Several Companies Show Interest in Ailing ATS Plant - Tire Review Magazine

Several Companies Show Interest in Ailing ATS Plant

(Staffordshire, U.K./Tyres & Accessories) A number of companies have cast a hungry eye upon the factory owned by ATS Light Alloy Wheels South Africa a month after the company was placed in provisional liquidation.

One of the joint liquidators, Alan Pellow, said that about six companies had already inspected the plant and "some people in the US want to have a look."

The liquidators say they are striving to find a buyer who we take on the factory as a going concern, however this happy outcome is by no means certain. "We are waiting for the final valuations for the plant and will then probably send out an information pack worldwide and see what we can bring in," Pellow added.

ATS Light Alloy Wheels South Africa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tiger Wheels’ 74% owned German unit ATS Beteiligungs. In addition to the South African facility, ATS also operates alloy wheel manufacturing plants in Germany, Poland and the U.S. Directors and senior management at the South African plant applied for liquidation of the company due to ongoing cash flow problems, and the decision as to if or when liquidation is finalised is dependent on a high court decision.

As is often the case in these situations, many company employees are feeling the financial sting of recent events. ATS’ four major creditors – FNB, Billiton, Nedbank and Tiger Wheels (Tiwheel) – have agreed to pay employees a portion of their salary arrears. However, employees cannot gain access to their pension funds until the liquidation is made final. In the meantime those employees with the most skills are finding work elsewhere, and the loss of each skilled worker makes the continuance of the plant as a going concern just that much more difficult – a fact not lost on Pellow, who has described the factory as a “sad place.”

You May Also Like

Continental’s ContiConnect Lite to allow digital tire management for OTR tires

Continental said ContiConnect Lite helps fleet managers monitor the condition of their tires via bluetooth.

ContiConnect-Lite-OTR

Continental launched ContiConnect Lite, a new version of its digital tire management app, which the company said creates a bridge between tire sensors and professional tire management and offers a free-of-charge gateway to selected ContiConnect features. Continental said it can also now be used on tires with an integrated Gen2 sensor. Since this year, Continental has been delivering its off-the-road (OTR) radial tires with a bluetooth-enabled sensor. In addition to OTR tires, Continental said it also offers digital tire management to its truck tire customers.

Hana Technologies signs license agreement with Michelin for RFID tire tags

Since its inception, Hana Technologies has spearheaded the manufacturing of over 150 million RFID tire tags.

Handshake agreement
Continental debuts new sustainably-focused U.S. headquarters in South Carolina

The building’s 840 solar panels are capable of offsetting up to 25% of its total energy consumption.

Front-of-Continental-Americas-HQ-1400
Yokohama Rubber reveals 2024 motorsports activity plan

Yokohama said participation in motorsports activities is crucial to its efforts to strengthen the Advan and GeoLandar brands.

Yokohama-Nitrocross
Tesla Model 3 TPMS service

Resetting and programming TPMS sensors for a Tesla is a lot like any other vehicle, and the challenge is still the same: keeping the light off.

bendpakEVgarageTPMS-1400

Other Posts

TIA’s Advanced Farm Tire Service training to take place in June

The training class for technicians in the agricultural and farm tire industries is set to take place June 11-14.

TIA_training-
Three spark plug service and replacement tips

How to avoid and overcome roadblocks that may come up during the removal or installation of spark plugs.

Continental-sparkplug
Maxxis-sponsored athletes make podium, overall top 10 at Mint 400

Maxxis athletes Michael McFayden, Ethan Ebert and Trey Gibbs had podium finishes at the Mint 400 on Maxxis RAZR XT tires.

2024-mint400-maxxis
Sun Auto Tire reveals winner of Ford Bronco Sport giveaway

Lowell Anderson entered the giveaway at his local Sun Auto Tire & Service store while receiving a routine oil change.

Sun-Auto-Bronco-giveaway