Hankook Tire Co has chosen Slovakia as the location of its new Eastern European factory, Slovakia’s economy minister, Pavol Rusko, is quoted as saying. The company, now plans to make an investment worth around 500 million euros in the country.
Nokian Tyres is to launch its Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad, tyre plant in July or August 2005. Speaking at a Leningrad an Interfax press conference, regional governor Valery Serdyukov confirmed the company would begin production this summer.
Engineering staff at Bridgestone Firestone’s Christchurch, New Zealand factory have been on strike for nearly a month, with no sign of a resolution to the dispute. Around two dozen workers, all members of the EPMU union, walked off the job early last month after pay negotiations came to a standstill. Striking staff member Dave Cahill says they have had little response from the employer, apart from times when police have been called in to monitor the picket line, the NewstalkZB local radio station reported.
Pirelli has started work towards the construction of a special cable factory in the Brazilian State of Espirito Santo (Vila Velha). The “umbilicals” produced will be used in offshore oil platforms, the company says.
(Akron/Tire Review) Federal reported that it has achieved a new record for shipments in March. Total shipment value from the company’s Taiwan factory reached $11million, according to Federal.
Pirelli Tire North America is putting a little fun into its tyre testing programme this week as it participates in the One Lap of America event. Presented by Car and Driver and the Tire Rack, the event starts on 30 April at the Tire Rack headquarters in South Bend, Indiana. The 22nd running of the One Lap covers approximately 3200 miles and passes through many different states on the East coast of the US. The Pirelli team consisting of Jeff Dinges (R&D) and Gianluca Grioni (marketing) will participate in 11 different timed events at tracks such as Virginia International Raceway and New Hampshire International Speedway and finish the event on 7 May back at the Tire Rack.
Goodyear Canada has announced that it will construct a new truck retreading factory in Beloeil replacing the existing facility Ville St-Laurent.
The move represents a “strategic choice for Goodyear Canada” said Mr Bernard Plante, general manager for Goodyear Canada. 5.2 million Canadian dollars will be invested in the project, which will produce a 69,000 sq ft building.
Automotive supplier Montupet S.A. (France) felt a recession of around three to four per cent in sales in 2004, or 423 million euros. However the company’s annual general meeting has reported a net profit of 17.72 million euros, but more importantly reduced its debts to 22 million euros. Investments including that into Renault engines, a Canadian plant for Chrysler/USA and the modernisation of a Belfast aluminum cast wheels factory, were valued at 26 million.
Workers at Michelin’s Stoke-on-Trent remix factory have voted to end industrial action. Members of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) had been refusing to work overtime for the past two weeks. Workers voted to accept the manufacturers revised deal “under protest,” T&G convenor Robert Taylor is reported as saying.
There will now be a £650 unconsolidated pay rise for 2005 with potentially £350 in performance-related pay and a minimum of a two per cent increase next year, he said. Managers at Michelin are said to be “pleased the pay situation has been resolved.”
John DeLorean, who created a legendary car of the same name in Belfast in 1972, died at the age of 80 in Los Angeles last weekend. Mr DeLorean’s DMC 12 sports car played a central role in the “Back To The Future” film series, where it gained worldwide attention. DeLorean went bankrupt in the beginning of the 80s, since that time French company Montupet has produced 800,000 aluminum cast wheels each year for OE customers in the former Belfast DeLorean plant.
The Austrian Alcar group has taken over Italian wheel manufacturer Consud, Srl. Although the acquisition took place some months ago, the news has only just become public. In total, the new factory and the group’s existing Ambrosetti plant will produce 2.5 million units annually. Hayes Lemmerz is another large source of the group’s steel wheels. Alcar is the European market leader for passenger car steel wheels, sellng 5.6 million units in the last financial year. Of these, 90 per cent were produced by either Hayes Lemmerz or the company itself.
Workers at the Michelin tyre factory in Stoke-on-Trent have voted to take industrial action in a dispute over pay. The workers had previously decided to take measures including ‘working to rule,’ but then suspended preparations following a “positive” meeting with management. Now around 400 members of the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) have decided to demonstrate outside the Remix plant. An overtime ban has been in place since 6:00am on Friday. As a result of the action, production at the plant is said to be very slightly down.
(Akron/TR) Goodyear Tire & Rubber has sold its closed tyre mould plant in Stow, Ohio, to an Akron area developer. Albrecht Inc, a commercial real estate developer that owns and operates a number of shopping centres in the Greater Akron area, bought the 106-acre site for $4.5 million, said Goodyear. The purchase includes land and a 131,500 square foot factory building, at which Goodyear produced tyre moulds from its opening in 1969 until it was closed in 2002.
The Transport & General Workers Union (T&G) has agreed hold off on planned industrial action for seven days. Union members at Michelin’s Stoke-on-Trent plant had agreed to work to rule, but the decision was suspended following a “positive” meeting with management. If no agreement on the pay offer can be reached, the industrial action will go ahead on 11 March, the Birmingham Post reported. A planned demonstration will also be postponed, the newspaper added.
A fire a Continental Tire’s Mayfield plant, caused minor injuries to two workers. According to the associated press, Fire investigators said that it appears the fire started inside the ductwork, but was under investigation. The fire started shortly before noon and caused minor burns to the arm of one worker and singed the hair of another, plant manager Hank Eisenga is reported as saying. The blaze, which started accidentally in a corner of a large room where rubber-related chemicals are mixed, was quickly extinguished by workers before Mayfield firefighters arrived, Mr Eisenga said. The plant manager added that the plant was expected to be back to normal within 24 hours. Continental ceased production at the Mayfield at the end of last year. The fire affected one of only two areas in which the factory is still operating – storage and mixing.
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