County Contractors Choose TSUK
As the trading image of Tyre Shredders UK (TSUK) continues to flourish in the UK market, yet another established tyre reprocessor has recently acquired one of the company’s machines.
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Trelleborg to Transfer Production
Product NewsTrelleborg AB has called for negotiations with the relevant unions about the closure of its manufacturing facility in the town of Trelleborg. The company says the decision has been made against the background of a diminishing market for the type of agricultural tyres it produces in the town.
Continental Invests in Slovakia
Product NewsContinental AG, has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic.
Hi-Q Trains Flat Out
Product NewsTyres fitters at Hi-Q branches up and down the country have completed the training necessary to fit run flat technology, the company has announced. Hi-Q’s operations manager Mike Garwood said run flats should only fitted by highly trained staff, adding: “They’re radically different from conventional tyres. Run flats are designed by experts: they must be installed by experts. Hi-Q is the only nationwide network to have been trained by Goodyear and Dunlop. We have the equipment and trained personnel to do the job safely and competently.”
Goodyear Dunlop spokesperson James Bailey said his company had worked closely with Hi-Q to develop a training programme that made sure staff who fitted its safety tyres were qualified experts. “Courses within the industry are rarely as rigorous as this: passing it should give motorists peace of mind that our tyres are being fitted properly and safely. Although run flats must be fitted by experts, they’re not just for specialists. These tyres can be fitted to almost any wheel rim, and their popularity is growing at such a rate that they’re quickly becoming standard for any motorist who refuses to compromise on safety.”
Will Continental Withdraw From Russia?
Product NewsContinental is having “big difficulties in Russia.“ According to German media sources the company’s joint venture with Moscow Tyre Plant (MTP) is both taking longer than envisaged and becoming considerably more expensive. Continental board member, Dr Hans-Joachim Nikolin, has been reported as saying the company is even “seriously” considering the implications of its worst-case scenario, withdrawing from the joint venture.
Bridgestone and Conti Join Forces to Advance TPMS
Product NewsBridgestone has teamed up with competitor Continental to develop an advanced tyre pressure monitoring system for commercial vehicles. The two companies will join forces to mass produce the system which is expected to be released into the market in 2007. The companies are aiming to position the product as a “global standard.”
Personnel Developments in Cooper’s Product Dept
NewsCooper Tire & Rubber Co has promoted Dwayne Beach to director of product management.
Mr Beach will move from his current position as director of product marketing to assume his new role. He will now be responsible for global product planning and product marketing activities. In his new position he will also lead the company’s efforts in new product identification, development and commercialisation.
As a member of the Product Development and Management Association, and having served on several Tire & Rim Association and Rubber Manufacturers Association committees Mr Beach takes a range of knowledge and experience with him to the new role.
Beru Increases Revenues by 23%
Product NewsBeru Aktiengesellschaft (Ludwigsburg, Germany) increased its total revenues in the first quarter of the 2004/05 financial year (1 April – 30 June, 2004) by 23.2% to €85.5 million (1 April – 30 June, 2003: €69.4 million). A high level of growth in the company’s youngest division, Electronics and Sensor Technology, made a decisive contribution (12.5% organic growth) to earnings achieved by the group, but not the tyre pressure monitoring system. Net income rose by 20.3% to €7.7 million after €6.4 million in the same period of last year. As a result, earnings per share reached €0.77 after €0.64 in the prior-year quarter.
New Management Structure at Yokohama
Product NewsThe Yokohama Rubber Company Ltd has formally announced that it will formally start using a new management structure as of tomorrow (2 July). The structure will be headed by new chairman and representative director, Yasuo Tominaga, and new president and representative director, Tadanobu Nagumo. Currently the pair are both representative directors and are president and executive director respectively.
Management Reshuffle as CVC and Permira Buy AA
Product NewsPrivate equity firms Permira and CVC Capital Partners (CVC) have announced their acquisition of the AA. The companies have agreed to pay £1.75 billion, subject to regulatory approvals, for one of Britain’s best known motoring organisations.
Bridgestone’s First Stop Investment.
Product NewsBridgestone has invested £250,000 in training and refurbishment within its First Stop network.
The independent tyre dealers have planned a complete upgrade of First Stop outlets in a drive to reinforce the brand across the UK.
The investment will also enable the development of training programmes designed to improve the skills of both tyre technicians and management personnel.
Yokohama Business Results and New Management Organization
Product NewsThe Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced its consolidated results for fiscal 2004, ended March 31, 2004. Owing in part to favorable export sales, net sales increased 0.3%, to 401,718 million yen. However, operating income declined 9.1%, to 21,073 million yen, owing mainly to an increase in the volume of tire exports and higher prices for shipping and raw materials, such as natural rubber. Ordinary income decreased 8.2%, to 17,258 million yen. On the other hand, a tax reduction helped boost net income 1.8%, to 10,331 million yen.
Goodyear: Nobody knows what the future has in store
Product NewsBecause of the continuing market weakness and on-going high losses in North America, Goodyear’s situation in “Bob” Keegan’s 25 months as COO and president and in the 11 months as CEO remains extremely serious and worrying. Unlike competitors such as Michelin, Goodyear could not even increase market share by capitalising on the Firestone disaster.
Even worse: Bridgestone, with Firestone – a tyre brand that many predicted would not survive the crisis – is back on the road and advancing strongly. Cooper, during the third quarter 2003, added around almost ten per cent, while Goodyear could increase sales by only approximately four per cent, while the total market grew by more than six per cent. Also Goodyear’s figures continue to be under pressure, because the sporadic price increases could not compensate for past rises in raw material prices, margins remained lower than expected and the fixed costs “moved in the wrong direction” despite all restructuring measures, says Rod Lache, Analyst at the Deutsche Bank in New York.
Also the sales development in North America is not satisfactory: in 2002 Goodyear sold eight million tyres fewer in the US market compared with the year before, and in 2003 everything points to a further sales reduction of more than two million tyres. This is a clear sign of continuing acceptance problems on the market. Following this it is no surprise that analysts still do not recognise any signs of a turnaround in the recently submitted business figures for the first nine months of this year and that the visible trends give further reasons for concern regarding the future of the company.
Talking to Tyres & Accessories, Bob Keegan was still optimistic. It cannot be denied that fewer tyres than before have been sold. The biggest challenge is to generate growth in the highest market segment. This is the goal of the strategy “How Do We Win” with its seven quintessential points and its personnel policy that has already been explained to analysts in the early summer. Keegan: “I took a few good decisions concerning executive positions in order to be able to realise the necessary changes. My goal was not merely one of only bringing in outsiders. In all areas of the company we have a good mixture of old and newly-hired, high-level personnel. Jon Rich, who has to bear the load of the turnaround, has the same pattern of thinking as me.” Keegan was convinced that he has now brought together the correct executive team. “Managers who led the company into the crisis, are not necessarily the right staff to lead it out again. We needed a change of course, in order to be able to win. I feel very comfortable with the people, who now carry this responsibility along with me.”
Conti’s Factories Receive Quality Awards
Product NewsA double success for Continental: The mould factory of Barum Continental (VFB) in Otrokovice and the Continental Teves factory in Jicín have been awarded the “National Quality Award 2003” of the Czech Republic in Prague. In addition, the Czech prime minister appointed Jicín’s plant director Ladislav Drázný “Quality Manager of the Year 2003”. Jicín is Continental’s only factory in Europe producing brake boosters. Since 2002 the staff has worked strictly according to the guidelines of the European Foundation for Quality Management, says Continental in a press release. Thus Jicín achieved relevant goals for customers in areas such as product quality, price and delivery satisfaction, plus the staff became better qualified and more strongly motivated. “This award shows that we are on the right track. We will continue to increase our competitive ability prior to European Union entry,” promises the plant director Drázný. The award was a confirmation for the 330 employees of the mould factory in Otrokovice, Drázný continues. Through consistently improved efficiency and quality as well as responsible personnel management the VFB factory has developed to become one of the leading suppliers for passenger car tyre moulds within the Continental corporate group. “We owe this award to a large extent to our employees,” says VFB chief Ladislav Zemko.
Robert Keegan explains his seven-point strategy
Product NewsIn Las Vegas, where the SEMA show is currently taking place, Goodyear’s chairman, CEO and president Robert J. Keegan found the time for an exclusive interview with TYRES & ACCESSORIES. It wasn’t his plan, says Keegan, to only bring in new executives from outside into the company, but to promote long-time colleagues as well, if they were capable of leading. But Keegan doubts that those who have led Goodyear into the current crisis are those who can bring the company out of this situation. The chairman of the tyre maker calls this “changes for victory.” Keegan is convinced that right now he has the appropriate personnel aboard in order to move ahead with the company. Keegan points out seven key elements of his strategy: leadership, cash is king, cost structures, tapping the full potential of all channels of distribution, product leadership, build-up and upgrading of Goodyear’s brands, and an optimal supply chain. In Northern America Goodyear expects a remarkable improvement now that Jonathan Rich, who is president of North American Tire, has been able to hire the right team. According to Keegan this is “the best team we have ever had in this area.”
