs and cheaper, smaller cars in China for the local market. The target is to sell up to 400,000 vehicles a year by 2010 and an unconfirmed report suggests that the investment will total 1.29 billion Euros.

30th August 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Obituary – Chris Groenewald

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death on Monday of Chris Groenewald (59), UK Sales Director of Varta Automotive Batteries, following a year-long battle against illness. He joined Varta in 1982 and was a popular and respected figure, who will be missed by his many friends in the battery industry.

28th August 2002/by Tyrepress Editors