Mr Shoshi Arakawa has been appointed chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Bridgestone/Firestone Europe (BFE). He succeeds Mr Takeshi Uchiyama, who retires and returns to Japan after leading BFE for the last three years.
Only a few weeks before the start of the Agritechnica fair, Goodyear presents its brand new “Optitrac DT818” and “Optitrac DT824” tyres – the latest additions to the Optitrac family of agricultural tyres, to which the super volume tyre DT830, introduced at the end of last year, also belongs. The DT818 is the family’s super-wide tyre, created primarily for use on today’s higher horsepower tractors with large implements. According to the tyre manufacturer, the DT824 is the perfect choice for very heavy machinery including harvesters and combines. Both tyres hold a much greater volume of air than standard-width tyres, and, because they are wider, have a much larger “footprint”. The weight is distributed over a greater surface area, reducing the pressure at any single point and minimising soil compaction which has negative effects on the plants‘ development. The DT818 and DT824 have also been designed for optimal traction in all types of weather. They feature deeper, more powerful curved lugs for greater draw-bar pull and broad square shoulders provide extra grip. The tread area between the lugs has been specially shaped for better self-cleaning of the tyres. During the presentation of the new tyres Serge Daleiden, responsible for the farm tyre division in Europe at Goodyear, mentioned that future developments in the farm tyre sector could possibly also include the company’s BioTred technology. “This is not a promise, just an idea”, said Daleiden.
The Kelly brand is to be relaunched at the Tyrexpo Europe exhibition in the UK in March. Director of Kelly Europe, Chris Kisby, says that the relaunch will give Kelly a powerful presence in the ‘price shopper’ market segment and a clearer identity in relation to the other group brands, Goodyear and Fulda. New products to extend the range will also be introduced at the show.
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.
Autopolis, the Bear-ish auto industry strategist is likely to downgrade forecasts for the US and North American automotive markets. Despite high sales, production is down by 20% and stocks 40% above normal. This follows an earlier warning of a forecast 11% drop in world-wide (in Western Europe and Asia too) demand, and alerts issued by Autopolis regarding over capacity, and the need to cut costs and improve marketing.
In a management reshuffle at Ford in the USA, Henry Wallace, Chief Financial Officer and Wayne Booker, Vice Chairman, are to retire. There is speculation that Martin Inglis, Head of Operations for Ford North America, is to succeed Wallace and that Nick Scheele, Chairman of Ford Europe, is to return to the States as a replacement for Inglis. Ford stressed that these latest moves have no connection with the current Firestone recall situation.
HMI (short for Trade Marketing Initiative) is a special relationship between the tyre trade and the industry, offered in Germany only by Goodyear. The marketing programme has been widened over the past year; for example the long-awaited Tyre Soft 2 software is now available at long last. At the annual meeting in Sonthofen, Mr. Zubanovic, managing director of Goodyear Handels Systeme GmbH, expressed little concern despite the problems the organisation is facing. He said that the tyre trade has to go for growth and seize every opportunity to expand – dealers who do not will prove to be uncompetitive in the long run. Goodyear MD Jarro Kaplan, who is president of Goodyear Eastern Europe, pointed out that teamwork with Goodyear is beneficial because it “always guarantees the trade a good year.”
Hayes Lemmerz is the world’s leading global manufacturer of automotive and commercial highway wheels and one of only a few companies producing wheels from both steel and aluminium. Regarding steel wheels, the company, whose headquarters are in the USA, is the worldwide market leader. Regarding aluminium wheels, Hayes Lemmerz is among the leading manufacturers in Europe. Recent years have seen a move from steel to aluminium wheels in original equipment. Looking purely at price, the steel wheel is absolutely unrivalled, but obviously the two criteria of weight and styling have proved more important to the car manufacturers. Realising that it was not enough that the steel wheel is cheaper, the manufacturers decided to become competitive also in the matter of weight. With its newest development of a steel structure wheel, Hayes Lemmerz has attained this target; this kind of wheel is now fitted in a 16 inch size on the newest Ford Mondeo model. But it must be said that is was not only an achievement of the wheel company but also for the producers of new kinds of steel which gives the wheel more rigidity and stability than before and offers the opportunity to make the wheels thinner and therefore lighter. Regarding styling, Hayes Lemmerz tries to mimic the smart aluminium wheels with new finishes that look like aluminium or chrome or are even coloured. Another opportunity is to create a very well-fitting wheel cap. Being also one of the most sophisticated aluminium wheel manufacturers, Hayes Lemmerz tried to develop lighter alloy wheels too. One competitor (Stahlschmidt & Maiworm) has already made much progress with hollow spokes and this kind of wheel is fitted on the top models of Porsche, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz. The idea of Hayes Lemmerz engineers was not to use the spokes but the rim bead section for cavities: they call the invention “Hollow-Hump Technology”.
Kleber is introducing its new Dynaxer DR series of tyres, in 31 different sizes, for wheels from 14″ to 18″ and H, V and W speed ratings. The new tyres have been developed from the previous generation Dynaxer DR 502 and 503 series of tyres, with the emphasis being placed on three core areas; the compound, the mould design and the optimisation of the tread pattern. The compound has been chosen for its properties in grip and wear and the tread pattern designed for maximum water evacuation – these features make the Dynaxer an excellent wet-weather performer. A large number of tread blocks means lower noise and lateral grooves positioned along the tread pattern’s flow lines allows the even dispersion of water, giving peace of mind, whatever the weather. The mould contributes to the tyre’s good wear rate, thanks to its ability to evenly distribute the pressures enforced. This contributes too to reduced tyre noise and ride comfort. At the same time as the new tyre is introduced, Kleber has revamped its logo. The new logo is said to reflect Kleber’s three core values of peace of mind, serenity and reliability and is aimed at the trade and general public alike. Although not the most famous name in tyres, Kleber claims to be Europe’s sixth-best-selling range and has OE contracts with such manufacturers as Audi, Renault, Peugeot and Vauxhall.
It is not only the Ford Explorer that might show a tendency to rollover in critical situations; the US Consumer Report has revealed through its own tests that the Mitsubishi Mondero (known in Europe as the Pajero) shows a tendency to lift two wheels in critical situations. That, according to the magazine, is not acceptable and is a safety problem. Mitsubishi denies that there is any safety problem at all.
This year’s Tyrexpo show was held only a matter of weeks before a rival exhibition, being run alongside an already-successful aftermarket exhibition. It would be naïve to believe that the existence of two shows so close together has had anything but an adverse effect on both events, and the fear was that the tyre industry would be the loser if we had two bad shows. The total number of visitors to Tyrexpo Europe was a disappointment, but many of the exhibitors expressed themselves satisfied with the quality of visitors. Opinions were polarised – some were happy, others not, some said that the UK needs a dedicated tyre show, others were not so sure. One thing on which all were agreed is that we cannot afford the same two-exhibition situation in two years’ time. Our review covers exhibitor’s reactions – warts and all.
For so-called run-flat tyres (meaning tyres that can be driven even at zero air pressure) in Europe and North America huge sales increases are on the horizon. Run-flats will replace conventional tyres now in use. This can happen only step by step because there is a lack of production facilities for a number of years. Another effect: if the new tyres become standard original equipment, the market for tyres will reduce by twenty percent, because a car fitted with run-flat tyres does not need a spare wheel. Is the development of such products an example of the tyre business shooting itself in the foot? Of course not because it is never possible to stop technical developments like these. And it should be noted that run-flat tyres are more sophisticated than conventional tyres, which compensates for the lack of every fifth tyre in oe. Because tyre pressure warning systems will, in the future, become mandatory on new cars, they need suitable tyres. Run-flat tyres without tyre pressure systems are not practical; the driver might not realise that he is driving at zero pressure at high speed. The reverse situation is possible – indeed already a reality in some models – as the car is fitted with a tyre pressure monitoring system but on conventional tyres. Nowadays, run-flat tyres have moved from the arena of the laboratory and testing and are on the way to becoming a growing part of the market. As with other new technologies, if a new standard replaces an old one, the race is on among new systems (for example which tyre pressure monitoring system is the best), materials (for example which reinforcements should be used for the carcasses) and other developments for the transition period (tyre repair sets).
Kumho Tire is seeking OE business in Europe and North America. The company has announced expansion of production in Asia, for example in the Nanjing factory.
From the 1st till the 10th of December the 33rd “Essen-Motor-Show-International” opened its gates. For ten days, more than 550 exhibitors in 18 exhibition halls were showing the whole range of individual vehicle models for the world market and the broad palette of vehicle accessories. The Essen-Motor-Show enjoys the international reputation of being the biggest and most comprehensive show for automobile tuners. The tuning business is booming in Europe. Whereas the German passenger car market has decline by more than ten per cent this year, the tuning companies are reporting increasing turnovers. After 7.8 billion DM in the previous year it is expected that the eight billion DM benchmark is going to to be reached this year. But the tuning business guarantees not only high net earnings, it guarantees jobs as well. In 1999 the sector employed 18.000 people. For the car tuners the Essen-Motor-Show is traditionally the most important platform for presenting their products. The exhibitors have shown numerous world premieres in Essen. A review on this event is features in the December edition of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Tenneco Automotive Europe has appointed Richard Sloan as Vice-President of the company. He is responsible for the two Tenneco brands Monroe (shock absorbers) and Walker (exhausts).
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