North America
Ron Reiring has been promoted to Tech International’s OTR sales manager for North America. His new responsibilities will include developing new OTR sales opportunities for tire repairs and OTR equipment within the US, Canada and Mexico while providing support to Tech’s existing OTR customer base.
Reiring was formerly a western U.S. zone manager for the company. (Tire Review/Akron)
Brembo will consolidate its corporate and technical groups from Northville, Farmington Hills and Costa Mesa, California at a new headquarters to be built in Novi, Michigan. The subsidiary of Bergamo, Italy-based Brembo S.p.A. will also expand capacity at its manufacturing facility in Homer (Calhoun County). The combined project is expected to retain and create 325 jobs for a total of 1,049 Michigan jobs for Brembo.
“The consolidation and expansion of our operations in Michigan, building on the skills of our workforce and competitiveness of our manufacturing facilities, create great opportunities for sustained growth in North America,” said Brembo North America general manager Adrian Smith.
In an effort to boost cost competitiveness Cooper Tire & Rubber is investing in a tyre manufacturing facility in Guadalajara, Mexico. According to an agreement announced June 18 Cooper will have 38 per cent ownership in the facility, jointly owned with Mexican holding corporation IBSA and Cooperativa TRADOC S.R.L. Cooper’s investment in the factory is to be US$31 million. Cooper tyres have been produced at the Guadalajara site since the company’s entry into an agreement with Corporación de Occidente, which was finalised late September 2007.
Michelin North America’s hometown Michelin on Main retail store has apparently been a success, so much so that MNA is planning for another outlet in South Carolina. MNA will open a new ShopMichelin retail store in the Westgate Mall in Spartanburg, South Carolina, next month. Michelin on Main, located in downtown Greenville, and ShopMichelin, offer Michelin branded consumer products, such as wearables and promotional items.
The company also recently launched ShopMichelin.com, an online version of its retail store concept. (Tire Review/Akron)
Tirecraft Group was placed in back into receivership after Pneus Unimax pulled its offer to buy the distributor and franchisor, which was supposed to close on May 30. News reports indicate that two investment companies – Omni Group of Companies and Stern Group – are in the process of bidding to take over the Sherwood Park, Alberta-based Tirecraft. Their bids were due on June 15, according to the Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench.
CIT Business Credit Canada Inc., Tirecraft’s largest creditor, put the firm back into receivership on June 10 after efforts to sell the company to any of the original bidders failed. Ernst and Young, the court appointed receiver, plans to operate the business day-to-day while it is in receivership, though miscommunication apparently caused some store managers to close their doors briefly last week. Last week, Ernst and Young fired Tirecraft president William Steeple.
Tech International has promoted Ron Reiring to the post of OTR Sales Manager, North America. His responsibilities will include developing new OTR sales opportunities for Tech International’s tire repairs and OTR equipment in the US, Canada and Mexico, while providing support to Tech’s existing OTR customer base.
Reiring graduated from Fresno State University with a degree in Industrial technology and, prior to his latest promotion, he served as a Western US Zone Manager for Tech, providing sales support, service and training to Tech’s national account base.
Taiwan`s three-largest tyre manufacturers, including Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co., Hwa Fong Rubber Industry Co. and Kenda Rubber Industrial Co., are reported to be planning to increase investment in their facilities in mainland China.
Cheng Shin will invest between US$50 million and US$60 million to expand the production capacity of its Kunshan, Jiangsu province plant between now and the end of June 2009. Once completed, the expansion will see daily production capacity at the plant rise to 54,000 passenger car tyres from the present level of 45,000, making the facility the largest tyre plant in China. The company also noted it would invest between US$60 million and US$70 million to expand production capacity at its plant in Haiyen plant in Xiamen, Fujian Province. Daily output would be boosted from the current level of 4,000 passenger car and truck tyres up to 6,000. Expansion in production at these two facilities is anticipated to help Cheng Shin increase its annual sales by a total of NT$15 billion (US$496 million).
Jean-Michel Guillon, who was head of sales for Michelin Germany prior to taking up a position with Michelin North America in late 2001, assumes as of July 1, 2008 Group-wide responsibility for human resource management from Jean Moreau, who is retiring. Guillon is one of the Michelin Group’s ten most senior managers.
Goodyear confirmed that it is increasing the prices of some of its Steelmark and Remington commercial truck tyres by up to 10 per cent, effective July 1. Recently, Goodyear announced an increase of up to 9 per cent on its Goodyear, Dunlop and Kelly commercial brands in North America. (Tire Review/Akron)
Guy Mannino, former president and CEO of Pirelli Tire North America, is calling on all retired and current CEOs of corporate America to start driving “green.”
“Now is the time … to take action and proclaim our independence from oil and gas,” he said. “Now is the time for electric vehicles that lower fuel costs, as well as combat pollution and global warming.”
Mannino, who left Pirelli last autumn to found consulting and trading company Verdek, is marketing and selling a line of ZAP (“Zero Air Pollution”) vehicles with the goal of helping consumers to become more fuel-efficient.
ZAP, based in Santa Rosa, California, offers a full line of Xebra electric cars and trucks, Zapino scooters and off-road vehicles, as well as charging accessories. (Tire Review/Akron)
In May Continental Tire North America (CTNA) launched its completely redesigned news website www.CTNAMedia.com. The site features a distinctive new look, and Conti explains that it comes with a variety of new features that make it an ‘even more exciting and useful online destination’.
“We are very excited about the new design of CTNAMedia.com,” said Dana Zamalloa, CTNA manager of PR and communications. “We are particularly proud of our unique online product request module, which makes it easy for editors and project vehicle builders to place their tyre requests electronically.”
Sports fans in the US are soon to be treated to the thrills of rugby, thanks to Michelin North America. The tyremaker is hosting a match between top French rugby team Clermont-Auvergne and the US national rugby team, the USA Eagles. The game, to be held in South Carolina on August 9, is the first ever international rugby exhibition match to be played in this state.
Michelin North America will be the presenting sponsor for this first “Michelin Challenge Rugby” event, held in its home state. Since 1911, the Clermont-Auvergne rugby team has been sponsored by the Michelin Group in its home city of Clermont-Ferrand, France. The French team currently sits atop the standings in the country’s Top 14 division and leads its main rival, Toulouse, by nine points in the standings.
The president and CEO of Continental Teves North America, William L. Kozyra, has elected to leave the company as of June 1, 2008. Mr. Kozyra’s request to terminate his contract and appointment to the company’s Executive Board early was accepted during a meeting of the Continental AG Supervisory Board on May 29. In a statement Continental says Mr. Kozyra will, following his resignation, “take up a new challenge in another company.”
William Kozyra had been deputy member of the company’s Executive Board for the NAFTA region since February 2006. Amongst other roles, Kozyra was responsible for the integration of the Motorola Automotive activities into Continental. The Supervisory Board of Continental has expressed its thanks to Mr. Kozyra for all the work he has done during his ten years as president and CEO of Continental Teves North America and has wished him every success in his new assignment.
A new manufacturing facility in Asia and increased capacity in North America have been announced by Toyo Tire & Rubber in order to reinforce its tyre business’s global supply system. This measure is being undertaken as part of its Medium-Term Business Plan 2008, a three-year business plan that will be in operation through to the year ending March 31, 2011.
Toyo believes that simply boosting production at existing plants is not sufficient to meet anticipated growth in global demand. Therefore the company has drawn up a shortlist of potential locations for a new tyre production plant in Asia, which will serve as an export centre for the global market. This facility is scheduled to be ready during the 2010 fiscal year and will be built at a total investment of around 24 billion yen (£115.6 million). Planned production will mainly concentrate on passenger car tyres and by March 2012 annual output at the site is expected to reach 4 million units.
After nearly a decade of decline, Continental Tire North America finally got into the black in 2007, success driven by a new focus on products, delivery and dealer relations. At its recent Gold Dealer meeting, held during a Caribbean cruise, Continental Tire North America outlined its expansion plans for the program. Andreas Gerstenberger, executive vice president of sales and marketing for CTNA’s consumer tyre group, sat down with Tire Review to discuss the company’s turnaround and future growth plans.
Since Continental bought out General in 1987, there have been numerous management changes. Now things seem to be clicking. What do you have in place now that you didn’t have before?
“The first thing that’s important, if you want to have stability in a team, is figuring out together what your strategy is in a given market. For a long time it wasn’t completely clear within the Continental group what the position of Continental Tire/General Tire should be in the US market.
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