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.
In the US, Bridgestone recently submitted four Bandag retread products to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for SmartWay verification. Upon approval, Bridgestone will offer a total of seven SmartWay verified retreads following a number earlier approvals. Three Bandag retread products – the B710 FuelTech, B197 FuelTech, and B135 FuelTech – are already on the agency’s list of low rolling resistance retreads.
Reports from India suggest private equity firm KKR and Co. is in the last stage of talks to buy as much as an 80 per cent stake Alliance Tire Group. The latest news, which follows a couple of months of speculation about the deal, values the company at around US$600 million. According to livemint.com, KKR will buy out the stake currently held by another private equity firm, Warburg Pincus Llc, as well as the minority stake held by certain other stakeholders.
According to local news sources, Cooper Tire & Rubber has paused production at its Findlay factory in the US state of Ohio. The Toledo Blade reports that production has been idled since 2 March due to high inventories and the implementation of a software system. Tyre production is scheduled to recommence on 9 March.
Titan International’s Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of US$.005 (one half cent) per common share for the first quarter of 2013. The cash dividend is payable Monday 15 April 2013 to stockholders of record on Thursday 28 March 2013.
During the SIMA show, Indian tyre maker BKT gave an update of the company’s recent performance. Highlights covered including the firm’s average annual growth rate – this remains at approximately 30 per cent. BKT also claims to currently hold five per cent of the global market share in the off-highway tyre sector in speciality segments such as agricultural machines and equipment, earthmovers, industrial vehicles, ATV and lawn & garden applications. The company says it aims to double this market share by the end of 2014; at this time it plans to achieve a turnover of US$1.36 million, and a turnover of $2 billion by 2020.
Yokohama Tire Corporation has announced what it calls key changes to its Consumer Sales division. These changes take effect immediately and include the addition of a new sales zone, along with several organisational changes. On the changes, Dan King, senior vice-president of sales and marketing for the Japanese company’s North American manufacturing and marketing arm, commented that “the geographical reorganisation offers the best utilisation of our resources and moves us closer to our dealers in order to better support them.”
Directors at Goodyear Tire & Rubber have declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.73 per share of mandatory convertible preferred stock. The dividend is payable 1 April 2013, to shareholders of record on 15 March 2013. The payout represents an annual rate of $2.9375 per share.
Chicane, has boosted its media relations team with the appointment of Chris Wakley as a consultant. Wakley brings with him 35 years of automotive media relations experience and will assist Chicane with further developing its media relations offerings to automotive businesses as well as to the agency’s existing client base.
When it was published at the start of the year Tyres & Accessories' January 2013 edition kick-started the back-to-work season with special features on motorcycle tyres and agricultural tyres in addition to all the regular news and analysis you can expect. Subscribers can view this in e-paper format by simply clicking more.
Nissan will fit Bridgestone’s Potenza S001 tyres to its new European market Nismo. The tyre manufacturer will supply wider 245/40R19 sizes on the front and 285/35R19 on the rear with a “tailor-made” compound. The tyre will respond to the V6 344-horsepower coupe’s cornering, sporty handling and power, Bridgestone says.
Hercules Tire & Rubber is recalling certain 16 and 17-inch fitments in its All Trac A/T 10-ply road range. In a notification lodged with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the tyre maker reports that an unspecified number of tyres manufactured between mid-2008 and 2010 can potentially experience in-servnice belt and tread separations. Hercules says it will notify owners and replace the affected tyres free of charge.
The verbal fisticuffs between Titan International’s Maurice Taylor and France’s minister of industrial renewal Arnaud Montebourg, first leaked to the world by financial newspaper Les Échos on 19 February, has been played down by the US Department of State. During the department’s daily press briefing on 21 February, Taylor’s disparaging comments regarding the French work ethic were broached and spokesperson Victoria Nuland asked whether the US administration considers investing in France any more (or less) difficult than investing in other European countries.
On 20 February, Goodyear Tire & Rubber announced that a public offering of its 8-year senior notes had commenced and will close on 25 February, subject to market and other customary conditions. The notes will be senior unsecured obligations and Goodyear says the offering has an aggregate value of US$900 million. They will be sold at 100 per cent of the principal amount and will bear interest at a rate of 6.5 per cent.
The first employees are making themselves at home in Goodyear’s new global headquarters. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, around 200 employees from the tyre maker’s information technology and finance departments started work in the new US$120 million facility on 18 February. Eventually as many as 2,000 employees will work there.
Cooper Tire & Rubber intends to open a new technology centre at its US headquarters site by the end of this year. According to Tire Review, the tyre maker plans to hire approximately 40 new employees, including engineers, scientists, researchers and technicians, to perform research at the Findlay centre. The trade journal adds that local reports indicate a US$2.8 million grant from the state of Ohio will go towards establishing the centre; Cooper said it aims to invest $40 million in the project over the next five years.
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