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Production Gathers Momentum at Dunlop India as New Workers Hired

Production facilities at Dunlop India’s Sahaganj plant have been operating seven days a week since October 14, evidence the company is on its way to fulfilling recently announced plans to increase production to 90 tonnes per day by the end of October. “We would like to see Dunlop operating 24 hours a day and seven days a week,” said Dunlop India chairman Pawan Ruia. “This is a step towards making the Sahaganj unit a cost-effective, high quality manufacturer of tyres and industrial products. Very soon, Sahaganj will surpass all its previous records in production and productivity.”

17th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo to Build Hospital Near Tyre Factory Site

Apollo Tyres has plans to build a specialty hospital close to the site of its soon to be relocated Premier Tyres manufacturing facility. The Rs 6 billion (£74.8 million) hospital project will be operational by the time relocation of the tyre plant in Kalamassery, Kerala is complete in April 2009, and is expected to substantially boost medical tourism in the region. The company also plans to build a traditional “Ayurveda” healthcare clinic and residential home for the elderly on six acres of land adjacent to the Kalamassery factory site. This proposal is currently being considered by India’s State Industries Department.

17th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

New Plant Manager for Goodyear in Fayetteville

Goodyear has appointed a new plant manager at its Fayetteville, North Carolina. Timothy Frosell began in his job in early October and takes control at a time when major investment plans for modernising that facility are underway.

Since joining Goodyear in 1984 Frosell has worked at a number of the company’s US sites, and has previously served as plant manager Kingman, Arizona, Buffalo, New York and Social Circle, Georgia. Frosell replaces Gary Cushman, who is taking on the position of strategic manufacturing engineering manager at Goodyear’s headquarters in Akron, Ohio.

16th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Cash Injection Helps Tyre Startup

A US startup tyre company that has developed a winter tyre with retractable studs has become the recipient of a US$200,000 investment from SC Launch, an organisation specialising in the provision of seed funding and mentoring for new, innovative businesses. South Carolina based Q Tires Inc. has yet to bring any products to market, but the company, headed by former Michelin executive Roy Bromfield, claims it is creating the world’s safest tyres.

Utilising a patented technology called “Celsius”, the tyres function by causing air pressure from the main chamber of the tyre to expand a secondary chamber, which lifts the studs above the surface of the tread. When road conditions no longer require studs, the air pressure is released into atmosphere and the studs retract below the tread face. The Celsius tyres have already been granted DOT approval, and plans are afoot to commence manufacture in China. Q tires has raised $8 million from investors and created a joint venture to produce the tyres in the Chinese city of Qingdao. Untreaded tyre cores will be purchased from Yellow Sea Tire and will be fitted with the new technology tread in a 6,700 square factory that will employ an estimated 140 staff.

15th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Wolfgang Meier to Leave Pirelli UK

Pirelli’s factory in Carlisle will bid farewell to its head of operations at the end of this year. UK industrial director Wolfgang Meier has accepted a senior position at Pirelli headquarters in Milan, and will end his five-year tenure with the company’s UK operations in December. He will be replaced by the current UK traditional manager Vittorio Carducci-Agostini, who will take over in January.

Meier’s career in the UK began in 2003 following his appointment to the role of human resources director. He served in this capacity until the start of 2006, when he stepped into his current position following the retirement of John Nixon.

15th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Reach 50,000 Tyre Milestone at Bathurst 1000

Dunlop proudly supplied its 50,000th tyre to the V8 Supercar Championship Series at the most prestigious race on the Australian motorsport calendar. Dunlop reached their 50,000th tyre milestone after beating rival manufacturers to win its third consecutive contract to supply its highly-acclaimed control tyre to teams participating in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. Since 2002, Dunlop has been the sole tyre supplier to the Championship, providing and servicing more than 9,000 tyres per year.

10th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Former Caribbean Tyre Workers Protest

Former workers of defunct tyre company Dunlop have protested for the payment of outstanding severance packages. The workers were laid off in 1995 by then owner of the company, Caribbean Tyre Factory. To date, the workers have only received 70 per cent of their severance.

Earlier this year, the Industrial Court ordered the US-based Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company, which took over operations from the Caribbean Tyre Company, to pay more than $10.6 million in outstanding benefits with a February 23 deadline.

However, Carl Kelly, a former manager at the tyre company, said that Carlise Tyre and Rubber Company claimed that local insurance company CLICO was still responsible for the payment of the workers. They are now threatening legal action against CLICO.

More than 240 people are reportedly affected by the dispute.

8th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bekaert Announces US Lay Offs

In the US Bekaert Steel has laid off 23 employees at its Rome, Georgia facility, a result of stronger competition from manufacturers in China. The factory, which produces steel cord used in tyre production, began laying off staff on October 1.

“We hope this is short lived,” plant manager Gary Downey told local newspaper the Rome News-Tribune. “The market is slow right now, but we fully anticipate that it is going to return.”

In late August the company also announced the closure of its joint venture steel cord facility in Geelong, Australia, quoting cheaper production costs in other regions as a factor in this decision.

5th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop India Confirms Aero Tyre Plans

Dunlop India has reiterated its intention to re-enter the aero tyre market. In July the company’s vice-president Dhrubojyoti Nandi reported Dunlop India was “focused to take advantage” of the country’s aviation boom, and in recent months it appears that the company’s factory in Sahaganj, in the state of West Bengal, has been earmarked for this purpose.

“We hope that it will start production in another two months,” chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia told The Times of India. The newspaper printed reports that the company aims to achieve an output of 90 tonnes per day at the Sahaganj facility by the end of October and 130 tonnes by the end of March 2008, the close of India’s current fiscal year.

Further comment was also made on the group’s intention to gear up for OTR tyre production through its Falcon Tyres operation. These products, if and when they are produced, will be marketed under the Dunlop brand, not under the Falcon Tyres label as previously reported. The latter brand name will continue to see use exclusively on tyres for two and three wheeled vehicles.

4th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Sales – and Losses – Increase for Amtel-Vredestein

Amtel-Vredestein has recorded an increase in net losses during the first half, an occurrence attributed to losses at its AV-TO operation and growing debt service expenses. Net loss for the period was US$33.5 million, up from $22 million last year, and to this negative figure the AV-TO unit contributed $17 million.

On a brighter note, the tyremaker reported net sales increasing 26 per cent in the first half, with the company delivering “strong operational results in its core passenger car tyre business.” Net revenue from passenger car tyres grew 24.5 per cent to $258.2 million from $207.5 in the first half of 2006.

A company statement reported Amtel-Vredestein is continuing to project sales of approximately $1 billion for 2007 and plans to be operationally profitable during the second half, subject to any potential asset impairments charges and provisions required by IFRS as a result of acquisitions and disposals made in 2006. However, the company expects to continue showing losses on a consolidated basis due to negative contributions by its AV-TO business and high interest expenses.

3rd October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Sibur’s Yaroslavl Plant Granted International Certification

Sibur Russian Tyres’ Yaroslavl Tyre Plant has been awarded ISO/TS 16949:2002 certification. The attainment of this independent certification, which specifies the quality system requirements for the design, development, production, installation and servicing of automotive related products, will permit the factory to participate in the submission of tenders for the supply of original equipment tyres to international vehicle manufacturers.

3rd October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Linglong to Build New 40,000 m2 Factory

Shandong Linglong Rubber Co. has announced plans to construct a new 40,000 m2 factory for the production of passenger-car/light truck tyres. Online news sources quoted Jiang Guibo, Shandong Linglong's import and export business business chief, as saying that the new plant will be built in Shandong province, will cost 1.5 billion yuan (£100 million, 141 million euros), and will focus on high performance products.

26th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Factory Produces 50 Millionth Tyre

The 50 millionth tyre has rolled off the production line at Continental’s Timisoara tyre plant. The Romanian factory manufactures tyres in 13”, 14”, 15” and 16” rim sizes for the European replacement market as well as for a wide range of manufacturers in the automotive industry. The factory opened in October 2000, stretching across 165.000 m² and now employs 1100 people. Timisoara manufactures more than 40,000 tyres a day. Production volume has grown from 1.2 million tyres in 2001 to more than 10 million tyres in 2006.

As part of Continental’s focus on environmentally friendly tyres and production, Timisoara is the only manufacturing plant in Romania to be accepted onto the European Registry of Environmental Protection in Brussels. The factory is also equipped with a modern environmentally friendly boiler house where methane gas fuelled boilers transform water into industrial steam for the tyre production process.

20th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

VancoWinter 2 Launched in the UK

Continental Tyre Group is pleased to announce the launch of its latest cold weather van tyre to be sold on the UK market – the VancoWinter 2. Available from October, VancoWinter 2 features an advanced sipe concept meaning the sipes spread when braking. This creates an ice scraper effect on the road surface allowing shorter braking distances on winter roads. Open shoulders on the tyre with wide lateral grooves give excellent water drainage leading to a high level of protection against aquaplaning on wet roads.

The VancoWinter 2’s optimum tyre footprint coupled with a unique cold weather compound gives the VancoWinter 2 as much as 30 per cent extra mileage potential in the winter months compared to a conventional van tyre. According to a Continental statement heralding the release, the winter tyre market is becoming “increasingly important for van drivers and fleets who realise the safety benefits of fitting cold weather tyres to work vehicles.”

Continental’s van OE approval success continues with the VancoWinter 2 approved by Mercedes for the popular Sprinter van and the Iveco Daily. Currently one in three vans leaves a European factory on Continental tyres.

7th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama to Build Factory in Romania

Romania’s national press agency Rompres has released information that indicates Yokohama Rubber intends to establish a factory in the nation’s Calarasi region, east of Bucharest. CEO Fumiro Nishi announced during a meeting on September 6 that the Japanese tyremaker is seeking a site close to the capital that offers easy road and rail access plus the added bonus of transportation via waterways.

Calarasi is situated between the Danube and the motorway linking Bucharest with the Black Sea port of Constanta.

‘We suggested sites that are available in the region, and the Japanese now need to draw up an investment plan if they want to set up in Calarasi,’ said Cornel Coman, deputy head of the regional administration.

7th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors