car tyres Archives - Page 122 of 122 - Tyrepress

Posts

US Officials To Review Tire Requirements In Wake Of Firestone Recall

Following the recall of certain Firestone tyres, federal officials in the USA are reported to be working on tougher standards for tyres for SUVs and light trucks. Stephen Kratzke, of the safety agency, is studying a requirement for off-road tyres to meet the same test criteria as car tyres, also that they should be tested to at least 100 mph. Current tests require car tyres to run at 75, 80 and 85 mph, each for half an hour. The test for off-road tyres is 5 mph slower, although the Firestone tyres were tested to the car standards.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Aims To Gain Market Shares In Brazil

Japanese tyre manufacturer, Bridgestone is going for more market shares, especially in the truck tyre segment. This could effect the market leader Michelin, who has about 30% of the market. Bridgestone is also increasing the prices in Brazil for the replacement market by 8% and the OE market by approximately 10%. The only option to the price increase is to walk away from a losing money business.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

“XL” Winter Tyre: The “ContiWinterContact TS 790 V”

In the context of summer passenger car tyres the “V” speed rating is a common application. However, in the last year V-rated winter tyres have also entered the market; a development that even quite recently was unthinkable. This year German tyre manufacturer Continental is launching a V-rated winter tyre – the “ContiWinterContact TS 790 V XL”. According to the press release it is the “first true V-rated winter tyre”, allowing for speeds of up to 240 kph. The “XL” stands for extra load, meaning that the new tyre has been developed with a higher load index than competitors’ products. This compensates for obligatory load reductions which usually mean a tyre with a normal load index is permitted to drive at up to 220 kph on a full load, or the wheel load has to be reduced by 9 % to allow it to run at 240 kph. With the higher load index on the Continental TS 790 V XL no compromise will be required, and the tyre may be run at 240 kph at full wheel load. The new tyre is available in ten sizes to cover 96 % of the market segment. Prices will be 11 % higher than the H-rated version of the TS 790. Find out more in the November issue of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Nokian Tyres Record Figures

Nokian Tyres’ turnover last year reached 322.6 m Euro (28% higher than 1998) and an operating profit of 42.1 Euro (1998 32.2 m Euro). Profit before tax was 35.5 m Euro (1998 29.9 m Euro) and net profit 25.7 m Euro (1998 21.6 m Euro). The company invested 85.7 m Euro (1998 72.7 m Euro), this was mainly in production (30 m Euro). There was also expansion in retail equity with the purchase of the Finnish company ISKO.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

MMP-Factory In Timisoara Opens

It was the biggest day in Timisoara since the revolution, and it will perhaps set off another – this time in the tyre industry. The new tyre production facility was opened 20th October by Continental president, Dr Kessel, and Romanian Prime Minister, Mugur Isarescu, the latter facing the possibility of losing office in the coming election. Amongst the 400 attending the opening were representatives from Continental’s key suppliers and selected customers, as well as German and Romanian journalists. When the factory has reached its final stage it will produce 8 million car tyres a year, employing about 1,000 people. The article in November’s TYRES & ACCESSORIES shows that the factory tour revealed little new; we were shown assorted Japanese vulcanising equipment and ancillary machinery, but the state-of-the-art tyre construction machines were still under wraps. The iron curtain may have fallen, but for now there is a rubber curtain round the new technology at Timosoara.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone/Firestone Price Increases

Similar to other tyre manufacturers, on 1st January 2000 Bridgestone/Firestone officially announced price increases of 3% for passenger car tyres and 2% for commercial tyres. The effects of this increase are now visible in the German replacement market.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Third Quarter Results Released By Michelin

Third quarter results from Michelin are stronger than expected with revenues growing by 16.4% to 3,916 Euro or 14.6% if the first nine months 2000 are compared with the same period last year. Taking higher raw material costs and other economic factors into account, an EBIT of about 8% seems to be realistic for this year.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Russian – Made Tyres For Conti?

An article in the newspaper Handelsblatt suggested that Continental is about to open a tyre factory in Moscow and that negotiations were close to final agreement. An investment in the region of 30 million Euros was reported. In September last year, Neue Reifenzeitung reported on negotiations between Continental and Moskauer Reifenwerke, which was very close to bankruptcy, although the financial situation may have improved as the main shareholder Yukos has sold its stake in the company. NEUE REIFENZEITUNG asked Continental for more details, but the company said it was not in a position to comment and could not confirm the figures quoted. Continental is only one of the tyre companies involved in negotiations in this area, with Michelin being another.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Intelligent Tyre From Nokian Links To Driver’s Mobile Phone

Nokian Tyres has developed an intelligent tyre technology system that sends real-time data on tyre pressures and temperature to the driver’s mobile phone. No extra display is required inside the vehicle.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

German Tyre Replacement-Market At A Record Level

According to the German tyre dealers association BRV (Bundesverband Reifenhandel und Vulkaniseur-Handwerk), in 1999 more than 50 million tyres were sold in the German replacement market, 43 million of them in the passenger car sector. Especially, a new record in winter tyres sales was achieved. Sales in the commercial vehicle sector increased five p.c. to 5.7 million tyres. Whereas retreaded truck tyre sales were stable at 1.7 million units, the fall in sales of retreaded passenger car tyres continued.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Online-Tyreshop From Continental

During the annual shareholders meeting of Continental, the tyre manufacturer announced that it is going to build up an online tyre shop which will go live at the beginning of next year. At first he offer will contains passenger car tyres and service, and later complete wheels and car accessories will be included.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Car Tyre Production To Cease At Fort Dunlop

Earlier in the year we reported that truck tyre production was to stop at the Fort Dunlop factory in Birmingham, UK. There was another devastating blow for the ageing plant when it was announced that car and van tyre production will be phased out by the end of the year. This will lead to 600 job losses, on top of the 650 redundancies earlier in the year. When all the losses have been implemented, the workforce at Fort Dunlop will have fallen from 1,700 to 500 inside twelve months. The latest move is as a result of Goodyear’s review of operations, following the joint venture with Sumitomo and has been blamed on over-production, the strength of Sterling and a reduction in domestic car production. Dunlop brand car and van tyres will continue to be manufactured at the company’s more modern factory in Washington in the North East of England as well as other European factories in the Goodyear group. Production at Washington will increase from six days a week to seven. Around 12,600 car tyres are manufactured daily at the plant. With truck, car and van tyre production gone from the Fort, that only leaves motorsports tyres, of which a mere 250,000 are made a year. The article in TYRES & ACCESSORIES 6/2000 outlines local reaction to the news and ends with the possibility of further bad news, as Goodyear is reported as saying that “substantial” further restructuring is still needed.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Growing figures for Continental

In the first nine months of this year, Continental’s sales rose to 6.8 billion Euros, with an EBIT of 385 million Euros. The largest contribution still comes from passenger car tyres, although Continental emphasises the growing importance of its role as a systems supplier. However, it seems that there will not be any striking developments in this segment that will affect the market in the immediate future. But Dr. Kessel is sure, saying: “Continental is on the way to Total Chassis Management.” Obviously, the company wants to enhance its profile at the expense of its tyre competitors, many of whose shares are performing badly on the world’s stock markets. However, Continental’s share price at the moment is also disappointing.

7th December 1999/by Tyrepress Editors

Mobile Fitting/Tire Valet also for Car Tyres

Company News, News

Only a month ago NEUE REIFENZEITUNG reported at length on Mobile Fitting as a sensible and vital service in the truck tyre business. Now Goodyear-Handelssysteme GmbH, a Goodyear marketing subsidiary, plans the introduction of Mobile Fitting (known as Tire Valet in USA) for car tyres. The idea is still at an early stage. Time is money, the marketing people in Cologne believe, and aim to gain new types of customers with the new service. With marketing programmes, whose details are still to be developed, the company wants to appeal to fleet operators as well as small enterprises, self-employed people as well as private users. Run as a comprehensive service, Mobile Fitting will also be suitable to give status to the tyre dealer. Whether Mobile Fitting can be taken as far as the end user’s front door is still uncertain. In our country potentially good ideas have the nasty habit of falling foul of vetoing authorities. Nothing can be done without special permission, to be granted by each local authority individually.

7th December 1999/by Tyrepress Editors

Not many years ago

Not many years ago the large tyre manufacturers still thought they had better make haste and claim a stake in the apparently huge markets of China and India, since life does not favour latecomers. Their enthusiasm was kindled by the example of some car manufacturers, which quickly calculated and estimated a gigantic (sales) potential in these two countries alone with their joint populations of two billion. Some car manufacturers learnt quickly that opportunities are not limitless. Tyre manufacturers fared similarly. Pirelli supplied China with some know-how, which was gratefully received but did not provide Pirelli with a strong base. Nor did the Italians make money out of the technology transfer. Conti’s big plans for India are hardly mentioned any more. The “Big Three” – Goodyear, Bridgestone and Michelin – are present in both countries, but business is quiet. In India, 29 manufacturers run 41 factories with a maximum capacity of about 43 million tyres, but only 34 million pieces were manufactured in 1997/98, most of them (73 p.c.) for trucks and buses. And 60 p.c. of passenger car tyres are still cross-ply tyres, 1998 has only seen 3,3 million radials in this segment. Our British sister magazine TYRES &ACCESSORIES reported on the Indian tyre market at length; we publish an excerpt in this issue in our December issue, including a brief presentation of some individual companies active in this market.

7th December 1999/by Tyrepress Editors