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Beru Increases Revenues by 23%

Beru 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.

20th August 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

New Management Structure at Yokohama

The 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.

1st July 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Management Reshuffle as CVC and Permira Buy AA

Private 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.

1st July 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone’s First Stop Investment.

Bridgestone 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.

17th June 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Business Results and New Management Organization

The 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.

19th May 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear: Nobody knows what the future has in store

Because 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.”

10th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti’s Factories Receive Quality Awards

A 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.

26th November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Robert Keegan explains his seven-point strategy

In 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.”

6th November 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Vredestein fire damage limited

A fire at Vredestein’s raw materials warehouse at Enschede on Friday 22nd August was quickly brought under control by local fire brigades and the company fire brigade and personnel. As a result both the Vredestein production shop and the warehouse were saved and deliveries will not be affected.

27th August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Fit4Fleet expands into Irish Republic

Fit4Fleet, the GM-backed network of independent tyre dealers supporting company car fleets, has extended operations to provide coverage in the Republic of Ireland as part of plans to provide customers with extensive coverage throughout the British Isles.

Managing director, Dominic Bateson, believes that the move will also bring a great improvement in the service standards enjoyed by fleet drivers in the country, saying: “Most of the tyre chains that have traditionally serviced fleet drivers are concentrated around the main conurbations, such as Dublin, Cork and Waterford. But what use is that to drivers having a tyre problem out on the road, many miles away from one of those cities? Their needs have to be catered for also. To us, this was an obvious gap in coverage and one of our core objectives has been to establish a comprehensive spread of centres throughout the Republic, so that when a driver has a problem, assistance can be provided promptly.”

Fit4Fleet already has 60 centres in the Republic, with at least one in each of the country’s 26 counties, and personnel at each centre have undergone training to ensure that they are fully able to meet the standards required. This means that the network now numbers more than 900 depots in the UK and the Irish Republic.

11th August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Nokian Buys Russian Retreader

Nokian has purchased the Eurobandag retreading plant, situated in St. Petersburg, Russia. Last year, net sales at the plant totalled 0.5 million Euros and the factory retreaded 2,000 truck tyres. Nokian is also re-arranging its retreading materials operations, bringing together the personnel employed at its Vianor retreading plants in Finland, Sweden and Norway under one profit centre.

13th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit: breaking cover at last

Interviews with Kwik-Fit personnel have been thin on the ground for the past couple of years or so, and even fewer since the CVC purchase. One exception was T&A’s interview with Mike Wise focussing on the car fleet tyre sector in our April issue. Calls to Tim Parker and Trevor Chinn’s offices were well parried by apparently impervious PA’s.

16th May 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Gibara Bows Out As Keegan Takes Over

Career Tracks, Company News, International News

Goodyear has announced that Samir Gibara (64) will resign as chairman at the end of June. He will be succeeded by Robert Keegan (55), who is currently president and CEO and who will retain responsibility for these two roles. Gibara joined Goodyear in 1964 and has been chairman since July 1996. He paid tribute to the speed with which Keegan “learned the industry and demonstrated his leadership abilities”. For his part, Keegan said that Gibara had provided “important and valued counsel” since Keegan joined Goodyear in October 2000 as president and COO.

8th May 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin management optimistic for future profits

Although turnover decreased by 0.8 per cent in 2002, compared with previous year, the Michelin group outperformed even analysts highest expectations with an operating income of 1.225 billion Euros (which is 7.8 per cent of turnover, and 18 per cent more than 2001). Net profit more than doubled to 614 million Euros. At the same time, management succeeded in reducing the debt mountain by more than one billion Euros – all within one year. Consequently, Michelin continues to be the best-earning tyre company worldwide.

26th February 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Scottish Plant To Manufacture New Michelin Tyre

Michelin’s Dundee plant is to manufacture the new Michelin Energy 3 tyre being launched this week. This is good news for the workers at the Baldovie plant. The future of the plant had recently been the subject of speculation as Michelin moved production to cheaper labour cost centres in Eastern Europe. However the announcement of the selection of Dundee to manufacture the new tyre brings a boost in confidence. Plant manager, Trish Bailey said, ” This is a very positive signal for the Dundee factory going into the future. The new tyre is at the very heart of the Michelin range and we are going to play a very important role at the centre of its production. This will contribute to job security for the workers in Dundee.”

3rd February 2003/by Tyrepress Editors