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Improved Results For Nokian

Nokian Tyres have released first quarter results. Turnover was up 10.3 per cent at 84.5 million Euro (Q1 2001: 76.6 m). The operating result was -1.0 m Euro (-1.9 m) and the result before tax was -4.0 m (-5.0 m). The net result was -3.3 m (-3.7 m). Sales and profits of passenger car tyres rose, while sales of heavy tyres decreased, as did sales of retreading materials. Sales of the chain Vianor were up, but the loss was greater than Q1 2001. Nokian’s aim for 2002 is to achieve better turnover and profit than last year.

26th April 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Swings And Roundabouts At China Enterprises Ltd.

Consolidated results from 2001 for China Enterprises Ltd. show a varied year for the group with as many ups as downs. The company states that Chinese tyre prices fell by 3-5 per cent during the year due to 2001 high inventories and high levels of competition. Although raw material costs remained low, warranty claims were higher than expected – a result, according to the company of end-users overloading their vehicles.The Company’s gross margin fell from 9.90 per cent for 2000 to 8.87 per cent for 2001. The decline was substantially due to Yinchuan CSI, whose margin was adversely affected by weak selling prices and provisions for warranty claims. On the other hand, Hangzhou Zhongce increased its margin to 11.8 per cent in 2001 compared to 10.1 per cent for the previous year.Revenues for 2001 were up by 20 per cent on 2000, mainly due to increases in sales of radial car tyres in the domestic market. Export sales though dropped by 3.7 per cent in value.China Enterprises sold 6.2 million vehicle tires, 34 million bicycle tires and 2.5 million wheelbarrow tires in 2001.

17th April 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Is On Track

In an interview with Neue Reifenzeitung, Dr. Francesco Gori, who is head of the tyre divisions worldwide, revealed that in 2001, Pirelli achieved almost the same turnover and EBIT figures as it had in 2000. In the future, Pirelli will invest more in passenger car tyres and less in the truck tyre business, but will not sell the Truck Division. Pirelli is successful with truck tyres mainly in southern Europe and Latin America. From July 1st, Pirelli will change the terms of its agreement with its alliance partner Cooper in the USA and will once again resume full responsibility for the Pirelli brand. In Europe, the company is optimising its structure, moving responsibilities increasingly towards its Milan headquarters, to oversee European operations as a single market.

16th April 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

MRF Limited

MRF was established in Chennai, India, in 1946 as a general rubber goods manufacturer and gradually progressed into tyre production in 1961.Today, the company enjoys the distinction of being the largest tyre company in the Indian subcontinent and the 13th largest in the world. The Far Eastern Economic Review “Annual Review 200”; rated MRF as one of India’s top ten companies and among the 200 most admired companies in Asia, for the last seven years consecutively.MRF was also rated the No. 1 Ethical Company in India by the Business World magazine. MRF operates six manufacturing plants in India at Tiruvottiyur, Arkonam, Kottayam, Goa, Medak, and Pondicherry and manufactures the largest range of tyres in India´s heavy duty truck/bus tyres, light commercial vehicle tyres, passenger car tyres, off-the-road/industrial tyres, 2-wheeler tyres and farm service tyres. Five of these plants and the conveyor belting factory at Arakonam are ISO 9002 certified. The plant at Pondicherry is QS 9000 certified. MRF Tyres are exported to over 65 countries in the Americas, Africa, Middle East, Australia and Asia.With the focus on exports, the company plans to increase market share and start operations in several new countries. MRF also manufactures conveyor belts and precure tread rubber, and its subsidiaries manufacture toys, speciality paints, leather and leather products.

25th March 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

2001 Provisional Figures From Conti

Continental has released provisional figures for 2001. Sales increased by 11.1 per cent to 11.2 billion Euro (2000: 10.1 bn). The Automotive Services Division increased turnover by 31.8 per cent and the tyre division’s sales rose by 2.2 per cent. Good sales of passenger car tyres in Europe compensated for falling sales of commercial vehicle tyres and in the turnover of Continental Tire North America. A one-off restructuring cost of 468 million Euro adversely affected the 2001 figures and the end result is a deficit for the year of 258 million Euro, compared with a surplus for 2000 of 205 million Euro.

11th March 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Is Leaving The Competition Behind.

In 2001, the Michelin corporation generated a world-wide turnover of 15.775 billion Euro (+2.5% compared to 2000) and an operating profit of 1.04 billion Euro (-10.5% compared to 2000), thus showing a net profit of 314 million Euro (-28.4% compared to 2000). Under difficult economic circumstances world-wide, Michelin’s two main competitors, Bridgestone and Goodyear, could not even get close to Michelin’s operating profit, which corresponds to 6.6% of turnover. Bridgestone is still suffering from the consequences of the Firestone tyre recall in the USA, in 2000, and Goodyear has shown a loss for 2001. During a press conference at the end of February in Paris, Michelin’s COO, Edouard Michelin, clarified the course of business events during the last year, and Michel Rollier, Chief Financial Officer, offered a detailed view on the corporation’s figures. For the very first time, the corporation answered questions during a big press conference (other conferences were held in London and New York), and mentioned turnover and profit figures for the individual divisions.

7th March 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

First B-11 RFID Tags Announced

Intermec Technologies Corporation has announced the commercial availability of RFID tags and readers that immediately support the new B-11 standard established by the Automotive Industry Action Group’s (AIAG). The B-11 standard will guide further introduction of RFID technology into the auto industry. Among the first planned applications will be inclusion of an RFID tag on new-car tyres, allowing car and tyre manufacturers and tyre retailers to track product throughout production, assembly and distribution.

22nd February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Record Sales For Continental’s Car Division

In the last business year Continental Group sold more than 60 million car tyres in Europe (including eastern European countries). Around about two thirds were sold in the aftermarket, the rest as original equipment (oe). In oe, the Continental Brand was dominant, followed by only a small volume from the other company brands. In the aftermarket the leading Continental brand made about 15 million sales, the others followed in order, Uniroyal, Barum, Semperit and the regional brands Gislaved, Viking and Mabor. General must also be mentioned in the off road sector, not forgetting house and private brands, of which Continental sold some five million pieces Europe-wide.

9th January 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Joint Venture To Manufacture And Market Car Radials In China

The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd has announced that the Chinese Government has approved the establishment of a joint venture company in January 2002 to make and market radial car tyres in China. It is a jv between Yokohama, YHI Holdings (of Singapore) and Hangzhou Rubber, of China. Production will begin in April 2003, initially of 750,000 tyres a year. A second stage of investment will increase this figure up to 1.5 million tyres, depending on demand. Each stage will require an investment of $30 million.

28th December 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

A “Near Death Experience” – Simex Europe

Simex Europe has been in existence since 1988, gradually increasing the size of its Monza range of car tyres and steadily increasing sales volumes. Then, in August last year, disaster struck when the Montinex group went into Administrative Receivership, as the group was Simex’s biggest customer, accounting for 60% of its turnover. With most of its eggs in one basket, it was, according to MD Raof Daud, a “near death experience” for the company. Simex fought back by going into car tyre distribution and growing its dealer network, and the come-back has been long and hard, with the company poised to be back in the black for the first time since the crisis. An exciting time for a new man to come in to take charge – Mr. A. K. Lee has recently taken over as General Manager, as Raof Daud has moved to another company within the Sime Darby group after nine years as MD of Simex.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

About Turn For Bridgestone/Firestone As It Re-hires Workers

There are reports that, in the USA, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. will be re-engaging 330 of the 700 workers who the company laid off recently from its Oklahoma City factory. The plant manufactures passenger car tyres and the latest move is in response to a need to increase output because of rising sales.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Protectionist Tax In Tanzania Harms Locals

The Tanzanian parliament was told yesterday that the Arusha-based General Tyre factory was coping with producing passenger car tyres but was failing to produce truck tyres. Government taxes on imported truck tyres were punishing domestic businesses which had little choice but to buy imported Bridgestone and Michelin truck tyres.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Distribution At Car Dealers and Workshops

No doubt about it: distribution of passenger car and truck tyres is undergoing a dramatic change in Germany. With the (re)-organised workshops and fast fitters a lot of new distributors of passenger car tyres have entered the market in recent years, attacking the monopoly of the professional tyre retailers, which had been successfully preserved over the past decades. In addition, the tyre distribution channel of car dealers has grown continuously over the last few years. Approximately every third car tyre is sold through this kind of distributor nowadays. The speed of this process will increase because all leading car manufacturers have developed programmes to accompany the customers with a lifelong full-service, which includes tyres and wheels. How threatening is all this for tyre retailers? It would be possible to have a nice discussion about these trends but we wanted to take a look on the concrete, everyday tyre business situation at car dealers and car repair workshops. For this we visited a total of ten companies in Hamburg. Who is selling tyres? Under which conditions are they sold? What about the competence and motivation of the employees? Do they give advice to customers? If so, how good is this advice? Where are tyres neglected as a product? How professional is the marketing? Which companies could be regarded as serious competitors to tyre retailers? The variation in the results of this report could hardly have been wider! In general the trend is that most of the car dealers and workshop stations are miles away from a professional tyre marketing operation. There is always a big difference between the stated goals and the actual achievement in real life. In the end the conclusion is that, on the one hand the importance of these new distribution channels should not be underestimated, but on the other hand, their professional performance should not be overestimated by tyre retailers.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Multi-Brand Sales Organisation Of The Continental Group In Germany

From the beginning of the year, only one sales rep in each region will be selling all Continental group brands. The company believes that the benefit will be greater synergies for itself and for dealers; so said Jescow von Puttkamer, head of sales for passenger car replacement tyres in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, in an interview with Neue Reifenzeitung. In Germany, the group has 60 sales reps on the road, selling passenger car tyres. Whether “one rep for all brands” is the correct decision or not, only time will tell. We remain pessimistic.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Good Performance For Bridgestone/Firestone Deutschland GmbH

In a difficult environment Bridgestone/Firestone was able to sell in the first half of 2001 more units than in the first half of the year 2000. Managing Director Günter Unterhauser confirmed that, in the first half of this year, his company sold 4 per cent more passenger car tyres and 6 per cent more truck tyres while the market in general fell by 2 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. The increases in motor cycle tyres (plus 29 per cent) and agricultural tyres (plus 29 per cent) were significantly higher. In the EM-Segment Bridgestone sold as many tyres as in the first half of 2000 while the market shrank by 10 per cent. Due to several good test results the management is very confident for the winter season and is convinced that turnover for the year as a whole will be at least 10 per cent higher than the previous year. Operating results are in line with expectations and the management said that it is quite satisfied.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors