Tyre industry professionals need to know what the latest product developments are. Look no further than the Tyrepress.com product news tag,
South Korea’s Kumho Tires has appointed Byung Choo Kim to the newly created position of president of Sales and Marketing. BC Kim, a BSc graduate from Sopang University, commenced his career at Daewoo Industrial in 1978. A variety of international roles for the Daewoo Corporation then followed before he joined Kumho as head of its China Office in January 2007.
Continental today fell 6.5 per cent as stock brokers speculated the EU decision on the validity of the company’s proposed takeover by Schaeffler Group may be delayed. “These decisions usually come by noon (local time) and as there has been no accouncement yet, investors are getting worried that the decision may be delayed,” a Frankfurt-based told AFX news agency.
Dubai’s direct tyre trade (both commercial and passenger car products) amounted to 4.15 billion UAE dirhams (£729 million, 773 million euros, US$1.13 billion) in 2007, according to the Gulf Daily News. Further growth is expected next year, the paper reported.
“Commercial tyres worth 1.1 billion (175 million, 186 million euros) dirhams for buses and lorries were imported to Dubai last year, mainly from Japan, China, and India,” said Automechanika Middle East senior show manager Michael Dehn, adding: “…Dubai consumes almost 64 per cent, re-exporting 36pc to Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Africa. The commercial vehicle market is an essential industry in the UAE and an increase of 35 per cent is expected from this year to 2012.”
Following reaching an agreement with employee representatives, Lanxess AG has announced its plans to cut back or shut down production at 23 out of 45 of its German production facilities over the Christmas period and into January 2009. These arrangements, planned for the company’s Leverkusen, Dormagen, Krefeld-Uerdingen and Brunsbuettel sites, will directly affect around 1,400 employees.
Yokohama Tire Corporation-sponsored Heidi Steele became the first woman driver to win a Best in the Desert (BITD) off-road racing truck championship when she placed third at the Fabtech Desert Classic in Henderson, Nevada on Saturday, December 6. Steele also became the first woman truck champion in SCORE (Class 7SX mid-size truck) after taking a second-place class finish in November’s Baja 1000 in Ensenada, Mexico.
The report published by Morgan Stanley Research Europe says it all: “If investors thought tyre data was poor in October, it just got worse…” What this memorable sentence refers to is data released by Michelin on December 18, which shows the supposedly more resilient passenger car tyre replacement market to be down in Europe 10.3 per cent in November, and in North America by a hefty 20.2 per cent. OE sales in the segment dropped a spectacular 33.5 per cent in Europe and 31.2 per cent in North America.
Vipal have moved to a new premises, a move they say has followed their growing presence in Europe. As of now the company’s new address is:
VIPAL EUROPE S.L.
GENERAL URRUTIA 75- 10-B
46013 Valencia
Spain
The company adds that its phone number +34 963 81 11 81 and fax number +43 963 28 16 83 remain unchanged. Vipal’s distribution centre in Valencia also continues to operate at its existing address.
Goodyear Dunlop has presented Pan-European development awards to two associates in the West Midlands. One of the Midlands’ top employers, the company aims to encourage development and recognition within the workplace, supporting employees who train in new areas and develop their roles within the organisation.
As part of their drive towards being “First with People” (the firm’s branding of the initiative), Goodyear Dunlop has developed the Pan-European award. These awards are presented on a yearly basis to those employees who have made a difference or special contribution to the company within the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. 35 associates out of over 30,000 within the EMEA region are selected.
This year the UK team, based in Birmingham, has proudly announced that two of its employees have received an award: Peter Wayte, of the Tyre Technical department and Cliff Hickman from IT. The manufacturer has called the gongs a “great achievement not only for the individuals but also for Goodyear Dunlop UK and Ireland. It highlights the company’s dedication to associates and the investments made.”
One of Asia’s premier natural rubber events, the ASEAN Rubber Conference 2009, is to be held between June 18 and 20, in Vientiane, Laos. The promoters describe the conference as a one-stop-centre for the natural rubber industry players to learn, experience and network.
The objectives of the ARC, the organiser adds, is to bring together both regulatory authorities and commercial players of the rubber world to provide updates on current trends and future challenges faced by the naturally rubber industry, to facilitate the exchange of ideas and insight into the global rubber industry and the price discovery of rubber
Even as Chrysler announced that it was closing all of its plants at least through mid-January, word comes through that merger talks between the privately held automaker and troubled GM have resumed. Chrysler owner Cerberus Capital Management has signaled its willingness to give away part of its ownership in the automaker, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited parties close to the situation, and merger talks with GM have restarted.
According to the report, Cerberus took the initiative to restart negotiations, which broke down a few weeks ago amid hope of a massive bailout by the Federal government. Earlier yesterday, Chrysler officials said the company was closing down all of its 30 North American plants “until at least 19 January.” The closings will kick in at the end of the day tomorrow.
In a new report, Moody’s Investor Services Inc. said if the U.S. government failed to intervene and all three automakers were to collapse into bankruptcy, it would lead to an estimated 2.5 million job losses by 2010 in the United States, cost the government there up to $250 billion, and cost the car companies about 20 per cent of their combined marketshare. Even a small bailout plan, such as that rejected by Congress last week, said Moody’s, would not be enough to allow GM or Chrysler to recover long-term. (Tire Review/Akron)
The Board of Directors of automotive safety systems specialist Autoliv Inc. has elected former Continental AG deputy chairman Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Ziebart to the Board, following the announcement that Board member Per Welin will retire from the board at its 2009 AGM.
At midday on December 18, production personnel at Nokian’s heavy tyres factory in Nokia, Finland, walked out to protest against the company’s plans to adjust production capacity. According to an employees’ announcement, the workout will last until 10pm on Friday, December 19. Nokian adds that statutory negotiations regarding the adjustment measures are continuing and will end on Monday, December 22, 2008.
According to a previous announcement, Nokian Heavy Tyres is considering laying off some 100 employees for approximately 7-8 months as of January 2009.
An energy and heat loss survey carried out by Eriks UK at Pirelli’s manufacturing facility in Carlisle has led to the implementation of energy savings which, the company estimates, will amount to a total in excess of £60,000. The survey, carried out by Eriks’ condition monitoring division, made extensive use of modern thermographic techniques to identify areas of heat loss. Many of these would have been difficult or impossible to detect and quantify in any other way.
Pete Morys has rejoined Cam Systems 15-years after he left to set up his own software company. Morys is one of the best-known faces in the IT market and was a pioneer in the development of the software on which the market-leading Cameo program is based. He was technical director at Cam Systems between 1981 and his departure 12 years later in 1993.
In his new role as business development manager Morys will draw on his enormous technical and commercial knowledge to help customers develop the efficiency and productivity of their IT systems. He will work alongside fellow BDM Steve Collins and report to commercial director Steve Daly.
The tyre trade can be a ruthless business sometimes….Two Dunlop India managers have reportedly been beaten up by members of the INTUC employee’s union at the company’s Sahagunj factory. The Calcutta based Telegraph newspaper reports that, on the afternoon of December 17, the men were attacked following accusations of attempting to smuggle machinery out of the closed unit. One of the two was taken to hospital for observation.
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.
