Cooper Tire & Rubber Co has named Steven M Chapman as a director of the Company, effective immediately. Mr Chapman is the Group Vice President, Emerging Markets & Businesses for Cummins, Inc., a global leader in diesel engines and related technologies. Mr Chapman will fill the vacancy that has existed on the Board since the departure of Dennis J Gormley. He will serve Gormley’s unexpired term until 6 May, 2008.
Vauxhall has launched a new version of its user-friendly Zafira, which fits Bridgestone tyres as original equipment. Featuring the versatile Flex7 seating design that first appeared on the original car in 1999, a wide range of engines, and a choice of Bridgestone’s Potenza or Turanza tyres, the new Zafira is expected to become a popular choice for UK drivers.
One woman was killed and two more were seriously injured during a fire at the synthetic rubber plant in Voronezh, Russia sources at the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations told the Itar-Tass news agency.
On Saturday 8th October, firefighters were called to a blaze at the Charles Lawrence International rubber recycling plant on the Brunel Industrial Estate in Newark. More than 80 firefighters and ambulance staff and 13 fire engines attended the incident.
According to BBC Radio Nottingham, a cloud of dense, black smoke was visible from five or six miles away and visibility was affected for drivers on the A1 and A46 major routes.
Despite this, no-one was injured and damage is believed to be minor, with CLI hoping that full production will be restored shortly.
(Akron/Tire Review) JD Power/LMC Automotive Forecasting Services predicts that new vehicles powered by hybrid electric or clean diesel engines will garner 11 per cent of US sales by 2012. Currently, such vehicles hold a 4.8 per cent market share, said the firm.
Mahle International has increased its share in Izumi Piston Manufacturing Co, (Thailand) Ltd from 34 to 52 per cent. The company will now operate under Mahle Engine Components Thailand Ltd supplying the Thai automotive industry with 1.8 million pistons per year, predominantly for passenger car and commercial diesel engines. The 370 employees at the Bangkok location currently achieve sales of around 13.1 million euros. With 7 locations, Mahle now has a production capacity of 18 million pistons and is one of the largest suppliers in this sector on the most dynamic growth market. The announcement is retrospectively effective from 1 January.
More than 5,000 residents have been evacuated after a major fire broke out at the Bridgestone tyre factory in Kuroiso City, 150 km north of Tokyo. The plant is located in a residential area and evacuated residents were provided with food, water and accommodation while 60 fire engines and a fire-fighting helicopter attempted – so far unsuccessfully – to bring the blaze under control. The plant covers 510,000 square meteres, employs 850 workers and makes tyres for cars, trucks and monorails. The cause of the fire is not known, but there have been no serious injuries to date. At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Bridgestone’s shares fell by one per cent.
A faulty ignition coil has caused VW to recall 850,000 vehicles, built from 2001 onwards. Those models affected are equipped with 1.8L turbo, V5, V6 and W8 petrol engines. Industry experts estimate the cost of parts and labour to be around 100 Euros per vehicle, or 85 million Euros in total. Over 60 per cent of the affected vehicles are in the USA.
BMW and PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) are to jointly develop a new family of small petrol engines, with a target of one million units. The base for the project will be Munich and R&D will come from BMW, with PSA handling production and procurement. The total investment is said to be 750 million Euro.
After last year’s success, Continental’s business unit ContiTech has again been awarded “Supplier Of The Year” by the American General Motors Corporation. ContiTech Vibration Control won the prize for supplying damping elements for the engines of Opel’s Astra, Omega and Vectra.
The sale of Land Rover to Ford by BMW – a deal which was in doubt recently – has been finalised. BMW agreed to Ford’s stipulation that one third of the asking price of 3 bn Euros will not be paid until the year 2005.
Michelin is worried that data on its tyres might be made available to Ferrari (Bridgestone) if the French company supplies the Alain Prost F1 team with tyres next season. Prost will be using Ferrari engines. As the new company on the block, Michelin is obliged to supply 60% of the grid. Bridgestone has signed with six teams, and says that it is not looking for more, which would appear to leave Michelin with little choice other than to supply Prost.
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