India
Hayes Lemmerz International has appointed John Stephenson as vice president of the Steel Wheel Operations for the company’s International Wheel Group, effective immediately. Mr. Stephenson will report directly to International Wheel Group President Fred Bentley. Mr Stephenson will have responsibility for the company’s International Steel Wheel businesses with operations in Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, and India.
(India/Rubber Asia) JK Tyre chief RP Singhania recently announced that his company plans to increase annual production of truck and bus radials to 1.5 million units by 2010. At the same time Mr Singhania spoke of his confidence that India’s road infrastructure “is getting better now.”
JK Tyre told local media that the company plans to invest 600 million rupees in alternate years in its Mysore (South India) plant to increase the capacity from its current annual capacity of 370,000. JK currently holds an 85 per cent market share in the radial tyre segment.
(Akron/Tire Review) Since its formation in the aftermath of communism in Russia, Amtel has had its eye on greater things. Once a collection of low-tech, Soviet-era tyre factories, bought up by founder and India native Sudhir Gupta, Amtel has invested heavily in modernising its plants and improving its tyre technology.
Steady growth gave the company the capital to make a bold move, which it completed in April with the acquisition of Dutch tyremaker Vredestein Banden. Now, it has unleased that top-shelf tyre brand on the Russian market.
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US importer and distributor, Orteck International, is suing Shanghai-based Giti Tire (GT) for fraud. In a lawsuit filed in the federal district court in Greenbelt, Orteck claims the GT undertook a scheme to eliminate the company as the exclusive distributor of its tyres in the US.
Kalyani Brakes Ltd, Bosch’s Indian subsidiary has set up a joint venture with Italian brake company Brembo. The two businesses are set to establish a 50:50 joint-venture company for the application engineering, production and sales of motorcycle brakes following an agreement signed on 17 October 2005.
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co said it will invest $18 million in the company’s Indian operations next year. The investment, according to Goodyear, will be used to upgrade technology and increase production capacity for passenger tyres.
BKT is set to embark on ambitious expansion plans designed to increase the company’s tyre production capacity by 66 per cent. The Indian company currently runs three tyre factories located at Waluj (Western India), Bhiwadi (Northern India) and Chopanki (Northern India). In terms of tyre numbers this means BKT will more than double radial tractor tyre capacity to 250,000 tyres a year. Total capacity for heavy earthmover tyres will be raised from 10,000 to 50,000 tyres per annum.
Michelin has bought Apollo Tyres’ stake in the two companies’ joint venture. In addition to the 49 per cent stake Michelin now owns as a result of the acquisition, the French manufacturer will hold onto the 14.9 per cent stake it acquired in Apollo Tyres two years ago. Explaining the reason behind the buy-out, Michelin said: “While the use of radial tyres has gone up in the past two years, it is at a pace that was slower than projected by the partners.”
Vredestein has launched a new agricultural tyre, which it describes as “the new standard for modern medium-class tractors.” The Traxion85 represents the latest stage of development of the company’s Traxion+ series, which has been on the market since 1997. The new tyre is available in 14 sizes.
(India/Rubber Asia) Talk to motorists in most European countries about retreads and retreading, but don’t expect much more than a blank look in return. If you are lucky enough to strike a cord of recognition, you are likely to be quickly disappointed as soon as it becomes clear that the word retreading is irretrievably confused with terms like recut, regrooved (illegal in the case of car tyres) or part-worn. Somewhere along the line it is obvious that the retread has suffered a serious image problem.
Continental AG is mulling over the possibility of a stock split after its shares grew more than fivefold since the spring of 2003, according to an article published in Die Welt, citing chief executive Manfred Wennemer.
(India/Rubber Asia) Michigan Rubber (India) Ltd. is part of the Electra Tek Corp. of the Grand Cayman Group of Industries, a US business group with diversified business interests in the US as well as India in technical collaboration with ATEMCO USA. Fully promoted by non-resident Indians, Michigan Rubber manufactures a full range of tyres for automobiles, agricultural equipment, a host of industrial tyres, and even tyres for airplanes.
(India/Rubber Asia) In India, over 85 per cent of passenger car tyres are radials. This is expected to go up to 95 per cent in two to three years. In the light commercial sector the level has reached only 10 per cent. Truck and bus radialisation is worse still with only two per cent. A start has been made when it comes to radial tractor tyre production.
However, there are enough signals to say that the country is poised for radialisation in truck/bus/LCV segments like never before. Expert estimates vary but all agree that it won’t be long before we see exponential growth in radialisation in these three.
Continental expects its profitability will be assisted by improvements at its truck tyre business and demand for electronic car parts. , Furthermore, the automotive part supplier, the third-best performer on Germany’s DAX share index this year, expects to improve earnings and is said to be considering its options in emerging markets like India and China.
(India/Rubber Asia) Passenger car sales in India during the first six months of 2005 slowed down compared to the same period last year, according to Anang D. Jena, research director, Synovate Motoresearch. Total production of passenger cars in the January-June 2005 period was about 505,951 units, up by 12.5 per cent over the corresponding period last year. However, total sales during the period stood at 530,811 units, up only by 7.6 per cent over the same period last year.
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