(Akron/Tire Review) Canadian Tire Corp has reached agreement for the sale and leaseback of two of its distribution centres, located in Brampton, Ontario and Calgary, Alberta, to H&R Real Estate Investment Trust. The $229 million deal involves Canadian Tire leasing the facilities back.
SmarTire Systems Inc has expanded its manufacturing agreement with Vansco Electronics LP. Under the agreement, Vansco will manufacture key subsystems for SmarTire’s wireless gateway family of products. SmarTire also announced the termination of its contract manufacturing agreement with Hyundai Autonet Company, Ltd (“HACO”) in Korea, which was terminated as a result of HACO’s acquisition by Hyundai.
(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone Canada Inc. (BFCA) has presented this year’s Bridgestone/Firestone Canadian Truck Hero Award to Kevin Harris, a truck driver in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Harris “fought off flames and defied danger so that he could provide comfort to a dying fellow driver he had met only 10 minutes earlier,” said the manufacturer. He received a $3,000 check and trophy today at the Ontario Trucking Association’s annual meeting. BFCA is also donating a matching amount in Harris’ name to a memorial trust fund.
(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire’s Canadian operation and the Quebec government will invest $53.3 million (Canadian) on improvements to the company’s 40-year-old Joliette, Quebec, tyre plant.
The deal was announced last Friday, and is intended to preserve some 1,250 jobs at the plant. Bridgestone/Firestone Canada Inc will contribute $49.8 million and the provincial government will add $3.5 million. Most of the funds will go toward new equipment and facility reorganization.
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.
The 2006 UK Fulda Challenge team has been chosen following the European Selection Event that took place in Sulden, South Tyrol/Italy.
The two-person team – Martin Yardley, a Royal Marine physical training instructor from Portsmouth and Kate Balchin, a Metropolitan police officer from Bagshot in Surrey – will represent the UK in the sixth Fulda Challenge.
(Akron/Tire Review) Reuters reported this morning that Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) will raise prices on its branded, associate and private brand tyres by as much as 8 per cent as of 1 November. The increase covers the US and Canada, and the company’s Bridgestone, Firestone and Dayton brands.
Duke Nishiyama, BFNAT president, said in a statement: “Our tyre companies are facing dramatic increases in raw material costs. Unfortunately, these dramatic raw material cost increases simply cannot be offset by the enhanced efficiencies and increased productivity that we have implemented at all levels of our company.”
ArvinMeritor, Inc is to close its Light Vehicle Systems (LVS) shock absorber assembly operation in Pulaski, Tenn., US The company will transfer a portion of the production to its Detroit, Michigan, US, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada facilities, with remaining business being phased out by July 2006. The company met with employees today to discuss the transfer and closure plans, which will affect all 268 employees.
“As announced in our second-quarter earnings release, ArvinMeritor identified the need to rationalize 11 sites, to further focus its businesses on serving customer needs and improve its return on invested capital,” said Sidney Del Gaudio, vice president and general manager of LVS Undercarriage Systems. “Pulaski was one of the 11 sites chosen because its overall costs exceeded the short- and long-term returns required to sustain the business and remain competitive.”
(Akron/Tire Review) The United Steelworkers (USW) has made an initial contribution of $100,000 for relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The USW said that thousands of members live and work in the Gulf Coast areas most affected by the hurricane, and many are in immediate need of temporary shelter, food, and medical supplies, as well as longer-term help in repairing damage to their homes.
The union contributed $50,000 directly from USW International, which was matched with an additional $50,000 from the Steelworkers Humanity Fund in Canada. The USW also urged members and the union’s locals to add their contributions to the USW’s initial $100,000 seed money for the relief effort.
SmarTire Systems Inc. (Richmond, BC, Canada) has recruited David Warkentin as its new Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Warkentin brings over 25 years of sales, sales management and marketing experience in emerging technology sectors to the company.
(Akron/Tire Review) Michelin North America is increasing prices on its motorcycle and scooter tyres, and tubes and accessories. Effective Sept. 1, prices on Michelin two-wheel replacement tyres sold in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will jump an average of 5%. Michelin said all backorders will be re-priced and shipped at the new price.
Galaxy Tire & Wheel and Dynamic Tire Corp have agreed to merge. As a result a new company, GPX Tyre & Wheel, will be formed. According to an official statement the new company is expected to record sales of more than $300 million in 2005 and holds assets in excess of $100 million. “The will provide the solid foundation and critical mass necessary for GPX Tire & Wheel to become one of the leading global players in the agricultural, industrial, commercial and off-the-road tyre markets,” the statement says. For the time being the two companies will operate in parallel as separate entities. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of this calender year.
Workers at Bridgestone-Firestone Canada have approved a six-year contract that gives them a better pension plan and gives the company more flexibility.
The contract will bring a further CDN$13 million to the Joliette region in economic spinoffs claims the company.
Over 80 per cent of workers voted in favour of the agreement, which comes three months before the current contract expires.
“We worked together to establish terms that will ensure greater flexibility for our operations. This flexibility is essential first to our growth, and consequently to maintain jobs,” declared Isaac Motohashi, general manager of he Joliette plant.
Pirelli Tire North America will increase prices for its passenger and light truck tyres by 5 per cent. The price increase with be effective from 1 June in the US and Canada. Pirelli is the latest in a string of price increases from major manufacturers in the US.
(Akron/Tire Review) Members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers (PACE) have voted overwhelmingly to merge. The votes were held yesterday at concurrent national conventions of the two unions, both being held in Las Vegas.
The new union will be called the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International or USW for short, according to the USWA. The merger creates North America’s largest labor union, with a combined total of 850,000 members.
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