BorgWarner Germany GmbH now holds a total of 6,941,879 Beru AG shares, 69.42 per cent of the company’s share capital. Beru’s announcement follows an extended acceptance period for the voluntary public tender of its shares. The offer has been accepted for 639.209 shares or 6.39 per cent of Beru AG’s capital. BorgWarner had already acquired 63.03 per cent of the shares and voting rights (6,302,670) on 4 January 2005.
The safety benefits of Electronic Stability Programs have now been felt on the streets for a decade. Now, after becoming the first supplier to initiate volume production of ESP, Bosch looks back at its achievements, while highlighting the technology’s bright future.
Total European passenger car registrations remained virtually flat, falling 0.8 per cent year-on-year. According to the ACEA, the association that processes the figures, “the relatively slow start to the year has been mainly driven by the drop posted by new EU member states (-12.7 per cent). Among the five main markets the UK (-8.2 per cent), Germany and Italy (-3.7 per cent) all reported losses. Meanwhile France and Spain both recorded increases of more than 6 per cent.
As far as manufacturers are concerned, Fiat Group registrations continued to drop (16.9 per cent year-on-year) as did DaimlerChrysler’s (-4.9 per cent) and Hyundai’s (8.9 per cent). VW and PSA group registrations both remained flat at 193,000 and 172,000 units respectively.
At the end of January point S, Germany’s largest cooperative, held its second annual meeting since it merged with competing buying group, VRG. Although more than two years have passed since the merger, the meeting revealed that the dust hasn’t settled yet, and, following a number of management changes, there is still plenty of strong feeling on the subject. Nevertheless, nearly 750 participants travelled to Leipzig’s Congress Center for the two-day meeting and heard about the organisation’s “courage for the future.”
Diversified services group Bidvest has acquired a 17 per cent stake in Tiger Wheels for 239.9 million (£20.65 million), according to a South African Business Report story. Last year, Bidvest acquired McCarthy Motor Holdings and also has an American call option to purchase a further 1.8 million shares by 30 April for 45 million (£3.89 million). If it exercises this option, it will increase its stake in Tiger Wheel to about 20 per cent. Bidvest chairman Brian Joffe will be appointed a non-executive director of Tiger.
Following the news that Amtel was in “detailed discussions” with Vredestein Banden, Amtel president, Sudhir Gupta has confirmed that his company will buy Vredestein Banden and that it is planning initial public offerings (IPO) in London and Moscow in the next two years.
According to Dr Gupta, Amtel is planning a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange followed by a secondary listing on the Russian Stock Exchange. In a conversation with far eastern business publication, Business Times, Dr Gupta explained why the IPO would take place in London and not New York. “Europeans always understand Russia better than the Americans and most of the investment in Russia is European. That’s why we think London is a better place to list.” The secondary listing is also the result of ‘encouragement’ from the authorities for successful companies to list on the Russian Stock Exchange, and because “the stock exchange has good liquidity because of high oil prices.”
The listings are due to take place in one of two time frames; either October to November 2005 or April to May the year after, the Amtel president said.
Currently, Dr Gupta owns about 85 per cent of Amtel. An international investment fund managed by Templeton Asset Management Ltd, owns 5.65 per cent, while 10 per cent of Amtel’s shares were recently sold in a private placement for $34.2 million. These shares were bought by about 22 institutional investors in Europe, the US and Russia.
It is clear that a key part of Amtel’s expansion plans will involve venturing outside of Russian borders. One part of this is the company’s purchase of Vredestein Banden. By purchasing the Dutch company, Amtel appears to have been aiming to buy a ready-made foothold in the market. At the moment Vredestein sells 40 per cent its tyres in Europe’s biggest market (Germany) and has well organised distribution operations across Europe.
When the news of this transaction broke, Tyres & Accessories spoke to Vredestein CEO, Rob Oudshoorn. He described the venture as a win-win situation, saying, “one plus one equals three.” When the Vredestein boss visited Amtel’s factory in the summer, he said that he was surprised to see such modern equipment, maintaining that it was of a similar standard to Vredestein’s Enschede facility.
From his point of view, there is still a quality gap between imported products and those produced in Russia. Apart from believing that it can fill this gap, Vredestein sees Amtel’s size and influence as positive factors that will help it to reach further.
For Dr Gupta, there were other economic reasons for the transaction. “We had two options, either go ahead, spend money and time to build a global brand out of Amtel or go out and do some acquisition. So we agreed to buy this brand,” he told Business Times adding “we are looking to buy 100 per cent.” According to Amtel’s president, the sale is expected to be completed by middle of March 2005. When the two companies merge, they are expected to have a combined market value of $1 billion.
Dr Gupta is surprisingly pragmatic about doing business in Russia. This is surprising, because only a few years ago he survived an assassination attempt, something that would put most people off a country. According to the businessman, the men responsible for the murder attempt have been caught and will be prosecuted very soon. Despite his experience, Dr Gupta still believes Russia is a good place to do business, citing the country’s geographical position, the education of its people and its rich supply of natural resources as reasons to stay.
Pulp and paper producer Lion Forest Industries Bhd (LionFIB) has proposed to acquire Silverstone Bhd, which manufactures tyres, The Star, Malaysia, has reported. Both Lion Forest and Silverstone Bhd are members of the Lion group.
In a statement given to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Lion Forest said that wholly-owned subsidiary, Quay Class Ltd, had entered into an agreement with Silverstone Corp Bhd to acquire the entire equity in Silverstone Bhd for a total of 225 million ringgits (£31.31 million), to be paid for through a combination of cash and new Lion Forest shares. Silverstone Bhd is currently wholly owned by its holding company, Silverstone Corp, which is listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Kumho’s ECTSA V70A has won a tyre test of road-legal track day tyres. The test, run by German motoring magazine Auto Bild test & tuning, pitted semi-slicks from Michelin, Toyo, Yokohama and Pirelli against each other. Auto Bild testers praised the winning tyre for its excellent lateral and directional stability as well as its dry braking. The magazine awarded Michelin and Toyo joint second place, Yokohama took fourth position, while Pirelli came last. Auto Bild testers also praised the generally high quality of all of the entrants.
Reiff Reifen & Autotechnik (Germany) gave up the production of retreaded passenger car tyres at the end of December 2004, because it was not making a good enough return on its investment. The Condor tyres it produced were a well-known brand and the Reiff manufacturing plant, built only five years ago, was considered the “most modern in the world.” What caused the degeneration of such a promising business model?
Tomahawk has been through some major changes since its inception eight years ago. Set up in Wolverhampton, following two and a half years of research and testing it was the first business of its kind to retread motorcycle tyres in the UK. It was business as usual for the company until an American firm approached it two years ago, wanting to join forces to develop the retreaded motorcycle tyres for the US. Tomahawk entered into a commercial agreement with Cycle Tires, a subsidiary of aircraft tyre technologist, Desser Tire & Rubber and hasn’t looked back.
Yokohama is claiming that the days of stability control systems could be numbered, due to a new programme developed by the company. Yokohama explains that the system uses a sensor fitted to the wheel rim meaning that the device takes its measurement directly from the tyre. The thinking behind the product is that it will only function when a driver really needs it, for example when a tyre loses grip. This contrasts with other designs, which have been criticised for ‘nannying’ drivers.
Having established its new European offices on 1 January, Toyo Tire invited guests to an official opening that fused European and Asiatic cultures. Dignitaries present included Toyo president and chief executive, Yoshio Kataoka and the Herbert Napp, the Mayor of Neuss, the German city where the new offices are based.
Fulda is hailing its participation at the recent Autosport Show as a success, saying it has kick-started 2005 with the launch of its Exelero high performance tyre. In addition to showcasing its latest release, the company highlighted the activities of the UK Fulda Challenge team and its support of the show’s live action arena.
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Well-known motoring journalist, Robert Collin, has accused Continental of doing “anything to win magazine tyre tests.” In an article published by the Swedish Aftonbladet magazine, the journalist suggests that the company has won tests by supplying “special” tyres.
The apparent motivation for the alleged underhanded behaviour is simple. Winning a tyre test can mean an increase in sales and is therefore big business. The Aftonbladet reports that this effect is particularly marked in countries like Germany and France and so the temptation for manufacturers is great. From a magazine’s point of view, the problem is that when the latest tyres are reviewed, they are generally not available in the shops and so testers have to trust manufacturers when they provide tyres for testing.
Western European passenger car registrations totalled 14,516,879 units in 2004 representing a growth of 2.1 per cent. ACEA figures show that 1,043,669 units were recorded in December, a 7.7 per cent increase compared to 2003 figures.
Four of the five main markets posted increases for December, however the UK showed a decrease of (-0.5) per cent with 2,567,269 units registered in ’04 compared to 2,579,050 in ’03. Germany led those countries posting an increase, with a 21.5 per cent rise ahead of France, Italy and Spain.
Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland and Portugal also posted decreases.
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