USA Archives - Page 265 of 268 - Tyrepress

Across the Atlantic they are called tires, while over here we use a “Y” and say tyres. This tag provides the latest tyre business news emanating from the United States of America (USA), whichever way you spell it.

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Nokian To Produce Commercial Tyres In The USA

Finnish tyre manufacturer Nokian has confirmed that the company intends to produce commercial tyres in the USA as soon as possible. The first products will be forest tyres, followed by industrial tyres. A spokesman for Nokian said that it had not yet been decided whether the company would build its own factory in the USA, whether there would be some kind of joint venture co-operation, or whether tyres would be manufactured in an off-take agreement. The Finnish company has been active in the US and Canadian markets for some years.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

More Capacity At Michelin’s Thailand Plant

The Michelin Siam group is investing US$ 100 million to increase annual plant capacity from 2.9 million passenger and SUV tyres to 6 million, within two years.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Ford Wants Faster Recall

Ford Chief Executive Jacques Nasser has described the news that the recall of Firestone tyres in the USA might take until next spring as “unacceptable”. Originally, the recall was scheduled to take until summer, but Bridgestone/Firestone announced the revised spring time scale this week. Production of Firestone tyres has doubled and imports have been increased to meet demand. Ford is said to be considering a number of ideas to quicken the recall, including providing rental vehicles for those who are anxious about the delay.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Cutting Back Jobs At Cooper Tire

Cooper Tire & Rubber is cutting back on 1,100 jobs and scaling back, or shutting some 18 plants world-wide. Cutbacks at US plants in Michigan, North Carolina and Texas do not appear to affect tyre manufacture. Lay-offs at European plants have still to be confirmed and would be undertaken in consultation with employee representatives. The cutbacks come alongside announcements of record third quarter profits.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Marc P. Frissora Is New Tenneco Chairman

Marc P. Frissora, President and CEO of Tenneco Automotive since April 1999, succeeds retiring Dana G. Mead as Chairman of the US manufacturer of shock absorbers and exhausts.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Significant Decreases For General Tire USA

A spokesman for Continental, in answer to a question from NEUE REIFENZEITUNG, agreed that the figures from General Tire for the first half of this year are significantly less than figures for the same period last year. Continental will officially release the half year figures on August 9th.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Turkish Group Sabanci Sells Stake To Toyota

The Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holding – the group which includes the Brisa joint venture with Bridgestone – has sold a 25% stake in another of its joint venture companies. Sabanci has sold 25% of Toyotasa to its partner Toyota Motor Corporation for US$ 109 m, leaving Sabanci with a stake in the company of almost 25%.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

General Manager For Goodyear US Retreading Operations

Armond Boyes has been appointed general manager of Goodyear’s North American retreading operations. Boyes is responsible for overseeing Goodyear’s Next-Tred retreading program, including the design, development and sales of Next-Tred products and the installation of retread plants throughout North America.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Strike Ends At General Tire

Employees at Continental General Tire’s plant in Bryan, Ohio USA have signed an agreement ensuring an increase in wages and pensions plus a regulation of working time (a four shift programme, seven days a week) up to the year 2006. The same agreement will apply in Charlotte, General Tire’s largest plant in North America, where employees had been on strike for over a year to achieve these improved conditions. Continental’s workforce has diminished from 1,450 to around 1,300 following the strikes.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Dedicated Dunlop Tyre Lines Available At Goodyear Retailers

In the USA, Goodyear has announced that three new dedicated Dunlop tyre lines will be available from Goodyear and Gemini outlets. These are the Dunlop Citation, the Citation HP (both for passenger cars) and Dunlop Pioneer for 4×4 vehicles.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Black Figures Are General Tire’s Aim

Sales are up in the year 2000 and profits have gone like snow in the sun. That, in short, describes the present situation of Continental General Tire in North America. But red figures are not an option. Bernd Frangenberg (59) President and CEO of CGT, vigorously denied the possibility that he could be forced to inform the parent company about red figures at the end of the year. All the necessary actions have been taken to make sure that CGT remains profitable even in a difficult climate, Frangenberg declared Tyres & Accessories. Continental General Tire employs 9000 people and runs 5 factories in the US and 2 in Mexico. Last year’s turnover was about 1.5 bn Euro.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Complaints In The US About Bridgestone Tyres On Audi S4

More concern for Bridgestone; reports in Business Week say that the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received around a dozen complaints concerning sidewall bulges on Bridgestone Potenza RE040 tyres, fitted to Audi S4 sedans. An Audi spokesman said there was no cause for concern and the NHTSA said that there was no safety investigation planned.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Keeping The Technic Name Alive

Last year the Technic Group – the world’s largest car tyre retreader – went into Receivership and it looked as if its assets would be sold off. However, the Technic name lives on, as the company has been purchased by Phil Blood and Lucia Farmer. Phil is one of the two original founders of Technic and Lucia is the widow of the other founder, the late Tony Farmer. Phil Blood could not say how many retreads would be made by the new company (called Technic Tyre plc) but he believes that there is a market for a quality retread. One thing is for certain; production will be a long way short of the 40,000-50,000 tyres a week which Technic was turning out at its peak. Phil’s comment on future production is “it will find its own level”. He admits that sentiment played a large part in rescuing the company with both he and Tony wanting the name of Technic to continue in the area. “Tony and I put ten years’ hard work into Technic and neither of us wanted to see it wasted” Phil commented. Some of the old Technic team are back working for the company, including Martin Gledhill and Ian Smith. Phil Blood emphasises that he is not employed by the company, he is part owner of Anguilla plc, the company which purchased Technic’s retreading assets. Bearing in mind Tony Farmer’s part in building up Technic, it was perhaps fitting that the first of the ‘new’ retreads were produced on March 1st – a day which would have been Tony Farmer’s 48th birthday. More about this in TYRES & ACCESSORIES’s March issue.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Higher Marketshare for Cooper Tire

Tyre business was better than expected for Cooper in the first quarter of 2000. Due to the Cooper management the company succeeded in entering into new business relationships with some huge companies in the USA. Doubtless the joint venture with Pirelli was helpful in this.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

US Officials To Review Tire Requirements In Wake Of Firestone Recall

Following the recall of certain Firestone tyres, federal officials in the USA are reported to be working on tougher standards for tyres for SUVs and light trucks. Stephen Kratzke, of the safety agency, is studying a requirement for off-road tyres to meet the same test criteria as car tyres, also that they should be tested to at least 100 mph. Current tests require car tyres to run at 75, 80 and 85 mph, each for half an hour. The test for off-road tyres is 5 mph slower, although the Firestone tyres were tested to the car standards.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors