Japanese car producer Nissan is investing 930 million US-Dollars in a new plant in Canton (Mississippi). Construction began at the beginning of April. The new plant will have a production capacity of 250,000 cars per annum and employ 4,000 people.
Tyres smuggled into Ethiopia through the port of Djibouti cost the Government 64 m. Birr (8.8 m Euro) in lost import duty every year. The illegal trade has affected the Addis tyre factory, which has cut production and laid off workers. Losses incurred by the factory and importers are estimated at 196 m Birr (26.98 m Euro). The problem is a serious one: Berhanu Mewa, President of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce, warned that failure to control the smuggling “would cripple the country’s economy”.
It is expected to be confirmed at the Geneva Motor Show that Renault is to be the first manufacturer to offer Michelin’s PAX system as an option on a high-volume production vehicle – from the middle of this year, PAX will be available as an option on the Renault Scénic. The tyre on the PAX system will be called SPACITY, and a version of the Alpin winter tyre will be available later on in the year.
Alloy wheel manufacturer American Racing Equipment is to close down its factory in Warsaw, Kentucky, by the end of the year. Production will be transferred to other plants in California and Mexico and just over 200 workers will lose their jobs. The downturn in the US auto industry was blamed for the closure, particularly cutbacks at DaimlerChrysler. The Warsaw plant supplied wheels for the Chrysler Grand Cherokee, but cutbacks mean that the factory has been running at less than one quarter capacity recently.
The current total of 153 employees of retreader Berliner Reifenwerke (BRW) have been waiting for their salaries since March. However, they are now hoping that after a proposal of insolvency, one of the three potential investors with whom the Berlin economic authorities are negotiating, will take over the plant this month and continue production. The two BRW owners Cohnen and Krüßmann are suspected of misappropriating 46.1 million German marks which were given for investments. Meanwhile a German magazine reports a Credit Suisse (Frankfurt) account of approximately 32 million German marks. Account-holder is a Tahiti-registered company belonging to Horst Krüßmann, former Managing Director of Berliner Reifenwerke. Berlin Public Prosecutors are conducting judicial inquiries.
With a limited production of only 2,000 units in the single size 205/55 R16, Vredestein is offering a ‘Millennium Edition’ of the Sportrac with a specially-produced sidewall. It is anticipated that the tyre will become a ‘collector’s item’.
Since January 1999 Continental has held a 75% stake in Matador’s truck tyre production. Now rumours suggest that Continental is seeking the same deal for passenger car tyre production. There is no confirmation of this from Continental. Up until now Matador management has been keen to remain independent as far as passenger car tyre production is concerned. Matador see opportunities to develop passenger car market share throughout Europe as well as maintaining its successful position in Russia.
The bad news for British oe suppliers continues. It is still uncertain what will happen to Rover Cars; Honda wants to cut production by more than 50 per cent, and there are rumours that Ford plans to close its Dagenham plant as a result of European overcapacity.
Hayes Lemmerz International has announced results for the first six months of 2000. Sales were $1,138 million ($1,132), diluted earnings per share were $ 0.73 ($ 0.93). Business was impacted primarily by the drop in heavy truck production in the United States, coupled with the devaluation of the Euro against the Dollar.
Renault is negotiating with Samsung Motors, of South Korea, to buy the latter’s Pusan plant (production capacity 200,000) for Euro 400 million. Renault’s daughter company RVI, made an offer to Daewoo to buy its truck operation (production capacity 20,000) and bus operations (production capacity 6,000 units) for Euro 700 million. Renault has already bought a 37% stake in Nissan for around Euro 5 billion and the new plans will bring the company’s investment in Asia to more than Euro 6 bn.
Brake specialist Continental Teves has developed an electronic system that takes over the function of the handbrake when driving up a hill or mountain. The drive up help will go into production in the year 2002 and functions as follows. When the driver has stopped the car and presses the clutch, the brake system automatically builds up the exact brake pressure needed in order to prevent the car from rolling back on a slope. When driving resumes, the electronic system measures the brake pressure and ensures a smooth start without any jerks.
Goodyear has suspended the guaranteed minimum 42-hour week for workers at its Wolverhampton plant. Union sources expect short-time working for many employees, blaming the strong pound, high stock levels and a decrease in sales to Rover. The union says that sales to Rover currently account for 5% of production.
Unprecedented crude oil and crude oil products have pushed production costs for carbon black ever higher.This, combined with the low value of the Euro have again led Degussa-Hüls AG to raise prices for rubber blacks to 40 Euro per metric ton. Prices effective from 15th November.
Nissan has chosen Bridgestone Potenza RE040 tyres for the limited edition (200 for sale in the UK only) R34 version of its Skyline GTR. The Skyline was the first production car to lap the 14-mile Nurburgring circuit in under eight minutes. Bridgestone has also been chosen as exclusive OE for the six-litre Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Coupe and Vantage Volante cars. The tyre in question is the Bridgestone S-02.
Meritor Automotive, a subsidiary of the Rockwell group, has announced the expansion of production at its wheel plant in San Luis Potosi (Mexico) to two million units annually. The expansion is necessary because of increased demand in the North American OE market for light truck and pick-up wheels and includes the completion of assembly facilities. A major consumer is Daimler Chrysler (Dodge Ram).
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