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.
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).
Due to declining demand for butyl rubber, Lanxess AG has elected to reduce production of the product at its Sarnia, Canada, and Zwijndrecht, Belgium facilities. In the coming months the factories belonging to the Butyl Rubber business unit will operate at reduced levels of capacity or will be temporarily shut down, perhaps for a duration of several weeks. Should shutdowns occur, the time will be used for routine maintenance work. About 360 employees in total will be affected by the measures. According to the company, in Canada a number of flexible working arrangements, such as a reduction of overtime and use of annual leave, will be used, while in Belgium employees will be placed on a short-time working arrangement.
Following a 15-day production halt in December Birla Tyres is planning another temporary closure of its factory in Orissa, India, again in response to weakening sales of the company’s tyres. A senior member of staff at the factory, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Indo-Asian News Service that Birla “will shut down the plant from January 19 to January 31 because of falling demand.” He added that employees have already been notified of the decision.
The shorter working week implemented at Goodyear’s truck tyre factory in Luxembourg is being extended beyond the time originally specified. Between February and April production will only take place four days a week, commented a company spokesman.
An article published by the Detroit Free Press states Continental AG expects to reduce its North American workforce by approximately 10 per cent this year. This information was obtained through an interview with the North American unit’s CEO Samir Salman, indicates the Detroit based daily.
Indonesia’s passenger car tyre production may prove to be weaker than initially expected in 2009, warns a senior representative from the country’s tyre industry. According to Aziz Pane, chairman of the Indonesian Tyre Producers Association, production may remain unchanged from 2008’s output of 41 million units.
“Initially, we expected car tyre production to hit 45 million units, but after the financial crisis demand is slowing,” he said. Pane added, however, that a recovery is anticipated before the end of 2009. Approximately 80 per cent of Indonesia’s passenger car tyre production is exported, therefore global automotive industry fluctuations are strongly felt by manufacturers.
Hankook’s factory in Dunaujvaros, Hungary resumed production on the afternoon of January 8, following a stoppage the previous day due to gas shortages. The tyre maker had previously anticipated that the factory would remain out of operation until the evening of January 9, reported Hungary’s MTI news agency on January 8.
Production at Hankook Tire’s Dunaujvaros factory in Hungary drew to a halt on January 7, reports the Hungarian MTI news agency, after national restrictions were imposed upon certain industrial users of natural gas. According to MTI, Hankook spokeswoman Katalin Roy said production will restart on the evening of January 9. The restrictions were put in place after supplies of gas from Russia, which reach Hungary via the Ukraine, completely stopped on January 6.
Plans are reportedly underway to eliminate jobs at Solideal’s Sri Lanka and China factories in response to declining exports. The manufacturer of industrial tyres recently laid off around 1,100 workers, however company founder and president Philippe Daneels indicated that a five per cent contraction in global exports is anticipated in 2009 and thus further redundancies may take place. Before the initial downsizing measures began Solideal had 8,100 employees at its production facilities.
Westfield Sportscars Ltd has welcomed the selection of the Caterham Superlight R500 as Top Gear’s Car of the Year 2008. Commenting on the announcement, Julian Turner, Westfield’s managing director said: “As a company already working intensively on the development of a lightweight electric race car, we welcome the recognition by the knowledgeable Top Gear Team of the significant potential performance of a lightweight vehicle powered by a smaller engine. The combination of smaller engines with the lightest chassis possible – without compromising safety, the use of alternative fuels and the application of eco-friendly methods of production; this approach should be a clear choice for the majority of manufacturers.”
Statutory negotiations at Nokian Heavy Tyres were concluded on December 19 with the company taking the decision to lay off a number of employees for approximately six months. Nokian cites the decreased demand for heavy tyres demand caused by the financial crisis and a subsequent reduction in production, as the reason behind the lay-offs.
The statutory negotiations at Nokian Heavy Tyres ended on the 19th of December, 2008 with the decision to lay off the employees for approximately six months. The reason for the lay-offs is the decreased heavy tyre demand caused by the financial crisis, which has created the need to reduce production in line with the lower demand.
The decision concerns some 280 employees and all personnel groups at Nokian Heavy Tyres. Depending on the job, the lay-offs will last from 10 to 100 days, which corresponds to the lay-off of around 90 employees for six months. The majority of lay-offs will be carried out from January to June 2009. Part of the adjustment needs will be executed by pension arrangements. The walkout of Nokian Heavy Tyres production personnel which started on Thursday, December 18, 2008 ended on December 19, 2008 at 10.30 a.m.
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.
Michelin has disclosed that the cost attached to the restructuring plans for its Italian operations, which it announced on October 28, will amount to approximately 80 million euros. The company states this sum includes project severance and plant and equipment depreciation costs as well as those in connection with the ending of tyre production at its Stura facility at the end of 2009 and an employment revitalisation programme for the surrounding Turin region.
These non-recurring charges, adds Michelin, will be fully allocated to Michelin Group accounts for the 2008 fiscal year.
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