In response to sky-high fuel prices, US consumers are switching their SUVs for CUVs or crossover utility vehicles. Sema’s Research and Information Center has published figures which suggest that although American vehicle owners are becoming more efficiency conscious, there are no signs that they will abandon SUVs altogether. 56 per cent of those surveyed indicated that they do not plan to downsize their vehicles at all.
As a consequnce of the continuing cost increase of the sector’s key raw materials and energy, Pirelli Tyre has announced an increase of its list prices, differentiated by area and segment.
The increase will be 4.5 per cent in Europe and North America for car, SUV and commercial vehicle tyres, and all Group brands; and 6 per cent worldwide for all Motorcycle Tyre brands.
Continental Tire North America has announced that it is increasing prices on its replacement passenger and light truck/SUV tyres by up to 8 per cent. However, the increase is not due to take effect until 1 January 2006. The price increase includes all Continental, General and private brand tyres.
Less than a month ago, Continental announced a second price increase in the US (passenger and light truck tyres), of between 3 and 8 per cent, which became effective 1 October after a 6 per cent rise last February. Analysts expect Continental and the industry in general to fully offset raw material price increases.
(Akron/Tire Review) Toyo Tire (USA) Corp. is raising prices on all of its commercial tyres by as much as 8 per cent as of 1 November. The Cypress, California-based tyre company said prices on its line of medium truck tires would increase by 5 per cent, while prices on its OTR tyres would be increased by 8 per cent.
(Akron/Tire Review) Toyota Motor Corp. says record fuel prices will reduce demand for conventional vehicles and increase demand in hybrids. As a result, future Toyota vehicles will be 100 per cent hybrid, according to executive vice president Kazuo Okamoto. He did not specify a date.
At an investor conference in New York, Katsuaki Watanabe, Toyota president, said the carmaker plans to produce 400,000 hybrid vehicles in 2006, which is 60 per cent more than 2005’s target. Watanabe also said he would cut product costs and cut the $5,000 price premium in half.
(Akron/Tire Review) Reuters reported this morning that Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) will raise prices on its branded, associate and private brand tyres by as much as 8 per cent as of 1 November. The increase covers the US and Canada, and the company’s Bridgestone, Firestone and Dayton brands.
Duke Nishiyama, BFNAT president, said in a statement: “Our tyre companies are facing dramatic increases in raw material costs. Unfortunately, these dramatic raw material cost increases simply cannot be offset by the enhanced efficiencies and increased productivity that we have implemented at all levels of our company.”
Want a novel way of beating sky-high pump prices and fuel strikes? A German inventor claims he has developed a way to make cheap diesel fuel out of dead cats. Dr Christian Koch, 55, from Kleinhartmannsdorf, said his method uses old tyres, weeds and animal corpses.
The ingredients are heated up to 300 Celsius to filter out hydrocarbons which are then turned into diesel by, and this is no joke, using a catalytic converter. Dr Koch told online new sources the resulting “high quality bio-diesel” costs just 15 pence per litre. The cadaver of a fully-grown cat can produce as much as 2.5 litres of fuel – meaning around 20 cats are needed for a full tank, he explained.
“I tank my car with my own diesel mixture and have driven it for 105,000 miles without any problems,” Dr Koch told Germany’s Bild newspaper.
Continental AG chief executive, Manfred Wennemer, plans to raise tyre prices between 3-8 per cent in the fourth quarter of this financial year, various news sources have reported. The increases “will take place in the last quarter of this year, most likely in November,” Wennemer told the magazine the German Autowoche magazine.
He also said that the price increases are likely to take place somewhat earlier in the US. “It depends upon the product and the market. The way things look now, the price increases are likely to be a bit less in Europe than in North America, where we really get hit because oil is traded in US dollars so we won’t get any benefit from the strong euro there,” Mr Wennemer told the AFX news agency.
The 2006 ATS is set to be 54 per cent cheaper than in 2001, says one of the people behind the organisation of the exhibition. Marketing consultant, Bob Sockl explained that prices had gone against the rate of inflation: “Whereas the Garage Equipment Association members who exhibit at the show every year have been aware of the huge cost reduction since 2004, it has come as a nice surprise for parts suppliers returning to the Show in 2006. With space costs as low as £59 per square metre, compared to £130 in 2001, exhibiting at ATS is a really cost effective way of meeting the managers and technicians who buy and fit replacement parts.”
According to the organisers, it all began with the decision in 2004 to run ATS and the CV Show at the same time, in adjacent halls. The resulting economies of scale, with 651 exhibitors across the two means a 20 square metre area can cost £1180, ATS is within even the smallest company’s reach.
Having recently released its latest winter catalogue, Belgium-based wholesaler, Deldo, is claiming that it is a leading player in the tyre market. “Our winter catalogue is once again the benchmark,” with strong prices on a broad range of premium brands, said a company spokesperson. Copies of the new catalogue have already been shipped to Germany and Austria with other countries set to follow shortly.
According to company spokesman, Tom Van Dyck, Deldo can “clearly feel the trend of the current markets – many have realised that ordering with the industry is no guarantee for success.” Each year too many important sizes fail to arrive, he observed adding: “Furthermore, traders can find any brand within our stock. It is no longer necessary to maintain expensive business relationships and buy large minimum quantities, just to get the goods you need. With only one contact, you can get your hands on any brand you want.”
(Akron/Tire Review) While rescue efforts continue in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the US’s Gulf Coast near New Orleans and Biloxi, Missouri, Monday, government officials and business analysts are trying to piece together the impact that devastating storm will have on American industry and the global market – particularly oil prices.
(Akron/Tire Review) Reuters reported last week that a ship carrying some 1,500 tonnes of natural rubber for delivery to tyre companies ran aground off the coast of Sumatra near Indonesia. Most of the rubber was reportedly intended for Bridgestone Corp and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co facilities in the US.
(Akron/Tire Review) Kumho Tire USA Inc has announced price increases. Kumho said it will increase medium truck tyre prices by up to 4 per cent effective 1 October.
Deutsche Bank analysts are convinced that Continental’s US passenger car division has made losses of up to 200 million euros last year. The closure of Conti’s Mayfield facility was expected to have cost up to 120 million euros alone. Financial experts have abandoned hope for a noticeable and continuous growth. During 2005 the tyre manufacturer is expected to come up with an annual loss of about 100 million euros, says Deutsche Bank, meaning that the shutdown of the Mayfield factory didn’t have its expected positive affect.
Natural rubber prices will continue to rise next year even though output from the world’s leading producing countries is expected to increase, according to an expert from the London-based International Rubber Study Group (IRSG).
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