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Walmart Canada plans to invest $500 million to add 40 new supercentres, expanding the company’s presence into Manitoba and Quebec, reports Tire Review. The new stores, which will carry groceries and general merchandise, including tyres and automotive service, will be the result of a combination of renovations of existing stores, relocations and the construction of new stores. Details about the stores’ specific locations have not been released.
A US$9 million upgrade at Cooper Tire & Rubber’s Tupelo, Mississippi passenger car and truck tyre plant will, according to plant manager Patrick Jodon, make the facility “stronger, more flexible and more competitive.” Jodon explained that the Tupelo plant will receive new equipment that will aid in improving its efficiency; this new equipment will be installed within the next 12 to 14 months. The upgrade is expected to add 35 new jobs to the plant’s 1,300 strong workforce.
Demand from fleet customers for mechanical work on company cars and vans at Kwik-Fit is said to be soaring. The fast fitter comments that operators are looking to reduce operating costs and this appears to be a significant contributor towards Kwik-Fit’s record breaking 2010. The company reports that demand for MoTs, vehicle servicing and brake part replacement rose by up to almost 50 per cent last year, and in 2011 a “core goal” is to further increase the volume of mechanical and MoT fleet work performed through Kwik-Fit centres.
An article in The Times dated 29 December under the heading “Pressure Grows Not To Tinker With The MOT”, featured the results of a nationwide survey of 4,200 drivers, commissioned by the MOT Forum and supported by NTDA and other members of the Forum, in which more nine tenths of those questioned said the MOT should stay as it is.
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Hankook has announced that it will build its sixth global manufacturing plant in Liang Jiang Xin Qu in the Chongqing Municipal of China, investing US$954 million in the project, which will cover approximately 53,000 sqm. It will break ground in the first quarter of 2011 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. Upon completion, the plant will produce a total number of 11.5 million passenger car and truck and bus tyres, generating sales of US$1 billion annually, according to the company. It will also create about 4,600 new jobs in the region.
On November 16, Tyres & Accessories reported a number of redundancies at the Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions facility in Muscatine, Iowa. These job cuts were announced within the context of restructuring taking place within Bridgestone’s North American operations. It now appears the 18 job losses at the Muscatine site are not an isolated occurrence within Bridgestone’s restructuring plans; the company expects to cut approximately 425 North American jobs before the end of August 2011.
Eighteen jobs have been cut at the Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions (BBTS) site in Muscatine, Iowa in advance of the unit’s partial relocation to Tennessee state capital Nashville. The one and a half dozen workers lost their jobs on November 15 while a further 32 Muscatine employees will transfer to Nashville, where parent company Bridgestone Americas has its headquarters. The changes were announced within the context of a restructure of the company’s North American operations.
Pirelli's new manufacturing facility, which the tyre-maker announced last week, will be located in Silao, Mexico, about 400 kilometers from Mexico City, reports Tire Review. The $210 million plant, which will produce high-performance and ultra high-performance tyres for cars and light trucks, will generate 700 direct and 300 indirect jobs in the local Silao area. The facility will cover an area of 120,000 square meters and will be operational in 2012. Targeted daily production capacity is 10,500 tyres with an annual capacity of 3.5 million units in 2014 increasing to approximately 5 million units by 2015.
Yokohama Tire Corp. is investing $13 million in expanding operations at its Salem, Virginia manufacturing plant, reports Tire Review. The project will include new tiremaking machinery, upgrading and modifying existing machines and an increase in high-performance and light truck tyre manufacturing flexibility. The expansion, which will result in a 10-12 per cent increase in production capacity, is slated for completion by August 2011, the company said.
Business partners John and Chris Alexander have announced plans to open a £1 million purpose-built tyre and fast fit centre in Darlington, County Durham. Darlington Tyre and Auto Centre will feature 11 fitting bays and is expected to create 15 new jobs. Speaking to Tyres & Accessories, John Alexander said the project is scheduled to be completed in roughly two months, with an official opening scheduled for February 2011.
Pirelli has announced plans to consolidate its already strong position in South America by expanding production at its Merlo, Buenos Aires, Argentina factory to 6 million units a year by 2013 with investment of US$100 million. The announcement prompted news agency Reuters to add Pirelli to its list of Italian “stocks to watch” on 21 October, owing to the fact that Argentina is “South America's number two economy.” By the end of 2010, Pirelli’s Argentinean sales are expected to grow by 55 per cent to $365 million and the target for 2013 is $500 million. This compares with 235 million dollars in 2009. Some news reports suggested the move means the firm "will move part of its production to Argentina, from Brazil and Europe." Company representatives did not comment on what, if any, affect the expansion plans would have on its existing European production capacity.
Today the axe fell on UK state spending, with some of the largest cuts in public service budgets in decades. But how will the small, medium and large scale business of the tyre industry be affected? The validity of concerns that some public service fleets are considering altering tyre fitment policies to incorporate changes at 1.6mm rather than 3mmt tread depths have yet to be confirmed. One might think that – quite apart from the clear safety benefits and the cost implications that road traffic injuries bring to public coffers – that the revenues MOT fees bring in may lead the government to reconsider recent talk of doubling the length between MOTs and therefore halving the test fee income. There has been no confirmation of that yet either, but there is some good news when it comes to the taxes businesses have to pay.
The latest addition to the HiQ network is a newly opened automotive centre in Aylesbury. The purpose-built centre, opened by local businessman Oliver Pearson with a £100,000 investment, is described by HiQ as catering “for every motorists' needs, offering state-of-the-art vehicle diagnostic equipment and a dedicated MOT testing bay.” The fast-fit network is already heralding the new Aylesbury centre as a ‘flagship’ site amongst HiQ's network of 150 centres up and down the UK.
With the opening of a new depot in Goole, near Selby, tyre retail group BA Bush & Son has increased its network of outlets in Lincolnshire, Humberside and East Yorkshire to 17. The family-owned company – whose wholesale arm B.A.B. Distribution is a member of Grouptyre – is continuing its strategy of investing for the future with this new centre, which represents the fourth new Bush Tyres site in the last 18 months.
Germany’s Evonik Industries has decided to divest its carbon blacks business. This divestment, claims Evonik Executive Board chairman Klaus Engel, provides “the best basis for sustained investment in carbon blacks, new growth prospects and for securing future-oriented jobs in the long-term.” Engel also states that the company’s declared aim in divesting the business is to find a solution “that is equally convincing for customers, employees and business partners.”
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