PERSONNEL
The official inauguration of Nokian Tyres’ new tyre plant will take place today in Vsevolozhsk, Russia. The plant is already in operation, and the first tyres were manufactured in June 2005. Invitations to the ceremony have been sent to Finnish and Russian high-ranking authorities, partners in the construction project, customers, media representatives and the company’s own personnel.
Corporate image and brand awareness have always been regarded as important by those involved in marketing. In the fiercely competitive automotive industry getting potential customers to instantly recognise a company’s products and services is a key factor to securing more business.
The global tyre industry is littered with famous names, with some companies proudly boasting traditions that go back decades – in some cases over a century.
However, the industry is a dynamic one, with new names appearing all the time. This is especially true in today’s emerging industrial economies, of which the most visible example is that of China, which is rapidly climbing the list of major consumers of commodities such as steel and rubber.
One of the many companies in our industry contributing to this phenomenon is South China Tire & Rubber (SCTR), which was established in 1988 and began production four years later. SCTR claims to be the first modern enterprise in the Chinese tyre industry to have bought in internationally advanced technology to manufacture radial tyres. The main production and testing machines come from the USA, Japan and Europe, with many building machines sourced from VMI in The Netherlands. As well as equipment, SCTR has recruited expertise and personnel from internationally famous tyre manufacturers.
Oldbury-based tyre wholesaler International Tyres & Trading Ltd. (IT&T) has recently been appointed the sole UK and Ireland distributor for Firenza truck tyres; a brand new to the market.
IT&T was founded in 1991 by directors Mike Bolton and Paul Jackson. Both men had considerable experience of the tyre industry – Bolton in retreading and Jackson in wholesaling – and they set up IT&T to supply retailers, rather than end users, with tyres. From Day 1 the business concentrated on truck tyres and built up a reputation as a supplier of premium, leading brand names. “We were not known as a budget brand provider” said Mr. Bolton. Even today, truck tyres account for around 90 per cent of the company’s business but in the past couple of months, IT&T has taken a different direction by taking on the Firenza franchise.
Bridgestone has appointed Paul Turner to the role of technical training manager in the UK, replacing Steve Howat who has taken up a similar role at Bridgestone Europe. Paul Turner has more than 21 years’ experience in the tyre industry, and has worked for Bridgestone UK for more than a decade in a variety of roles ranging from sales office supervisor to technical engineer, where he ran the company’s RFT (run-flat technology) dealership certifying courses.
Continental AG personnel director, Thomas Sattelberger, has been named as a potential candidate to replace Peter Hartz at Volkswagen. Mr Hartz resigned amid allegations that his department was involved in Indian bribery scandal. Mr Sattelberger is reported to be one of the top candidates, Dow Jones Newswires has reported. His experience and that fact that he is not a Volkwagen insider are both likely to count in his favour. Continental spokesman Hannes Boekhoff made no comment. Mr Sattelberger has been part of Continental executive committee since July 2003. Before that he worked for Lufthansa and DaimlerChrysler.
Meanwhile ThyssenKrupp rejected reports that director Ralph Labonte was another possible succesor. A ThyssenKrupp spokesperson said that Labonte is not available to fill that position.
Snap-on Tools is celebrating its 40th anniversary of the opening of its UK operation this year.
“Today we are clear brand leaders in the UK automotive tools market, with a commanding market share,” said Terry Barcham, Snap-on Tools UK managing director, at a recent press conference.
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd is to “spin off” the Nitto brand division of Toyo Tire (USA) Corp, incorporating it as a separate company. The new business will be called Nitto Tire North America Incorporated, from 1 July 2005.
British garage technicians are being offered the chance to star in a television series being made in Spain. ‘The Garage’ will follow the progress of an independent garage set in the expatriate community on the south coast of Spain. Endemol UK, the production company involved, was responsible for the highly successful ‘fly-on-the-wall’ series about a hairdressing and beauty operation, ‘The Salon’.
(Akron/Tire Review) Carl Casalbore, vice president of marketing and retail sales at the Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., has announced his departure from the company, and Robyn N. Dashnaw has been appointed territory sales manager by the Findlay, Ohio-based tyre manufacturer.
Bandvulc Tyres has appointed Mandi Ingram as office operations manager.
Her responsibilities will include improving the efficiency and effectiveness of systems and procedures within the accounts department and the Bandvulc Tyre Contracts (BTC) fleet division. The role will also require her to deal with personnel issues and the recruitment of office staff.
“I’m determined to drive Bandvulc forward by focusing on operations at the grass roots level, so that it can become the best that it can be,” said the new office operations manager. “It’s been quite a challenge starting with zero tyre knowledge and I’m on a steep learning curve but once the new systems and procedures are in place, my vision for BTC to attain the ISO 9000 quality standard will be realised,” she added.
Continental has commissioned a survey investigating student opinions of universities. It is hoped that the research will give a clearer picture of the opinions of German secondary and university students on social and political questions. The results will be presented by Thomas Sattelberger Continental board member responsible for personnel on 24 February. The research, conducted by TNS/Infratest, was wittily entitled “Reforms and Wissenschaf(f)t” – a pun referring to the word “Wissen schafft“ (meaning knowledge) and “Wissenschaft“ (meaning science).
Amtel’s latest 5500 tyres per day production line has gone into operation. The $50 million “Kirov-II” line will produce approximately 2 million tyres per year, raising annual production at the complex to 7 million units.
Following the news that Pierre Dupasquier will retire in 2006, Michelin has announced that Frédéric Henry-Biabaud, the current deputy director, will replace Mr Dupasquier at the end of the 2005 season. At the same time the tyre manufacturer gave further details of personnel changes within its motorsport group.
The motorsport group is made up of five departments. The leadership of the group’s rallying, motorcycling, endurance racing and rally raids divisions will remain the same. Michelin’s Formula 1 division, however, will have a new head. Following the departure of Pascal Vasselon, bound for a new position in America, Nick Shorrock will take over responsibility from January 2005. Patrick Cohen will assist him as a technical manager.
Commenting on the recent decisions, Motorsport Director Pierre Dupasquier said: “I am very happy to see that we are putting teams into place early enough to whom I can pass the torch, therefore guaranteeing the quality of service that we owe all our partners and the continuity of Michelin in racing.”
Nokian Tyres has confirmed that it has sold its factory premises in the town of Lieksa for a total of 3.6 million euros. The Finnish company sold the bicycle tyre business to Suomen Rengastehdas Oy. According to Nokian, the new owners took over the management of the plant straight away and will provide contract-manufacturing services to Nokian. All personnel, a total of 59 employees, are to keep their jobs working at the Bicycle Tyres profit centre and in heavy inner tube manufacture.
Suomen Rengastehdas Oy is a subsidiary of Suomen Kumitehdas Oy. The companies are engaged in the manufacture of bicycle tyres, rubber boots, footwear and other rubber products, and in the reprocessing of rubber. The principal owners of the companies are Mr Arto Huhtinen and Mrs Tuire Erkkilä, both previously members of Nokian Jalkineet Oy’s (Nokian Footwear) management.
In 2003 the Lieksa plant manufactured 784,000 bicycle tyres and inner tubes.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
