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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Federal-Mogul Corporation has opened a training centre and three satellite learning facilities at manufacturing locations in Germany for aftermarket employees and customers.
Bridgestone Germany is set to take over Reifen Schwarz from 1st January next year, following a creditors’ meeting last week. Reifen Schwarz is a retailer with around 45 outlets and an annual turnover of more than 70 million Euro, and the company recently filed for insolvency. The Schwarz outlets in Austria are not affected – at least for the time being. Bridgestone Managing Director Günter Unterhauser declined to comment, but directed queries to the insolvency administrator.
Citroen is recalling 900,000 aluminium rims, fitted to 180,000 C5 models sold before May this year, as a preventative measure. The wheels were manufactured by Michelin subsidiary Kronprinz (Solingen/Germany), who will bear the cost of producing replacements. The recall will be handled via the Euromaster and Viborg chains and analysts estimate that the total cost will be over 20 million Euro.
Michelin winter tyres performed well in a test of 40 tyres in three sizes, conducted by ADAC, Europe’s largest automobile club, in Germany. The Michelin tyres tested achieved the best overall scores and, in the V-rated category, the new 225/45 R117 Pilot Alpin was awarded the maximum score.
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