Automotive consulting firm Autopolis has produced a report which predicts that the western European car market is going through a decline at the moment. 1999 was a record year, with 15.1 million vehicles being sold, but last year the market dropped by 2% and Autopolis says that the fall will continue this year and next, with sales dropping to 13.4 million cars – a decline of 11% in three years.
Robert Bosch GmbH (Stuttgart) and Michelin (Clermont-Ferrand) have announced a long-term strategical partnership in the development and distribution of integrated driving dynamic management systems. The co-operation covers the fields of research and development as well as the introduction of product to the market. Both companies have identified working areas for the basis of common developments and synergies.
The Continental Group is reporting a turnover of 2.578 bn Euro, compared with 2.426 bn Euro for the first quarter of 2000, and EBIT figures fell from 135 to 106 million Euro. Despite the fact that the Automotive Systems business unit showed a large increase in turnover from 749 million Euro (Q1 2000) to 879 million Euro, EBIT came down from 29 to 26 million Euro. Only ContiTech – which is up for sale – reported more or less unchanged figures. ContiTech’s turnover makes up 18.5 per cent of the group’s turnover, but 42 per cent of the group’s EBIT comes from ContiTech. The performance of the passenger car tyre division was quite good, with a growth in sales from 588 to 636 million Euro and an EBIT rising from 36 million Euro (Q1 2000) to 46 million Euro. The situation at General Tire North America, now named Continental North America, is dire. For the first quarter of last year, the company achieved an EBIT of 15 million Euro. For the same period this year, it reported a loss of 23 million Euro. At the moment, there are no signs of a turnaround for the tyre division in North America.
Back in October, Tenneco Automotive announced that 285 jobs were to be cut in the USA, as part of a plan to reduce salaried staff by 700 by the end of this year. The company has announced another 405 salaried job losses worldwide, blamed on the state of the global automotive aftermarket and reduced vehicle production in the USA.
Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc., a leading global supplier to the automotive and commercial highway industries, announced that its Montague, Michigan Operations has been recognized for achieving a flawless quality rating from DaimlerChrysler Corporation. The facility received a 100-percent quality rating for the left and right exhaust manifolds it supplied to DaimlerChrysler during the 2000 production year. These components are used on a variety of light-truck V-10 engines.
Smithers Scientific Services, the research and consulting firm, has announced that it will close its tyre and automotive testing complex at Pecos, Texas, due to lack of demand. 31 staff are affected and will be offered equivalent jobs at other facilities. The closure comes despite attempts to broaden the client base. The 5,800 acre facility, which Smithers bought from Uniroyal-Goodrich Tire in 1987, will be put up for sale.
Goodyear and Siemens VDO have announced plans to develop a progressive tyre pressure monitoring system which can be introduced to the market at an early date. The co-operation brings together Goodyear’s knowledge in the fields of tyre pressure control, sensors and interpretation of tyre temperature and pressure, with the know-how of Siemens VDO in electronics and common automotive systems.
Covisint, the motor manufacturer led on-line marketplace, has announced the appointment of Kevin English as its first Chief Executive Officer. English comes from Credit Suisse First Boston, where he held the post of managing director and CEO of e-commerce. The appointment should give Covisint the impetus and direction to attain its potential as the leading on-line marketplace for the automotive trade, in particular for the supply of OE equipment and services.
According to research from Deloitte & Touche, businesses are not making the best use of Internet trading facilities. Most, they say, concentrate only on the supply chain element of their e-trading. According to the Deloitte & Touche report a full integration of the demand chain and supply chain, from basic supplier to consumer, offers greater shareholder value, increasing profitability by up to 70 percent.
American automotive supplier Delphi has become the latest member of the TecDoc automotive parts information platform. With a turnover of 29 billion US-Dollars in 2000, Delphi Automotive Systems is the biggest automotive supplier in the world. Altogether 114 companies worldwide, representing 130 brands, now support the TecDoc platform, covering 100 percent of the European spare parts market.
Tenneco Automotive has acquired a plant in Gliwice, south-west Poland, to produce shock absorbers for OE manufacturers based in Europe. The investment is $20 million and involves refurbishing the site and installation of new equipment. Production is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year. Richard Sloan, MD of Tenneco Automotive Europe, said that the low labour and operating costs, plus special investment conditions in the Katowice Special Economic Zone, made the decision to come to Poland “straightforward”.
Goodyear, supplying nearly 50 original equipment runflat tyre fitments to eight manufacturers, is the world leader in runflat tyres. The latest EMT (Extended Mobility Technology) fitment is on the Mini, a new product from the BMW Group which will have the Goodyear Eagle NCT5 EMT runflat tyres as an option. The company has runflat manufacturing capability in Fulda, Germany, and at plants in the USA.
One of the Holy Grails of the auto industry, and the tyre industry in particular, has been a car which would stop in 30 metres from a speed of 100kph. Continental AG has recently demonstrated a highly upgraded version of a compact-sized car that will achieve that goal. The development of a car able to achieve this goal, the 30-metre car, has been set as a target by Continental, and others for some years, but Continental is the first claiming to have achieved the target. Continental’s team dedicated to the project was entitled “Reduced Stopping Distance” project. The current “best” stopping distance from 100kph from a compact car is 38.5 metres; so attaining a reduction of 8.5 metres is a quite a considerable achievement for the Continental team. The project brought together development researchers from Continental’s tyre business, with experts from Continental Teves, the brake and electronic systems operation; the latter now part of Continental Automotive Systems Group. This expertise, combined with existing knowledge of air suspension, mounting and chassis systems, were all brought together within the ContiTech Group to place the group at the vanguard of the chassis development sector. According to Dr. Stephan Kessel, “We want to be the forerunner in total chassis management so we’ve also got to have the appropriate damping and steering skills.” This suggests that further acquisitions may be under consideration in the near future.
Lear Corporation (Southfield, Michigan/USA) and Beru (Ludwigsburg/Germany) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly design and develop Tyre Pressure Monitoring systems for the global automotive market. Under this strategic partnership, the two companies will develop Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems that will relay information to drivers through the electronic architecture used for the Remote Keyless Entry System. The joint venture will combine Lear’s capabilities as the North American leader in Remote Keyless Entry Systems with that of Beru, the market leader in Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems in Europe.
Delphi Automotive Systems launched a pre-production four wheel steer development named Quadrasteer today. The system will improve turning capability at all speeds and stability at high speed. The electronic system is claimed to reduce turning circles by up to 20%.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
