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.
Strike action at Goodyear plants in the US has been averted following the announcement of a tentative agreement between the tyre maker and the United Steelworkers union. On the evening of Saturday 27 July, as the clock ticked away on the previous four-year contract, the two parties reached an understanding over a four-year labour agreement that covers some 8,500 employees at Goodyear’s Buffalo, Topeka, Fayetteville, Danville, Gadsden and Akron plant.
The deadline for reaching a new contract agreement at a number of Goodyear, Michelin and Bridgestone plants in the US is Saturday, and the likelihood this will be settled to the satisfaction of both tyre makers and union decreases with every hour.
Visitors to Double Coin’s American web presence are invited to say ¡Hola! to a new Spanish language site. The tyre maker and the China Manufacturers Alliance have introduced the option in recognition of demand for information in Spanish from within both North and Central America. To further emphasise the site’s status as a source of information for the region, the existing www.DoubleCoin-us.com domain is being phased out and replaced by a new address, www.DoubleCoinTires.com. Visitors using the old address will be automatically redirected to the site, and Spanish speaking visitors can access the page in their language directly at www.Espanol.DoubleCoinTires.com.
Representatives of Cooper Tire’s Findlay, Ohio corporate headquarters have confirmed that the company is facing strike action at its Rongcheng, China plant. In answer to Tyres & Accessories questions, a company spokesperson confirmed that as a result the dispute the factory is “in communication with customers…regarding product supply”. No further details of what this means in practice have been released. However T&A has seen once such customer communication, which suggests the strike, which has reportedly been going on for around a month, is resulting in the delay of export shipments.
On 19 July, the first all-new ContiTread licensed retreading facility in the US officially opened. The DLS Retreading plant, located in Fort Mill, South Carolina, will serve the retreading market in its home state with truck tyres retreaded with ContiTread flat pre-cure treads, and will also offer emergency road service, truck tyre service and new Continental and General-branded tyres. The 72,000 square foot (6,689 square metre) facility includes a 16,000 square foot retreading unit as well as 11 service docks. DLS Retreading is expected to employ 50 workers within four years.
Transport Canada has issued a recall for several models of Michelin tyres, Tire Review reports. “A loss of inflation pressure could cause increased tyre temperature, which could lead to tyre failure. This could result in a vehicle crash causing property damage and/or personal injury,” Transport Canada said. The SUV or light truck tyre models affected are the LTX M/S2, the X Radial LT2 and the Latitude Tour sold primarily in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Workers at Cooper Chengshan, a joint-venture between Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (USA) and Chengshan Group (China), are reportedly on a strike in protest against Apollo’s proposed acquisition of Cooper. If correct the reports could throw up a fairly significant spanner in the works as the trade union which represents workers at what is deemed to be “the largest, most profitable and fastest-growing factory of the eight” plants that come as part of the Cooper deal, Cooper Chengshan, have expressed their opposition to the deal.
On 17 July, Schaeffler Holding signed a new €3.875 billion credit agreement that it is said to offer improved terms. As part of the transaction, Schaeffler Holding intends to issue high yield bonds in euro and US dollar tranches, with an issue size equivalent to approximately €1.5 billion. This will go towards repaying the company’s debt. Schaeffler says these measures will further reduce borrowing costs and significantly improve capital structure at the holding level.
Michelin North America is seeking 2,500 potentially defective tyres, but in order to retrieve these, the company is recalling around 100,000 tyres. The target 2,500 tyres could experience partial or full sidewall perforations that may cause them to experience loss of air pressure. The recall involves certain sizes of the Michelin LTX M/S2, Michelin X Radial LT2 and Michelin Latitude Tour sold primarily in the US, Canada and Mexico. The tyres are typically found on light trucks and SUVs.
The Parts Alliance has announced the appointment of David Bloxham as national key account manager. He joins the growing National Accounts team, based in Solihull, during what he describes as “an exciting time of growth for the [automotive] aftermarket.”
US trade association TIA has released “Tire Safety Starts with TPMS,” the second in a series of consumer educational videos slated for 2013.
The video is a 5-minute overview of the safety benefits associated with TPMS and knowing when tires are underinflated.
A little over two months ago, Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) announced its plan to build a new commercial tyre plant in the US. On 11 July it announced that the first phase of the facility in West Point, Mississippi will be designed by Kajima Associates/Architects & Engineers, PC of Atlanta, Georgia. The project taken on by Kajima Associates calls for the design of a 931,000 square foot (86,500 square metre) factory that includes production, warehousing and operations facilities.
These days it seems every tyre maker and his dog participate in motorsport. This is fine of course, and a good way to boost brand awareness. But serving as a tyre supplier involves considerable product development costs, not to mention the logistics and planning associated with each championship round. And motorsport sponsorship only reaches a particular target audience – unless, as we’ve seen throughout this year, in cases where the tyre supplier finds itself on the receiving end of negative media attention.
Bridgestone has donated £2,000 to a voluntary first aid service in Warwick in order to buy a defibrillator, new uniform and premium tyres for its four ambulances. The Leamington based brand says the Warwick Ambulance Association support demonstrates its commitment to vital community causes.
Continental has released details of its upcoming Eurobond offer. It says it will issue a bond with a volume of at least €500 million and a term to maturity of five years, and intends to use the issue proceeds thereof for the partial refinancing of its bond issued in September 2010. The offer is open to investors residing outside the US, Canada, Australia and Japan. The issue volume and bond conditions are expected to be determined in the next few days.
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