Better Reports From Michelin
For the first time, the Michelin Group is to release figures covering sales, profits and assets per division. The first report is expected on February 23rd.
Tyre industry pioneers, Michelin has a long history. Having begun in 1889, Michelin is now the second-largest tyre manufacturer in the world after Bridgestone and larger than both Goodyear and Contineantal.
Posts
Positive Result For Michelin’s Germany Subsidiary
Product NewsMichelin’s German subsidiary has improved its results for 2000 in every aspect. Expectations have been more than fulfilled with an increase in turnover of 6.4 per cent to 1.75 billion Euro and a 70.2 per cent increase in profit to 57.8 million Euro. The Michelin Group as a whole has increased net earnings by 35 per cent to 438 million Euro (1999: 325 million Euro). The turnover of 15.4 billion Euro is around 11 per cent higher than the previous year’s figure of 13.88 billion Euro.
OE Tyre Satisfaction Study Rates Dunlop And Michelin
Product NewsThe latest study by J.D. Power & Associates, measuring OE tyre satisfaction, puts Dunlop at the head of light truck OE tyres for the first time and Michelin tops for passenger vehicles, for the fourth year running. The study sought the views of more than 39,000 consumers in their first three years of vehicle ownership.
RubberNetwork.com Joined By Yokohama
Product NewsWithin days of RubberNetwork.com receiving the all clear from the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt), Yokohama Rubber Co has joined Continental, Michelin, Pirelli, Goodyear, Sumitomo and Cooper in the global electronic purchasing and procurement market. The RubberNetwork marketplace will be open to all tyre and rubber industry manufacturers and suppliers. The European launch of the market is scheduled for early July.
Business Between Ford And Bridgestone/Firestone Cancelled
Product NewsFinger pointing between Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone is continuing and has reached the point where the tyre manufacturer has terminated its business relationship with Ford after 100 years. In a written statement, BF-boss Lampe said “we believe that the auto maker is attempting to divert scrutiny of the vehicles by casting doubt on the quality of Firestone tyres. The tyres are safe and as we have said before, when we have a problem we will acknowledge that problem and fix it. We expect you (Ford) to do the same.” The assumption that Ford’s Explorer is a problem-car seems to be based also on the fact that Ford felt forced last week to recall more than 50,000 Ford-Explorers equipped with Michelin and Goodyear-tyres, avoiding the word recall but calling it a “Customer Satisfaction Program.” While the business with Ford accounts for only five per cent of BF’s total turnover, virtually everything depends on the success of the Explorer for Ford; the company’s best selling car for years and its cash cow.
2,000 Jobs Cut By Michelin North America
Product NewsMichelin North America has announced that it will cut 2,000 of its 26,500 workforce. The cuts will target the whole company, not just specific job classifications, and will be spread across not just the 23 plants but the whole company. Most will be achieved through normal losses and voluntary redundancies. Michelin wants to trim $75m in annual costs beyond the already announced $125m, and does not want to wait until the weak North American market begins to improve but rather to develop lean structures and create the ability to react to the market independently, whether the market improves or not.
Analysts Recommend Michelin Shares As A “Buy”
Product NewsCheaper oil prices and the result of the Firestone recall in the US make Michelin shares a “buy”, according to analysts from the Deutsche Bank. Despite weakening demand in the US – the world’s biggest tyre market – Michelin is gaining market share and selling more tyres than ever. Market observers believe that it will be possible to obtain better prices for tyres in the region of 3 to 5 per cent.
Concorde Tyres From Michelin
Product NewsGroup Michelin has developed a new radial aircraft tyre. Designed to be more damage resistant than existing aircraft tyres, testing will take place on an Air France Concorde in the next few weeks.
Engineers “Tread” Toward Quieter Tyres
Product NewsEngineers at the University of Purdue (Indiana/USA) have developed a new technique for analysing tyre vibrations that identifies which features produce the most noise, a step toward designing quieter tyres and reducing highway noise. A mathematical model is used to identify which parts of a tyre produce the most noise. The vibrations are characterised on a graph, a visual representation that’s like a fingerprint of each tyre’s vibration pattern.
Heavy Truck Tyres Rolling Slowly In The USA
Product NewsThe prospects for manufacturers of heavy trucks in the USA are rather gloomy for this year, as experts are expecting a decline of up to 30 per cent. Despite this, analysts are not pessimistic about the prospects for Michelin, as the turnover from OE sales of truck tyres is only about 3 per cent of total group turnover. Better results than for 1999 are expected too for Goodyear, due to the downward trend in raw material prices and, last but not least, the recently-announced tyre price increases look like they will stick.
Romanian Acquisition For Michelin
Product NewsNomura International, which holds a “substantial” equity stake in Romanian tyre manufacturer Tofan, has announced the sale of parts of the company to Michelin. The French company has bought the Victoria car tyre plant, the Silvania truck tyre factory, a retreading unit, a number of warehouses and the Tofan-owned distribution network. The purchase price was not revealed but a number of tyre manufacturers are said to have been interested. Tofan will continue to manufacture agricultural and implement (brand name: Danubiana) tyres and this business will be expanded, says Nomura, which remains a significant shareholder.
Run-flats Primed To Satisfy J.D. Power Consumers
Product NewsMore Goodyear run-flat tyres are on the road than any other. A study by J.D. Power and Associates says that nearly seven out of eight consumers place run-flat tyres at the top of their list of desired features. The report shows that consumers want safety-related features more than sophisticated entertainment systems or other convenience features in their new vehicles.
Good EBIT Margin From Michelin
Product NewsThe tyre giant Michelin has today released more figures. The EBIT margin reached 7.6 % on a turnover of 15.4 billion Euro. Michelin reached this expected good result in spite of the fact that increases in raw material costs ate into the results over the year at many other tyre manufacturers. The truck division, which accounts for about 27 % of the total turnover, confirmed excellent double digit EBIT margins. For this year it is expected that Michelin will again achieve at least the same level of results as it did last year. But there is hope that oil prices are falling, which could give the company even better margins. The net debts stood at 4.9 billion Euro at the end of the year 2000.
Michelin’s Creditworthiness Rated BBB+ By Standard & Poors
Product NewsThe credit rating agency Standard & Poors has given Michelin a long term corporate credit rating of BBB+ with stable outlook and a short-term rating of A-2. This rating compares favourably with that of other actors in the tyre business and of industries close to this sector of activity.
EMT Runflat Tyres By Goodyear Are #1 Worldwide
Product NewsGoodyear, supplying nearly 50 original equipment runflat tyre fitments to eight manufacturers, is the world leader in runflat tyres. The latest EMT (Extended Mobility Technology) fitment is on the Mini, a new product from the BMW Group which will have the Goodyear Eagle NCT5 EMT runflat tyres as an option. The company has runflat manufacturing capability in Fulda, Germany, and at plants in the USA.
