December Archives - Page 16 of 35 - Tyrepress

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Bridgestone Operating Profit Anticipated to Drop 15%

According to Japan’s Nikkei financial daily, Bridgestone expects its operating profit to decrease by 15 per cent to 100 billion yen (£742.7 million) in the 2009 calendar year. The Japanese tyre major anticipates sales will fall about 10 per cent from their 2008 level, to around 2.85 trillion yen (£21.2 billion), reported the newspaper.

On December 22 the company reported an expected 2008 operating profit of 118 billion yen (£876.4 million), significantly down on the 249.96 billion achieved in 2007.

6th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Europe Takes Full Control of Bandag EMEA

On January 2 Bridgestone Europe NV/SA announced it has assumed full control of Bandag EMEA through the purchase of all of the shares in that company from Bridgestone Americas.

5th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Revised Bridgestone Financial Projections Reflect Global Slowdown

Bridgestone Corporation reports that the financial crisis and resultant global economic slowdown has created a necessity for it to revise the consolidated financial projections for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 that were originally announced on August 8. These downward changes have mostly been caused by decreasing tyre sales in Europe and North America, the company says.

22nd December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear DuraSeal Technology Wins ‘Nifty Fifty’ Award

Goodyear’s self-sealing commercial tyre technology has earned a “Nifty Fifty Award” for best new products in 2008. In its December issue, the US based publication Heavy Duty Trucking magazine selected the Goodyear Unisteel G316 LHT tyre with DuraSeal Technology for its Nifty Fifty Award, one of 50 new products selected on its “usefulness to the truck operator in terms of innovation, serviceability and performance.” Previously, Goodyear’s G395 steer tyre and early applications of DuraSeal – on the G287 and G288 tyres – were honoured with the Nifty Fifty recognition.

22nd December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Selects Second Year’s Shortlist for Mission 2018

The second year of short-listing for the Apollo Tyres’ “Mission 2018” tennis scheme concluded on the weekend of December 21-22 in Hyderabad, India, with the induction of 15 children from across the country. This number adds to last year’s 21 children who have been training over the past 12 months at the FIST Academy in Bangalore, taking the total number of Apollo Tyres tennis scholarships to 36.

22nd December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Statutory Negotiations at Nokian Concluded

Statutory negotiations at Nokian Heavy Tyres were concluded on December 19 with the company taking the decision to lay off a number of employees for approximately six months. Nokian cites the decreased demand for heavy tyres demand caused by the financial crisis and a subsequent reduction in production, as the reason behind the lay-offs.

19th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Brisa Employees Occupy Factory Following Job Cut Announcement

Turkey’s Dogan News Agency has reported on around 1,000 Brisa employees barricading themselves inside the company’s tyre manufacturing facility in Izmit. The factory occupation and an associated halt in production is said to have taken place to protest the unexpected announcement of more than 30 job cuts.

Brisa announced on December 18 that it had terminated contracts of 32 workers at the plant due to falling sales figures and lower product demand. Executives of the employees’ union are said to have joined the protest.

19th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Nokian Negotiations End With Six-Month Layoff

The statutory negotiations at Nokian Heavy Tyres ended on the 19th of December, 2008 with the decision to lay off the employees for approximately six months. The reason for the lay-offs is the decreased heavy tyre demand caused by the financial crisis, which has created the need to reduce production in line with the lower demand.

The decision concerns some 280 employees and all personnel groups at Nokian Heavy Tyres. Depending on the job, the lay-offs will last from 10 to 100 days, which corresponds to the lay-off of around 90 employees for six months. The majority of lay-offs will be carried out from January to June 2009. Part of the adjustment needs will be executed by pension arrangements. The walkout of Nokian Heavy Tyres production personnel which started on Thursday, December 18, 2008 ended on December 19, 2008 at 10.30 a.m.

19th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop India Managers Allegedly Beaten Up

The tyre trade can be a ruthless business sometimes….Two Dunlop India managers have reportedly been beaten up by members of the INTUC employee’s union at the company’s Sahagunj factory. The Calcutta based Telegraph newspaper reports that, on the afternoon of December 17, the men were attacked following accusations of attempting to smuggle machinery out of the closed unit. One of the two was taken to hospital for observation.

18th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Woman Avoids Prison for Bridgestone-Firestone Embezzlement

An American woman that embezzled more than US$200,000 from Bridgestone Firestone over a nine-year period will avoid spending time in prison after pleading guilty to theft and two counts of forgery. Janet Lazdins from Indianapolis pleaded guilty in August to taking around $215,000 from the company between 1997 and 2006, and on December 15, Madison Superior Court 3 Judge Thomas Newman on Monday gave her a three-year suspended prison term and ordered her to spend three years on probation.

18th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Driver 1st Woman to Win 2 Off-Road Truck Championships

Yokohama Tire Corporation-sponsored Heidi Steele became the first woman driver to win a Best in the Desert (BITD) off-road racing truck championship when she placed third at the Fabtech Desert Classic in Henderson, Nevada on Saturday, December 6. Steele also became the first woman truck champion in SCORE (Class 7SX mid-size truck) after taking a second-place class finish in November’s Baja 1000 in Ensenada, Mexico.

18th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Nokian Employees Walkout in Protest of Production Adjustments

At midday on December 18, production personnel at Nokian’s heavy tyres factory in Nokia, Finland, walked out to protest against the company’s plans to adjust production capacity. According to an employees’ announcement, the workout will last until 10pm on Friday, December 19. Nokian adds that statutory negotiations regarding the adjustment measures are continuing and will end on Monday, December 22, 2008.

According to a previous announcement, Nokian Heavy Tyres is considering laying off some 100 employees for approximately 7-8 months as of January 2009.

18th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Vredestein Banden B.V. to be Sold

Amtel Vredestein N.V. (AVNV) has announced that its subsidiary company OJSC Amtel-Vredestein (OJSC AV), the holding company of the group’s Russian business, is no longer able to satisfy its creditors’ demands. The AVNV executive board has determined that, due to the financial difficulties AVNV faces, it will not be able to provide any additional finance to OJSC AV. This development, says the company, may have “consequences for the going concern status of AVNV”, given a number of guarantees provided by AVNV in favour of the creditors of OJSC AV.

15th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Firestone Liberia Celebrates Medical Centre Re-Opening

Firestone Liberia celebrated on December 12 the official reopening of the Firestone Medical Center at Duside, in the city of Harbel, as an inpatient facility. Several VIP guests attended the one-hour ceremony to commemorate this milestone, including Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and US Ambassador to Liberia Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

According to Bridgestone, the hospital was severely damaged during Liberia’s 14-year civil war and all of its medical equipment was either stolen or destroyed. The company adds that rebuilding and reopening of the hospital represents the fulfilment of one of Firestone Liberia’s commitments to the nation of Liberia under its investment agreement with the country.

15th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Gould Wins Pirelli Star Driver Award

Following two days of hard-fought competition in Cumbria, 21-year old Bristol driver Adam Gould has become the recipient of the Pirelli Star Driver Award. This honour was gained through winning the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout competition, held on December 11 and 12. In order to win, Gould participated in a range of tests that extended beyond his driving prowess; the judging panel also examined the contenders’ fitness, interview presentation skills and knowledge of the sport. Gould finished the weekend ahead of seven other hopefuls, and in addition to the kudos attached to the distinction of winning, Gould’s prize covers a full funding in the 2009 British Rally Championship.

15th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors