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.
Yokohama Rubber’s Salem factory in the USA recently reached two milestones – its 25th anniversary and the production of 80 million tyres. Tetsuro (Tex) Murakami, president of Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Virginia, LLC, described these as “two very significant achievements for Yokohama, particularly in the US.
Step off the plane and into a car at Qingdao airport and it won’t be long before you see a Sentury Tire billboard. While this particular Chinese tyre manufacturer isn’t a global player, it is rapidly internationalising and is selling millions of tyres in Europe (many of which end up in the UK). The firm is expanding very quickly and recent high-profile appointments and off-shore factory investment announcements suggest the firm is well and truly on a growth path. Towards the end of 2015, Tyres & Accessories met with export sales manager Hellen Yang and Davanti vice-general manager Wilson Zhang for a tour of the firm’s large and very modern factory near Qingdao airport.
Citing “weak market conditions that are not expected to improve during 2016,” Titan International has given word of layoffs that will take place at its Bryan plant in the US state of Ohio. The layoffs will begin on 8 February 2016 and affect at least 130 employees. The tyre maker anticipates these layoffs will be temporary and last a minimum of six months, however some may become permanent should market conditions fail improve.
Falken Tire Corporation has announced a realignment of its business units that accommodates changes brought about by the dissolution of the global alliance between parent company Sumitomo Rubber Industries and Goodyear Tire & Rubber. The realignment will take place in stages and begins on 1 January with the subsidiary’s renaming as Sumitomo Rubber North America, Inc.; Richard Smallwood, who is currently CEO and president of Falken Tire Corporation, will hold these positions in the retitled business.
After determining the US$15.50 per share merger agreement proposed by Icahn Enterprises superior to Bridgestone’s $15.00 a share deal, The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack gave the tyre maker until 5:00pm (EST) last Friday to return with new and more attractive merger terms. Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO) did just that, and the two parties have now amended the terms of the merger agreement originally signed on 26 October.
The Board of Directors at US automotive aftermarket retailer The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack has declared the US$15.50 per share merger agreement received by Icahn Enterprises superior to the $835 million Bridgestone Retail Operations was prepared to pay, not least because it isn’t subject to due diligence or financing conditions, and it contains a ‘hell or high water’ anti-trust covenant. Pep Boys have now lobbed the ball back into Bridgestone’s court, and the tyre maker has two days to come back with a better offer.
US automotive aftermarket chain The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack gives word that its Board of Directors have determined the proposal from Icahn Enterprises L.P. to acquire Pep Boys for US$15.50 per share in cash would be expected to result in a “Superior Proposal” (as defined in the company’s agreement and plan of merger with Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC). This opinion was reached after consultation with the company’s independent legal and financial advisors, however at this stage Pep Boys are still on track to take up the Bridgestone share offer.
As of 7 December, Jan Steinmetz has taken over as chief human resources officer at Bridgestone Americas. He succeeds Christine Karbowiak, who held the position since February in addition to her roles as the company’s chief administrative officer and chief risk officer. Steinmetz will lead the company’s international human resource programming for nearly 55,000 employees, and is located at Bridgestone’s Nashville-based Americas Support Center and headquarters.
Bridgestone Americas’ cash tender offer to acquire US automotive service and retail chain The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack for US$15.00 a share has been challenged by Icahn Enterprises L.P. The New York-based master limited partnership and owner of automotive aftermarket distributor Auto Plus has written to the Pep Boys’ board, proposing to pay a cash sum of $15.50 per share to acquire the entire outstanding stake in the company – an offer it believes “clearly superior” to the Bridgestone transaction.
Last January at its annual dealer conference, Goodyear unveiled plans to launch direct-to-consumer online sales across the US through its Goodyear.com website. Since then, Michelin has bought into two large European e-tailers and Apollo has acquired another. Clearly 2015 has been the year that tyre majors have allowed their online retail strategies surface. And while approaches differ between manufacturers and markets, Goodyear’s US approach is by far the most direct. At the moment, this approach centres on North America, however what we learn from Goodyear’s case is valuable in any market. In mid-November Tire Review editor Jim Smith met with Goodyear’s Mike Dauberman, senior director of marketing and interactive, and Bill Friel, general manager of consumer dealer retail, and here gives Tyres per cent Accessories readers access to their conversation.
In a unanimous verdict handed down on 19 November, a jury in the US state of Arizona found in favour of Michelin North America on all claims relating to a product liability lawsuit filed by plaintiff Kimberly Allen. The verdict followed a three-week trial in the Arizona State Court.
Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Virginia has become the latest Yokohama manufacturing plant to be a zero landfill operation. The tyre manufacturer’s US plant, in Salem, Virginia, has recently adopted processes and practices to reduce waste, and as a result “all waste generated at YTMV now goes to non-landfill options such as recycling, reuse or energy recovery,” according to Neil Dalton, Yokohama Corporation of North America director of environmental health and safety.
The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has granted Latin Expo Group LLC Trade Fair Certification to organize the official United States Pavilion at the Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo 2016 exhibition at the ATLAPA Convention Centre, Ciudad de Panama, Panama, 13-15 July 2016.
Continental AG’s ContiTech division is close the 100-year-old former Goodyear plant in Bowmanville, near Durham, North Carolina, USA in mid-2016. Workers were told the news on 13 November 2015. The Bowmanville plant makes conveyor belts for mining, coal and tar sands operations and has reportedly been hit by slowing demand from the global mining industry.
In April 2015 the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two men, long-time friends Amit Kanodia and Iftikar Ahmed, after the pair illegally profited from inside information related to Apollo Tyres’ plan to acquire Cooper Tire & Rubber in 2013. Kanodia, whose wife held the post of general counsel at Apollo Tyres prior to the deal’s announcement and was privy to highly confidential information, also shared details with others. A further ‘close friend’, Steven C. Watson, is now the subject of a further case being pursued by the SEC. The US federal agency submitted its case against Watson to the United States District Court in the District of Massachusetts on 17 November.
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