Tyres can’t function without this critical raw material. Whether its natural or synthetic rubber you are interested in, articles bearing this tag feature this indispensable polymer.
James M. Zimmerman (57) has been elected to the board of directors of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. He joins the company from Federated Department Stores Inc., where he was chairman and CEO, and has extensive experience in retail. It was also announced that Katherine G. Farley, senior managing director of Tishman Speyer Properties Inc., has resigned from the Goodyear board after three years’ service.
Goodyear, Chrysler’s number one tyre supplier in the USA, has resisted pressure to drop prices by 5%. Tire market competitor Cooper does not deliver tyres to Chrysler but its Technical Rubber Products generates every fourth dollar from business with Chrysler. We will see whether Cooper can resist the pressure from Chrysler to drop prices for products from its Technical Rubber Division.
The rapid expansion of the Chinese automotive industry has created a demand for rubber components. This has developed an import market for specialised rubber products and is producing a boost to the rubber products sector, with special interest in acrylate rubber, ternary ethylene propylene rubber, thermoplastic rubber, flourine rubber, nitrile hydride rubber and chlorine alcohol rubber.
Samir G. Gibara (61), chairman and chief executive officer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, has been elected to the board of directors of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. in Kobe, Japan. Gibara’s election is in conjunction with Goodyear’s 10 percent ownership of SRI, following the companies’ global alliance, completed in September 1999. This ownership makes Goodyear SRI’s second-largest shareholder. SRI holds 1.4 percent of Goodyear’s common stock.
For 125 years, Continental has been in a position to feel pleased with its identity as a tyre and rubber producer until, under the Physicist von Grünberg, it was steered on to a different course. The plan, which at first sounded sensible, i.e. to use the available human and technical resources to search for and explore technically sophisticated products, in order to present itself increasingly as a partner in development with the automotive industry. That plan suddenly changed when ITT-Teves (Bremsen Teves, from where von Grünberg had come to Continental AG), came up for sale early in the summer of 1998. Teves was acquired for about Euro 1,700 million (1998 sales Euro 1,950 million) which corresponds to 18 times EBIT. The corporation had plunged into debt and now, analysts who had at first applauded the German Corporation’s initiative, points out Continental as an ideal take over candidate, or states that, alternatively, the corporation will collapse under its debts or can be expected to be broken up. The groundwork for this article had already been completed before Continental’s boss Kessel was dismissed. This only goes to show that any speculations about the impact the terrorists’ attacks on New York, for example, may have had on the world of Continental, are totally beside the point; the decline had begun long before that.
Goodyear’s Wolverhampton plant gets a new production director. Hugh Thompson brings 30 years’ experience in the rubber and plastics industry to the operation. Thompson was the vice president of manufacturing for Dunlop Tyres in North America. He replaces Serge Lussier, who has moved to Brussels to take up the post of director of manufacturing, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
On Thursday the 18th January , in response to a question from Mr. Peter Pike MP for Burnley, the Minister for Trade, Mr Richard Caborn announced that the Government was to “commission a competitive study to examine the entire rubber industry, and especially the tyre sector”. Peter Pike MP quoted cuts in tyre production in the UK (Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop, Continental) and advised the Minister that there was concern in his constituency, Burnley, home of a Michelin plant, for the future of the Tyre industry in the UK. The Minister responded with figures showing overall tyre production standing at £1 billion, and exports at £800 million, and some 8,000 people still employed directly in the tyre manufacturing industry. He added that with electronics playing an increasing part in production we (the government) wanted to ensure the country was at the leading edge of technology, and quoted Pirelli’s new robotics line as evidence the UK Tyre industry has a future. Sir Sydney Chapman MP for Chipping Barnet asked whether, given the sharp decline of the Euro against Sterling should the government not have eased the tax and regulatory burden on the industry? The Minister’s response was that the government’s policies had been welcomed by the industry; that three of the five major tyre manufacturers were operational in the UK and that they were “looking to the government to give a lead on a foresight programme to develop new technology for those industries”. He added that the standing of the Euro had had little or no effect on the global re-organisation of the tyre manufacturers. In a follow-on question, Barry Sheerman MP for Huddersfield asked if the Minister thought that if a multinational closed down a UK operation, that the UK consumer should be encouraged to be discriminatory about the products he or she buys, to favour UK industries. In response the Minister stated that he did not think this to be an acceptable way forward, that “the way forward was to expand the global economy in a managed way that will produce a good result for the consumer”.
Continental has announced that the prices of its passenger, van and 4×4 tyres sold in Germany will go up by four per cent from 1st August. Higher costs of raw materials are being blamed for the increase, particularly the price of synthetic rubber and carbon black. The price hike does not apply to markets outside Germany.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has appointed Kevin Kramer to the post of director of marketing, consumer tyres for North American Tire. Kramer has been with Goodyear for 18 years and has held numerous marketing appointments in the USA and Singapore. He is replaced in his former post of general business manager for the Southern Region by Steve McClellan, recently general manager of Allied Tires, a Goodyear-owned subsidiary.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has appointed George Rietbergen (37) as its European director of e-commerce. He comes to the tyre manufacturer from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, where his most recent post was director, e-commerce and commercial development.
The fall out from the Firestone/Ford debacle may not only assist tyre manufacturers in increasing market share at the expense of Bridgestone Firestone, but the natural rubber market may see a boost in demand. An estimated 39,000 tonnes of natural rubber will be needed to replace the 13m tyres being recalled. Traders expect prices of natural rubber to start rising as production is increased to meet the sudden demand for replacement tyres.
Despite all the joint-ventures, take-overs and mergers within the tyre industry, the number of tyre brands, types and dimensions offered by tyre trade is continually rising. As customers’ demands are increasing too, it is no longer an easy task to sell black round rubber tyres. Additional services, covering car service as well, are required more than ever before. Where the tyre trade could easily lose track, simple computer software could solve the problem. However, we have realised several times, especially within our series of visits to tyre trade sites – and recently at a shop in Dortmund – that there are still some “dinosaurs” among the dealers who prefer file-card boxes, lists, card indices and similar things to computer files, not only for placing an order for a potential customer but for stocktaking. This is not automatically a disadvantage, but it raises the question if it is an exception or, if on principle EDP is not as accepted in the tyre business as in other business sectors. “Within the tyre trade EDP goes without question” so say the software producers, while developing new challenges such as integrating internet and e-commerce into their programmes. In interviews with some suppliers, NEUE REIFENZEITUNG has been looking into this and other trends concerning EDP and the tyre trade.
The Ohtsu Tire and Rubber Co has released a plan to restructure. The plan involves back-office functions being integrated with those of parent company Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. There will be a subsequent reduction in the workforce.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has appointed Steve Buckus as director of global infrastructure. In his new role he will head up the company’s IT group and lead efforts to globally integrate Goodyear’s IT infrastructure. Buckus has 20 years’ experience in the IT infrastructure field, and his previous post was as director, distributed systems for FedEx Services.
The Tire Association of North America (TANA), the Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB), the International Tire & Rubber Association (ITRA) and Tire Review have announced the creation of “The One Fund”. A unified effort to collect and distribute donations to the victims of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. Donations will be accepted through until February 2002 and will be distributed to named benefactors.
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