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Cooperation Bandag/Continental Brings Only Advantages

Ron Carver (Bandag) and Dr. Nikolin (Continental) said during a joint press conference held in Hanover, that the cooperation creates a win-win-situation. On the one hand there will be a quality product and on the other hand the franchise net is, according to Carver, strong enough across Europe to guarantee deliveries in the shortest possible time. In the Precure Retreading market more and more customers are insisting on having their own casings retreaded.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Factory Closure And Reduced Profits For Bridgestone Corp.

At a press conference, Bridgestone President Shigeo Watanabe revealed that the company was to close its plant at Decatur, Illinois, where 1,500 people are employed. The plant closure will lead to a loss of $210 million, offset to some extent by cost savings of $100 million. Bridgestone will also incur an additional special loss this year, amounting to $549.6 million and the group has revised its worldwide consolidated net profit forecast from 48 billion Yen to 10 billion. For Bridgestone Japan, the company is predicting a net loss of 130 billion Yen for the calendar year 2001, the first loss for the group since it was first listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1961. Bridgestone’s shares fell nearly 2 per cent on the news, to stand at 1,273 Yen.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

ETRA-Conference In Leipzig

A year ago, the conference of the European Tyre Recycling Association (ETRA) was held in Schwerin, dealing with the present situation and future perspectives of scrap tyre disposal in Germany. Many questions and problems that were left unanswered in 1999 were also discussed at the following conference in Leipzig, which took place at the beginning of last December. Also this time there were few new answers to be found concerning the well-known problems in this area. Why is it so difficult to solve these problems connected with the recycling business? Some answers: the participants in this market are very diverse – and so are the individual aims. In addition, the market situation for recycled scrap tyres is still not the best, and new ideas for sensible and economical applications are few and far between at the moment. Even if they exist, they may still be blocked in many cases, e.g. the use of rubber in road surfaces. On the other hand there is a requirement for European quality standards for products which are already distributed. Furthermore, the knowledge of some companies in this sector is quite limited: it is either the tyre-, disposal- or the marketing-know how that is missing. In many cases the financial backing for new projects is insufficient. Not to mention a number of scandals concerning illegal landfills, which has negatively influenced public opinion about this business sector. Finally the serious market participants, as well as their association ETRA, have run up against a wall of disinterest on the part of the state and the tyre manufacturers.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Policy Of Appeasement From Michelin?

In a telephone conference on 28th July, following an earlier profits warning and subsequent fall in Michelin shares of around 10%, the management tried to explain the reasons for the profits warning. June was a bad month but there is still hope that the company will achieve an EBIT comparable to that of the first half of 1999. Exact figures will not be available until September. The problems are in the USA, where it was not possible to obtain better prices for truck tyres. On the other hand, the increase in raw materials prices (rubber, oil, carbon black), forecast to be about 3%, will now, it seems, be more like 4 or 5%.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Gibara Explains Goodyear’s 2000 Strategy

At a dealer conference in Las Vegas, Goodyear Chief Gibara explained to an audience of 4,500 tyre people the need for consolidation in 2000, following the recent aggressive expansion strategy. Gibara pointed out the importance of the personal touch despite the fast growth of e-commerce and the Internet. The fill-rate problem will be improved through shipments from Latin America, Eastern Europe and Turkey for the US replacement market.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

NTDA Conference 2000

The National Tyre Distributors Association held its millennium conference in Portugal. Before the conference got under way, delegates were given the news that RapidFit had applied to join the association. The 300-strong chain of Ford dealers is the first of the vehicle dealerships to enter into membership. The keynote speaker at the conference was Sir Tom Farmer, one of whose points was that the association should consider becoming more commercial and explore the possibility of setting up a buying group for members. Other speakers explored the themes of the impact of e-commerce and the internet on tyre retailing and what tyre dealers can do to take advantage of the opportunities which are liable to arise in the future. The impact of legislation – existing and forthcoming – was another topic, including the implications of the proposed End of Life Vehicle Directive. There was a different format for the second day, when delegates broke into groups to discuss the three subjects of scrap tyre disposal, e-commerce and the changing face of tyre retailing, reflecting the previous day’s subjects. The group chairmen then reported back to the meeting and the conclusions were presented to the NTDA in order to guide the association as to its future strategic direction in these areas. Debate was lively and everyone agreed that the new format had been a resounding success.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

One Hundredth Birthday of Gummiwerke Fulda

For the 17th year running Gummiwerke Fulda held its dealer conference in March, this time in combination with celebrations in honour of the company’s one hundredth birthday. Last year Fulda boss Bernd Hoffmann had “to make do” with the presence of Goodyear’s top man for Europe, Valensi, but this time the management representation could not have been better. Sam Gibara, CEO of the group, made his welcoming speech to about 1,500 guests from all parts of the world, with Valensi and Gerd Grünenwald, responsible for marketing and sales Europe, also very pleased to help the company celebrate. Last year in particular and recent years in general proved to be very good years for Fulda. Until a few years ago the Fulda brand was heavily dependent on ATU and Stinnes, but that is now completely changed. Fulda’s German turnover is now spread over many small customers. Turnover with the two large ones is still important, of course, but gone are the days of total dependence. In Germany Fulda sells more tyres than Goodyear, but one has to add that Goodyear prices (trade to user) are significantly above Fulda’s. In the more recent past Fulda has had to compete with, or be measured against, Dunlop as well. It will be very interesting to see where the emphasis of Gerd Grünenwald’s and his team’s multi-brand strategy will lie. Details can be found in the April edition of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Firestone Defence Becomes More Aggressive

During a highly emotional press conference in Tokyo, Bridgestone’s boss Kaizaki again asked Ford to shoulder more of the blame. Kaizaki again pointed out that the recall in the USA is precautionary and, to date, no technical failure has been found. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the tyres have not caused – according to a joint investigation by Firestone and Ford – the problems. Firestone has never tried to cover up the facts, said Kaizaki (67). He refused to resign and said that he would take the responsibility for re-establishing the Firestone brand. A management shake up in Nashville seems likely, as soon as the recall is over. John Lampe, Executive Vice President for Bridgestone/Firestone USA, said during the hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee that Ford should share the blame. Official data on 16,000 Explorer rollovers, related to 600 deaths, show that in only a very few cases were there problems related to tyres. Bridgestone management is annoyed that, during Nasser’s call to Sam Gibara at the end of August, the Goodyear chief said that he had no knowledge of Goodyear problems in connection with the Explorer. Goodyear supplied two million tyres for the Explorer and there have been numerous proofs and photographs showing that Explorer accidents and rollovers had occurred with Goodyear tyres.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Introduces New High-Performance Tyre A 539

In the last week of March Yokohama Rubber Co. presented the new A 539 tyre to the European trade press at the Japanese D-Parc (Daigo Proving Ground and Research Center). Thirty-three sizes of this tyre will be available in Europe, about 20 of them are already in the market, the remaining sizes to be introduced within the next four weeks. The A 539 has an asymmetrical tread pattern and, according to the manufacturer, the excellent qualities of sportiness, quiet running and good cornering stability on dry and especially on wet roads.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

ETRA Conference Discusses Scrap Tyres

The problem of scrap tyres (or, as ETRA prefers to call them, post-consumer tyres) is one which affects every country where tyres are sold. ETRA, the European Tyre Recycling Association, is the only European organisation devoted exclusively to tyre and rubber recycling and in July, the association held a conference in the UK to discuss the scale of the problem, assess progress and look at possible solutions. ETRA regards post-consumer tyres as a readily available and inexpensive resource rather than merely a problem and the association is keen to get this viewpoint across to the industry, governments and the public. Around 2.5 million scrap tyres arise every year in the EU, of which 61% are re-used or recycled in some form. 39% go to landfill, which will be banned shortly. The conference programme was a full one, with a variety of speakers, including representatives from enforcement and licensing agencies, trade associations and those involved in developing new processes and uses for scrap tyres. Among the solutions discussed were rubberised asphalt, rubberised sports surfaces, the emotive subject of using tyres as artificial reefs and a method of using microwaves to break down tyres into their component parts. The effective and environmental disposal of scrap tyres is a problem for all parts of the industry and one which will become even more acute when landfilling of tyres is banned in a few years.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

At the beginning of April the sixth

At the beginning of April the sixth round-table conference about tyres and tyre technology organised by the Tip Top Stahlgruber company took place in Munich. This year’s 85 participants came from many varied backgrounds: There were tyre dealers, retreaders, material suppliers, representatives of associations (ADAC, BRV, DEKRA, TÜV etc.), scientists and representatives of the vehicle and tyre manufacturing industries. Some of the highlights of the event included Hans-Jürgen Drechsler, deputy managing director of the BRV (Association of Tyre Traders and Non-Industrial Vulcanisers), speaking about development tendencies in the tyre trade with plenty of figures to back up the claim that the general tendency to concentration in the tyre trade is accelerating and manufacturer dependence or orientation also on the increase. Dieter Hatzfeld, formerly Michelin, now in a leading position with RuLa GmbH, the truck tyre cold cure retreader, spoke about the lop-sided pricing policy in the truck tyre field. The gist of his talk was: The price relation between new and retreaded tyres is no longer right. The subject of Mobile Fitting was also under discussion. “Long-term participation in the truck tyre business means participation in the large fleet business and offering comprehensive service schemes”, Drechsler said. Norbert Schygulla (Deutsche Goodyear), Michael Zoeppritz (Bridgestone/Firestone), Dr. Bernd Löwenhaupt (Dunlop), Ludwig Nelke (Michelin) and Hugo Verschoore (Butler Engineering) then introduced their own companies’ tyre run-flat systems (EMT, DSST, PAX) complete with practical fitting and maintenance suggestions. All in all, the range of subjects was far-reaching, offering something interesting for each of the guests present. Read more in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG 5/2000.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

TyreCheck 2000 Results From NTDA

The National Tyre Distributors Association held a press conference to reveal the results of its TyreCheck 2000 campaign. This was part of a wider European initiative to increase tyre awareness and collect data in support of a campaign to increase the legal minimum tread depth. The UK campaign lasted a week and over 37,500 tyres were checked. A depressing 10% were below the 1.6mm legal minimum and a further 17% had tread depths below 2mm, which is the level being proposed as the new legal minimum. 26% were damaged in some way and 46% incorrectly inflated. Spare tyres were also checked and 33% of these had a tread depth below 2mm. 66% were wrongly inflated. In a telephone survey of people who had recently bought tyres, 75% did not know the legal tread depth and 43% said they check their pressures regularly; a figure not borne out by the above statistics. It is planned to repeat the exercise next year, hopefully on a larger scale, and the results will be used to lobby individual governments and European authorities through Bipaver for a change in the tyre laws in Europe.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Successful 1999 Year for ContiTech

The ContiTech division of Hanover-based Continental AG experienced the most successful business year of its history in 1999, according to the company.”The year 1999 marks a big step forward – in results, globalisation and concentration on core businesses”, was the way the year was summed up at a press conference by Manfred Wennemer, board member of Continental AG with responsibility for the ContiTech division and chairman of ContiTech Holding GmbH. In 1999 ContiTech increased its turnover to 1.72 billion Euro (previous year: 1.70 billion Euro), a plus of 0.7 p.c. This would have been about 2.5 p.c. but for changes in the contributing units,some of which were sold. Turnover per employee amounted to 112,000 Euro, approximately four per cent higher than the 107,000 Euro of 1998. In non-automotive sections the general economic situation led to some decline, but business with Europe’s car makers was approximately four per cent above the previous year’s level. The 1999 ContiTech turnover was made up about 64 p.c. in the automotive sector and 36 p.c. outside it. Operating profit (EBIT) also improved. The strong growth can be attributed, among other things, to a significant reduction in the extraordinary items and reserves for restructuring, which had depressed the 1998 result. On the contrary, the 1999 year saw one-off profits, especially from sales of individual segments. Wennemer emphasised that these positive effects on the results were caused by ContiTech’s restructuring measures. Read more in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG 5/2000.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

John Lampe to lead Bridgestone/Firestone USA

Bridgestone/Firestone USA has announced John Lampe as successor to outgoing Masatoshi Ono. John Lampe steps up from the number two position to lead the largest subsidiary of the Bridgestone Group. The announcement was made official at a company press conference in Nashville on 10th October.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Best-Ever Result for Dunlop Germany

Deutsche Dunlop GmbH, part of the Goodyear Dunlop Tire Group (Western Europe), has announced a record turnover in 1999 of 835 million Euro and a net profit of 63.3 million Euro. The operating profit was 12.5% of turnover. Dunlop Germany invested 68.5 million Euro, which represents 8% of turnover. The company has capital of 300 million Euro. Whilst employment in the rubber and tyre industry in Germany has decreased over the last ten years by 30%, Dunlop has increased its number of employees by 21% over the same period to 5,176 at 31st December 1999. The income of the four directors was excellent, averaging 2.9 million marks each as recognition of delivering outstanding results. From a German standpoint it is worth noting that the management have boosted “location Germany”. They showed the business world that it is possible to achieve excellent results in a German environment. The management remains optimistic for the future. Finance director, Dr. Volker Wingefeld, said that Dunlop expect to achieve results for this year comparable to those of 1999. The work of marketing director Dieter Seibert should also be mentioned. The Dunlop brand is stronger than ever before in Germany. The willingness to buy Dunlop is increasing significantly. Until last year the management held a press conference every year in Frankfurt, close to Hanau. Now, as part of a much bigger group, they are calling it a “press-breakfast” to get their message across.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors