Tire manufacturing in Europe is going through something of a crisis. In January Goodyear announced the closure of its factory in Amiens-North. Last month Bridgestone announced the closure of its factory in Bari, Italy. None of this has provoked much debate Rumours that Michelin will reduce its output, however have triggered a string of comment
Category: capacity
Tire stories from Geneva Auto Salon
Three key stories emerged from the opening day of the Geneva Motor Show. ETRMA members met in Geneva and agreed to work together to help governments enforce the EU Labelling scheme Tire makers see the EU car tire sales downturn as structural – no recovery any time soon. BMW once again leads the OE field
Amiens, workers and productivity
Anyone who follows the news will have seen the letter from Titan CEO, Maurice (Morry) Taylor to the French Industry Minister, Arnaud Montebourg. It suggests that French workers are lazy and unproductive. Taylor adds that he has no interest in buying the factory in Amiens from Goodyear. Rather than take on the French unions, he
Goodyear to close Amiens plant – official
Goodyear Dunlop Europe is to close one of its two factories in Amiens, France. The move was predicted by Tire Industry Research weeks ago. The news was released to workers at the factory and on the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 31 January, 2013. Goodyear did not make a public announcement of the move,
Michelin Shenyang factory is on-stream
Michelin has opened the first phase of its new factory in Shenyang, China. The project is huge. Total investment is scheduled to be US$1500 million (1,500,000,000). It will make many kinds of tire, including the cars tires, light truck tires, truck and bus tires. Total capacity will be 12 million units/year. This is projected to
Pirelli opens new winter tire line at Voronezh
Pirelli and its Russian joint venture partner have officially opened a new tire manufacturing line at the factory in Voronezh. The investment includes a mixing centre. The new line is capable of making the latest Winter tires for use in Russia and the rest of Europe. The factory will begin shipping the tires from March
Conti makes truck tire investment in Illinois
Continental Tire the Americas, LLC (CTA) is to invest $129 million in its Mt. Vernon, Illinois tire facility. The move will create more than 100 new full-time jobs over the next three years. The biggest spend is on a $95 million expansion of the Commercial Vehicle Tire (CVT) production area. This will enable the Mt
Ceat adds local partner for Bangladesh investment
“Ceat Ltd” says has updated its plans to build a tire factory in Bangladesh. The business will now be a joint venture with a local company. The factory will make cross-ply (bias-ply) tyres for trucks, light trucks and 2- and 3-wheel vehicles. Most of the output will be used in Bangladesh. About 20 percent will