As many of you know, I’ve been talking to many people in the global tire industry but last week at the excellent Latin American Tire show in Panama, organized by Gustavo Lima and his team, I had a bit of a revelation. I’d like to share it with you. We all know there are hundreds
Tag: strategy
How China’s Tire sector might develop – Part 1
I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people in China these last couple of months, and the mood is not happy. First, they are dealing with a downturn in the domestic truck market; second there is the issue of widespread tariffs against Chinese-made tires and third the question of land prices. The prospect of
Wells aims to turn Goodyear EMEA around
Darren Wells took over from Arthur de Bok as head of Goodyear’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) operations toward the end of last year. Since then some big decisions have been taken. The Amiens dispute has been resolved; a racing tire plant in the UK is to close and Goodyear Corporate has announced plans
Apollo Tyres aims for organic growth post-Cooper
Apollo Tyres has re-set its course in the wake of the collapse of the Cooper deal. The primary ambition remains getting into the top-10 global tire makers, but the tactics of how to get there have changed. TIRes head of research, David Shaw spoke to Apollo CEO, Neeraj Kanwar at the Geneva Auto Salon earlier
The iFlex – what it says about the Hankook brand
Hankook is the latest tire maker to produce a concept tire which relies on mechanical strength of plastic materials to carry load, rather than pneumatic pressure. The iFlex was shown at the Frankfurt IAA. I chatted with the engineers and their story was a little different from that which has been trumpeted by other publications.
Has Apollo Tyres bitten off more than it can chew
Stock markets have punished Apollo Tyres for its audacity in daring to seal the biggest overseas deal in India’s corporate history – the acquisition of US-based Cooper Tire and Rubber. The share price of Apollo has fallen by around one third since the deal was announced. I’m trying to work out if this is justified
Apollo’s acquisition of Cooper demonstrates global vision
Apollo Tyres is to buy Cooper Tire and Rubber. The cash purchase price is around USD2.5 billion (USD 2,500,000,000). That’s about 60 percent of annual sales. Quite a low price for this kind of deal. Apollo statement | Cooper statement My own view is that Apollo has done well to finally negotiate this one. I