Sime to Increase Tyre Exports
Malaysian news sources are reporting that Sime Darby Bhd’s tyre division, Continental Sime Tyre Sdn Bhd, is planning to increase its production.
Middle East
Tag Archive for: Middle East
Ruedatec Joins Bandag Dealership
Product NewsRuedatec has officially joined the European network of Bandag dealers. Its new retreading shop and administrative building have now been formally inaugurated in the presence of Bandag’s Peter De Cabooter, sales director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Danny Van Essche, EMEA marketing director.
Goodyear Warns Against Illegal Imports
Product NewsGoodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Limited has announced that it is taking further steps to combat illegal importers and to protect customers; by ensuring the right tyres are fitted to vehicles in the UK and Europe.
Goodyear launches HydraGrip
Product NewsGoodyear has introduced HydraGrip, a new high performance summer tyre, specially developed for rainy and wet weather conditions. With its innovative DynamicDrain TRED technology HydraGrip provides unrivalled wet braking and aquaplaning safety without compromising its performance on dry roads.
Goodyear customer research has shown that in Europe safety is the primary concern of drivers of medium and large high performance and family vehicles, especially in rain and wet weather. No matter where you drive in Europe, you are facing a lot of rain: according to the yearly weather statistics it rains in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Warsaw and Stockholm three out of five days, even cities like Athens, Madrid and Rome have almost 100 rainy days per year. European drivers across the continent have to drive an average of 141 days per year on wet roads. “Accidents happen especially when it starts raining after a dry period – a situation that demands high performance both from tyres and drivers. Therefore it is no surprise that 70 per cent of European drivers want tyres that behave particularly well on wet roads,” explained Paul Joosten, marketing director Goodyear brands Europe, Middle East and Africa in Mireval, when launching the HydraGrip. “Our goal was to develop a tyre that provides optimal safety in the quickly changing European summer weather with its alternate heavy rainfall and dry periods. After millions of tested kilometres and three years of development at Goodyear‘s Research and Development Centres in Colmar Berg, Luxembourg, we now proudly introduce a tyre that sets new standards for high performance summer tyres,” added Joosten.
Thanks to its unique DynamicDrain TRED technology HydraGrip provides excellent side grip and lateral stability, coupled with an unrivalled performance in emergency braking and resistance to aquaplaning. “HydraGrip gives drivers the all around performance and safety that they demand in extreme wet conditions,” said Joosten.
The new DynamicDrain TRED technology is a combination of highly sophisticated technology features such as 3D-BIS technology, cascade blading and V-TRED design with a specially developed high performance tread compound. In Detail: Goodyear‘s patented Three Dimensional Block Interlocking System (3D-BIS), well-known from successful Goodyear winter tyres, significantly improves the tyre’s wet and dry handling performance because it allows an increased number of blades in the tyre compared with traditional bladed tyres. This technology equips the tyre with as many biting edges as possible to provide excellent behaviour in aquaplaning and on wet roads while at the same time preserving the precise and dynamic handling characteristics of a high performance tyre with its stiff solid tread blocks. HydraGrip‘s 3D-BIS technology also increases the blade length with worn tyres and therefore improves the tyre‘s wet performance during the whole tyre life.
Goodyear achieves further quality certification
Product NewsIBS America, Inc., one of the world’s leading suppliers of Internet-based software and services for quality and compliance management, has announced that the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s East Europe, Africa and Middle East business unit has gained full regional certification for quality, safety and environmental standards using its QSi System. The global standards organisation Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQi) issued the multi-site certification for Goodyear EEAME’s regional headquarters in Brussels and six manufacturing facilities located in Turkey, Slovenia, Poland, Morocco and South Africa. Each of these locations is fully compliant with critical business standards including ISO/TS 16949:2002, ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001, Adapazari (Turkey), South Africa, Poland and Slovenia. ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, Izmit (Turkey) and Morocco.
Iran tyre cord player emerges
Product NewsSaba Tire Cord Manufacturing Complex of Iran has established a nylon tyre cord production facility about 15 km north east of Zanjan, Iran. The operation, which started up in April last year, is the largest such facility in the Middle East region, the company claims. Saba’s 600-employee facility has an annual production capacity of 15,000 tonnes of different tyre cord fabrics. Saba is owned by Rubber Industries Investment & Development Co., an Iranian holding company.
Kumho Donates $ 100,000 Worth of Tires to Iran
Product NewsKumho Tire Co., Inc. donated 3,290 units of tires equivalent to USD100,000 to Islamic Republic of Iran in humanitarian support in the aftermath of the catastrophic damage in terms of both human life and property following an earthquake.
Alliance Tire: The agricultural specialist
Product NewsAlliance Tire has some unusual barriers to overcome in its search for continued success. However the Israeli tyre manufacturer is focussed and determined to grow.
Most tyre manufacturers have the ability, in today’s global market, to sell anywhere in the world, certainly to their neighbours. Alliance is denied that opportunity by being an Israeli company. Yet despite being perhaps a key industry in Israel, Alliance still has to operate on a free market basis. Denied access to the obvious Middle East market, for reasons we may not always comprehend but certainly cannot have failed to have noticed over the past 50 plus years, Alliance has to work doubly hard to gain market share. That takes determination. It takes loyalty. There is no possibility of failure, therefore everyone must work to win. To understand that drive is to understand why Alliance Tire, a small, single plant manufacturer in a beleaguered state, has the potential not only to survive but to take a leading role in its chosen market sectors.
Alliance has long taken the view that developing niche products for specialist markets is the way to proceed. It has therefore developed its own technology and products to gain respect and a leading market share in its chosen agricultural sector. The requirement to develop and refine placed a burden on the company loans. However, with the appointment of Joseph Anglister as General Manager there was a turnaround in fortunes at Alliance and once more the company was back in operating profit. The turnaround came as the result of efficiencies created by the investment allied to a reduction in the workforce. Today the Alliance workforce has vastly improved its efficiency in production. However, the investment continues and next year will see the installation of a new state of the art calendaring line for inner liners.
Bridgestone raises tyre prices
Product NewsBridgestone Corporation has announced that it has begun raising tyre prices by around 5 per cent in Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, Africa and Russia to offset the rising cost of natural rubber and other raw materials. The price increases vary by product and by market and largely apply to radial and bias tyres for passenger cars, light trucks, trucks and buses sold under the Bridgestone and Firestone brands.
Region with potential for the Goodyear Group
Product NewsJarro F. Kaplan, a Goodyear employee since 1986, is already in his second year as President Eastern Europe and is responsible for the region that includes Eastern Europe, South Africa, and the Middle East as well as some other countries in Asia. Before that he was General Manager Deutsche Goodyear in Cologne for two years and earlier in his career he held General Manager positions in the UK and Turkey. The region he is now responsible for is – measured by turnover – relatively small, but is becoming increasingly important due to the fact that the group is running highly competitive factories in Poland, Slovenia and Turkey. The income of the workers in those countries is not comparable with that of countries in Western Europe and will not become so for the next decade.
The biggest factory within the production network of the Goodyear Group in the whole of Europe is the Polish factory in Debica. The production is focused on passenger car tyres, mostly S/T rated. The Debica brand dominates, but many Fulda tyres are also produced there. And the Goodyear brand? “Not yet” says Kaplan. Debica has a production capacity of 40,000 tyres a day and there are already concrete plans drawn up to expand this. Plus it should not be forgotten that the Debica factory also produces some agricultural tyres as well as commercial tyres.
South Africa also belongs to Kaplan’s “Empire”. Goodyear has a big factory there and also its own equity with about 150 outlets, plus it is building and expanding a franchise-system.
Starting from South Africa, Goodyear is interested in doing more business in countries like Botswana, Sierra Leone, Kenya and some other countries. The company’s own equity in South Africa is doing a good job delivering tyres in the shortest possible time to customers. But it is absolutely clear that in the long run Goodyear must have its own people in those countries on which the company can rely; it can no longer leave everything in the hands of distributors. Kaplan: “You need to have your own people on the ground.”
Kaplan is travelling much more. For example to Dubai; from here Goodyear is defending its interests in countries like Israel as well as Palestine, in Iraq, Iran and so on. He travels to the north of Africa as well as to Pakistan. Pakistan belongs to his region. He who knows world politics can imagine that it might be impossible to bring India and Pakistan together under the one umbrella of Goodyear Asia.
To summarise: The Eastern Region is active in 95 different countries, with 52 different languages, which forces all managers to be sensitive and to respect the varied cultures.
Bridgestone to expand production of truck and bus tyres
Product NewsBridgestone Corporation has announced that it will increase production capacity of truck and bus radials at three plants in Japan, and will double the planned capacity at a plant currently under construction in Thailand. The reason is to cater for continuing growth in global demand for truck and bus tyres.
Production at the three Japanese plants at Amagi, Tochigi and Tokyo will increase to 1,300 tyres per day, thanks to an investment of two billion Yen (US$16.86 million), with expansion work expected to be complete by the end of 2004.
In Thailand, subsidiary company Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) Co. Ltd., has doubled the capacity originally planned for the plant it is building in Chonburi. Construction work began in February this year and the plant will begin production in the second half of 2004, with a daily production of 2,500 tyres. The latest expansion plans will see this increase to 5,000 tyres a day by the end of 2006, and they will cost seven billion Yen ($59 m), bringing the total investment in Chonburi to 24 billion Yen ($202.3 m).
These projects are part of Bridgestone’s on-going, global plans for expanding production capacity in radials for trucks, buses and passenger cars. Car tyre investment will address the shift in demand towards larger sizes and high-performance tyres in the mature markets of North America, Europe and Japan. At the same time, it will cater for growing demand for standard tyres in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The Bridgestone group has earmarked around 90 billion Yen for its capital spending programmes by the end of 2006.
Q2 Net Loss For Goodyear, But Sales Rise
Product NewsGoodyear’s second quarter (Q2) figures reveal that the company lost $73.6 million, compared to a net income in Q2 last year of $28.9 m. Sales were up nearly 8 per cent at $3.8 billion (3.5 bn), but volumes were down half a million units to 52.8 million pieces. Chairman and CEO Robert J. Keegan described the results as „disappointing“, but said he was encouraged by the „numerous positive trends„ (notably operations outside North America) and he was „optimistic“ about the turnaround plans.
SRI Plans Price Increase
Product NewsSumitomo Rubber Industries has announced its intention to increase prices from three to five per cent in the second half of the year. These increases will apply to Sumitomo brand passenger, light truck, truck and bus tyres in Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa and they will vary according to country and product line. The increase is necessary, says SRI, because of increasing raw material costs and follows a similar price increase introduced in January this year.
Bridgestone raises prices in Asia
Product NewsBridgestone Corp. has begun raising tyre prices by between 3 and 5 per cent in Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and Africa to cover rising costs of raw materials. The increases will cover Bridgestone and Firestone radial and bias passenger, light truck, truck and bus tyres. Prices in the Japanese market will not be affected. Bridgestone has been implementing the price increases in stages since March 1 to compensate for the rising costs of raw materials, including natural rubber, synthetic rubber, carbon black and some chemical additives.
First Quarter Loss For Goodyear
Product NewsGoodyear Tire & Rubber has posted a first quarter 2003 net loss of $163.3 million, compared to a 1Q loss last year of $63.2 million. Turnover for the period was up 7.1 per cent to $3.5 billion ($3.3 bn 1Q 2002), due largely to currency translation and the loss before taxes was $135 million ($85.6 m). International tyre sales were generally good, but the tyre business in North America continued to struggle. President and CEO Robert Keegan was optimistic, however, saying that Goodyear was “aggressively cutting costs to make the business competitive.” He added: “We have much work left to do, but our turnaround is on track”.
