Whether its raw materials, machinery, research and development or the latest manufacturing trends, this tag provides up-to-the-minute insights into the upstream part of the tyre industry.
Cabot Corporation has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cabot (China) Ltd., has signed a joint venture agreement with Bluestar New Chemical Materials Co., Ltd., a part of the China National Bluestar Group, to manufacture fumed silica in China.
Bridgestone Australia (Adelaide) has stated that the future of its Salisbury tyre-making plant looks “more assured”. Settlement of an improved wage agreement and several other changes late last year had resulted in “modest improvements” at the loss-making operation. Local manufacturing losses, intense competition and the higher cost of raw materials had caused a 15 per cent drop in net profit in 2003 to 10.6 million Australian dollars, despite sales rising 5 per cent.
‘Europe was top dog in the 1800’s, America was the great power of the last century and the next 100 years will belong to Asia’ (The Times).
A recent report by Goldman Sachs forecast that China will overtake America to become the world’s largest economy by 2040. As China’s economy grows, it will act as a magnet for raw materials and goods from surrounding Asian countries, giving a boost to the whole region. It remains one of the most exciting growth areas in Asia, with its potentially vast consumer markets and its low manufacturing cost base.
Singapore is a recognised gateway to Asia, attracting leading buyers from the whole of South East Asia and Australasia as well as the key decision makers from China and other Asian markets, providing a comprehensive mix of buyers and sellers from across the entire region.
The Asian region offers the tyre industry major opportunities for those companies committed to its long-term future. With Asian tyre consumption accounting for over 35 per cent of world demand combined with the enormous potential of tyre markets such as China and India where companies are making a name for themselves in the global tyre market, the Asian region offers investment opportunities to manufacturers and suppliers alike.
Tyrexpo Asia 2004 will be the 4th in the series of Tyrexpo Asia events that focuses on the fastest areas of growth in the tyre market and it is the only established tyre event of its kind in Asia. The 2004 event will be the largest yet and exceeds previous Tyrexpo Asia shows by over 25 per cent. The 2001 exhibition attracted visitors and exhibitors from over 63 different countries making it a truly international event. The show will once again be sponsored by Tyres & Accessories and Neue Reifenzeitung in addition to being strongly supported by specialist trade press and sponsors IE Singapore (International Enterprise Singapore). Tyrexpo Asia 2004 takes place from the 17 to 19 February at the Singapore Expo Centre and provides the perfect forum for the tyre industry to be stimulated by new ideas, products and market opportunities which reflect the importance of globalization within the region. The show focuses on every aspect of the tyre industry from tyres, retreads, tyre changing & repair equipment, to fast fit, garage equipment and parts & accessories. Amongst exhibitors are:
A-Z Formen und Maschinenbau, Big Wheel, Clipsal Airtec Pty Ltd, Collman, Columbus McKinnon, Del-Nat, Elgitread, DuroTyre, Federal Corporation, Fujikoki, Global Traco, Gummiwerk Kraiburg, Hangzhou Zhongce, Hock Lee, Italmatic, Jantsa, Kenda, Konimpex, Leka-Reifengrosshandel, Liew Koon, Mace Engineering, Midas, Mindtrac, Mohawk International, Myers Tire Supply International, Newera, Nexen Corporation, Pirelli Speciality Products, Pt Gajah Tunggal, Pt Mega Tires, Rema Tip Top, Samik Corporation, Sicam Tyre Equipment, Stamford, Tech International, Treadway Exports, Tyre Trading International, Value Tyres, Viewtum, Vipal and many more.
Cooper Tire and Rubber has announced increased capital equipment investments in three of their four US tyre manufacturing facilities. This increase provides additional production capacity of more than 2.4 million units. The 32.1 million US dollar investment will include the purchase of new tyre building machinery and presses and add 116 additional manufacturing employees.
Mark Emkes says his top priority as the new chief executive of Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc. is to make the division he headed the past year turn a profit. As the Nashville-based business continues its turnaround from a devastating tyre recall in 2000, three units are making money. Not Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, which includes tyre manufacturing and sales of wholesale and original equipment. “We’ve made nice progress over the last 12 months, but the goal for 2004-2005 is to make that business profitable,” said Emkes, who will continue heading that division even as he takes over the entire company after John Lampe retires on March 31st.
Polyester fibre manufacturer KoSa, with regional headquarters in Charlotte South Carolina, will buy Michelin’s textile factory in Winnsboro. The site, which has 185 employees, makes and treats polyester fabric used in tyre manufacturing. The agreement includes a multi-year contract in which KoSa will supply Michelin with fabric for its tyre-making operations.
SmarTire Systems has announced results for the first fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2003. Gross revenue for the first quarter totalled 427,526 US dollars, an increase of 29,937 US dollars over the same quarter in fiscal 2003. SmarTire recorded a quarterly net
loss of 3.26 million US dollars compared to a net loss of 2.07 million US dollars. “Our first quarter results were affected by an inventory shortage caused in part to transitioning the manufacturing of our products to Hyundai Autonet (HACO),” says Robert Rudman, President and Chief Executive Officer of SmarTire Systems. “HACO is quickly finalizing its production line and is preparing a build of SmarTire TPMS products to fill the backlog of orders booked but not shipped in Q1.”
Motorsport is a key tool in marketing tyres and has been since the first tyres were produced. Harvey Firestone used to say “Race them on Sunday, sell them on Monday”. That holds as true today as it did back then. However, the market is much more complex now with a wider variety of motorsports and a wider variety of manufacturers. Not only that but the technology of the vehicles and the tyres has developed at a pace that has created specialist divisions in manufacture solely to deal with developing motorsport tyres.
T&A looks at the leading players in the market in the UK and uncovers the thinking behind their involvement in motorsport, why they do it, how they do it and indeed what they hope to gain from motorsport in the long run. From a simple publicity advantage for some, through to a full blown engineering partnership with vehicle manufacturers for others.
It has been an eventful – some might say traumatic – year or two for the Goodyear Corporation as it struggled to integrate Dunlop within its organisation across Europe and the USA. One of the countries that has seen a great deal of change is the UK, where a number of different methods of restructuring have been tried, with varying levels of success. Recent changes affected the management at the highest level – Goodyear and Dunlop had their own MD’s, reporting to Marco Molinari, who was in overall control. When Molinari left the company, it was decided to change the management structure and responsibilities. Out went the two separate MD posts and a General Manager was brought in.
That person was Andreas Niegsch, a 39-year-old German who only joined Dunlop in 1998. One year on, the structure is in place and beginning to produce results and Andreas Niegsch found the time to give his first press interview, with T&A. Where Andreas Niegsch’s position differs from that of his predecessors is that he is responsible purely for the sales organisation at Goodyear Dunlop and the UK factories report to Goodyear Dunlop Europe. By not being responsible for manufacturing, Andreas Niegsch is free to concentrate on sales and in getting closer to the market and the customer.
The new structure has separate sales divisions for consumer, commercial, farm, earthmover, motorcycle and motorsports tyres and these are supported by functions such as HR, logistics and finance. Retail is treated as a separate profit centre and a new marketing department has been created to support all the product groups. Given enough time, things will turn around, said Andreas Niegsch, as the company has the funds and has bought itself the time to implement the necessary changes. However, whatever else changes, he believes that Goodyear Dunlop still has those two priceless assets; two brands that are worth their weight in gold.
India’s outsourcing boom is likely to have little impact on the tyre industry that has huge potential. The tyre industry needs to source rubber at global prices. Availability of rubber at par with international majors like Continental, Pirelli or Yokohama would lead to development of India as a base for manufacturing, according to Anil Sampat, an industry analyst and former rubber industry insider. India’s largest player MRF is still one fifth in size of global companies. The only way the Indian tyre industry can grow and reach global scale is to attract investments from international tyre majors as the industry is capital intensive. The small size of Indian companies is a source of worry, says Sampat. With tyre industry expected to grow only by 2 per cent, “real growth can come only when India offers world class manufacturing facilities for global players,” he points out.
Alloy wheel manufacturer Fintrade has taken the decision to run down and cease production of its own make alloy wheels. The company says that it cannot compete with products from emerging markets and that the closure of the factory was the only route open to avoid financial ruin. The company has announced an orderly run down of production and will be liquidating the assets of the business to service debts in order of preference. It is expected that there should be no shortfall at this point in the proceedings.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has appointed Robert A. Novotny to the position of vice president, Global Engineering & Manufacturing Technology. In this role, Novotny will report to Joseph M. Gingo, executive vice president, Quality Systems & chief technical officer, and Chris W. Clark, senior vice president, Global Sourcing. Novotny, 48, replaces Ernest J. Rodia, who is retiring after 37 years with Goodyear. Rodia, 60, had served as the group’s vice president since February
2001.
Tenneco Automotive announced that the company has signed a jointventure agreement with China-based Chengdu Lingchuan Mechanical Plant to establish Chongqing Walker Exhaust System Co., Ltd. The new jointventure will supply emission control products and systems to Changan Ford Co. Ltd., the joint venture between Changan Automobile Group Company and Ford Motor Company. Tenneco Automotive will have 60 per cent ownership of the joint venture expected to be formally established by the end of this year and to begin production in 2004. Tenneco also announced an agreement with Eberspacher International GmbH to establish Walker-Eberspacher Automotive Exhaust System Co., Ltd, a jointventure in China. The jointventure will manufacture and distribute emission control products and systems for BMW and Audi vehicles produced in China. The joint venture will operate just-in-time (JIT) final assembly manufacturing operations in Dalian and Changchun, China at Tenneco Automotive’s existing joint venture facilities in those cities. The jointventure will be owned 30 per cent by Tenneco Automotive directly, 25 per cent by one of Tenneco Automotive’s existing majority-owned joint ventures in China and 45 percent by Eberspacher.
Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, a division of Japanese tire maker Bridgestone Corp., is ready to return to the negotiating table with the United Steelworkers of America, a spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires on Monday. The company is waiting to hear from the union, which broke off contract talks last week, said spokesman Dan MacDonald. The union represents 6,000 workers at six U.S. tire manufacturing sites in Tennessee, Iowa, Ohio, Arkansas and Indiana. Bridgestone/Firestone operates two non-union factories, and a chain of Firestone retail stores.
A short time before the announcement of the joint venture between Michelin and Apollo Tyres, the Indian company broke off its alliance with Continental. An Apollo spokesman said that the arrangement with Conti “was only a technical tie-up. As far as we are concerned this (the jv with Michelin) is a real marriage.” Michelin paid around $28 million for a 14.9 per cent stake in Apollo and the French company owns 51 per cent of the joint venture company, which is called Michelin Apollo Tire. MAT plans to invest $70 million over the next four years in building a manufacturing plant in India.
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