Tyre Recall No Problem For Firestone In Europe
From 1991 up to the present, only about 16,000 tyres of the size in question have been sold in Europe. Most of these are no longer in use.
From 1991 up to the present, only about 16,000 tyres of the size in question have been sold in Europe. Most of these are no longer in use.
The turnover of the motorcycle tyre division of Pirelli Germany (brands: Metzeler & Pirelli) in 1999 amounted to 94.9 million Euro; 1.4 p.c. more than the previous year. In motorcycle tyre terms, Pirelli is the market leader in Germany, Italy and Europe as a whole.
According to results from Tyrecheck 2000, carried out by Police forces throughout the UK, as many as one in ten cars on UK roads may be running on illegal tyres, 27% are, at best, close to the end of their safe and legal life. That’s in excess of 13million illegal tyres in use every day. Imagine then the figures for faulty shock absorbers hidden out of sight? Recent research carried out in the UK suggested that over 6 million out of 25 million (24%) cars on the road were running on at least one faulty shock absorber. Belgian research confirmed that this is not purely an UK problem when figures produced there showed 20-25% of motorists driving with faulty dampers. If the car driver is unaware of a problem, how can the industry realise the potential sales in the shock absorber aftermarket? The market is estimated by Datamonitor to be worth in excess of 124M Euro at Retail Selling Price (RSP) in the UK alone, and across Europe has a value of some 471M Euro at Manufacturer Selling Prices (MSP). How does the fast fit salesman persuade the customer that he needs a new shock absorber? Moreover, how does he persuade him that he needs to change a pair? More about this can be found in the December issue of TYRES & ACCESSORIES.
There are rumours that an unnamed rival from continental Europe is to make a takeover bid for Finelist, the UK-based distributor of car components. Finelist has 40,000 trade customers and, during the last financial year, made pre-tax profits of £26.3 m (Euro 43.6 m) on a turnover of £483 m (Euro 801 m).
Michelin recently described the V/Z sector as ‘the most dynamic sector in today’s market’, increasing by the rate of 15% per year in Europe and growing five times faster than the overall market. By 2003, Michelin estimates that 35.7 million tyres will be sold in this sector, accounting for almost one quarter of the replacement tyre market.
The German accessories wholesaler WFZ has changed its name to Europart. This is the result of the expansion from a specialised utility to a car part dealer. Europart has a foothold in 15 countries throughout Europe with its own outlets.
North America’s Accuride Corp. (Evansville/Indiana) is an enormously profitable producer of steel and aluminium wheels for trucks and recorded a record jump in sales to more than 500 million US-$ in 1999. Founded by Firestone in 1905, the company was sold in 1986 to Phelps Dodge Corp., cooperated with Goodyear 1992 and was sold again in 1998 to investment group Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts (KKR). Now the automotive supplier has its eyes set on the European market for investments, maybe also in aluminium wheels for cars.
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.
A European committee has agreed on the final text of the End Of Life Vehicle Directive (ELV). One paragraph bans the use of lead in wheel balance weights, including coated weights, on new vehicles after 1st July 2003. It is unclear whether any ban would apply to the aftermarket. The ELV text has to be submitted to the European Parliament and then to the Council for final vote and adoption.
Degussa-Hüls AG, worldwide the second largest carbon black manufacturer with production sites in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, again announces a price increase of 25 Euro per metric ton for its range of rubber blacks effective May 1, 2000, in Europe.
Unprecedented crude oil and crude oil products have pushed production costs for carbon black ever higher.This, combined with the low value of the Euro have again led Degussa-Hüls AG to raise prices for rubber blacks to 40 Euro per metric ton. Prices effective from 15th November.
Harvey Firestone established his sales company for tyres and technical rubber products in the summer of 1900 and began production of tyres in Akron, Ohio, three years later. Thanks to a big order from Ford for the famous model T, the company was immediately successful and grew rapidly. In the twenties, Firestone was, for some years, the biggest tyre manufacturer in the world. Due to a badly-managed recall in the late seventies, the company ran into extreme difficulties; it tried to avoid the recall, but eventually its hand was forced, severely damaging the company’s reputation as a result. After this episode, the Firestone management was forced to sell assets every year to plug the biggest holes in the balance sheet. John Nevin was appointed CEO, but despite his extremely strict guidance, which was focused purely on shareholders, he did not manage to turn the company around. In 1988 Bridgestone acquired Firestone, turning the Japanese company into a true global player overnight. This was Firestone’s only realistic hope for survival. Today, Firestone is once again a world-famous and accepted tyre brand, very successful in the US and also in Europe. The revitalisation of the brand was made possible through its involvement in motorsports, especially the Indy series in the US. In May, the famous Indianapolis 500 race was won by a car fitted with Firestone tyres – this was the 51st such victory for Firestone in the history of the Indy 500. Full details can be found in the June edition of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
Bridgestone has launched the production of passenger car and light truck tyres in Poland. Right now the factory has a capacity of about two million tyres for passenger cars but in 2001 Bridgestone plans to manufacture three million high performance tyres.
For the first time the volumes of Michelin tyres sold in North America (incl. Mexico) exceeded those sold in Europe.
In the hot cure field Michelin is the European market leader with its product Remix. “Recamic”, Michelin’s cold cure process six years in the making, is still eyed with curiosity.In Europe Michelin has been a strong competitor for many years and has a current market share in truck tyre retreading of 23 p.c., which it intends to raise to 30 p.c. by the year 2005.
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