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Tenneco announce two Chinese deals

Tenneco Automotive announced that the company has signed a jointventure agreement with China-based Chengdu Lingchuan Mechanical Plant to establish Chongqing Walker Exhaust System Co., Ltd. The new jointventure will supply emission control products and systems to Changan Ford Co. Ltd., the joint venture between Changan Automobile Group Company and Ford Motor Company. Tenneco Automotive will have 60 per cent ownership of the joint venture expected to be formally established by the end of this year and to begin production in 2004. Tenneco also announced an agreement with Eberspacher International GmbH to establish Walker-Eberspacher Automotive Exhaust System Co., Ltd, a jointventure in China. The jointventure will manufacture and distribute emission control products and systems for BMW and Audi vehicles produced in China. The joint venture will operate just-in-time (JIT) final assembly manufacturing operations in Dalian and Changchun, China at Tenneco Automotive’s existing joint venture facilities in those cities. The jointventure will be owned 30 per cent by Tenneco Automotive directly, 25 per cent by one of Tenneco Automotive’s existing majority-owned joint ventures in China and 45 percent by Eberspacher.

25th November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear OE on Ford F-150

Ford has great hopes for the 2004 version of its F-150 4×4 vehicle. The F-150 is already the US’s most popular-selling vehicle and the 2004 version is marketed with the phrase “built Ford tough”. It includes larger-than-before tyres and wheels and the Goodyear Wrangler AT/S tyres supplied as OE are in the size LT 275/65 R18 – representing Goodyear’s first 18″ OE selection in radial light truck tyres. The same size of Wrangler tyres have also been chosen as OE on the 2004 Ford Harley-Davidson Edition pickup and the Ford F-250 Super Duty.

6th November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental supplying tires to Ford for its 2004 F-150

Continental Tire North America, Inc. (CTNA), has announced that it is supplying original equipment tires to the Ford Motor Company for the company’s all-new 2004 F-150 pick-up truck. Continental is supplying Ford with ContiTracTM P255/65R17 tires, General AmeriTrac TRTM P255/70R17 tires and General AmeriTrac LT245/70R17 tires. “The F-150 is one of Ford’s best-selling vehicles, and we are pleased to help Ford fulfill its product promises with our Continental and General tires,” said Andreas Gerstenberger, vice president of Continental’s original equipment tire business.

30th October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Ford 3Q figures better than expected

Ford’s third quarter figures exceeded analysts’ forecasts, although they were still in the red. The company made a net loss of $25 million, compared with a loss for 3Q 2002 of $326 million. Turnover was down to $36.9 billion, from $39.3 billion a year ago. Automotive sales in North America lost $116 million and worldwide, the automotive loss was $609 million. Away from vehicles, Ford Credit reported a record net income of $504 million for 3Q, up from $294 million for 3Q 2002.

17th October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Fleet turnover rises

Kwik-Fit Fleet has announced record turnover for the first six months of this year; up 5.4 per cent to 54.6 million Pounds. This follows the acquisition last November of the Kwik-Fit group by CVC Capital Partners from the Ford Motor Co. KFF has also recently switched advertising agencies and London-based Atkinson Associates will now handle the 1.5 million Pound account.

15th October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Now Ford looks at Philippines

Following the news yesterday that Ford was to increase production in Thailand, the company has announced that it will be investing $50 million to ramp up production at its factory in the Philippines. Output will rise from 15,000 vehicles to 40,000 by 2006 and employment will double to 1,250.

15th October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Ford and Mazda to expand capacity in Thailand

Ford and Mazda are to invest $500 million in their joint venture in Thailand; a country that Bill Ford says “will spearhead Ford’s Asian growth strategy”. The investment will increase annual production from 135,000 vehicles to 200,000, plus Ford plans to set up a regional headquarters in Thailand.

14th October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

No easy ride for Ford’s restructuring

Ford of Europe’s restructuring plans hit a snag as workers at the company’s factory in Genk, Belgium, went on strike, picketing the plant and burning tyres to block the entrance. Last week Ford announced that 3,000 jobs were to be axed at Genk and the current industrial unrest is in response to the restructuring plan.

7th October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

US tests vehicles for rollover risk

the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has introduced tests to measure the risk of vehicle rollovers. The tests were ordered after the Ford Explorer/Firestone tyre saga and their implementation is a year behind schedule. There are 22 million SUVs in the USA and rollover fatalities last year were up 14 per cent to 2,400. No details of the method of testing have been revealed, but vehicle manufacturers are dubious about the validity of any tests, saying that a number of different factors can affect rollover, including road conditions, vehicle stability detection systems and tyre pressures.

7th October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Ford Sacks 3,000 In Belgium

Ford began its much-heralded jobs reduction programme by cutting 3,000 jobs at its factory in Genk, Belgium. This is in contrast to previous plans to invest 900 million Euro in the plant. Lewis Booth, recently-appointed as Ford’s COO in Europe, was pessimistic about market conditions, saying that he expected no recovery in the European car market next year, nor the year after. Ford of Europe lost $774 million in the first six months of the year.

2nd October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Car Makers To Slash Jobs

Only days after signing new master labour agreements with unions in the USA, Ford and DaimlerChrysler have announced comprehensive job-cutting plans. Ford will lose 12,000 jobs worldwide (1,700 in Europe), while DCX will offer early retirement packages to “thousands of US workers” according to reports. One unconfirmed press story suggests that DCX could close up to nine US factories as the car makers face a downturn described as “the most severe that the industry has suffered.”

1st October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Ford Offers Early Retirement To Trim Jobs

Ford is aiming to lose 1,700 jobs in Europe, by offering voluntary early retirement to workers at two factories in Germany. A similar move is expected at the Ford factory in Gent, Belgium, while workers in the UK have already been offered early retirement.

30th September 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper To Sponsor Formula Ford 2000 Championship

Cooper Tire & Rubber has announced a five-year agreement in the USA with Formula Motorsports Inc to create the Cooper Tire Championship Series, which will be the home of the Formula Ford 2000 Zetec racing programme. There will be three categories, all using Cooper Zeon racing radials. Cooper chairman, president and CEO Thomas A. Dattilo said that the group has a rich racing heritage in Europe with Avon tyres and it wants to expand this expertise more aggressively in other markets.

8th September 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Mazda CEO To Head Ford Europe

Lewis Booth, Chief Executive of Mazda for the past year, has been named as the new president of Ford of Europe, succeeding Martin Leach, who resigned recently. Booth’s place at Mazda, in which Ford owns a 33 per cent stake, will be taken by Hisakazu Imaki, who has been with the company for 38 years.

28th August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Settlement In Lawsuit Case

An out-of-court settlement has been agreed in the USA in a case where three students are suing Bridgestone Firestone and a trailer rental company for $72 million, following an accident in 1999 involving a Ford Explorer, which overturned. The size of the settlement was not revealed, but Bridgestone Firestone was adamant that the settlement in no way implied any admission of liability.

21st August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors