Continental AG closes tire plants in Sweden, Austria. (Corporate Financial News).

German tiremaker Continental AG will start talks on closing its production plant in Sweden because the facility is not efficient. The plant in Gislaved, with 774 employees, will remain open through next summer, but then will close. Gislaved is said to be Continental's smallest plant with a yearly capacity of 4 million tires. Continental also will close its tire-making plant in Traiskirchen, Austria in July, with the loss of about 950 jobs.

Bridgestone/Firestone, Nashville, TN, has created a new corporate structure to help rebuild the tire maker by dividing operations into four subsidiaries under a newly created holding company. Company officials said the changes will help the U.S. arm of Japan's Bridgestone get better financing rates and focus on its core businesses. The new subsidiaries are Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire LLC, based in Nashville, TN, which will conduct the North American tire manufacturing and wholesale and original equipment sales operations; BFS Retail & Commercial Operations LLC, overseeing company-owned consumer and commercial store chains in the U.S. and Canada; BFS Diversified Products LLC, overseeing non-tire operations in the Americas; and Bridgestone Metalpha USA, Clarksville, TN, a manufacturer of steel cord used in tires.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber's North American Tire operations, Akron, OH, announced a new structure focused on distinct business segments, including consumer replacement, consumer OE, commercial, farm and retail, and have dedicated specialized resources in the field to service the segments. Goodyear has raised prices on truck and passenger car tires by 3% to 5%. Goodyear reported that in October, industry shipments to original equipment dropped 11% from a year ago for consumer tires and 24% for commercial tires. In October, industry shipments of consumer replacement tires were 10% below last year's levels. Goodyear shipments in total of consumer replacement tires were also down. In October, Goodyear shipped about 200,000 tires as part of the Ford replacement program.

Federal-Mogul, Southfield, MI, was named 2001 Supplier of the Year by the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance.

Bayer's plan to divest rubber additives maker Rhein Chemie means that two of the world's three big rubber chemicals makers are on the auction block. Akzo Nobel and Solutia, joint owners of Flexsys, confirm they are exploring the possibility of the sale of Flexsys. Uniroyal Chemical is the other company.