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Goodyear fires three managers in Europe

Goodyear has fired three of its European managers, obviously holding them responsible for what the company calls accounting errors. Scialom (Vice President Finance Europe), McKnight (Managing Director Sales Countries) and his finance manager Loysen have bitten the dust. As far as it is known the three were given no reason for the notice, at this stage. Spokesmen for the group even refused to comment as to whether the three had been fired or had taken retirement. Goodyear is under formal investigation by the SEC and had to inform the public yesterday yet again, that it had found more accounting errors in the US, in the region of 16 million US dollars. Analysts are now concerned that Goodyear could be too busy dealing with these alleged improper actions instead of leading the company into a much needed turnaround.

10th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Attorney Seeks Class Action Lawsuit Against Bridgestone-Firestone

It must feel like deja vu for Bridgestone-Firestone as a Californian attorney is seeking to expand complaints about alleged defects in Steeltex tyres into a national class-action lawsuit. Two Californians are suing Bridgestone-Firestone and the lawyer claims that the tyres are responsible for a dozen deaths and more than 100 injuries. Bridgestone-Firestone deny the allegations, pointing out that an 18-month investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that the tyres out-performed some competitors’ tyres. Steeltex tyres are popular with owners of RVs and pickups, plus they are often fitted on ambulances.

26th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

S&P may cut Goodyear’s ratings deeper

Standard & Poor’s has said it may cut its rating on Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. deeper into junk territory, following the company’s announcement on Wednesday of possible accounting problems in Europe. “The announcement raises potential accounting concerns in a Goodyear operation that has been seen as solidly profitable,” S&P credit analyst Martin King said in a release. “Ratings could be lowered if the investigation results in material accounting adjustments, leading to substantial financial reporting delays, or has a negative impact on the company’s prospective liquidity and access to capital,” he said. S&P said it may cut Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear’s corporate credit rating of “BB-minus”, its third-highest junk rating.

12th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

More accounting troubles at Goodyear

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has revealed that its accounting troubles are ongoing. Goodyear said after the close of regular stock trading that an internal investigation has identified possible improper accounting issues in Europe. The company said an amended filing it expected to submit to the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing its finances will be delayed until next year so that it can complete a review of its accounting. The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) announced today it will closely monitor the circumstances surrounding Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s announcement that it will be necessary to delay the filing of its 2002 Form 10-K/A with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “We are hopeful that the problems in Europe are not significant,” stated USWA International vice president Andrew V. Palm. “We expect that the company will quickly resolve this situation and move on to complete their financing commitments in the near future.”

11th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Williams criticises FIA investigation

Williams Technical Director Patrick Head has criticised the FIA for its investigation into Ferrari’s Bridgestone tyres, used at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The FIA took away a left front tyre and a right rear tyre and Head says that, due to the conditions at Monza, these tyres require a harder compound, while a softer compound would be an advantage on the left rear and right front. Had Ferrari been mixing compounds, this would not have become apparent, says Head, who described the investigation as “not very useful”.

3rd November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Share Boost On Investigation News

Shares in Bridgestone rose 3.5 per cent on the news that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had decided not to re-open an investigation into 27.5 million Firestone Steeltex tyres. Bridgestone shares out-performed the Nikkei index in Tokyo, which rose 2.1 per cent to break through the 9,000 barrier for the first time.

17th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Investigation To Start Into Tyre Fire

An investigation into a tyre fire at a landfill site is to begin later this week. The fire was in a landfill site at Grunty Fen, Cambridgeshire and an estimated 1,800 tonnes of shredded tyres were destroyed. It took firefighters more than 12 hours to extinguish the blaze, the cause of which is not known, although arson has not been ruled out.

13th May 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

An Exhaustive Investigation

In our in-depth feature we talk to the major players about the current state of the UK exhaust market and how they see the future panning out. Is the market buoyant, stable or falling? And what about cats – has the much-talked-about boom in replacement cats materialised? We find out.

9th April 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Recalls For DaimlerChrysler Vehicles

DaimlerChrysler has announced three recalls in North America, involving 1.2 million vehicles. The first involves 1.06 million LHS, 300M and Concorde models in the USA and 135,000 in Canada, after an investigation revealed that seat recliner bolts may loosen due to premature wear. Recall number two involves 23,000 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 diesel trucks, for reprogramming of the engine control software. The final recall affects 11,655 Chrysler and Plymouth Prowlers and replacement of the lower ball joint on the front suspension which may be in danger of separation because of corrosion.

18th February 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Ford in 51.1 Million Dollar Settlement Over Advertising

Ford, last week, reached a settlement with Tennessee Attorney general and 52 other jurisdictions regarding alleged deceptive trade practices relating to the sales of Ford SUVs. The Attorneys alleged that Ford failed to disclose a known safety risk concerning tyre failures with certain Firestone ATX and Wilderness AT tyres which came equipped on some Ford SUVs. The State also alleged that Ford’s advertising misled consumers as to the safe use of Ford SUVs. Other allegations included certain aftermarket tyres sold through Ford’s “Around the Wheel” program were the same tyres as the tyres that came equipped on Ford SUVs when that was not true. Ford denied all such allegations. However, they have agreed to settle nonetheless.

6th January 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Lisoni & Lisoni Request Re-Opening Of Firestone Investigation

Lisoni & Lisoni has filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) formally requesting that the agency reopen its investigation of the Firestone Steeltex tyre series, which it suspended.At the close of the investigation in April, 2002, the NHTSA said it would reopen its investigation if sufficient additional safety-related evidence became available. Lisoni & Lisoni announced it had provided the NHTSA with extensive documentation and evidence, which included remnants of the Steeltex tyres series R4S, R4SII and A/T which had suffered severe tread separation.Commenting on the source of the alleged defects, William Hagerty, a tyre analyst stressed: “We have reason to believe that Bridgestone ordered Firestone to “de-engineer” the tyres to cut production costs, thereby compromising the quality and safety of the Steeltex tyres. Ultimately, these less robust tyres were unable to withstand the demands of larger vehicles. We also have reason to believe that Firestone instructed store owners not to submit warranty claims and tyre failure complaints in exchange for purchasing discounts, bonuses and other incentives. This alleged directive allows Firestone to report artificially low failure rates on the Steeltex tyre series.”

18th November 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Price-Fixing Investigation Into Chemical Firms

Three companies which supply chemicals for tyre manufacturing are being investigated for possible price fixing. Investigations are on-going in both the USA and Europe into Bayer AG, Flexsys NV and Crompton Corp. Experts estimate that sales of rubber-processing chemicals in the USA are worth around $900 million annually.

11th October 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Another Voluntary Recall For Firestone

Firestone is recalling 18,912 tyres produced at Wilson, North Carolina to ensure the recovery of some 890 potentially faulty units. The tyres in question are FR690 P195/65R15 with DOT No W2C6T00i402 and W2C6T001502 which may have been fitted to 2003 model year Toyota Corolla S and LE models. Firestone will be contacting the owners of the cars in the coming weeks an offering free replacement tyres. Firestone had identified and corrected a faulty piece of equipment at the plane, and had originally thought that the potentially faulty tyres had all been recovered. Subsequent information gave rise to an investigation which suggested a further 890 faulty tyres may have been released to the market. The fault creates pockets of trapped air which cause increased tyre noise and can result in “chunk out”.

13th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

NHTSA Investigation Into General Tyres Ends

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ended its investigation into alleged failures of General Ameri*550 tyres, saying that it could find no safety defect. Ford was using the tyre to replace Firestone tyres and it was alleged that the failure rate of the General tyre was higher than that for Firestone. Many of the supposedly faulty tyres showed abuse and neglect on the part of their owners, it was revealed. When the investigation started, Ford removed the General tyre from its list of acceptable replacements. The Ford replacement programme officially ended at the end of March.

2nd April 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear To Replace Up To 200,000 Ambulance, Van Tyres

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will voluntarily replace up to 200,000 size LT245/75R16 tyres on passenger vans and ambulances, starting in March, as a preliminary investigation of the tires by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concludes. NHTSA believes tread separations in the four-ply tyres may have led to 11 fatal accidents and numerous injuries. The program involves 16-inch Load Range E tyres made between 1996 and 2000 and encompasses 51 different lines. Goodyear says the tyres are not defective. NHTSA began investigating Load Range E tyres in November 2000. Goodyear is contacting registered tyre owners through direct mail and other methods. It will replace the tyres with same size, six-ply units. “This is a proactive tyre replacement program,” say Goodyear officials.

8th February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors