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Nokian Car and Van has responded to reduced demand with a raft of job cuts and temporary layoffs. The company has eliminated a total of 232 jobs, of which 106 are to be covered by pension arrangements. In addition, a further 440 people will be temporarily furloughed in 110 batches over a nine-week cycle, plus 62 more are to be laid off until further notice.
You’ve probably already noticed that our mornings have been a bit nippy of late. The start to the winter was in fact, reports Micheldever Tyre Services, the coldest for three decades. A number of counties have been hit with snow, with the balance experiencing very low temperatures – the sort ideal for the build up of ice upon roads. Driving in these conditions places more emphasis on a vehicle’s tyres, and Micheldever offers the following advice to help keep control in difficult driving conditions:
MCN, the UK’s number one consumer motorcycle magazine, has published a string of complimentary comments about Maxxis’s Supermaxx sports radial, which it is currently putting through its paces on a 172mph Yamaha R6. Journalist Chris Newbigging has been testing the Maxxis Supermaxx Sport – improved for 2009 with a multi-section construction – since October and his verdict is that the tyres are ‘stable and grippy on wintry B-roads’.
According to the magazine, while the track-biased Dunlop Qualifier RRs that were previously fitted on the bike ‘couldn’t cope’ with gritted roads, the Supermaxx Sports came into their own: “…their lower operating temperature means they hook up and take the worry out of wet riding – bloody impressive,” Newbigging enthused.
The latest edition of our national Michelin Guide, ‘Great Britain & Ireland 2009’, is scheduled for a January 23 release. This year it carries a price tag of £15.99 in Britain and 19.99 euros in Ireland
Included in this year’s guide are four new two-star restaurants (The Dining Room at Whatley Manor, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Hibiscus and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon) and 26 new one star establishments. Making-up the list of ‘Rising Stars’ for 2009 are three establishments tipped for two stars (Tom Aikens, The Ledbury and Nathan Outlaw) and one that’s tipped for three stars (Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester). There are also 21 new Bib Gourmand establishments offering ‘good food at moderate prices’ – three courses for less than £28 (40 euros in Ireland).
Apollo Tyres Ltd has reported a nearly 90 per cent fall in net profits in the third quarter of the company’s 2008/2009 financial year. Consolidated net profit after tax totalled just 89 million rupees (£1.254 million, 1.383 million euros) compared with 820 million rupees (£11.553 million, 12.749 million euros) in the previous year. The greatly reduced profits come off the back of a roughly 10 per cent decline in consolidated revenue, which fell from 12.4 billion rupees (£175 million, 193 million euros) to 11 billion rupees (£155.074 million, 171.234 million euros).
Matador is releasing a new high performance segment tyre for the 2009 summer season. Intended for medium size (D-segment) and large (E-segment) cars, the Matador MP 44 Elite 3 features an asymmetrical tread pattern that the manufacturer reports delivers improved handling, comfort, tread life and wet and dry safety compared with its predecessors, the MP 42 Elite 2 and MP 43 Aquilla Evo.
The MP 44 Elite 3 will be produced in 34 sizes for 15 and 16-inch rim diameters, with T, H, V and W speed rated products on offer.
On January 15 the US Senate Finance Committee passed a bill that paves the way for Cooper Tire’s Tupelo, Mississippi plant to receive $13 million in bonds. Under the proposed deal, which must now be voted upon by the Senate itself, Cooper will receive a $6 million loan to move equipment and $7 million in grants for an expansion.
Formerly general director of the Goodyear R&D Technical Centre in the United States, Marc Junio, has been named the new general director of the company’s Luxembourg Technical Centre in Colmar-Berg. His appointment sees him taking over the role from Joe Zekoski, vice president Global Product Development & Technical Centre Operations, who will repatriate to Akron, Ohio.
Battery and automotive components manufacturer Johnson Controls has posted its first quarterly loss since 1993. Details of the company’s negative performance was given on January 16 along with news that employee wages are to be frozen and bonuses cut. A second quarterly loss is also anticipated, the company disclosed.
A decrease in sales of almost 23 per cent led to the US$608 million first fiscal quarter loss, said Johnson controls. Excluding non-cash charges, the loss equates to $82 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with $235 million or 39 cents a share in profit during the same period of fiscal 2008.
Proposed initiatives to tackle the effects of the economic situation have been well received by union representatives. On January 16 the company announced that discussions with employees and the union Unite have led to a number of measures being put forward in an attempt to avoid redundancies at the company’s Baldovie factory in Dundee. Michelin has proposed temporary plant closures in which employees would be asked to take 56 hours off on full pay, with the proviso they work back the time in 2010, or else take the time off on two-thirds pay without the obligation to work it back.
Ferrari has committed to using Dunlop tyres once again to defend its title in the Le Mans Endurance Series GT2. The Italian car giant will be attempting to win a third successive championship title this year, with the Dunlop-shod Ferrari F430 being prepared by Team JMW for the new season. The car will hit the track for the first time in a pre-season test programme in Estoril, Portugal in February.
The team’s driver line up will be headed by 2007 and 2008 Le Mans Series Champion Rob Bell. The British driver has been a major factor in the growing strength of the Ferrari–Dunlop partnership during the past two seasons, and will once again be working closely with the team and Dunlop to develop the latest technology tyres to suit the F430 GT2. Rob’s co-drivers will be announced shortly.
For its 2009 series Short Track UK has opted to make Maxxis the control tyre supplier. The series has chosen to follow the lead of other top motorcycle racing series like Moto GP and World Superbikes in choosing to run with a single tyre supplier. Maxxis believes that “the move to a control tyre will ensure no advantage is gained by riders using different tyres for different conditions, resulting in closer, more spectacular action.” The move will also lead to a reduced financial burden for the series to bear.
Maxxis tyre distributor Triple A Racing has agreed with the promoter of the British Short Track Championship that competitors in the main Short Track class will use the 19 inch Maxxis DTR-1 flat track tyre, which will be made available in both soft and medium compounds. The eight-round series opens in Kings Lynn on 3 May.
It appears the eagle-eyed spy photographers got it right. – Goodyear has confirmed that when Barack Obama takes the oath of office to become the 44th President of the United States, products from the company’s commercial vehicle range will accompany him during the day’s proceedings and later at the countless appearances and appointments planned throughout his term of office. Obama’s official limousine will be carried to its various destinations on Goodyear tyres, continuing what the company calls a ‘decades-long tradition’ as the exclusive tyre for the presidential limo, and the standard tyre of the US Secret Service.
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Giniel de Villiers has emerged triumphant in the Dakar Rally – the first South African to do so – thus ending Mitsubishi’s seven-year domination of the event. In another first, his VW Touareg was the first diesel-powered car to win the Dakar.
While the 240 Michelin North America employees temporarily laid off from the company’s Ardmore, Oklahoma factory have returned to their jobs, a further 110 workers, employed by a manufacturing outsourcing company, will not be returning to the Michelin factory any time soon.
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