The output of truck tyres from Goodyear’s facility in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg will be significantly reduced until the end of this year. The reason for this decision, the company disclosed in a press statement, is the strong decline in Europe’s truck tyre market, with sales figures much lower than expected. This occurrence has, Goodyear adds, resulted in a steady increase in the overall stocks of truck tyres held by the company.
Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Schmalzl has taken up the post of Chief Technology Officer at BorgWarner with effect from July 1, 2008. He succeeds Mark Perlick, who is retiring after 10 years with the company. Schmalzl will report in his new function directly to Tim Manganello, CEO of BorgWarner.
Prof. Dr. Schmalzl is responsible in his new position for investments by the company in the area of new technologies and for the development of forward-looking products through which BorgWarner will continue to extend its market leadership. In addition, Hans-Peter Schmalzl will continue with responsibility for the Advanced Engineering function for Turbo & Emissions Systems. He will be located in Kirchheimbolanden, Germany.
Some time in the next few years – by 2011 at the latest, aluminium wheel producer BBS International will close its factory and headquarters in Schiltach, Germany (the “S” in the name BBS). In its place, corporate owner, Belgium’s Punch International will invest 25 million euros in the second BBS plant, in Herbolzheim, southwest Germany.
One UK based online car parts retailer reports a ‘frenzy’ of ordering from our motoring friends in France, Germany and Spain. Quoting a new report, car parts direct says that these continental customers are saving as much as 70 per cent compared with buying in their own country.
Export sales of car parts to do-it-yourself mechanics and the garage trade have increased by 285 per cent in the last year as the value of the euro has risen by around one-fifth. The UK’s weak currency, a good availability of spare parts and fast and low cost delivery into Europe are fuelling record export sales for the online mail order specialist, carparts-direct.co.uk.
At its meeting on August 23 the Supervisory Board of Continental AG decided upon the appointment of Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann as new Executive Board Chairman, effective September 1. Neumann has been a member of the Continental Executive Board since October 2004 and is succeeding Manfred Wennemer, whose request to be granted early release from his mandate effective August 31, 2008, was previously accepted by the Supervisory Board.
In July 2005 a case of industrial espionage involving Zeus GmbH, a subsidiary of Germany’s Rösler group, was reported in South Africa. At the time the company was testing a newly developed puncture protection substance, which today is marketed worldwide as Triofill.
Two men illegally entered the Zeus factory building, took photographs of the new Trio fill pump and stole samples of the Triofill. Zeus Gmbh has finally received a 14-page judgment from the South African court regarding the case, and Tyres & Accessories has seen a copy of this judgment. The court has penalised each of the two men with fines of 20,000 rand (£1,400).
With a widely differing range of tracks already visited during the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) and its Formula Master partner series in 2008, official tyre supplier Yokohama reports it faces a huge challenge when designing tyres for both series. Although the ADVAN tyre production for both formulae is very similar, the design and development process has to take into account an enormous amount of variants, resulting in very different tyres.
Specialty chemicals company Lanxess AG plans to move its headquarters from Leverkusen to Cologne, Germany, with the relocation process to be completed by 2011. Lanxess reports it will now begin discussions with the city of Cologne to identify possible sites.
“Lanxess is today a well-positioned and globally successful enterprise,” explained Axel C. Heitmann, chairman of the Lanxess Board of Management. “If we are to continue efficiently steering and supporting our growth course in the future, we need a Group headquarters building that provides us with optimal conditions.
The latest 18-inch UHP wide-base tyre test published in Germany’s leading automotive consumer magazine “Auto Bild” shows that paying attention to rolling resistance does not necessarily have to come attached to an unacceptable sacrifice in the areas of handling or braking. Hankook in particular is pleased with the results of this test, having not only achieved an overall “good” test result, but also coming out ahead of its competitors in the rolling resistance category. At the same time the experts testing the tyres attested that the braking performance of Hankook’s new UHP wide-base tyres was excellent both in dry and wet road conditions. In addition, the Ventus V12 evo also impressed the testers with its noise level on rough roads, something that has generally been a problem with wide-base tyres, but is becoming increasingly important because of reported health dangers stemming from the considerable noise created by road traffic. The test was carried out using 225/40 R18tyres fitted to the latest version of the Mercedes-Benz C class.
Germany’s Beru Group have posted sales revenue of 230.4 million euros in the first half of 2008, a 2.77 per cent growth on the corresponding period of 2007. The main sources of revenue, the company reports, were the Aftermarket segment and the Electronics and Sensors division. Profit from ordinary activities (EBIT) reduced 35.2 per cent due to one-time special items and amounted to 15.8 million euros. Excluding the special items, adjusted EBIT amounted to 23.1 million euros, equivalent to an adjusted margin of 10.0 per cent. Beru’s profit of 12.3 million euros during the period was also lower than in the first half of 2007, when profits of 18.5 million euros were achieved.
Continental AG claims that experts at German specialty chemicals company Evonik Industries have improved Germany’s outdoor Olympic cycling team’s chances of taking gold at the Beijing Olympics. Conti applications technician Wolfgang Arenz says that Evonik has helped Continental reduce the energy loss experienced by its tyres by 26 per cent through optimally interacting three rubber filler components: carbon black, silica, and organosilane. The filler system reduces rolling resistance, which means a cyclist increases speed for the same energy input, and improves grip on wet roads.
In early August Goodyear was host to more than 50 representatives from DAF Trucks along with fleet customers, presenting a workshop to show the benefits of specifying the latest DAF truck models with the new Goodyear Max Technology tyres. Included in the event, held at Goodyear’s European Technical Centre in Luxembourg, was a visit to the company’s truck tyre production facility in Wittlich, Germany and its Luxembourg Mounting Facility (LMC), where tyres earmarked for OE manufacturers are fitted to wheels before shipment to truck manufacturers.
At the 62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hanover, Germany, held between September 23 and October 2, Continental intends to present a wide range of products and services for commercial vehicle manufacturers, fleet operators and special-purpose vehicle manufacturers. The company reports it will be exhibiting both indoors, at booth B05 in hall 17, and outdoors (G 63). Last year’s takeover of Siemens VDO Automotive has further expanded the company’s product spectrum, specifically in the area of commercial and special-purpose vehicles. All in all, five of Continental’s six divisions will have new products and services on view at the IAA Commercial Vehicles 2008, not least the tyre products division.
Apollo Tyres’ announced expansion plans have been augmented by the appointment of a new chief financial officer. Mr. Salil Gupta, formerly group CFO at Dentsu India, will in his new role oversee the organisation’s finance, taxation and accounts functions – Apollo states that his primary objective is to contribute to the organisation’s financial health and stability, ensuring full compliance with statutory guidelines and the company’s corporate governance policies. His responsibilities also include an advisory role to the company’s legal and secretarial functions.
Deldo Autobanden is a European specialist in winter tyres. For many years the company has focused on this fast growing market and now offers over 25 brands in Car, Van, 4×4 and SUV tyres. Alongside Deldo’s understandable – considering their commercial viability for cold weather products – focus on the traditional ‘winter’ countries like Germany, Austria, and Switzerland the company is also ramping up its product range, thanks to the ‘studdable’ tyres from Wanli and Fortuna, for the Scandinavian market.
While both of these markets – the Germanic and Scandinavian – are familiar to the company on the basis of winter tradition, Deldo has also found great opportunities for both budget and branded winter tyres in Eastern Europe and the Russian republics. Winter tyres are becoming more important in other countries too, with significant growth in the Benelux, France and Italy. As a consequence, winter tyres are playing an increasingly important role in Deldo’s complete product range.
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