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Production at Clairoix Site in 2010 a Possibility, Says MAG

Dubai’s Moaffaq Al Gaddah (MAG) Group hopes, according to numerous news sources, to complete an agreement to buy Continental’s Clairoix factory in France before the end of 2009. According to Fawaz Sabri, the company’s vice president for strategy and finance, if “they (Continental) sign (the due diligence process) by the end of this month, we can start the process on July 1, and by November or December could sign a final agreement … production would be in 2010.”

18th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Reports: Michelin to Sell Apollo Stake

Indian news sources are reporting that Michelin is intending to sell the remaining 7.3 per cent shareholding it has in Apollo tyres. On June 6 2009, Michelin sold a portion of its Apollo stake for approximately 500 million rupees (£6.67 million). The French manufacturer, which held an 11 per cent share in Apollo at the time, sold 3.3 per cent through open market sales. The company has held shares in Apollo Tyres since it acquired a 14.9 per cent stake in early 2004, a deal made at a time when a truck and bus radial joint venture between the two companies seemed likely.

Despite the venture’s failure to get off the ground and the September 2005 announcement that Michelin would acquire Apollo’s share in the joint venture, Michelin maintained its stake in the Indian company. According to reports, the French tyre manufacturer has made “a reasonable profit” from the sale of its Apollo shares. The reports follows Apollo’s takeover of Dutch tyre maker Vredestein Banden for a reported 175 million euros in May.

18th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

European Truck OE Tyre Demand Down 72.9% in May

European truck OE tyre demand fell at the fastest rate in the world in May (-72.9 per cent), according to recently released Michelin market data. Putting the company’s (and the industry as a whole’s) difficulties into perspective, Deutsche Bank analysts summed up the worst of the current volumes like this: “eight times worse than the worst year over the last 30 years (1991).” North America, Brazil and Japan suffered 53.5, 24.1 and 65.2 per cent falls in Truck tyre OE demand respectively in May, with China the only market to avoid the pain – growing 2.6 per cent. Truck tyre replacement sales faired better in most markets, albeit still falling between 12.8 and 23.3 per cent in four of the five covered zones. China remained flat.

Despite the depressing figures, Deutsche Bank analysts were optimistic that the worst is over: “Since sell-out demand is not as bad, dealers destocking can’t last forever. And therefore sell-in and sell-out market trends will converge soon. Lastly, May is a relatively small month for the industry when June is much more important. For example, June represents a high 25 per cent of Michelin’s first half volumes.”

18th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon Tyres Announces New Website

Avon Tyres has announced the launch of its new website, which the company says is “designed to help car and motorcycle owners choose the perfect tyre.” The homepage features sidebars for its four and two wheel products, each allowing visitors to navigate to information on their desired products quickly. The site was designed, says Avon, in order to help users to browse through Avon’s entire product range quickly and easily, as well as locating their nearest dealer. It also possesses an educational facet, with a technical information section.

17th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Announces US “Tames the Road” Rebate

Hankook Tire America has launched a $50 consumer rebate programme. Its latest “Tame the Road” promotion provides a $50 mail-in rebate for the purchase of four Ventus V12 evo radials. The rebate programme runs until 31 August, Hankook said, and will be promoted in enthusiast magazines, online search adverts and dealer-level POS and TV/radio spots.

“Hankook is listening to the needs of our dealers and consumers alike,” said Bill Bainbridge, director of brand communications for Hankook. “We understand that in today’s challenging economic environment Hankook dealers are looking for a competitive edge and consumers are looking for the most value with their purchase. With this rebate offer we believe we’re accomplishing both.” (Tire Review/Akron)

17th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Details of Virtual Aftermarket eForum Announced

The first-ever Virtual Aftermarket eForum is set for 30 September. The eForum is an educational symposium focused exclusively on e-commerce and business technology in the automotive aftermarket. The planners chose to apply the latest web conferencing and virtual event technology to the eForum this year as a way of delivering the same content with significant savings to attendees and vendor participants. The eForum will be conducted completely on the web through a virtual event portal powered by ON24 of San Francisco, www.on24.com. The ON24 technology will provide a scalable and seamless experience for participants from the moment they register until the conference shuts down in March 2010.

30 September will kick off the eForum with four streaming keynote presentations on leading technology topics with online interaction and Q&A with the presenters. Registered attendees will have access to download exclusive white papers, videos and other presentations from the eForum archive, which will be available for six months. Attendees can network and participate in discussion chats in the eForum lounge. Individuals will be able to search for others with similar interests and start discussion threads about the presentations or other topics. (Tire Review/Akron)

17th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Debts Reach £822.1 million in 2008

Kwik-Fit has warned that it may risk breaching its banking covenants after being hit by increased debts and foreign currency effects in 2008. Kwik-Fit, which supplies around 5 million tyres a year in Britain, reported that net debts increased from £96.6 million to £822.1 million last year. Nevertheless Kwik-Fit reported flat operating profits of £75.7 million last year and managed to grow sales 9.8 per cent (up 0.5 per cent if you only count like-for-like sales) to £942 million despite the recession. However, according to a Sunday Times report on the company’s annual accounts, Kwik-Fit has already sold most of its freehold properties in an attempt to reduce its borrowings.

Directors and staff, led by the chief executive, Ian Fraser, own 11 per cent of Kwik-Fit’s shares. According to the Herald newspaper, Ian Fraser saw his pay and benefits surge by 40 per cent last year. Citing accounts filed at Companies House the report points out that the highest-paid director (assumed to be Ian Fraser) got a pay rise of £200,000 to £700,000 in the year to December.

17th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Austrian Driver Covers 3 Continents in 3 Days with Hankook Tire

When Gerhard Plattner climbed behind the wheel of his Audi A3 on June 8, it was not for trip to the shop or something equally mundane. The Austrian distance driver had a more ambitious journey in his sights – to drive a car on three different continents within three days, a tour that would take him through thirteen countries. Accompanying Plattner, co-driver Franz Doppler and their Audi was a set of Hankook’s Ventus tyres – OE on numerous A3 models.

17th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Pelmar Delivering Right Mix of Product & Price

It doesn’t take an expert team of analysts to realise the tyre industry isn’t exactly awash with cash at the moment. Thus it is hardly surprising that sales of tyre building equipment have dropped off considerably. Yet one company whose business centres on the equipment used in tyre manufacture is bucking this trend – for Pelmar Engineering Ltd, a weak market equals strong sales.

The Israel based supplier of refurbished and pre-owned tyre industry machinery notes that while Pelmar is naturally successful in times of industry strength when many companies are expanding and instigating new projects, the prices it can offer enable Pelmar to also do well during periods of market contraction. This is perhaps to be expected when, as the company points out, the landed cost of pre-owned tyre building machinery is approximately a quarter of that for its new equivalent.

17th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Revised Conti World Cup Website Returns to the Field

Continental’s redesign of its ContiSoccerWorld.com website has been completed just in time for the opening kick-off at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa. The football site that was first launched in 2005 is now online with a new layout that offers not just background reports on South Africa and the players, teams and coaches in the worldwide qualification matches, but also statistics, attractive competitions and interactive content. Conti adds that, thanks to a content cooperation with the “sid” sport information service, the site will remain up-to-date.

17th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Production Starts at Bridgestone’s Kitakyushu Plant

The manufacture of large and ultra-large OTR radials (ORR tyres) commenced at Bridgestone’s new Kitakyushu plant during June, three months ahead of the planned September start date. The tyre major announced that the first shipment of construction and mining tyres took place on June 16.

This facility, located in Fukuoka Prefecture near Japan’s southern tip, is the first new tyre factory opened by Bridgestone in Japan since 1976, when began production at the Hofu plant. By the time Kitakyushu is operating at planned production capacity in the second half of 2012, it will turn out 80 tons of new rubber per day and employ 329 workers. Yoshikazu Seki has been appointed the plant’s first director.

17th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

S.D. International Made New ITMA Member

S.D. International, the company behind the Pace and Zeta brands, has been accepted into membership of the Imported Tyre Manufacturers’ Association. The manufacturer’s membership means that the association now comprises twelve members: Alliance, Alfred Graham Ltd., GiTi, Hankook, Kumho, Lassa, Maxxis, S.D.International, Toyo, Westlake and Yokohama.

Peter Nicholls, S.D. International’s Sales & Marketing Director explained his company’s decision to join ITMA: “We are rapidly becoming a significant player in the UK and European markets, so have been considering this move for some time. We want to play our part in the industry as well as better protect our interests in the face of the current legislative and regulatory onslaught. ITMA membership fulfils that need.”

17th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli OE on 8C Spider, Ferrari 599 and Aston Martin V12 Vantage

The latest run of supercars to hit the tarmac – the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider, Ferrari 599 HGTE, Aston Martin V12 Vantage – will all be launched with Pirelli P Zero tyres, according to the Italian UHP tyre manufacturer. Initially presented at the Geneva motor show, the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider is scheduled for an official launch at Balocco end of June where it will be fitted with P Zero tyres (245/35 ZR20 and 285/35 ZR20). According to the company, the P Zero represents the latest evolution in tyre design from the Pirelli research team and is covered by five patents.

For the Ferrari 599 P Zero developers modified the tyre’s compound for improved sportiness, so it has become something like the P Zero Corsa in sizes (245/35ZR20 and 305/35ZR20), while the British super-sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage went straight for the P Zero Corsa sports tyres (255/35ZR19 and 295/30ZR19).

16th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Wennemer Set to Become Opel Advisor

Former Continental AG CEO, Manfred Wennemer, is set to represent Berlin on an advisory board overseeing the trust that administers Opel, according to a Reuters report. Wennemer, who led Continental’s rearguard action against Schaeffler Group’s July 2008 hostile takeover, stepped down last August after seven years with the company when the automotive supplier managed to overcome Conti’s defences. He was subsequently nominated to join the board of steel wire manufacturer Bekaert in March 2009. According to Reuters, the trust holds 65 per cent of Opel shares and is charged with ensuring that 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in bridge financing offered by Berlin and the four German states with Opel plants is not misappropriated.

16th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Analysts: Michelin is Generating Free Cash Flow

Michelin’s decision to pay down a 350 million euro loan borrowed at 6.7 per cent interest and maturing in 2033 is said to be an early sign that the tyre manufacturer is beginning to generate free cash flow. According to a Deutsche Bank report, despite the fact that analysts are expecting Michelin to publish first half net losses of 230 million euros, the fact that the company is buying back a loan that is more expensive than the group’s average debt (5.9 per cent) is “a strong positive signal that Michelin is currently generating free cash.”

16th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors