On the 1st of May Josef Bündgen was appointed managing director for finance and administration at German tyre wholesaler Reifen Gundlach. In addition to Susumu Tsujimoto, Gebhard and Joachim Jansen he is now the fourth managing director. Michael Andre has become the new Gundlach sales manager.
Larry Morgan, one of the key note speakers at last month’s BRV/MMS-seminar at the “Reifen 2000” exhibition is purchasing Tires Plus Ltd. This company has 140 outlets in nine US-states and a turnover of 220 million US-$. Combining Tires Plus Ltd. and Morgan Tire together will create the second biggest independent tyre dealer in the United States with 540 stores in 24 states and a turnover of 745 million US-$ – a “retail powerhouse” is how Larry Morgan describes it.
The biennial Reifen show in Essen has grown and grown to become what is regarded as the most successful and most impressive show in Europe devoted to tyres and ancillary products. This year’s event was the 21st show and boasted 408 exhibitors – a 13% increase over 1998. 40 countries were represented at Reifen 2000. However, visitor numbers dropped 3.75% to 15,400, but this was regarded as not significant and due to a number of one-off factors rather than a sign that Reifen has begun to lose its appeal. Our review of the show includes articles on no fewer than sixty companies who were exhibiting, from all over the world and the coverage reflects the importance of what many regard as Europe’s premier tyre exhibition, and one which is attracting an increasingly global exhibitor and visitor base.
German tyre dealer Reifen Mayerosch (Wolfersheim-Berstadt) has been awarded a quality seal by “Trusted Shops” for his online shop offer “komplettradkauf.de”. Trusted Shops examines the quality and security measures of internet shop companies.
The two cooperatives team Reifen-Union/Top Service Team KG (currently about 400 outlets) and Vereinigte ReifenFachhändler GmbH (VRG; currently about 200 outlets) have agreed a far-reaching cooperation on all levels, including the servicing of large customers and fleet management. An important ingredient is the immediate creation of a company called “Team Reifen Partner” GmbH + Co. KG (TRP), which will gradually incorporate both VRG and new companies as members. VRG members will still have to approve this measure officially in a meeting at the end of January. The team group, to date with a membership of 25 regionally successful tyre traders and as such the number one marketing group in the tyre market, will thus embrace also smaller and medium-sized tyre trading companies, whose members have already given their official consent to the plan. The new group based on the team/VRG cooperatives with more than 600 outlets is set to expand its base. An essential precondition for tyre dealers with local and regional operations and aspirations also to serve trans-regional customers, especially fleets and leasing companies, is full geographical coverage throughout Germany. At the same time the new partners want to coordinate their procurement and stocking policy and improve their purchasing terms and conditions.
Eurofleet Tyres & Services, daughter of Bandag and the German retail cooperative Team-Group, which was first introduced in June at REIFEN 2000 in Essen, reports a positive development. It has more than 1,300 service partners which cover not only the Western European territory, but also Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia.
Reifen-Junginger is a leading tyre sales company in the south western part of Germany with nine outlets and is a long-standing member of the Germany-wide operating cooperation “Team”. Rumours are rife that Reifen-Junginger is for sale, with interest coming from companies within the tyre industry, as well as other dealers.
The German tyre dealer Reifen Schneider (Mulheim-Karlich) called in the receiver in late December last year. At its peak the company was selling about half a million retreaded tyres from the Technic Group and it is most likely that the Germans were strongly affected when the British retreader ceased trading at the end of 1999.
Michael Schwöbel (37), who has been with Pirelli since 1982, has been appointed to the board of Deutsche Pirelli Reifen Holding GmbH, with immediate effect, responsible for finance and control. His predecessor, Claudio de Conto, has been appointed Director of Planning and Controlling at the parent company in Milan.
Reifen Köhrich, the dealer which has ten outlets in Berlin, has chosen to become Bridgestone’s partner in the “First Stop” programme. The contract runs for ten years and was signed 14th March.
The contact area between tyre and road surface is generally compared to the size of a postcard. An area, whose smallness bears no relation to its importance as the central spot where the interaction between motorcar and supporting ground takes place. Generations of experts have thought long and hard how to optimise this A6-sized contact area in the interest of road safety. The 21st and 22nd October saw the beginning of a new round in the eternal quest for more knowledge. On these dates the seventh conference in twelve years of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) took place under the headline “Reifen – Fahrwerk – Fahrbahn” (“Tyres – Chassis – Road Surface”) at the Hanover Congress Centre. As at several earlier meetings, the wheel was not studied in isolation but as the link between chassis and road surface. The central theme of the meeting was therefore the interaction between those three components. Each lecture or discussion session consisted of three half-hour presentations grouped together under subject matters such as “Reciprocal influences between tyres and road surface”, “Tyre noise”, “Measuring and devising models”, “Warning and run-flat systems”, “Vibration and comfort” as well as “Chassis concepts”. Almost 225 VDI members from the sectors of research and manufacturing had accepted the invitation. Apart from many car manufacturers the tyre industry was also well represented in Hanover and thanks to the disciplined lecturing techniques and to well-informed and motivated questions from the public the conference was able to live up as a genuine discussion forum to a large extent.
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