North Yorkshire company Riverside Waste Machinery, a major national player in the provision of equipment to tackle industrial waste in an environmentally friendly manner, recently supplied a second tyre shredder to Ling Industrial Services, the Kent-based specialists in demolition and waste management which helps dispose of a “good proportion” of the 40-million waste tyres generated each year across the UK.
Stapleton’s, one of the largest UK passenger car tyre wholesalers has launched a revised Nexen Key Dealer Programme. The scheme, aimed to reward valued customers, includes benefits available to those registered onto the programme. Members will benefit from a personalised reward scheme, can enjoy preferential purchasing prices, in store support in the form of leaflets and posters, branded merchandise and lifetime guarantees on products. Each member will also receive a dealer reference catalogue.
In a move that shows that not even up and coming players in the tyre world can afford to be complacent, a large Indian transport provider has ordered a trial run of tyres from China to evaluate their value for money.
Wheel and component manufacturer Accuride Corporation have announced it is investing approximately US$25 million in its aluminium wheel business. This capital will be used to purchase two state-of-the-art hydraulic presses and for upgrading other facilities and equipment.
Giti Tire, the largest manufacturer of tyres in China, reportedly intends to raise US$200 million from its first bond sale, being held to raise revenue for capital expenditure and possible acquisitions.
With some 40 million tyres requiring disposal each year in the UK alone there is a pressing need to find alternative uses for waste rubber from old tyres, especially since the European Landfill Directive in came into effect in 2001.
For this reason the expansion of tyre reuse infrastructure is always newsworthy, and T&A were pleased to learn of the purchase of a secondary tyre shredder by Ling Demolition Service Ltd of Kent. This new machine will operate alongside another existing unit, and is capable of processing 250 tyres per hour.
Former Balkrishna Industries Ltd executive director Yogeshkumar (Yogesh) Mahansaria and his brother Ashokkumar have reportedly quit the fast-growing Indian tyre producer, citing “family differences” as the reason. Yogesh has now teamed up with US equity firm Warburg Pincus to Acquire Israel’s Alliance Tire for US$45 million.
Alliance has been in negotiations with the two buyers, and the transaction is expected to be completed before June. The Alliance purchase forms part of a new venture that Yogesh Mahansaria has been quoted as saying he intends to float in the near future.
The Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is planning to offer loans of approximately £4 million to help the development of Iran’s tyre industry. On January 2 details of a statement from the bank’s Iranian representative, Tahmasb Mazaheri, were made public. Mr. Mazaheri was quotes as saying that the purpose of the loan was for the purchase of raw materials for tyre production within the Islamic Republic.
The IDB grants loans according to the principles of Islamic Law for the purpose of fostering economic and social progress within Muslim nations and communities.
TireWare Inc, a US based provider of business management software for tyre and vehicle service centres, has introduced what it claims to be the industry’s first subscription based online point of sale and distribution software. TireWare’s new pay as you go ‘software as a service’ system provides dealers with a whole new way of acquiring and managing their business software.
Carlisle Companies Incorporated, parent company of Carlisle Tire & Wheel, have on December 18 announced details of their agreed purchase of a tyre group in China. This latest acquisition adds to the US company’s already sizable manufacturing base in that country, a presence the company has had for more than a decade.
Carlisle will acquire the assets of Meiyan Tire Group, based in Meizhou, Guangdong Province, and the deal is expected to be finalised by March 31.
An investor involved in takeover negotiations with Continental earlier this year (Philipp Schoeller of General Capital Group) has denied he has any interest in pursuing the plans again. “The project is dead,” GCG co-founder Philipp Schoeller told Reuters, adding: “a resurrection of the project lacks any practical basis”. Continental’s share price rose 2.56 per cent following an earlier WirtschaftsWoche report that suggested Schoeller might again try for a takeover. Schoeller called his remarks to the German business magazine “purely hypothetical”.
On December 8 Bridgestone Firestone North America outlined its intention to invest at least US$33 million in its Aiken County, South Carolina tyre plant in the next four years as part of plans to purchase new production facilities and retool existing equipment.
Autodata has entered into a partnership with the Trading Standards Institute to supply information to its members. Autodata is providing Trading Standards officers with access to its CD1 service information to assist them in identifying and prosecuting the minority of rogue operators that remain in the industry.
This partnership forms part of Autodata’s ongoing commitment to improve standards in the garage industry and prevent the few rogue operators tarnishing the image of the industry as a whole. This initiative is part of a concerted effort to drive up industry standards and goes alongside its relationship with the Retail Motor Industry Federation and support of the Institute of the Motor Industry’s ATA scheme.
A study of the UK’s leading tyres, exhausts and batteries companies suggests few are fully in control of their overall business strategy. The survey – by business analysts Plimsoll – indicates a remarkable inconsistency in the companies’ commercial and financial behaviour. Very few of the tyres, exhausts & batteries firms planning to come out on top in 2007 in terms of profit and sales will actually achieve their goals.
David Pattison, senior analyst on the project, says: “In today’s highly competitive tyres, exhausts and batteries market you cannot sit still for a minute. If you have seen sales increase this year and good profits, there is a fair chance that next year you will not be able to maintain it. Likewise, if you did not increase sales this year you are going to have to set a priority of trying to grab some growth in the next trading period.”
Avon has launched a new website, www.avonmotorcycle.com, designed to provide riders with all the information they need to make an informed tyre purchase. The backbone of the site is a comprehensive and easy-to-use fitment guide, which confirms correct tyre sizes and lists approved Avon fitments. Once armed with these options, it’s simply a matter of typing in a postcode to locate Avon’s nearest UK dealer.
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