Ford is aiming to lose 1,700 jobs in Europe, by offering voluntary early retirement to workers at two factories in Germany. A similar move is expected at the Ford factory in Gent, Belgium, while workers in the UK have already been offered early retirement.
The TIC has gained nationwide publicity for its campaign to have tyres “dated”. A recent press release on the need to dispose of aged tyres has been taken up by the US-based Strategic Safety LLC asking the NHTSA to require tyres to be “expiry marked”
Tire manufacturers responded that the idea may not be realistic since there are so many variables that affect ageing. “It’s not so simple to just slap a date on it,” said Dan Zielinski, a spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers Association. A statement that flies in the face of the advice given out by the TIC, funded by the tyre industry in the UK, that told consumers “consumers to replace unused tires if they’re older than 6 years and replace all tires older than 10 years.” Zielinski said a discussion of expiration dates would be worthwhile, but said NHTSA shouldn’t act without collecting some solid scientific evidence. Zielinski said tyre manufacturers had concerns that the end users would ignore the “expiry date” or see the move as another rouse to force the consumer to buy more tyres. NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson said the agency hopes to have a proposal on tyre ageing by June 2005.
CWMre, the Welsh Market Development Initiative for recyclate managed by The Wales Environment Trust aims to develop economically and environmentally sustainable markets for recyclate.
A national survey of members of the National Tyre Distributors Association reveals that over a third of respondents have been the victim of illegal fly tipping of tyres within the past six months. Results vary according to location; 70 per cent of dealers in South and West Wales reported fly tipping on their premises, while the best area was the North East (25 per cent) and the worst was the South East and London, where 95 per cent of dealers reported illegal tyre dumping in their area.
Murray & Roberts has sold 50% of the business of AWI South Africa to Borbet GmbH of Germany, with effect from 1 July 2003 and subject to approval by the competition authorities.
Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge has been named as non-executive Chairman of the Boards of Pirelli UK plc, Pirelli General plc and Pirelli UK Tyres Ltd., effective September 1st. Lord Colin Marshall is currently Chairman of British Airways and is also a member of the Board of HSBC Holdings, Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the CBI and Chairman of Britain In Europe.
Some 18 months after Continental divested itself of NTA Retail, NTA Commercial and Viking International, T&A approached Brian Smith to find out how Continental Tyre Group was managing in its current format. After all, the complete closure/sale of a manufacturer’s equity is not an every day occurrence and must have had negative effects on Continental’s business in the UK.
Brian Smith knew that the performance of Continental Tyre Group without its UK retail and wholesale operations was going to be at the heart of the matter and he went straight to the point. “Continental Tyre group has shown its ability to handle change both quickly and professionally. One of our great strengths is the ability to make decisions, act on them and adhere to them even though they may be difficult courses of action to follow. We can spot opportunities and act quickly to take advantage of them. That is one of the core policies at Continental, to take opportunities and to handle changes when things don’t work out as planned.
“There is a table in reception that carries the Continental Mission Statement: “To establish Continental Tyre Group as the most professional supplier of quality tyres and customer services, respected for consistent, stable, business relationships. To be known for understanding the customers’ needs and for being responsive in meeting them.” That is a benchmark for the standards we apply at Continental Tyre Group and we need to ask ourselves, are we really like that?
“If we are to achieve that mission it is the customer services element which is particularly important. Then we need to consider how we think internally and what our aims are within Continental Tyre Group. It is in many ways more important therefore to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by the way we handle our customers to develop consistent business relationships.”
Fit4Fleet, the GM-backed network of independent tyre dealers supporting company car fleets, has extended operations to provide coverage in the Republic of Ireland as part of plans to provide customers with extensive coverage throughout the British Isles.
Managing director, Dominic Bateson, believes that the move will also bring a great improvement in the service standards enjoyed by fleet drivers in the country, saying: “Most of the tyre chains that have traditionally serviced fleet drivers are concentrated around the main conurbations, such as Dublin, Cork and Waterford. But what use is that to drivers having a tyre problem out on the road, many miles away from one of those cities? Their needs have to be catered for also. To us, this was an obvious gap in coverage and one of our core objectives has been to establish a comprehensive spread of centres throughout the Republic, so that when a driver has a problem, assistance can be provided promptly.”
Fit4Fleet already has 60 centres in the Republic, with at least one in each of the country’s 26 counties, and personnel at each centre have undergone training to ensure that they are fully able to meet the standards required. This means that the network now numbers more than 900 depots in the UK and the Irish Republic.
The Trelleborg Group has signed an agreement with Smiths Group Plc of the UK to acquire its operations in polymer-based precision seals (Polymer Sealing Solutions – PSS). PSS has annual sales of approximately SEK 5.5 billion (599.37 million Euro) and some 6,000 employees, mainly in Europe and North America. Following the acquisition, the annual sales of the Trelleborg Group are expected to total SEK 22.5 billion (2.45 bn Euro), with approximately 21,000 employees in some 40 countries. The acquired operations will form a new business area within the Trelleborg Group.
Bosal UK is to sell four of its 19 Silencer Distributors (UK) Limited exhaust wholesale branches to its long-time customer Southern Exhaust Supplies Ltd. The deal was described as “a multi-million Pound agreement” and SES has the option to purchase further SDL sites in the future. Bosal acquired SDL out of Receivership following the collapse of SDL parent company Finelist in December 2000. The purchase was made to ensure continued supply of Bosal exhaust products to the UK aftermarket in the short and medium term and was always described by Bosal as “a holding manoeuvre”.
Gary Oliver, managing director of car and light truck tyre retreader C-Tyres, has been appointed President of the Retread Manufacturers Association in the UK. Oliver has been heavily involved in the formation of the RMA’s Marketing & Communications Committee, whose aim is to promote and market retreading in the UK. Gary Oliver succeeds Ian Smith, of Technic Tyre, as RMA President.
EC regulations 108 and 109, covering type approval for car and truck retreads, will become compulsory in the UK from 1st January 2004. The regulations, which have been available for use on a voluntary basis since June 1998, should help boost public confidence in the quality and performance of retreaded tyres, says the Retread Manufacturers Association.
In the UK Scott Harvey (14) is suing Dunlop Tyres and a family member who was driving a car when a tyre burst at 60 mph. Harvey was not wearing a seat belt in the back of the car and was thrown clear, suffering head injuries and fractures and had to have two fingers removed from his right hand. Dunlop made no comment, saying that the case was in the hands of the company’s legal team.
Fit4Fleet, the GM-owned, UK-based network of independent tyre dealers supporting company car fleets, has announced an expansion of its activities into the Republic of Ireland. The network already has 60 centres in the Republic and the Irish Fit4Fleet operation will be headed up by Barry Eccles, who has extensive fleet experience.
Avon has been under the ownership of Cooper Tire for several years and under pressure to survive as a stand-alone unit within the company. In today’s climate, where tyre manufacturers are shifting production to low labour cost centres, the continued survival and profitability of Avon is a source of considerable pride in Melksham, home of Avon Tyres, and a puzzle to other manufacturers who struggle to make European plants, in particular UK-based plants, contribute to profits. The task of turning Avon into a net contributor to Cooper Tire was one that required some hard decisions being made. Cooper wanted to add value to the business and took on various issues at Avon. The choices taken meant that people suffered but there was also a lack of resources. The Cooper take-over was not simply a case of cutting costs by laying off staff. There was a tremendous investment in resources and equipment. A great deal of funding was spent on the business, and not just on plant. In all some 60 million pounds has been invested at Melksham. That was six years ago and Cooper Avon is a very different business now, from what it was even two years ago. Ron Shield, managing director at Avon, says, “The first two years were spent putting the business in order. We are now starting to get closer to where we need to be. Last year was our most successful year ever. We are starting to show Cooper that we are a positive contributor to the business.”
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