For the final quarter of 2012, Nexen Tire has reported sales of KRW 411 billion (£240.1 million), a year-on-year increase of 2.4 per cent, KRW 24 billion (£14.0 million) in operating income, a 90.1 per cent increase on Q4 2011, a 5.7 per cent operating margin and net profit of KRW 21 billion (£12.3 million), up 12.1 per cent year-on-year.
Nexen Tyre Europe GmbH has appointed Joo Ho Song as its new president. Song has reportedly already started carrying out “a comprehensive package of measures, focusing on Nexen’s ambitious goals in Europe and implementing relevant strategies quickly.” The measures include increasing personnel at the European headquarters in Eschborn.
75 years after the company’s foundation, Stapleton’s, its suppliers and its partners are all celebrating three quarters of a century in business.
It’s hard to imagine what Sidney Stapleton would make of the company that bears his name 75 years on from the September day in 1937 when he first incorporated the firm and opened his premises at 195 High Street, Watford. By the end of the Second World War in 1945, the company had not only survived but expanded with the opening of a new depot in nearby Hitchin – a move that brought the weekly wage bill to a total of £20.
Nexen’s Changnyeong factory, the tyre manufacturer's latest passenger car tyre production plant, officially opened on Tuesday 11 October. The factory has already been producing tyres since earlier in the year (as Tyres & Accessories reported in our July issue of the magazine, Company News, page 38). However, the latest event marks the symbolic start of serial production.
Team Nexen Tire Europe has won the 2012 Drift Allstars European Series, with its Irish Driver, Alan Sinnot in first place and Spanish champion, Lluis Lopez in fourth. The title-clinching meeting took place on the island of Malta on what is the biggest professional drift event in southern Europe. Team Nexen’s position as one of the leading professional drifting teams in Europe was confirmed at the ex-Sandhurst School Sports Arena in Pembroke, when its two drivers competed in the final.
Nexen N’Blue HD, South Korean tyre manufacturer Nexen’s European orientated eco-friendly tyre range, came third in the most recent Auto Express ‘Big Tyre Test 2012’. On two assessments (wet handling and curved aquaplaning), the Nexen N’Blue HD came second overall, with the overall result pleasing engineers and managers alike. It was the first time that Nexen Tire has participated in this test.
During the second quarter of 2012 Nexen Tire achieved net sales of KRW 433.3 billion (£242.8 million), the Korean tyre maker reports. This result represents year-on-year growth of 29.8 per cent. Gross profit, at KRW 118.6 billion (£66.4 million), was up 49.2 per cent year-on-year and a margin of 27.4 per cent was reached. Operating profit amounted to KRW 51.8 billion (£29.0 million), up 90.1 per cent year-on-year, and a margin of 12.0 per cent was achieved. Ordinary profit came to KRW 42.7 billion (£23.9 million), 51.8 per cent higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2011. EBITDA, at KRW 72.3 billion (£40.5), was up 62.2 per cent year-on-year and had a margin of 16.7 per cent.
Nexen Tire has opened a sales branch in Bogota, Colombia. It is the second branch in South & Central America after the first one in Brazil. According to Nexen, Columbia is the third biggest market in South America after Brazil and Argentina. It has a reported demand of around 4 million units a year. With its booming economy, the tyre market in the country is also expected to grow.
Aeolus Tyres has signed up as a member of the Imported Tyre Manufacturers’ Association. The Chinese manufacturer is the fourth tyre maker to join ITMA this year – Shandong Linglong and Nexen Tire were named as members in February and news of Triangle Tyre’s membership was given at the end of April.
The Imported Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ITMA) has elected Alfred Graham as president with immediate effect. Graham previously held the position of association treasurer for the last eight years and succeeds David Seward who stood down as president at the end of his two-year term.
BMW has selected Bridgestone tyres as original equipment for the new BMW 3 Series model. A combination of standard touring and Run Flat Technology (RFT) tyres have been selected to run across the BMW 3 series range. With a strong focus on safety and balanced performance, the chosen tyres have been introduced to the European market for 2012.
Team Nexen Tire Europe drivers Alan Sinnot and Luke Fink dominated the Drift Allstars Europe season opener in Birmingham, taking the top two places. The team, which launched on the Friday before the event, runs on Nexen’s new N8000 tyres. Luis Lopez also joined the two drivers in the Nexen team, which launched on the Friday before the event.
Nexen's N'blue Eco tyre, which entered the market last July, has reportedly gain BB on the European tyre labelling scale that becomes mandatory in November. According to the Korean manufacturer's representatives and the firm's Essen show display, the range also achieves favourable noise levels of 71 dB. With Pirelli the only manufacturer to claim to be able to produce an AA rated tyre, Nexen's score puts it amongst the highest rating products currently available in the market.
Nexen Tire’s new factory in Changnyeong, South Korea has entered service, and according to Joo-Ho Song, senior managing director, global marketing at Nexen, the facility will play a key role in the tyre maker’s ambitious plans. Output at Changnyeong will initially be a modest 3 million units in 2012 and will build up, aided by five planned further factory expansions, to 21 million units – 60,000 tyres a day – by 2018. By that date, Nexen says it will have invested a total of 1,200 billion won (£650 million) in the plant.
Current Imported Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ITMA) president David Seward has announced his intention to step down from this role at the conclusion of his two-year term. Seward will make way for a new president, the identity of whom will be decided by elections at the association’s annual general meeting later in June. He remains managing director of Yokohama HPT Ltd based in Milton Keynes.
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