Ansell and Goodyear Partnership to Continue
Dr Ed Tweddell, director of Goodyear joint venture partner, Ansell, has stated that his company expects to continue to be involved in its South Pacific Tyres partnership with Goodyear.
Dr Ed Tweddell, director of Goodyear joint venture partner, Ansell, has stated that his company expects to continue to be involved in its South Pacific Tyres partnership with Goodyear.
“We have not made a decision yet.” That was the comment of a Continental spokesperson in Hanover, Germany, in response to rumours that the tyre manufacturer has already decided to end the joint venture with the Moscow Tyre Plant.
Bridgestone has announced that the number of UK First Stop dealerships reaching the network’s highest customer service standard has doubled in the past 12 months. In addition the company has given six outlets its highest five-star award.
Michelin is fending off critics by reassuring all interested parties that its earnings and sales will improve this year, despite reiterating the fact that it expects higher raw-material prices to limit its growth in the second half.
“Raw-material prices are and will continue to rise and put pressure on margins,” Michelin’s CEO Edouard, told French newspaper Le Figaro.
Superior Industries International, Inc expects its operating results for the third quarter of 2004 to be less than expected. Management expects about a 5 per cent decline in unit wheel shipments for the third quarter, and net earnings of approximately $0.20 per diluted share.
“Our major OEM customers have announced planned production cuts for the second half of the year based on weak summer sales of cars and light trucks resulting in an unanticipated decline in unit wheel shipments for the company. In addition, operating difficulties led to a delay in the ramp-up of production in certain of our factories following this year’s extended seasonal shutdowns,” said President and COO Steve Borick.
The inaugural Chinese Grand Prix was certainly a successful one for race winner, Rubens Barichello. The Ferrari driver has now won two consecutive races for the first time in his career.
Continental has said that it is delighted with research results released by NHTSA which indicates that Electronic Stability Controls (ESC) reduced single vehicle crashes in passenger cars by 35 per cent and SUVs by 67 per cent.
The company says that it has been affirming this message for the past several years based on research from other countries. Continental says it finds it “gratifying” that NHTSA’s research confirms the previous independent results and, therefore, can help save lives.
September’s US auto sales appear to be off to a slow start according to a recent Deutsche Bank survey. The analysts’ results suggest that the light vehicle SAAR is claiming around 16.1 million units (16.5 total) a figure that compares poorly with last September’s 16.7 million.
Hurricanes are again thought to be the reason for the dwindling figures and analysts believe that these indications of a weak start are likely to weigh heavily on the sector. Ford’s sales are down 10 per cent and its market share around 20 per cent. It is also estimated that GM ‘s sales are down three per cent, implying a 28 per cent market share. Whereas Chrysler’s sales are thought to be flat, implying an 11.7 per cent market share.
The SMMT has announced record commercial vehicle registrations for August. The rolling year total is 377,345, a record level measured against the 363,687 annual total in 2003. However it’s not all good news, August’s 18,199 registrations were down 5.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2003. There was also a small volume drop across most market sectors with this month’s bus and coach registrations down 17 per cent.
The society claims that year to date CV registration figures confirm record business demand for freight transport, in which the heavy van sector is still driving the figures. These figures follow “a big change in van and truck use patterns and the CV fleet over the past four years.”
Christopher Macgowan, SMMT chief executive, said: “August’s figures confirm record breaking demand for new commercial vehicles. August saw a pause in the recent long-running growth trend, but its impact was small.” He added: “We shouldn’t read too much about future trends from August’s results as the registration plate change in September means many operators wait for the new plate and its effect on residual values. This is illustrated by the fact that September CV registrations are now about 2½ times those of August.”
As well as bus registrations decreasing August’s truck registrations were also down 4.3 per cent, with the rolling year figure at 55,768. According to the SMMT annual truck registrations are still holding close to 56,000, though August saw some “very modest slippage.” For trucks over 15t gvw registrations dipped 10.8 per cent and for those up to 15t gvw there was growth of 6.0 per cent.
In summary the SMMT believes that the near term outlook is positive, but it predicts slower growth ahead.
Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc’s second quarter results show that the company has felt the consequences of increased steel and iron prices and lowered OEM production requirements in North America.
During a speech given at the Auto Tech 2004 conference Chrysler CEO, Dieter Zetsche told 1000 executives that “it’s adapt or die” for automotive suppliers.
Continental’s shares prices reached historically high levels last week. The influential automotive supplier’s impressive share prices are attributed to the company’s strong first half earnings, which have increased 46 per cent at the operating level.
At the same time French car manufacturer, Renault, has achieved a similarly impressive share price. According to analysts, the results are due to the car manufacturer’s Megane II and the recently launched Modus model.
The organisers of last year’s CITEXPO, China’s International Tire Expo, were so satisfied with the results of the Shanghai show, that they have promised the second exhibition to be even bigger and better.
The CITEXPO is already the biggest international tyre exhibition in China and has attracted numerous international exhibitors and visitors from over 40 countries, including many European countries.
The exhibition will again take place in the Shanghai East Asia Exhibition Center, from 22-24 September this year. The organisers, from Reliable International Exhibition Services, Hong Kong, are aiming to make the exhibition “one of the biggest and most famous tyre exhibitions in the world.” To achieve this they will focus not only on players from the domestic Chinese tyre market, but also on the global marketplace bringing manufacturers, distributors, dealers, retailers, buyers, professionals, and other interested parties together in one venue.
Analysts expect August’s US light vehicle sales to reach 17.5 million units compared with 17.2 million from July and 19 million from last August. They predict that Chrysler’s sales will increase by three per cent, however GM’s and Ford’s are expected to decrease by one and five per cent respectively. Investors will be focusing on both GM’s and Ford’s fourth quarter results where they are expecting production to be down by 2.4 and 7.8 per cent respectively.
In the 2003 financial year the Vredestein group has generated a turnover of 305.6 million euros (£205 million) of which roughly 200 million euros (£134.3 million) stems from new tyre business, the company has said. With this turnover the Dutch tyre manufacturer achieved an EBIT of 18.6 million euros (£12.5 million) and net earnings of 9.1 million euros. Talking to Tyres & Accessories, Vredestein’s managing director Rob Oudshoorn, who is responsible for the tyre business of the group, said that the company would be as successful as its competitors this year. Mr Oudshoorn could not and would not give detailed business results.
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