Exol Lubricants has outlined more investment at its West Midlands head office and production facility. “With the objective of increased site efficiency, we will continue to provide an exceptional working environment that is capable of delivering the highest quality products and service to customers in the UK and abroad,” the company states.
Brake Engineering has reported an increased demand in remanufacturing, as the braking brand continues to gain success with its Original Aftermarket campaign. While remanufactured brake calipers experience higher demand at this time of year, Brake Engineering is reporting an even greater upsurge in demand for calipers than in previous years.
A temporary production increase will soon be implemented at a Michelin plant in Canada in order to meet high North American market demand for winter tyres. According to Jeff MacLean, president of Michelin North America (Canada), the tyre maker will boost production of the Michelin X-ICE Xi2 at its Pictou County facility; the additional output will be sold both in Canada and in export markets.
The first truck and bus radial tyre ran off ZC Rubber’s (also known as Hangzhou Zhongce) newly installed product line at its Thai factory – ZC Thailand – just before Christmas.
The team at Tyrepress.com can testify that tyre manufacture is an ‘aromatic’ process, therefore we are pleased to learn that Continental AG has completed €10.5 million worth of investments to reduce the odours resulting from production in its Timisoara plant in Romania.
Apollo secured 300 million euros financing for its Greenfield plant in Hungary, on which construction started in April 2015, bringing total investment to 475 million euros. The first product is expected to roll out in early 2017 and the facility will create approximately 1,000 jobs in the country. Commenting on the closure of the financing, K. Prabhakar, managing director of Apollo Tyres, Hungary said, “We thank our consortium partners who provided appropriate solutions to the specific financing needs for the project and facilitated a smooth execution.”
Hankook could be the subject of the first strike action in its history after 86.3 per cent of its union members voted for industrial action, newspaper Korea Joongang Daily reports. The vote, with ballots cast by 4,430 out of 4,700 union members between 21 and 23 August, comes after management proposed an annual wage hike of 1 per cent.
New figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) confirm the growing strength and vitality of the UK automotive industry and its ascendancy as a major global player. SMMT’s 16th annual Sustainability Report confirms the sector is breaking new records, with turnover hitting an all-time high of £69.5 billion in 2014. Manufacturing output, vehicle sales, jobs and export values also grew, while the environmental impact from vehicle production has been reduced dramatically.
Linglong’s Thailand tyre factory is likely to be closed for the next 30 days as authorities investigate the cause of the recent fire. While six warehousing structures reportedly bore the brunt of the 1 February fire (which caused roughly US$40 million of damage), leaving production free to continue, it seems the size and scale of […]
In the 2014 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) rankings, Michelin was an industry leader in six categories, including Innovation Management, Product Stewardship, Climate Strategy and Environmental Management, attesting to its global performance in the area of sustainable development. Pirelli has also been recognised by the DJSI. The DJSI ranking recognizes Michelin for its efforts to […]
Commercial production has started at Yokohama Rubber’s tyre plant in India’s Haryana state. The facility, Yokohama’s first in the country, was officially inaugurated in February 2014 and undertook trial production throughout the first half of the year. Plant capacity during this initial phase of commercial production is 2,000 tyres a day. Plant output will focus on the Earth-1 tyre range, which has been specifically designed for the Indian market.
The statutory negotiations at Nokian Tyres’ Finnish factory concerning workers and staff in car tyre production, maintenance and quality departments ended on 9 October 2014. Adjustments to production capacity utilisation as well as cost savings will be achieved mainly with temporary lay-offs and transfers to new positions. In addition, a pension plan for two employees comes into effect.
Hankook has slowed its production in response to amassing a record inventory glut. Seoul’s Yonhap News Agency reports that the manufacturer has 660,000 unsold tyres, or 8.5 per cent of its monthly 7.75 million production capacity. The agency quotes an unnamed Hankook source as saying that the growth in demand expected after March had failed to materialise, leading to the surplus.
Production resumed, albeit at a reduced level, at Continental’s Port Elizabeth factory in South Africa last Friday, ten days after strike action halted all production there. Workers belonging to NUMSA, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, went on strike on 15 April over a pay dispute, and the limited production now taking place in Port Elizabeth is being performed by non-union members. In a statement, plant spokeswoman Nomfundo Hlela said the factory was not operating at full capacity.
Following the publication of Michelin’s first quarter 2014 revenues, which show a 2.4 per cent drop in group sales, market analysts have responded by pointing out that the 4.758 billion euro figure fell just short of the 4.765 billion euro average of expectations. Nevertheless Michelin has held to its 2014 objectives including increasing volumes 3 per cent; increasing operating income before non-recurring items; and achieving structural free cash flow of greater 500 million euros along with capital expenditure of 2 billion euros.
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