Goodyear has been marketing its passenger car tyres in Germany directly to end users for fitting by a listed partner for roughly six months. And for years before that there has been a noticeable trend towards online selling. With this in mind, Tyres & Accessories’ German group publication Neue Reifenzeitung interviewed David Anckaert, vice president Commercial Europe at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
Continental has reported second quarter 2020 consolidated group sales of 6.620 billion euros. This equates to -39.8 per cent drop year-on-year. Pre-tax profits (EBIT) came in at -9.6 per cent of sales (-636 million euros). However, sales in the Rubber Technologies division, which includes tyres, were 2.962 billion euros and the adjusted EBIT margin was 1.2 per cent (around 36 million euros). Thus, Continental’s tyre business has managed to remain profitable despite the obvious pressures of the coronavirus context.
Wheel manufacturer BBS applied for bankruptcy protection at the district court in Rottweil, Germany on Monday 13 July 2020. It is the third time in the past 15 years BBS has done so. There were also bankruptcies in 2007 and 2011, our German group publication Neue ReifenZeitung (reifenpresse.de) reported.
Continental AG has launched the Conti EcoRegional truck tyre range in Germany. According to the company, the new line-up “enables fleet operators to use their vehicles efficiently in regional traffic”. Reduced fuel consumption and increased mileage are said to be benefits. However, Tyres & Accessories understands that the EcoRegional range is not due to be launched in the UK until at least mid-2021.
Anyone wanting to know how Reifen Krieg founders Holger Krieg and Tobias Fink would react to the bankruptcy of the tyre wholesaler they founded in 2007 and then sold to the Fintyre Group in 2018 no longer needs to wait. They have founded Tyroo GmbH in Neuhof, Germany.
The tyre retreading business has stagnated in many European markets for years. Imports of new tyres from the Far East and the major tyre brands’ own, large-scale retreading plants place small and mid-sized retreaders across Europe under substantial competitive pressure. Although consolidation has become the rule in recent times, a remarkable exception to this rule – one characterised by entrepreneurship and persuasiveness – can be found in Germany’s retreading market: Owner-operated Reifen Quirmback in Zweibruchen, Rhineland-Palatinate has invested a seven-figure sum to develop its own truck tyre retreading, and by doing so enters a completely new business area. When we visited the site, we discovered a very good reason for entering this line of work.
Unique? Grand Seigneur? Warhorse? Pioneer? Master of his Trade? Globetrotter? Man of Action? Tinkerer? Entrepreneur? Decision Maker? Visionary? – Somehow, all these names fit Karl Kurz. In his 87 years, the entrepreneur has combined more characteristics in his person than any other in the recycling and retreading industry. We look back on an extraordinary career.
Camso Germany’s sales team has been integrated into Michelin Reifenwerke. The manufacturer of Camso and Solideal brand off-road tyres, wheels, tracks and chain systems is now under the umbrella of Michelin Off- and Highway Transportation (OHT). Michelin acquired the Canadian company in 2018.
On Wednesday (July 1, 2020), the public prosecutor and Police searched various Continental locations in Hanover, Frankfurt and Regensburg. The searches are related to investigations into the so-called defeat device used by Volkswagen in its diesel engine emissions management system.
Following the news that The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has appointed ex-Brisa and Bridgestone executive Hakan Bayman as president of Goodyear’s consumer tyre business in Europe, it has emerged that former Goodyear Dunlop UK MD, Erich Fric has been appointed as Goodyear managing director Europe Central. Both appointments are effective 1 July 2020.
Reifen Gundlach has resumed its exclusive distribution of GT Radial brand tyres in Germany. The new deal comes three years after Giti Tire ended their previously long-standing exclusive partnership with the wholesaler, started in 1994. Giti stated in 2017 that it wanted to to “achieve a higher market penetration with a planned realignment of the brand.” Part of the strategy was to make the GT Radial brand available through four different wholesalers. This coincided with the European entry of its eponymous Giti brand, with a special focus on the German market. At its peak, it had previously sold around a million GT Radial tyres per year, according to Gundlach statements. Now in 2020, the manufacturer has opted to resume its exclusive arrangement for GT Radial with Gundlach.
Kumho is opening a major new tyre warehouse in Hamburg, Germany with leading European logistics company Fiege. Located adjacent to the city’s harbour, Kumho states the new facility will allow it to supply stock to the majority of German tyre dealers within 24 hours. It will also supply some Kumho distributors in Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria. Fiege Logistics will be responsible for all warehouse processes, including tyre handling from the arrival of product by container to delivery and shipment tracking.
Financial analysts from Jefferies described Continental AG’s plan for fiscal improvements during the corona-crisis “encouraging”, according to an analyst report published 15 May 2020. That Conti’s management highlighted “positive data points in China and the European replacement tyre market”, would seem to be positive indications for the whole tyre business. Specifically, replacement tyre demand was described as “strong” in Germany. However, R&D budgets are likely to be cut and there was even the suggestion that European tyre factory numbers could also be cut back.
The miniscule pieces of plant root that Dr Tobias Ruckert shows us look for all the world like fresh spices, but the recipes he prepares with them aren’t for eating. These roots are from the Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS) plant, better known as Russian dandelion. Continental has been evaluating its suitability as an alternative source of natural rubber for much of the past decade.
Workshop and vehicle testing equipment company MAHA Maschinenbau Haldenwang GmbH Co. & KG has acquired a 100 per cent shareholding in ATT, the joint venture workshop equipment company founded in 2000 by Robert-Bosch GmbG and the Nussbaum Group. The change of ownership took place on 30 April.
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Goodyear
Marcus Prell, Continental AG
Continental
Tyroo
Reifenservice Quirmbach
Kurz Karkassenhandel
Michelin
Reifenpresse.de
Kumho
Continental AG
Stephen Goodchild