Christian Lafont has been appointed European Key Account Manager for ATS Euromaster’s parent company, Euromaster Group, and will be responsible for developing a portfolio of major fleet customers across Europe.
Delphi has launched a new European website, which is accessible without any password at www.delphi.com/am. “By using new technology in communications, we’re constantly driving towards faster service and better support for our aftermarket customers” said Lucia V. Moretti, Managing Director of Delphi Product & Service Solutions for Europe. The new site is divided into four main sections: Product Solutions, Service Solutions, Literature and News.
Days after Continental announced that it increased sales of winter tyres by 8 per cent in 2006, financial analysts have been assessing the knock-on effect. In one report Deutsche Bank analysts suggested: “…since the weather [was] mild in Europe in the fourth quarter 2006, the sell out season was low, underlying high inventories at dealers. As a result they say there is a risk that the 2007 winter season will be challenging as dealers will have to move their excess stock first before ordering new tyres.
Michelin has signed the first OE deal for its Davydovo plant near Moscow. The plant, which opened in the summer of 2004, will produce two sizes of tyre as original equipment for models of the Ford Focus built in Ford’s Vsevolozhsk factory near St Petersburg.
Upcoming regulations such as those foreseen in the EC Directive on motor vehicles ( 70/156/EEC ) mean changes for the approximately 120,000 employees in tuning industry businesses across Europe. While they may be of benefit to the industry, the potential for legislative hampering of the industry also exists.
Goodyear has launched a new steer tyre for 7.5 tonne vehicles which is said to give significant operator benefits thanks to its size. According to the manufacturer, the Regional RHS 225/70R17.5, which fits standard rims, increases front axle weight capacity whilst providing enhanced handling and better wear characteristics.
Kwik-Fit Fleet, the fleet division of Britain and Europe’s largest independent fast-fit supplier, expects to see an increasing number of car and light commercial vehicle fleets use its network for service, maintenance MoT and repair work. Meanwhile, the fast-fit giant has warned fleet operators to brace themselves for an increase in tyre costs as more vehicle manufacturers choose to fit run-flat tyres to cars.
Pirelli Tyre SpA, Europe’s third-biggest tyremaker, has arranged a line of credit worth 500 million euros (£337 million) in an attempt to improve the company’s financial structure and boost flexibility. The Italian banks NP Paribas and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA have been hired as lead arrangers to organise the five-year multi-currency credit line. This new credit line is larger than any previous funding, a reflection of the tyre unit’s increased independence from the greater Pirelli group.
Korea’s Kumho Tires has announced a tyremaking first, namely that it has developed products that incorporate a new environmentally friendly material known as Lyocell. Kumho will use the material in the production of tyre cord for ultra-high performance products, and the company claims that the use of Lyocell can mimimise the production of hazardous materials during the manufacturing process.
Continental AG Chief Executive Manfred Wennemer, has admitted that Conti is considering paying larger dividends and also giving out a special dividend for the 2006 business year in order to reduce its cash reserves.
Mr. Wennemer, when interviewed by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, also stated that Conti will increase the price of its replacement tyres early in 2007. Any new OEM business the company acquires in Europe will also be charged at a higher rate.
Amtel-Vredestein N.V., Europe’s fourth largest producer of tyres, has announced it has sold its Amtel-Kuzbass chemical fibre plant in Kemerovo. The company had disclosed its intention to sell the loss producing Russian plant, its last remaining non-core asset, during 2006.
While the implications of this sale are still being analysed, it is thought that it will contribute a loss to company’s 2006 full year results, which Amtel-Vredestein believe will be offset by their acquisition of the Moscow Tyre Plant.
One of Europe’s leading international tyre wholesalers, Van den Ban Autobanden, have announced the launch of their all-new website www.vandenban.nl The new site features an e-commerce capability allowing for online ordering 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Stock levels and prices are constantly updated and the company state that the site has already gained positive feedback regarding its user friendliness.
According to Van den Ban, initial reactions from clients have been very positive. The company’s Managing Director, Frans P. van Lenten, commenting on the new site, stated that “Ongoing improvements to our client base has always been a very important issue to the company and I believe this latest e-Commerce service further emphasises VDB’s strong position in the market as an international ‘total tyre supplier’.”
Sources inform us that Finnish tyre manufacturer Nokian seems set to expand their distribution centre. The company’s Prague (Czech Republic) distribution centre, which already services a number of East European countries, will apparently see its role upgraded into a European-wide distribution centre. T&A has also been told that a re-organisation of the centre will accompany this expansion. Dieter Köppner, current Managing Director of Nuremburg based Nokian Reifen GmbH, Nokian’s German subsidiary, will be responsible for the new European Centre.
An investor involved in takeover negotiations with Continental earlier this year (Philipp Schoeller of General Capital Group) has denied he has any interest in pursuing the plans again. “The project is dead,” GCG co-founder Philipp Schoeller told Reuters, adding: “a resurrection of the project lacks any practical basis”. Continental’s share price rose 2.56 per cent following an earlier WirtschaftsWoche report that suggested Schoeller might again try for a takeover. Schoeller called his remarks to the German business magazine “purely hypothetical”.
Europe’s fourth largest tyre producer, Amtel-Vredestein N.V. announced that its subsidiary, OJSC Amtel-Vredestein, along with CJSC Moscow Tyre Plant-M have secured three lines of credit totalling almost £39 million with the Russian Federation’s Sberbank in order to finance costs associated with its acquisition of the Moscow Tyre Plant. These costs include the restructuring and refinancing of the factory’s debts.
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