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A jury in Denver has found Goodyear Tire & Rubber liable for $4 million for defective rubber hoses used in home heating systems. A bankrupt heating systems designer – Chiles Power Supply – was found equally responsible. It was alleged that Goodyear’s Entran II hoses (now discontinued) deteriorated and leaked, causing flooding and damage and the jury found in favour of 34 homeowners. Goodyear intends to appeal the decision.
The merger between Sumitomo Rubber Industries and Ohtsu Tire & Rubber, which began in late 2001, is now complete, making SRI Japan’s second largest tyre manufacturer. The move will see the disappearance of the Ohtsu name as its activities are integrated into the new holding company Falken Tire Trading in an attempt to generate new synergies and reduce costs. Falken tyres will continue to be marketed independently and compete with other brands within the SRI group.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company’s Cooper-Standard Automotive has increased its ownership position in Jin Young Standard of South Korea from 49 to 90 percent and has changed the name of the company to Cooper-Standard Automotive Korea, Inc. This transaction will give Cooper-Standard Automotive a significant presence in Korea through a well-established company, and will facilitate the expansion of its automotive sealing operations in the growing Asian automotive market. Dug Soo Kim, president of Jin Young Standard prior to this transaction, will continue to head the company’s operations.
Charles L. (Chuck) Sinclair has been named senior vice president, global communications of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, reporting to president and chief executive officer Robert J. Keegan. Sinclair will be responsible for leading Goodyear’s global team of communications professionals in the execution of a communications strategy and providing counsel to senior leadership on issues impacting the company. Sinclair replaces Robert J. O’Leary, who has been named as senior vice president, public relations, community and government affairs of Goodyear customer Sears, Roebuck and Company.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has posted a first quarter 2003 net loss of $163.3 million, compared to a 1Q loss last year of $63.2 million. Turnover for the period was up 7.1 per cent to $3.5 billion ($3.3 bn 1Q 2002), but much of this was due to the effect of currency translation – estimated by the company to be $139 million. Tyre unit volume in 1Q was down at 52.6 million units, compared with 53 million in 1Q last year. The loss before taxes was $135 million ($85.6 m 1Q 2002). The international tyre businesses generally performed well, but Goodyear continued to struggle with its tyre business in North America. Robert Keegan, President and CEO, was optimistic, however, saying that Goodyear was “aggressively cutting costs to make the business competitive.” He added: “We have much work left to do, but our turnaround is on track”.
Edward Reading has been appointed vice president, retread products and international sales for the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. He joined Cooper in 1989 as director of international sales, responsible for sales and marketing of tyres and tubes in more than 100 countries. Before joining Cooper, he was general manager for international sales at Myers Industries, vice president, sales at Imex International and export sales manager at Myers Tire Supply. In his new post, Reading will assume management of Oliver Rubber sales and marketing, which makes and distributes tread rubber and retread systems. Oliver was acquired by Cooper in 1999.
Joseph M. Gingo (58), who has held several key global technical and business leadership positions for the tiremaker, has been named executive vice president, quality systems and chief technical officer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
Yokohama Rubber Co. has released its results for the fiscal year 2003, ending 31 March. Net sales rose 0.2 per cent to 400,448 million Yen (3.38 bn US$). Operating income was up 2.1 per cent to 23,184 million Yen ( $ 195.6 m), while net income rose sharply (by 37.8 per cent) to a record 10,144 million Yen ($ 85.6 m). Sales of the Tire Group accounted for 71.7 per cent of net sales and were up 1 per cent to 286,987 million Yen ($ 2.4 bn), with operating income up 10.8 per cent to 17,264 million Yen ($ 145.6 m).
There are reports that Michelin is about to launch an upmarket running shoe in conjunction with tennis equipment manufacturer Babolat. The footwear, the cost of which is reckoned to be between $65 and $120, will be made from the same rubber as Michelin tyres, so presumably should provide excellent grip, wet or dry.
Bridgestone is to invest 12.6 billion Thai Baht (256.79 m Euros) to raise output in Thailand of tyres, cord and carbon black, in order to meet expected rising global demand. Steel cord production at the Chon Buri factory will triple to 28,000 tonnes by 2005 and work will start on building a tyre factory there next April, producing 900,000 radial truck and bus tyres in the second half of the year. The Bridgestone group in Thailand consists of seven companies and the latest investments will see the local workforce grow from the present 3,600 to 5,500.
The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) has rejected a proposal from Goodyear Tire & Rubber that reportedly asks for wage, pension and health benefit concessions. “Goodyear put what we consider a fair, good faith offer on the table for consideration by the Steelworkers,” says Chuck Sinclair, Goodyear’s vice president of public relations for North America. “This formal offer is the next logical step in the negotiation process that has continued for two months.” The contract between Goodyear and the USWA expired in April and the contract has been extended on a day-to-day basis since that point.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has revealed details of its new tyre production system, called Taiyo (“the sun”). It is a fully automatic system, integrating all the production process, from component preparation to tyre curing, into one cell. The process is very flexible and, says SRI, produces a more uniform tyre. The Taiyo system is in production at SRI’s Nagoya plant and 1,000 tyres of eight different sizes can be produced daily.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company played host to Nobel Prize winner Dr. Alan Heeger before he addressed the Akron Polymer Lecture Group at the University of Akron; a Goodyear-sponsored program for the past 50 years. Dr. Heeger was greeted at Goodyear’s Technical Center in Akron by Joseph M. Gingo, senior vice president, technology and global products planning, and Jonathan D. Rich, president of Goodyear’s North American Tire business. Dr. Heeger won the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry for the “discovery and development of conductive polymers.” He is professor of physics and materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and heads a research group at the University’s Center for Polymers and Organic Solids. Rich holds a doctorate in chemistry and Gingo has a chemical engineering degree.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has announced its intention to increase prices from three to five per cent in the second half of the year. These increases will apply to Sumitomo brand passenger, light truck, truck and bus tyres in Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa and they will vary according to country and product line. The increase is necessary, says SRI, because of increasing raw material costs and follows a similar price increase introduced in January this year.
Bridgestone Corp. has begun raising tyre prices by between 3 and 5 per cent in Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and Africa to cover rising costs of raw materials. The increases will cover Bridgestone and Firestone radial and bias passenger, light truck, truck and bus tyres. Prices in the Japanese market will not be affected. Bridgestone has been implementing the price increases in stages since March 1 to compensate for the rising costs of raw materials, including natural rubber, synthetic rubber, carbon black and some chemical additives.
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