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Danish wholesaler expands in Germany

Danish wholesaler, NDI is proving popular in Germany having opened its second retail outlet in five months. Founded by Benny Kristensen, the company now has stores in Dortmund and on the outskirts of Hamburg. Managing Director, Michael Andre claims the company´s success will be based on meeting NDI´s next day delivery service. The Danish firm has also enlisted the services of Hamburg-based off-road expert, Viggo Meyer-Bernitt, as the firm continues to develop its share of the off-road tyre market.

21st April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

The 4×4 tyre market: still growing

Back in 1990 or thereabouts Pirelli had just bought Armstrong and were busy launching their own 4×4 range and relaunching the Armstrong Tredloc Kevlar belted tyre for the 4×4 market.

The motoring press was busy telling the world that the 4×4 sector had peaked and would be on the decline by the following year. So much for the crystal ball gazing of the motoring press.

Today the 4×4 sector holds some 5 per cent of the UK market share – it may seem more as most 4×4 vehicles have a longer shelf life that their conventional counterparts, so probably hold a slightly larger share of the overall car parc. It would be interesting to know what the DVLA figures would be on that enquiry.

Throughout Europe there is no let up in the demand for 4×4 vehicles – even in markets where an off-road excursion could find the driver in serious trouble with the law. The 4×4 has developed from a serious tool for the military and agricultural sectors to a plaything and fashion symbol for the wealthy and the aspirational. Figures from Goodyear show that the utility sector of the market, the pick up and hard core 4×4 enthusiast has hardly shown any movement over the past four years, nor is it expected to in the coming years. The value market has dropped to a steady level at 90,000 units per year across Europe, the middle market too is stable. However, the luxury and crossover sectors of the SUV market are starting to show tremendous growth with the luxury sector doubling its volume from the 2000 figure of 101,000 units by 2007 whilst crossover vehicles will quadruple their volume in the same period it is these two sectors almost alone that will take the 4×4/SUV market from its current 706,000 units per annum to 840,000 units per annum by 2007.

In tyre terms this reads as growth in every sector – winter, S and T, and H and V rated, the market volume jumping from a total of 2,089,000 units in 1997 to 7,885,000 in 2007.

The two largest markets in Europe for 4×4 tyres are the UK and Germany, followed by Spain, Italy and France each having in excess of 10 per cent of the market. Scandinavia, Benelux, Switzerland, Greece, Portugal and Austria each have shares between 2 and 7 per cent of the market. With the whole of Eastern Europe taking only 4 per cent of the sector.

That 4 per cent for Eastern Europe suggests that, as with other sectors of the tyre market, the developing markets in Eastern Europe offer a phenomenal capacity for growth in this sector. In fact, if the move to car ownership in the East matches that ion the west, then the ultimate volume of the market could make Goodyear’s figures appear conservative.

8th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Fire at Goodyear Philippsburg premises

At 3.00 a.m. this morning a fire broke out at temporary storage facilities at Goodyear’s Philippsburg plant in South West Germany. Rapid reaction by the emergency services quickly brought the fire under control. No-one was injured during the incident but due to the volume of smoke people were asked to keep doors and windows closed. There was no reported release of toxic chemicals. Some 40,000 tyres were in storage at the time of the fire. Other areas of the plant, including the key Central European storage facility with some two million tyres were not affected by the fire. The extent of the damage and the cause have not yet been determined but distribution is not being affected by the incident.

10th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Vice President For Pirelli Canada

Anthony Ensor is returning to Pirelli Tire Inc. of Canada, where he began his career in 1985, as Vice President and General Manager. He has spent the past decade with Pirelli’s European operations in Italy, Germany and the UK. Ensor replaces Nicola Ruccolo, who has spent 28 years with Pirelli in Canada and North America, and who is leaving the company to pursue other interests.

26th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cordenka Ups Rayon Production

Cordenka has invested in new spinning equipment at its plant in Obernburg, Germany, in response to increased demand for rayon yarn for tyre reinforcement. Annual output will be raised by 1,500 tons to a total of 30,500 tons and the extra capacity will come on stream in the last quarter of this year.

26th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Tiger Wheels restructures

South African Tiger Wheels has reached agreement in principle to create a uniform global ownership and management structure for its original equipment manufacturer wheel businesses. Eddie Keizan, a joint chairman of Tiger Wheels, said that this would involve the alignment of the previously unequal shareholding of Tiger Wheels and the significant German minority shareholder in ATS and TSW Manufacturing, the wheel manufacturing plant in Babelegi near Pretoria. Tiger Wheels owns 100 percent of the Babelegi plant and 74 percent of ATS and the remaining plants, including those in Germany, Poland, the US. This unequal and differential shareholding had led to conflict and difficulties in the past. Keizan said that possibly the easiest way to resolve the difficulties caused by the differential shareholding was for the minority shareholder to buy 26 percent of the Babelegi operations so there was then equal shareholding in all the manufacturing operations. As a result of the agreement with ATS, Tiger Wheels has terminated negotiations on the possible disposal of its wheel manufacturing businesses.

20th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

EU car registrations down 1.6 per cent

New passenger car registrations in Europe (EU-15 + EFTA) for January 2004 amounted to 1,173,273 units, representing a decrease of 1.6 per cent (-1.6 per cent in the EU-15) with respect to January 2003. The figures for the first month of the year show a contrasting picture from country to country: in some of them, there are clear signs of recovery, while in others uncertain economic conditions continue to prevail. This is well illustrated by the figures in the five main markets. While Germany (-12.4 per cent) and France (-11.9 per cent) posted decreases, Spain (+9.2 per cent), the United Kingdom (+5.8 per cent) and Italy (+5.6 per cent) showed a positive start of the year. Overall passenger car registrations in the eight main markets among future EU Member States grew 3.5 per cent. The two main markets, Poland and Hungary, both posted an increase of 5 per cent, while the Czech Republic saw a decrease of 9.8 per cent.

13th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin XeoBib Wins Golden Ear at the Agribex Fair

The Agribex 2004 panel has awarded a Golden Ear to Michelin for XeoBib, a new tire concept that optimizes driving in fields and on the road, thanks to the ability to roll at constant pressure. The Golden Ear is awarded for innovations, with emphasis on practicability as well as engineering excellence.

11th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Wennemer slams inflexible German labour market

The head of Continental AG slammed the German government on Monday for failing to tackle an inflexible labour market and said it was being forced to expand in cheaper locations abroad. “The decisions for the next two or three years have already been made. The government and the unions can no longer do anything about it – factories will be built elsewhere”, Chief Executive Manfred Wennemer told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

30th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear wins further Volvo contracts

Goodyear has won global agreements to supply OE tyres to the Volvo Group in Europe and Brazil, following the recent award of a North American supply contract. The three-year contracts mean that Goodyear will be a key supplier to Volvo’s three major truck brands – Mack, Renault and Volvo. The tyres will be produced at Goodyear’s factories in Danville (Kansas), Colmar Berg (Luxembourg), Wittlich (Germany), Kranj (Slovenia) and Sao Paulo (Brazil).

18th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

REG UK Tyre & Automotive Recycling: Leave it to us

REG UK Tyre & Automotive Recycling is a subsidiary of Continental Tyres and the company name adequately explains the company’s mission.

In today’s tyre industry, the recycling of scrap tyres is a subject that has grown in importance over recent years and one which has exercised every sector of the industry. REG UK came into existence in 1997, with Conti’s John Campbell named as managing director – indeed, at that time, he was the sole employee. The concept, says John Campbell, came from the then-CEO of Continental AG, Dr. Hubertus von Grünberg. Von Grünberg recognised that Continental spent considerable sums on functions such as R&D and marketing and he believed that the company should complete the circle by offering dealers a route to dispose of their scrap tyres. The idea was tried out first in Germany, with the establishment of REG Deutschland in 1992, with REG UK following five years later.

Today, REG recycles around 40,000 tonnes of tyres annually and large volumes of tyres are being consumed in UK cement kilns, with REG being one of a number of suppliers into the cement industry (the exclusive arrangement with Blue Circle ceased at the end of the 90s). In hindsight, according to John Campbell, “This situation gave REG an opportunity to be more pro-active in its marketing and in looking for new and innovative recycling solutions.”

Not only does REG look round for recycling solutions, but it looks too for recycling opportunities. The company’s remit is not confined to any particular product area – if there is waste to be disposed of, then REG will look to see if it can become commercially involved. While the problem of tyre recycling, reprocessing and disposal is one that affects all manufacturers, there are few who have embraced it to the extent of Continental with the setting up of REG and any that wanted to move in on this market would find themselves playing catch-up. REG is already established and is profitable; living proof of the old adage that “where there’s muck, there’s brass”.

12th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

BBS better than the industry average

With the forecast of a turnover of 190 million Euro in 2003, wheel producer BBS (Germany) will significantly improve on its 2002 results (175 m). For the first nine months of this business year the company has announced an increase in turnover of 9.1 per cent and so was better than the industry average. The gain comes from OE business with an increase of 14 per cent, whereas aftermarket and income from motorsports and licensing was below the 2002 figure. The share of foreign business has fallen to 49.2 per cent. BBS expects to make a small profit in 2003.

3rd December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

German drivers happiest driving Japanese cars, says study

Car drivers in Germany, long held to be home to some of the best engineered vehicles in the world, are happier driving Japanese cars than German ones, a consumer satisfaction survey has shown. The survey, complied by German drivers association ADAC and the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) group, asked more than 38,000 German car owners how satisfied they were both with the product and the service they received from manufacturers. German industry stalwarts Mercedes, Volkswagen and Opel came in near the bottom of the pile, while Japanese names clinched the top seven places. Porsche, the world’s most profitable carmaker famed for its growling sports cars, was the only German company to make it into the top ten. Japan’s Toyota, maker of the world’s best selling car, the Corolla, and the envy of the auto industry due partly to the efficiency of its plants, topped the list. Subaru, Honda, Mazda and Nissan completed the top five.

27th November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear: Net loss grows to 332.4 million $ for the first 9 months

Tyre manufacturer Goodyear announced a net loss of 332.4 million US Dollars for the first nine months of this year. The net loss for the 3rd Quarter totalled $105.9 million. Sales in the last quarter rose around eleven per cent from 3.5 to 3.9 billion Dollars. However, volumes increased only by approximately two per cent from $54.4 (3Q 2002) to $55.3 million (3Q 2003). According to Goodyear, the turnover increased partly due to currency-exchanges and partly due to an improved product-mix. CEO Keegan is of the opinion that the efforts of the last months are bearing fruit. Nevertheless the fact is that the company disappointed again on the full line.

21st November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear: Net loss grows to 332,4 Million $ (Update)

Goodyear’s 3rd Quarter 2003 results were taken up by the financial world with a deal of restraint and also with some disappointment. The Analyst at UBS Investment Research fears that because of the continuing loss situation in North America Goodyear shows signs of a possible breach of a covenant, while an analyst at Fitch Ratings asks impatiently, how long one has to wait for signs of the promised turnaround in North America? There was particular criticism that Goodyear was able to increase sales volumes only by approximately four per cent, in a market which grew by 6 per cent, while competitor Cooper added around nine per cent. Doubts were voiced that Goodyear can increase prices to the full extent needed, because of raw material price increases. While Goodyear mentioned positive trends, these were not apparent to observers.

21st November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors