PERSONNEL
Continental Tire North America has announced a number of staffing changes within its commercial vehicle tyre division. Mike Leigner has been appointed the division’s regional sales manager for the southern region of the US, managing and overseeing the development of new business and the growth of existing accounts within a specified mini business for the […]
Tire Group International (TGI) has released a statement outlining a USA based exporter’s point of view” towards the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling on imported Chinese passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres. In this statement, TGI indicates it will continue to fight the ITC ruling and says that, after meeting with several state representatives, senators, and following phone conversations with the assistant secretary of Import Administration, the company is able to “shed light on the effect this ruling will have on re-exporters” such as itself.
Tire Industry Association (TIA) has elected Larry Brandt as its new secretary.
Hankook Tire has appointed Todd Hershberger as its new vice president of sales and marketing in the USA.
Sales at Nokian Tyres decreased 34.6 per cent to 346.7 million euros in the half year between January and June 2009, and operating profit went down along with it; the company reports a 86.4 per cent decline in operating profit to 17.5 million euros. Net income during the half-year amounted to just 346.7 million euros, supported by a more robust second quarter in which profits of 191.1 million euros were generated.
Schaeffler reports a “successful reconciliation” of its interests has been achieved. The company’s Executive Management Board and plant management representatives, in talks with labour representatives, have agreed upon a package of measures to reduce personnel costs at Schaeffler’s German locations. The total adjustment volume, required due to slack demand, amounts to €250 euros per annum. Schaeffler now reports these savings can be achieved through natural fluctuation, voluntary redundancies and partial retirement along with the continued use of short time work and reduced working hours including adjustment of salaries and wages.
Pirelli Tyre has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Romania’s Health Ministry, pledging to finance a training programme for staff at a hospital in Slatina, where the Italian company’s Romanian factory is located. Medical staff from the County Emergency Hospital’s Emergency Reception Unit will receive training at Milan’s Niguardia hospital, continuing a cooperation between the two units that began around a year and a half ago.
The document was signed in Slatina by Pirelli Tyre’s Romania director Enrico Malerba and Romanian health minister Ioan Bazac on July 23. Italy’s ambassador to Romania, Mario Cospito, also attended the signing ceremony.
Finland’s Cimcorp has long held the desire to develop a tyre factory in which every stage of the operation – from tyre assembly to final shipping – was automated. This idea has formed the core of the company’s so-called “dream factory” concept, and Cimcorp reports that in the past year this dream has become reality.
The company’s path towards a fully automated tyre plant began some time ago, and outside the tyre industry.
Continental has reported the need to ‘respond’ to the continuing downturn experienced by OE and replacement passenger car tyre markets – a market which currently has a production overcapacity of more than 18 million tyres in Europe. As a consequence, the company states, the demand for raw materials is also markedly lower.
“Today, Tuesday, we are informing workers at the Traiskirchen site (in Austria) that we are forced to phase out the mixing and gumming activities in Traiskirchen, which employs a total of 195, by the end of this year,” explained Dr. Bernhard Trilken, in charge of worldwide production for the Continental Passenger and Light Truck Tires division, on June 16.
Michelin Canada’s 22nd Annual Torch Run in support of Special Olympics Nova Scotia is being held on June 4 and 5. More than 2,000 participants are expected to take part in this year’s Torch Runs throughout the province to help raise awareness about the Special Olympics Nova Scotia Summer Games, which take place between July 17 and 19.
“For the 22nd year, Michelin employees and friends from all three Nova Scotia facilities will proudly carry the torch in support of Special Olympics Nova Scotia,” says Jeff MacLean, personnel manager at Michelin’s Granton facility, and member of the Special Olympics Nova Scotia board of directors. “We hope to spread the word through our local communities about the 2009 Summer Games.”
The US organisation, the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB) has announced that it will be an exhibitor at the 2009 Great American Trucking Show (GATS), being held at the Dallas Convention Centre in Dallas, Texas, Thursday, 20 August to Saturday, 22 August 2009.
TRIB will be displaying a variety of retreaded truck tyres in its booth, including wide-base retreads. It will also be distributing printed materials, along with CDs & DVDs, about retreaded tyres, tyre repairing, tyre maintenance and other tyre related subjects of benefit to truckers, fleet maintenance personnel and trucking company management. In addition, TRIB will be handing out its Retread Tire Buyers Guide and materials from TRIB members. TRIB’s booth number is 14059-61.
Continental Tire North America has released a new online training programme it says responds to the training and technical information needs of commercial vehicle tyre dealers. Called “Engage360 Untamed Innovation”, the programme is available in the commercial vehicle section of the company’s interactive training website for tyre dealers. According to Engage360 training manager Amy Spears, Engage360 Untamed Innovation allows dealership personnel to learn the basics about the construction of Continental premium commercial tyres, review product technical information and become certified as a Continental Commercial Tire Specialist.
TIA and Michelin North America have partnered to create a new training video for truck fleets. The 20-minute video titled “Wheel End Safety” is “intended to provide maintenance personnel and drivers with installation and inspection guidelines to improve wheel-end performance and safety,” Michelin said. The video is available as a free download on TIA’s Web site – www.tireindustry.org – and on MNA’s Web site – www.michelintruck.com.
In order to illustrate the danger of a wheel-off incident, TIA worked with Michelin engineers to construct a controlled test at Michelin’s Laurens Proving Grounds in South Carolina, where the tyre and wheel assemblies could be filmed after they separated from a trailer. After several successful attempts, a parked car was placed in the path so multiple cameras could record the footage. (Tire Review/Akron)
The discovery that 200 burly policemen were waiting for them on the German side of the border led to a spontaneous change of plans for up to 500 workers from Continental’s Clairoix, France factory. Instead of heading in the direction of a company facility in Aachen, the workers have opted to avoid the Polizei and remain on French soil. Thus they have turned their attention to the Conti plant in Sarreguemines.
Actual interim results for the January to March 2009 quarter show Nokian Tyres’ operating income to be even lower than the figure anticipated by a Reuters analyst poll. The company’s interim report, released May 7, reveals an EBIT of minus 2.7 million euros for the quarter, down from 54.4 million a year earlier. The mean estimated EBIT calculated from a Reuters survey of eleven analysts was four million euros. Net sales during the quarter stood at 155.6 million euros, 36.8 per cent lower year-on-year. A net loss of 10.4 million euros was recorded in the quarter, contrasting with a net profit of 45.1 million euros in the first quarter of 2008. The analysts surveyed by Reuters anticipated a net loss of seven million euros.
”Nokian Tyres’ first quarter net sales went down to the level of the corresponding period in 2006,” noted company president and CEO Kim Gran. “Nokian Tyres did not make profit in the first quarter due to low sales, operative streamlining measures, currency devaluation on our main markets, and the seasonal weakening in our sales mix. We took strong actions to adjust our preseason sales and production to the changed market conditions.
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