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Continental AG is expecting a loss of $122.7 million in its US passenger-car tyre business this year, Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung has reported. The business posted a loss of $98 million the year before. The newspaper did not name any sources but did report that up to 300 of the 1,400 jobs in its plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, plant would be cut in July and production would be reduced by a third to roughly 16,000 tyres per day.
Thousands of Goodyear workers will lose out on their share of a £1 million repayable sickness fund because they were made redundant reports a Wolverhampton newspaper.
Workers who lost their jobs before October 2003 will not be eligible for a £1,150 payout from the Goodyear Relief Society, which has now been dissolved.
Workers at Bridgestone-Firestone Canada have approved a six-year contract that gives them a better pension plan and gives the company more flexibility.
The contract will bring a further CDN$13 million to the Joliette region in economic spinoffs claims the company.
Over 80 per cent of workers voted in favour of the agreement, which comes three months before the current contract expires.
“We worked together to establish terms that will ensure greater flexibility for our operations. This flexibility is essential first to our growth, and consequently to maintain jobs,” declared Isaac Motohashi, general manager of he Joliette plant.
(Akron/Tire Review) The “Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act”, introduced by Rep. Joe Knollenberg (Republican) with the support of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA), has passed the US House of Representatives.
(Akron/Tire Review) Special Report by Amy Antenora of AMN – With a number of critical issues currently challenging the automotive aftermarket – SKU proliferation, auto dealer expansion and raw material costs, to name a few – there was no lack for topics of discussion at this year’s Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS), held this week in Chicago.
Bob McKenna, president and CEO of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, moderated a panel discussion posing questions about a number of critical issues such as product demand, brand equity, counterfeiting, vehicle maintenance, Right to Repair and the complexities of aftermarket distribution.
(Akron/Tire Review) Automortive and commercial truck component maker ArvinMeritor said it will consolidate 11 of its manufacturing plants this year in a move to cut costs. The expected plant closure will result in a reduction of hundreds of salaried and hourly jobs. Most of the labour cutbacks are expected to come from its automotive product unit, where costs and margins remain depressed.
Hankook Tire Co has chosen Slovakia as the location of its new Eastern European factory, Slovakia’s economy minister, Pavol Rusko, is quoted as saying. The company, now plans to make an investment worth around 500 million euros in the country.
The Unipart Group of Companies, one of Europe’s leading privately–owned distribution and logistics businesses, has reported sales for 2004 of £1.064bn (2003: £525.8m) and a net operating profit of £25.4m (- £1.3m). After tax, interest and other charges, the Group reported a profit of £26.3m (£0.9m).
In the wake of the collapse of MG Rover, it seems that the vultures are already circling the carcass. According to an Auto Express report, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corportation (SAIC) plans to build 321,000 Rover 75s in the next five years. Not one will come from Birmingham.
Falling worldwide sales of the Jaguar X-Type – down 29 per cent in the first three months – have led Jaguar to reduce production of the luxury model. No X-Types were produced last week at the Halewood plant, which employs 2,300 people and, although production resumed this week, next week will see only three days of production. A Jaguar spokesman said that jobs were not in danger and that next year will see Land Rover’s new Freelander vehicle being manufactured at Halewood.
The European Investment Bank is providing a loan of 40 million euros to Brazil so that the development of a new Continental production facility can be put into operation.
Brasil Produtos Automotivos Ltda will manufacture passenger car tyres of which the majority will be exported to the NAFTA market to satisfy the growing domestic demand.
The site’s annual capacity will be more than 4 million tyres. The project will create some 600 jobs and is to be completed by the end of 2007.
(Akron/Tire Review) Cooper Tire & Rubber Co’s planned expansion of its Athens, Georgia, tyre plant got a big boost from local government which authorised some $12 million in bonds to aid the expansion effort.
(Akron/Tire Review) With business picking up, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will recall some 160 workers previously laid off from its Union City, Tenn., tire plant.
A Goodyear spokesman said there was no timetable for the laid off workers to return, and that they would be brought back over time. The workers being brought back were laid off last October when Goodyear cut 250 jobs at the plant.
(Akron/Tire Review) Even after reports that negotiators had to take a break to accommodate the upcoming NCAA men’s basketball championships in St. Louis and the United Steelworkers of America’s (USWA) April national convention in Las Vegas, there remain concerns on whether the USWA and Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) can resolve their apparently deep differences and reach agreement on a new master contract.
(Akron/TR) Cutbacks, fast rising raw material costs and marketshare battles by US automakers have created a crisis among auto part and component suppliers, according to a Detroit News report today.
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