Brazil
Continental’s Charlotte, North Carolina, plant is likely to close happen when the company’s Brazilian operation is fully operational in 2007, Deutsche Bank analysts have reported. The analysts’ comments come after the plant’s management asked workers to choose between a 35 per cent wage reduction (from $21/hour to $13.7/hour) and production cuts in order to save $15 million dollars a year.
Continental Tire North America has asked 1,000 employees at the company’s Charlotte plant to give up 35 per cent of their pay and benefits by January. If the workers’ union doesn’t agree, the company is ready to immediately cut the plant’s production by 30 percent, and hasn’t ruled out closing the plant altogether, the Charlotte Observer quoted chief executive Alan Hippe as saying. The plant’s union leaders have not yet made a decision on the request.
Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc today announced that it has increased its ownership stake in its Turkish aluminium wheel joint venture, Jantas Aluminyum Jant Sanayi ve Ticaret AS (aka Jantas Aluminum Wheels), to 60 per cent.
Alcoa Wheel Products achieved a European record when the Székesfehérvár, Hungary plant produced its four millionth forged truck wheel on 6 October 2005.
Alcoa sees the achievement as a reflection of the company’s position as the largest forged aluminium wheel supplier in Europe. Customers include European truck manufacturers Scania, Volvo, Renault, DaimlerChrysler, MAN, DAF, Iveco, and European trailer manufacturers such as Feldbinder, Spitzer, Benalu, Schmitz, Krone, to name just a few.
Amtel-Vredestein’s London IPO has raised $201 million from the sale of 27.1 per cent of its shares, valuing the company at $742 million in total. The total value is less than the $1 billion the company had hoped for, although insiders are said to be pleased with the result.
Amtel-Vredestein lowered the price of its initial public offering after some investors shied away from the initial price range. News sources had also reported that the placement looked expensive compared to the $70 million the company got for selling a 12.4 per cent stake to Russia’s Alfa Group and Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s state-owned investment company, in July.
When Tyres & Accessories published the news that Cooper had signed a three-year contract to supply tyres for the A1 Grand Prix last December, the series wasn’t exactly well known. 12 months later A1GP, which sees national teams compete against each other, is already looking forward to going up a gear. T&A met Cooper-Avon marketing and motorsport director, Julian Baldwin, at the EuroSpeedway for the German leg of the A1GP and asked what the manufacturer stands to gain from its involvement.
Romanian university graduates are self-motivated and optimistic about the future, a survey commissioned by Continental AG has found. Although strongly attached to their home country, they are basically willing to relocate, with a career preference for Western countries and, above all, the United States. On the other hand, they would flatly reject a job offer in neighbouring East European countries like Russia or Ukraine, regardless of how attractive the position might be. Equally unpopular are offers from China or Brazil.
In general students feel they have received a good education although they are said to “greatly regret not having received much practical experience.” Continental is one of the largest investors in Romania and runs plants in Timisoara, Sibiu and Satu Mare.
Goodyear Engineered Products has added production capacity at its Marysville, Ohio, conveyor belt plant.
For the second time in two years, the global manufacturer has added production capacity for heavy-duty steel- and fabric-reinforced conveyor belts.
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire, & Rubber Co’s Engineered Products unit opened a new oil hose plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The $13 million plant, Goodyear’s fifth in Brazil, will have 150 employees. The plant will produce floating and submarine oil hose designed to transfer crude oil and derivatives. Goodyear announced just weeks ago that it was putting the Engineered Products unit on the sale block.
Renault driver Fernando Alonso has become the youngest ever Formula One world champion after coming third in the Brazilian Grand Prix. “I am the youngest champion in Formula One and now I need to find new targets because this one is done,” said the 24-year-old.
Columbian Chemicals Co received approval from the Phelps Dodge Corp Board of directors to proceed with plans to build a greenfield carbon black manufacturing facility in the Camacari Pole, a chemical complex in the Bahia state of Brazil. Construction of the facility is anticipated to begin in early 2006 with production commencing the first quarter of 2007.
(India/Rubber Asia) Michigan Rubber (India) Ltd. is part of the Electra Tek Corp. of the Grand Cayman Group of Industries, a US business group with diversified business interests in the US as well as India in technical collaboration with ATEMCO USA. Fully promoted by non-resident Indians, Michigan Rubber manufactures a full range of tyres for automobiles, agricultural equipment, a host of industrial tyres, and even tyres for airplanes.
(India/Rubber Asia) In India, over 85 per cent of passenger car tyres are radials. This is expected to go up to 95 per cent in two to three years. In the light commercial sector the level has reached only 10 per cent. Truck and bus radialisation is worse still with only two per cent. A start has been made when it comes to radial tractor tyre production.
However, there are enough signals to say that the country is poised for radialisation in truck/bus/LCV segments like never before. Expert estimates vary but all agree that it won’t be long before we see exponential growth in radialisation in these three.
Continental is celebrating the 2006 World Cup with the launch of a special tyre. In the run-up to world’s most prestigious footballing event (from 2006) the ContiChampionContact will be available from tyre dealers. Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Blatter and Brazil’s legendary Pele will all be using it when they come Germany for the FIFA World Cup 2006, as the tyre will also be fitted to all VIP vehicles and shuttles.
While much has been made about the enormous potential of the emerging Chinese tyre market, the opportunities go further than this alone. For every tyre that is produced and used in the People’s Republic there is a potential money-making opportunity for the retreading and collection aspects of the tyre business.
It is not overstating the situation to say there is huge potential for retreading in China. Currently around 265 million tyres are produced in China each year, across all segments. At the same time the domestic market’s 3 million vehicles currently demand 130 million tyres annually, according to a Hong Kong Trade Development Council report.
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