Paper: Apollo Tyres to Pay $300 million for Vredestein
Indian newspaper, the Hindustan Times, has reported that Apollo Tyres is to pay $300 million for Vredestein Banden.
Posts
Hankook Resumes Production in Hungary
Product NewsHankook’s factory in Dunaujvaros, Hungary resumed production on the afternoon of January 8, following a stoppage the previous day due to gas shortages. The tyre maker had previously anticipated that the factory would remain out of operation until the evening of January 9, reported Hungary’s MTI news agency on January 8.
Gas Restrictions Stop Production at Hankook’s Hungary Plant
Product NewsProduction at Hankook Tire’s Dunaujvaros factory in Hungary drew to a halt on January 7, reports the Hungarian MTI news agency, after national restrictions were imposed upon certain industrial users of natural gas. According to MTI, Hankook spokeswoman Katalin Roy said production will restart on the evening of January 9. The restrictions were put in place after supplies of gas from Russia, which reach Hungary via the Ukraine, completely stopped on January 6.
Columbian Tiszai Carbon Completes Hungary Expansion
Product NewsColumbian Tiszai Carbon, the Hungarian operation of US-based Columbian Chemicals Company, has completed a HUF7-billion (£20.4 million) expansion at its base in Tiszaújváros, northeast Hungary, CEO László Dobos told Hungarian news source MTI Econews.
The investment has increased the facility’s carbon black capacity by 50 per cent to about 100,000 tons a year, Dobos said. Demand for the product has particularly grown since tyre manufacturers have set up production bases in Hungary and elsewhere in the region, he added. Most of the plant’s carbon black goes to tyre makers, and the rest goes to the plastics and paint industries.
Apollo Official Quoted as Saying Gyöngyös Site Still an Option
Product NewsTruth or fiction? Indian media outlet DNA has quoted an unnamed ‘senior’ Apollo Tyres official as saying the company has not put a stop to its planned Gyöngyös, Hungary. “The Hungarian plant is only delayed, not cancelled yet,” said the official. “We could go back to that plant.” The nameless Apollo official added the company was, however, simultaneously looking at other locations in Europe, just in case the Hungarian facility doesn’t materialise.
Hungarian City ‘Invites’ Apollo Factory Bid
Product NewsThe Hungarian city of Polgar, has reportedly invited a bid for Apollo Tyres to build a 200 million euro factory there after the Indian company withdrew its application to locate the project in Gyongyos (North Hungary) after delays in acquiring permits and a planned local referendum on the plant. “Located along motorway M3, Polgar and its industrial park would offer excellent basic infrastructure and a 50-hectare area to the project,” Polgar’s mayor told the media.
Apollo Discusses Wider Capacity Expansion Plans
Product NewsApollo Tyres has already discussed plans to increase capacity at its Gujarat and Kerala factories, and these projects are part of a wider plan to invest Rs 20 billion (£236.6 million) enhancing domestic and international production capacities. In addition to these expansions, the company will set up a new facility in Chennai.
According to Apollo Tyres chief of India Operations Satish Sharma, the company shall invest this sum over next three years, more than half of which, 200 million euros, would go towards its facility in Hungary. As part of the domestic capacity expansion, Apollo Tyre’s Vadodara plant will see its capacity of passenger car tyre go up from the existing 10,000 tyres a day to 15,000 tyres a day, by around mid-2009. The company will also enhance its truck and bus radial tyres capacity at Vadodara from the existing 300 tyres a day to around 1,100 tyres a day over the same timeframe.
Apollo In Discussions About New Hungary Factory
Product NewsThe local council of Gyöngyös in North-Eastern Hungary has been holding discussions with Apollo Tyres to establish a factory in the region. The go-ahead would depend on Apollo Tyres acquiring all of the necessary permits for the plant’s construction, said mayor Attila Végh said on May 13.
According to Hungary’s BBJ business weekly, the factory’s planned construction has met with opposition from locals who believe it will endanger the region’s winegrowers and fruit farmers.
Hankook to Double Capacity in Hungary
Product NewsHankook is reported to have plans for doubling capacity at its facility in Hungary. The BBJ, an English-language Hungarian business weekly, published comments made by Hankook Tire Magyarország PR manager Katalin Roy, who said that the tyremaker intends to boost daily capacity from 15,000 to 31,000 tyres by 2010.
The expansion will involve increasing the area of the Dunaújváros facility, south of Budapest, by 40 per cent, and 300 new staff will be employed. Hankook has already applied for the necessary environmental licenses for the expansion, said Roy. The cost of the investment was not disclosed, however at the time of the plant’s opening Hankook said it would spend 500 million euros in investments at the base by 2010. Work on expanding the plant will apparently begin this June and be completed within a year.
BorgWarner Expands in Hungary
Product NewsReducing fuel consumption and pollutant emissions plays a major role in the automotive industry. In response to these demands and to increasing European demand for turbochargers, BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems has enlarged its facility in Oroszlány , Hungary.
Among the company and government officials attending the recent inauguration ceremony in the town (situated 80 km from Budapest) were Roger Wood, President and General Manager of BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems, the American Ambassador April Foley, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy Géza Egyed and plant manager Kornél Schmidt. Thanks to rapid growth in the turbocharger industry and to the successful co-operation with numerous customers a new hall was built, covering an area of 4650 m2. The increased total space is now 13.500 m2 and 600 people are currently employed.
Continental to Build Hungary ESC Test Centre
Product NewsInternational automotive supplier Continental AG has announced plans to invest 10 million euros in building a new proving ground for ABS and ESC development at its Veszprém, Hungary site. In addition, by 2011, the division will have created around 100 new jobs for skilled workers and engineers at the location.
The new proving grounds for ABS and ESC will comprise high-adhesion, low-adhesion and rough-road test facilities, as well as a specially designed vehicle dynamics facility for applications testing. Building work on the proving grounds is slated for completion by the beginning of 2009.
Continental Plans Hungarian Brake Testing Facility
Product NewsReports in the Hungarian press state that Continental is to invest “billions of Forints” in a new testing facility for electronic braking systems (EBS) and their components in Hungary, around 15 to 20 kilometres from the city of Veszprém. The exact location will be decided on later this month and the project will be completed by the end of the year, creating 30 new jobs.
Hankook’s New European Plant Up and Running
Product NewsJune 26 is to be a red-letter day in the history of Hankook in Europe, as this is the day the company has chosen to officially commence production at its new £340 million facility in Dunaujvaros, Hungary. The 54-hectare site south of the capital Budapest has been set up to manufacture UHP tyres for the European market, and when full production is reached in 2010 a total of 10 million tyres will be produced each year.
The new facility in Hungary will be instrumental in Hankook’s plans to increase its European market share to 8 per cent by 2010. At present 35 per cent of the company’s global export revenues are generated in Europe, Hankook’s largest export market.
Hankook Aiming for 100,000,000 Tyres a Year
Product NewsWith Hankook’s 105,000 square metre production facility in Hungary complete and ready to commence production, the Korean tyremaker is already looking ahead to the day when its global production will reach 100 million tyres a year.
Hankook Tire Appoints New Global CEO
Career TracksHankook Tire has announced the appointment of the company’s current President and COO of Hankook Tire Europe, Mr. Seung Hwa Suh, to the position of Global CEO. Mr. Suh, the person Hankook accredits as the driving force behind its new production facility in Hungary, officially took on his new role on March 5.
