A mid-year report on the US tyres industry paints an optimistic picture for the remaining half of 2009.

After a disappointing start the prospects for the rest of the year look brighter, according to a survey by Modern Tyre Dealer.

The popular tyres industry magazine reported that there are signs of better results in the second half of 2009.

Saul Ludwig, managing director of KeyBank Capital Markets, also endorsed the view.

“The 1H09 financial results of almost all tyre manufacturers were very ugly as low volume, inefficient use of facilities, plant closings and other restructuring costs led to large losses for Goodyear, Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone, Cooper, Sumitomo, Kumho and others.

“Only Pirelli Tyre showed a respectable profit.

“Looking to 2H09,” he continued, “I expect better results as volume should improve and benefits from restructuring initiatives should help.

“It is encouraging to see data from the Federal Highway Administration that miles driven have increased for the last three months.”

Denna Bowman, Head Office

By Denna Bowman

Vehicle owners planning a long journey have been advised to take a thorough look at their tyres by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

Around 10 per cent of cars on UK roads are being driven while at least one of their tyres has illegal tread depth, according to the IAM.

This causes reduced braking effectiveness, increased risk of collision and the risk of a fine and points on the driver’s licence.

Tim Shallcross, Head of Technical Advice for IAM, explains: “As tyres have only the area of the sole of your shoe in touch with the road at any one time, it’s a safety ‘no-brainer’ to keep them in top condition - extra care is needed in autumn when sudden heavy showers can profoundly affect tyre performance”.

Stopping distances double on wet roads and the risk of a skid can be trebled if the tread depth is only at the legal minimum of 1.6 mm – and this risk increases seven-fold when the tread depth is less than 0.5 mm, says the IAM.

The organisation warns motorists: “If you have to brake hard on one of the 10 per cent of road surfaces with below average skid resistance, the skid risk rises by around 50 per cent.”

By Alex Kapadia

Continental Tyres have opened a branch in Bangkok in a bid to grab a 5% share of the Thai tyre market over the next three years.

To achieve this, it has opened its own offices in Thailand to directly oversee tyres sales, which amount to around six million a year, in the country.

Benoit Henry, vice president of Marketing and Sales Business Units, Replacement Tyres Asia-Pacific, said: “Within the next two, three years we hope to have captured 5% of Thailand’s tire market, and within five years we will be among the top five brands here.”

Mr Henry added: “As the number four tyre manufacturer in the world it was only natural that Continental Tyres would seek to strengthen its position in Thailand, given the Kingdom’s strategic importance and status as an important regional hub of automotive manufacturing.”

Continental Tyres has been selling aftermarket tyres in Thailand for the past several years through retailers and OEM tyres to GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Volvo.

These activities to date have been overseen by the Continental Group. Now, Continental Tyres will directly oversee this business in Thailand.

Tyres sold in Thailand are manufactured at Continental Tyre’s two production facilities in Malaysia. The company is not looking produce tyres in Thailand.

Desperate residents are calling for more police patrols after a spate of vehicle vandalism in Kidderminster.

In the latest attack vandals slashed the tyres of at least 16 cars along Hurcott Road causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

Residents say they have endured nearly two years of cars being keyed, tyres slashed, wing mirrors smashed and cars and car radios being stolen.

In another attack last week at least 12 cars were damaged in Mill Lane, Bradley Thursfield Court, Laburnum Grove, Beaulieu Close, Marlpool Place, Woodfield Crescent and Franchise Street.

Car doors were bent back and windows smashed and a number of items were taken including a wallet, a stereo and a sat nav system.

Mumshad Ahmed, Independent Wyre Forest District councillor for Broadwaters, and a resident of Hurcott Road, said the police had to take action.

He explained: “How much worse can the situation get? Something has to be done. There needs to be more police patrols over the weekends.”

Sergeant Louise Meeson said that a group of white male youngsters aged about 15 to 18-years-old were seen in the Hurcott Road area at the time of the incident.

She added it was possible some residents whose cars were vandalised had not yet reported it and she urged them to come forward so the police could get a full picture of how much damage was caused.

Detective Constable Lloyd Davies added: “We will be stepping up patrols in the area and will be doing house to house enquiries to find out if residents saw anyone acting suspiciously in the area at the time.”

Denna Bowman, Head Office

Tyres Company Wants You to Get Snappy for Charity

There are just under two weeks left before the closing deadline for the Goodyear tyres countryside snapshots calendar completion.

Budding photographers are being called on to capture the beauty of the great outdoors on camera as part of a fundraising mission to raise cash for Mountain Rescue England and Wales.

Goodyear tyres, who are organising the contest, will put the 12 best photos in their special 2010 calendar.

Since launching the partnership, many teams have benefitted from the provision of Goodyear’s 4×4 tyres for their rescue vehicles.

Having recently launched a new tyre for the market which offers excellent performance both on and off road, Goodyear’s Wrangler AT/SAs will help to ensure that Mountain Rescue teams, as well as other 4×4 drivers, are well prepared for off road action.

Budding photographers are now invited to send in their entries by emailing photography@htpr.co.uk. The deadline for entries is the 30th September, and details can be found at www.mygoodyear.co.uk.

Denna Bowman, Head Office

By Oliver Hall

A man who admitted throwing three unwanted tyres onto a bonfire was fined £325 under the Clean Air Act.

David Russell Thompson, 40, pleading guilty to a charge of emitting dark smoke from an industrial or trade premises, when he appeared before York magistrates.

The court heard how officer from City of York Council visited Barfield Industrial Estate in Huntington, York, earlier this year, after noticing smoke billowing into the air.

Anthony Dean, City of York Council’s principal environmental protection officer, said: “An officer from City of York Council was driving in the Huntington area when he observed a dark cloud of smoke.

“At 16.40, another officer arrived at the scene and witnessed a very large bonfire.”

The court heard how officers had seen parts of tyres on the fire and had noticed “oil-like liquid” on the ground close to the blaze.

Mr Dean said two men were cautioned at the scene and they revealed to officers they believed Thompson, who operated from a nearby unit, had put the tyres on the fire.

He was later interviewed under caution, when he admitted he had placed three commercial vehicle tyres on the fire.

Thompson admitted: “I had a bit of stuff stored up and there were some tyres which came off my own recovery vehicle which been destroyed in a fire.”

He said there was “not a great deal of rubber left on them” and that his regular tyre disposal agent would not take them away.

“I put them on the bonfire,” he said. “I did something which I know now had greater significance then I realised at the time.”

He denied putting any oil in the fire.

He was fined £325 with £300 costs and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.

By Oliver Hall

Morale at a UK tyres factory is described as having hit an “all time low” after an announcement that 200 employees will be made redundant by next summer.

And many workers at the Cooper Tires plant in Melksham were dismayed to have found out about job losses through media reports.

Some workers at the tyres plant had been told about the cut-backs on Monday, but others admitted they only read about it in the local paper later in the week.

Cooper Tires wants to make 20 per cent of its 900- strong workforce redundant by July 2010 and has launched a 90-day consultation.

It is blaming the decision on the rising labour and raw materials costs and the need to remain competitive.

One worker, who works night shifts at the factory, said he only found out about the redundancies by reading the Wiltshire Times website.

He said: “I think it’s pretty dismal that I’ve got to look on the Wiltshire Times website to find out that jobs are going. The way the company does things is terrible.

“There are four shifts at the moment and I reckon we’re going to go down to a three shift pattern.
“That means one in four people on the shop floor are going to lose their jobs.”

Another worker, arriving for his 6pm shift on Tuesday, was also unaware of the news, while a colleague said morale was at an “all time low”.

Workers called to the meeting at the staff canteen on Monday, said a feeling of gloom had set in.
One said: “It’s a cloud hanging over our heads. We’re all on tenterhooks.

“The union knew nothing about it. They weren’t even there for the meeting, they’re never really supportive. The whole factory just stopped and downed tools.”

A spokesman for the Unite union said they had only found out on Monday. He said: “It’s very early days, as we have only just been notified. It will be down to the officers to negotiate with the company and the shop stewards as to what is best for workers.”

A motorist from Bath has just paid an expensive price for driving with bald tyres.

The 25-year-old woman was fined £350 and given three penalty points for driving with tyres with insufficient tread.

The fine and points were handed down by Bath Magistrates Court, but it is a familiar story around the country.

Anyone who thinks they can save themselves some money by not replacing their bald tyres should realise this is not a wise money-saving step – it can be an expensive false economy.

Tyres which do not have the minimum legal tread limit of 1.6mm are a real hazard.

They can lead to accidents, blow-outs, punctures, penalty points - not to mention the financial pain of fines and increased insurance premiums.

In some cases insurance companies will even refuse to honour claims if the car had illegal tyres.

During a global recession, everyone is looking to make cut-backs and savings, but the smarter way to do it is hunt around to get the cheapest deal.

Etyres operates a convenient mobile tyre service, which means we don’t have expensive depots to maintain, and we pass the savings on to our customers in the form of low prices – up to 40% cheaper than the leading high street chains.

Denna Bowman, Head Office

A fleet of fire engines battled a huge tyres blaze in the village of Hensall earlier this week as toxic fumes created a noxious plume of smoke that could be seen from York.

Five engines, a foam bowser and fire-fighters wearing breathing apparatus spent seven hours tackling the blaze of more than 1,000 tyres.

Fire-fighter Craig Lawrence said the inferno started in Hazel Old Lane after tyres were dumped and wire removed from them – possibly to be sold as scrap – before being set alight.

He added: “Tyres were well alight when we arrived. A thick plume of smoke could be seen for miles around, and even as far as York.

“We used about 700 litres of a foam/water mix to bring this under control. Engines were scrambled from North Yorkshire, Humberside and West Yorkshire. This type of incident is becoming a more common in the area.”

One eye-witness said: “I was driving towards home from the Selby Bypass when I looked towards Drax Power Station and saw thick black smoke billowing into the air.

“If fire-fighters hadn’t brought this under control, who knows what might have happened.”

Oliver Hall, Operations Team

The US governments decision to slap heavy duties on imported Chinese tyres is regarded as a stealth tax on motorists, according to lobby group.

Barack Obama is accused of breaking his central campaign promise not to raise “any form” of taxes on American’s making less than $250,000 a year by American’s for Tax Reform.

The controversial tyres tariff has sent shudders of nervous anticipation of a potential trade-war between the US and China.

But closer to home, Grover Norquist, president of the non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all tax increases, said: “Make no mistake; a tariff is nothing more than a tax on consumers.

“This decision will drive up the cost of tyres, increasing the economic burden on families already struggling with the high cost of transportation.”

He said the families hardest hit by the tax increase will be low-income families, since the tariffs will be applied to low-end tyres, costs $50 to $60 as opposed to the $200 to $250 paid for premium tyres.

“According to the Wall Street Journal, Americans can expect to see a 20 to 30 per cent increase in the cost of tyres.”

Obama has been accused of bowing to pressure from the United Steelworkers – a powerful union – to imposed the 35 per cent tariff on tyre imports from China.

Mr Norquist added: “With this decision, Obama has put the interests of his union supporters, too fearful to compete in the marketplace, above the interests of taxpayers.”

Oliver Hall, Operations Team