A report from the Energy Department on a US website underlines the importance of maintaining correct tyre pressures; the report estimates that US motorists driving on under-inflated tyres waste more than a staggering 3.5 million gallons of gasoline every single day.
The Korea Herald has reported that union workers at Kumho Tire Co. plants in South Korea have been “on a partial strike” since last week. The union workers are seeking a 9 per cent wage increase among the 52 “terms” they are demanding from the tyremaker, said the report. The partial strike is apparently part of broader job action at a number of major South Korean manufacturers, including Hyundai Motor, Ssangyong Motor, a number of oil and construction companies, and other major employers.
(Akron/Tire Review) Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.’s manufacturing facility in Texarkana, Arkansas, will shut down production for two weeks, according to a report in the Texarkana Gazette.
European passenger car sales grew 12 per cent during May (up 2.5 per cent year-to-date), while the truck tyre market is said to have grown 17 per cent (up 1 per cent year-to-date). Deutsche Bank analysts report that the figures sourced from Michelin point to a completely different story in North America.
Anyone who visited the Essen Reifen Messe will know that walking around all of the world’s largest dedicated tyre exhibition requires marathon-esque stamina. Despite this, next month Tyres & Accessories will report on all the breaking news from the show. From the recent influx of new Chinese companies, to Cooper and Marangoni’s decision to launch their passenger car run-flat technology, we hope to bring you all the information you need if you didn’t attend, and more detail if you did. Look out the comprehensive exhibition review in July’s Tyres & Accessories.
Resisting to the urge to make any kind of joke about T&A celebrating its 60th anniversary, next month’s magazine will feature the latest developments in the specialist vintage tyres segment. July’s edition will report on the latest product releases and take an inside look at what’s going on with some of this niche market’s key players.
(Akron/Tire Review) The Associated Press has reported that the US Labor Department has filed a hiring discrimination suit against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The suit alleges the tyremaker discriminated against female applicants for jobs at its Danville, Virginia, tyre plant in the 1990s.
(Akron/Tire Review) The Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) expects the automotive aftermarket to grow 4.2% in 2006 to $209 billion, according to new research in the soon-to-be-released 2006-2007 AASA Automotive Aftermarket Status Report.
In 2005, according to AASA, the aftermarket – labor and parts combined – broke the $200 billion mark for the first time ever, ending the year at $200.41 billion, up 5.2% from 2004. Adding in the heavy-duty aftermarket – Class 6-8 vehicles – the total US. aftermarket hit $255 billion in 2005, up 5.1% from 2004.
The floatation of Pirelli & C. SpA’s tyre unit could raise as much as 1 billion euros two inside sources told Bloomberg. According to the report Pirelli is seeking to take advantage of increasing profit at Pirelli Tyre SpA and plans to sell as much as 40 per cent of the division in the IPO. The shares are scheduled to go on sale during the week beginning 12 June said the sources.
(Akron/Tire Review) Reports out of Atlanta indicate that Kumho Tire USA Corp. is considering opening a new and larger warehouse and distribution centre in Henry County, Ga.
Michael Schumacher has threatened to quit Formula One at the end of the year, according to an exclusive report in the UK newspaper, Sunday People. The article says that the seven times world champion has warned he will walk away from Ferrari if tyre manufactures Bridgestone don’t listen to him.
Bridgestone e-reporter finalist Donna Law, from Merton, London, is the youngest and only female Bridgestone e-reporter finalist in 2006. In the second phase of the pan-European competition for young sports journalists, Donna Law attended the Spanish Grand Prix as a roving reporter in the GP2 series paddock.
Last year’s inaugural IQPC international congress on Intelligent Tire Technology has proved what today’s hot tyre industry topics are. Extended mobility concepts and tyre pressure monitoring systems promise to increase safety tremendously. But customers’ acceptance and satisfaction highly depends on adequate aftermarket supply. Other challenges for the tyre industry constitute the trend towards the intelligent tyres as well as the European Commission’s intention to ban highly aromatic oils as an ingredient of tyre rubber. Top-level speakers from leading OEMs, tyre manufacturers, suppliers and research centres such as Fiat, Michelin, Siemens VDO, Beru, Nira Dynamics, TSS International, Rema Tip Top and IKA, BMW and many more have confirmed that they will report about their first-hand experiences and results. The next congress will run from the 20 – 22 September 2006. Further information is available from www.iqpc.de/de-2526.
Aftermarket logistics specialist Nick Rayner is to head up Unipart Automotive as part of senior management changes at Unipart Automotive. Nick has been running Unipart Aftermarket Logistics for the past nine years, which handles the entire global Jaguar aftermarket parts supply chain as well as logistics for Unipart Automotive. In his new role, Nick will report directly to Unipart Group Chief Executive John Neill as Chris Etherington is leaving Unipart.
Some Russian stocks are either under-performing or were overvalued at their initial public offerings. There have been some notable successes in the market recently like Novatek a Russian gas company which raised $966 million at its IPO and has seen its share price rise 150 per cent since then. Unfortunately for the tyre business, Amtel-Vredestein has not faired so well.
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