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Toyota, Renault-Nissan Look to Emerging Markets

With vehicle sales in established markets declining, it is hardly surprising that manufacturers are eyeing fresh fields. India’s Tata has already unveiled the Nano, at £1,300 the world’s cheapest new car; now the company faces competition from international rivals hoping for a share of the Indian and other newer markets.

Toyota, along with its Daihatsu small vehicle unit, is said to be developing a new low-cost car for emerging markets. The vehicle, which would sell in locations such as India, Brazil and Africa, is said to have a planned price tag of around £3,200. Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports this vehicle will be introduced in the early 2010s and manufactured in India. Toyota executives have not, however, confirmed this news, and are said to have countered that selling such a car under the Toyota badge could harm its brand image.

11th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hamilton Wins 2008 Championship on Final Lap

Lewis Hamilton benefitted from some good fortune to become the youngest ever Formula One World Champion after running an uncharacteristically conservative Brazilian Grand Prix. With Felipe Massa already over the line in first place and sitting at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, Hamilton scraped past Timo Glock – who was slowing due to difficult wet weather conditions – on the penultimate bend to retake fifth position at Interlagos and first place for the season. The last British Champion Damon Hill, commentating on the BBC, described the race as “the most exciting Formula One race I have ever seen”.

Much of the drama was prompted by difficult weather conditions. When drops of rain began to fall ten laps from the race’s conclusion, the pits saw a flurry of action as Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa all changed to intermediate tyres. On Lap 69, just two from the end, Sebastian Vettel – punching above his car’s weight in the rain once again – took his Toro Rosso past Hamilton into fifth place, meaning that the Briton would have lost out on the Championship in Brazil for the second time in two seasons. However, Glock’s slower pace allowed Vettel and Hamilton to gain one more place each before the finish line, concluding the season dramatically, and leaving Massa to spray his winner’s champagne with less vigour than he might have expected moments earlier.

The BBC – which will take the reins of Britain’s live coverage from ITV next season – left it to Hamilton’s girlfriend and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger to sum up the emotional rollercoaster of the final minutes: “it was so tough late on. I almost did collapse in the garage. I couldn’t calm down, nor could Nicholas [Hamilton’s brother]. We just both kept screaming at each other.” Scherzinger attributed Hamilton’s victory to a source of power higher than even the weather: “I can only thank God for that moment when Lewis crossed the line as champion.” Hamilton’s father Anthony experienced similar emotions: “I believed in God. I believed that right would come through – now, where’s Timo? I want to give him a kiss.” It was unknown, however, what Massa had done to upset the Big Man, with championship victory mere seconds from his grasp.

3rd November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

1,100 Jobs to go in Tenneco Restructuring

Automotive emission control and ride control products manufacturer Tenneco Inc. is to restructure its global operations. In an announcement made on October 29, the company said it would further reduce structural costs and capacity in response to the worsening industry downturn. Approximately 1,100 jobs will be axed as a result of the restructuring and five facilities closed. In total Tenneco expects to generate around US$64 million in annual savings once all changes are fully implemented.

31st October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Massa Ahead of Hamilton in Opening Practice

Felipe Massa held the advantage in opening practice at his home country’s Grand Prix in Interlagos, Brazil, though championship leader Lewis Hamilton was only two-tenths behind having led for much of the time the pair were on track. The race, which takes place this Sunday, will decide the winner of 2008’s championship, though Hamilton is in the box seat seven points ahead of his Ferrari-driving rival.

31st October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama to Exhibit at Sao Paulo Motor Show

Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced that it will participate in the 25th International Automobile Trade Show in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The show, which is reputedly the largest motor show in Latin America, runs from 27 October through 9 November and offers the Japanese tyre manufacturer the opportunity to increase recognition of the “Yokohama” brand in Latin America, a key region in its global growth strategy. At the previous show in 2006 a total of 650,000 people visited, 100,000 more than in 2004. Yokohama established a local subsidiary called Yokohama Rubber Latin America Comercio Ltda. in Sao Paulo, Brazil in April 2008. The aim here is to for Yokohama to strengthen its marketing and increase sales in the largest market in Latin America.

27th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Get Out of the Groove

Bridgestone is to work with slick rubber for the first time since 1997 in the 2009 Formula One season. Rule changes are to prevent the use of grooved racing tyres next season, meaning that this weekend’s season-closer in Brazil will be the grooves’ last stand.

Hirohide Hamashima, the company’s director of motorsport tyre development, explained the company’s 188 Grand Prix history with grooved tyres to F1 news sources: “Developing grooved tyres was very exciting for us as we only had experience of slick racing tyres. We had the challenge of developing a tyre with a hard compound because of the structure and tread profile of the tyre, but one which gave the good grip required for Formula One. From an engineering perspective it has been a very interesting aspect of our motorsport activities. We began testing our first grooved tyres in 1997 with Damon Hill. The first tyres were a modified slick tyre to let us understand the differences and requirements of a grooved tyre. We soon found that the wear rate on the front tyre was very high, and we experienced a lot of graining, so the compound we used for this tyre would have to be a lot harder.

27th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

The Quiet Achiever

Yokohama Tire admits that an OTR division is typically not the highest profile area in a tyre company’s hierarchy – yet it’s one of the most profitable. While they produce and sell the world’s largest and heaviest tyres, it is the consumer and, to a lesser extent, commercial divisions that receive most of the limelight. To set the record straight, Yokohama Tire USA has interviewed two key members of its OTR division, director of OTR sales Gary Nash and national sales manager Nelson Richards. The two men discuss the inner workings of Yokohama’s OTR department, the marketplace and the future of OTR.

6th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

US Passenger Car Sales fall 27% in September

The US auto industry has sustained considerable sales haemorrhaging in September, with figures plumbing 15-year depths, while US Department of Transportation year-on-year figures reveal that driving miles by Americans continued to fall in July 2008. In addition the harbingers of doom were prevalent among top car manufacturers: BMW, Ford and Renault all agree that the slump could be the beginning of a more sustained slump than previously predicted.

Financial news sources site comments from Norbert Reithofer, Alan Mulally and Carlos Ghosn – the CEOs of the three aforementioned giants – suggesting that predictions of a swift recovery may have to be put on hold. Ghosn told journalists at the Paris Auto Show, “We don’t know if we’re at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning,” turning down requests to reiterate earnings targets.

3rd October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Says Cost Saving Plans On Target

On October 1 Michelin stated it remains on target to reach its “Horizon 2010” strategic plan of becoming more competitive. The cost saving programmes it has implemented have reduced costs by 500 million euros since 2006, approximately a third of its 2010 goal.

“The group is on target to meet the 2010 cost-reduction objectives it announced two years ago,” the company announced. Michelin intends to reach an overall savings target of between 1.5 and 1.7 billion euros.

2nd October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Marangoni Signs Multi-Year Contract With Brazil’s SL Group

One of South America’s leading truck tyre retreaders, Renovadora de Pneus SL, has switched over to Marangoni. At the end of August, following several months of negotiations, Marangoni Do Brasil stipulated a multi-year supply contract with the São Paulo based group.

The SL Group, founded in 1996, is a major player in the truck tyre retreading business, operating four large retreading plants located in the main cities of São Paulo state. The group employs 140 people and operates a large fleet, with more than thirty service and support vehicles – thus the company can be considered one of the largest retreaders in Brazil and the whole of South America.

26th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Brazil Investment Plan Concluded

Bridgestone has completed a seven-year investment plan in its Brazilian subsidiary, Bridgestone Firestone do Brasil Indústria e Comércio Ltda. The investment plan is said to have been worth in the area of US$460 million.

This news comes as the company celebrates the production of tyre number three million at its facility in Camaçari. This milestone was reached nineteen months after the factory’s inauguration. The factory, located on a seven-hectare site in the state of Bahia, currently has a capacity in excess of 8,000 passenger car and light truck tyres per day.

23rd September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Truck Sales Slump Hitting Tyre-Makers

With manufacturers of trucks in Western Europe finding market conditions tough, tyre-makers with a large interest in the Truck segment have to contend with the decreased demand for OE-supply alongside the well-documented problems of increased raw material costs and the struggle to sell to the replacement market.

The replacement sector too, is hurt by fleets continually looking to make savings, for which cutting the cost of tyres is too often high on the agenda. Rather than allowing fleet-based customers to diminish their overheads through decreasing the rate at which they replace tyres, or buying cheaper alternatives, major European manufacturers – such as Michelin and Pirelli – are ramping up their efforts to attract business to their all-encompassing fleet servicing products, in addition to focusing in earnest on their operations in emerging truck markets, such as Brazil, where the replacement and, to a lesser extent, the OE markets are remaining strong.

5th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hayes Lemmerz Increases Adjusted EBITDA Guidance for 2008

On September 4 Hayes Lemmerz International announced it is increasing its fiscal 2008 Adjusted EBITDA guidance as it reported substantially improved Adjusted EBITDA, core operating earnings and liquidity for the second fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2008.

“We are increasing the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA guidance for fiscal 2008 to $225 million to $240 million, up $20 million from prior guidance of $205 million to $220 million,” said Curtis J. Clawson, president, CEO and chairman of the Board. “Capital expenditures have been reduced for the year and are now expected to be between $90 million to $100 million, down $5 million from prior guidance of $95 million to $105 million. We are also affirming the Company’s sales guidance of $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion for fiscal 2008.”

5th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

European Tyre Volumes Remain Weak

In July the European passenger car tyre market fell 7 per cent, with truck tyres falling 3 per cent, according to Michelin sourced figures. In contrast, the ailing North American market appears to be beginning to recover, according to Deutsche Bank estimates. Here the market was flat in July with truck tyre sales actually growing 3 per cent. Business in the emerging markets is reportedly strong with both Brazil and China both growing at 20 per cent plus rates.

3rd September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess Seeing Growth in South America

The German chemical manufacturer Lanxess expects to see significant growth in its South American operations, in the main thanks to increasing business in Brazil. Marcelo Lacerda, the firm’s Brazil-based operations chief stated to news sources last week that it was all part of the company’s plans.

In Q2 sales in South America grew by more than 10 per cent, thanks largely to its polymers unit, which produces synthetic rubber used in tires. Earlier in the year the company acquired a 70 per cent controlling stake in Brazilian rubber maker Petroflex. Soon it will make a mandatory offer to buy the company’s remaining shares. Lanxess expects Petroflex to provide 35-40 million euros ($52-59 million) this year in pre-exceptional earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

2nd September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors