Newspapers / Firestone News (Gastonia, N.C.) / Feb. 26, 1965, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page 4 Tir«$loti* Sfiw February 26, 1965 As ART ARFONS powered his Firestone equipped “Green Monster” across the Bonneville, Utah, Salt Flats to set a new world land speed record of 536.71 miles per hour. Firestone built special wheels and tires for the car and furnished engineering and service assist ance to Arfons. ROW AFTER ROW of disc wheels virtually engulf a workman at a Firestone Steel Products Com pany plant. The company, a division of the parent company, produces disc wheels for trucks, buses and trailers, and many other metal products. EVERY effort is directed to control variables affecting tire performance such as load, speed, infla tion and road surfaces at Firestone’s Test Center in Fort Stockton, Texas. The Center is an outstanding outdoor laboratory test facility. Our profit from foreign operations this year after devaluation in creased approximately 25 per cent over 1963 foreign profit. This is not surprising when you consider that more than half the world’s motor vehicles are now in countries outside the United States. The standard of living of most nations was much lower than that of the United States before World War Two. Immediately after the war, with generous aid from the United States, many countries began' a period of rapid eco nomic growth which has resulted in their peoples enjoying the highest living standards in their history. In many nations, people who did not dream of ever owning an auto mobile a few years ago, now own cars, and the market is growing larger every year. Still, car ownership per thousand population remains sub stantially below the level of the United States. There is every reason to believe that car ownership abroad will continue to grow and that our foreign sales and profits will continue to increase throughout the fore seeable future. We anticipate that by 1974 tire production abroad will increase 100 per cent over today’s levels. Diversified Fields Excellent opportunities for growth exist in other divisions of our business. We have diversified into many fields other than the automotive industry. We are experiencing outstanding gains in our Steel Products Company; our Electric Wheel Company in Quincy, Illinois, continues to introduce new and improved products in ever-expanding markets as does our Firestone Industrial Products Company and our Coated Fabrics Division. The growth of our synthetic fibers business has resulted in increased facilities at Hopewell, Virginia, where the Firestone Synthetic Fibers Company is located. The installation of new equipment at the Pottstown, Pennsylvania, plant of our Firestone Plastics Company enables us to enter into new and important markets. In addition to Duradene, a new and better type of synthetic rubber for tires, the Firestone Synthetic Rubber and Latex Company intro duced several new products last year for a wide range of applications. This division is continuously engaged in research and in the development of new synthetic rubbers for many different industries. A new urethane plant at Milan, Tennessee, is a valuable addition to our Firestone Rubber and Latex Products Company. I am pleased to report that the Firestone Plantations Company continues its excellent record of progress. This is also true of our Firestone Textiles Company. We make a wide range of adhesives which are marketed under the trade name, Loxite, through the Xylos Rubber Company. This division also makes and sells reclaimed rubber and is responsible for the sale of rubber for use in paving streets, playgrounds and other surfaces. These fine subsidiary companies have all contributed to the diversi fication of Firestone into many fields that have no direct relationship to the automobile industry. Equally important, the products from these companies have excellent growth possibilities. Expansion of Automobile Ownership Of course, our basic business is tires and the constant expansion in population and in automobile ownership both at home and abroad indicate that the tire business is destined to continue its gratifying growth in the years to come. In all divisions of our business, we have exceptionally capable people and, through our training programs, we continuously educate our younger employees in all of our operations, assuring us of a reser voir of upcoming, skilled manpower for the future. In addition, our management training class recruits the brightest prospects from the graduating classes of colleges and universities and prepares them for future management responsibilities. We are dedicated to the principle of developing men who are eager to accept the challenges of our many diversified interests, and we believe that this constant preparation for the future will assure our ability to meet the many opportunities that lie before us. As we approach the sixty-fifth anniversary of the founding of our company, it is quite evident to us that we are well equipped with man power, money and machinery to keep our company in the forefront of American industry. We are adhering strictly to our precept of “Best Today, Still Better Tomorrow” which has made the Firestone name the symbol of quality and service throughout the world. By constantly striving toward this objective, our company will continue to grow in both sales and profits in the years ahead. i EXPANSION is symbolized here by photo of re actor area at company’s Orange, Texas, synthetic rubber plant. By increasing manufacturing capacity for products other than tires. Firestone is in a better position than ever to serve customers in all of its many diversified operations throughout the world. A brawny new rear tractor tire . .. the Deep Tread ... is in production for big, high horsepower tractors. The tire features better traction for increased pulling power. RADIAL ply passenger tires are being produced in the United States for replacement use on lightweight American and European cars. Pictured above is a plastic model built solely to demonstrate the company^s new fiber F glass fiber cord in a passenger tire with radial ply construction.
Firestone News (Gastonia, N.C.)
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Feb. 26, 1965, edition 1
4
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