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US tire giant Goodyear’s (NYSE: GT) Q3 revenues in Latin America rose 14.4%, or US$82mn, to US$651mn, a record for any quarter, with revenue per tire up 8% and unit sales down 2%, executive VP and CFO Darren Wells said during a webcast on Q3 results.

Segment operating income for the period totaled US$62mn, down 34.7% from the prior-year period.

“While two items, namely the sale of our farm tire business and foreign exchange, combined to reduce earnings by about US$10mn, segment operating income was down even excluding these two factors,” Well said.

“Latin America, and particularly Brazil, faces the duel pressure from first, imports in the low value part of the market driven by stronger currency, and second, increasing cost inflation.

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US firm Dow Chemical’s (NYSE: DOW) third quarter sales in Latin America rose 21% year-on-year to US$1.95bn, on the back of a 7% rise in volumes and a 14% increase in prices.

Latin America recorded the highest sales growth of all Dow’s sales regions in the quarter, the firm said in its quarterly results report.

In January-September, sales in the region climbed 22% to US$5.3bn due to volume and price increases of 7% and 15% respectively.

Meanwhile, global sales rose 17% to US$15.1bn year-over-year, with combined volume growth in Latin America and Asia Pacific (5%) offsetting declines in the US and Western Europe. Volume growth in emerging regions was led by China (12%), India (11%) and Brazil (10%).

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Mexican chemical, automotive and food conglomerate Grupo Kuo’s chemical division posted sales of US$286mn in the third quarter, up 32% from US$216mn in 3Q10.

Kuo attributed the result to around 36% higher sales prices in all of its strategic business units as a result of rising raw material costs; higher demand in the tire industry, in its elastomers unit; and in its plastics unit, an increase in sales volumes in the domestic market and export market, mainly the US, Europe and Latin America.

Exports in the quarter rose 25% year-on-year to US$160mn, the company said in a statement.

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A discussion was recently started at SalesPractice.com titled, “How to shorten the sales cycle”. The original question asked what you could do that is in your control to shorten the Sales Cycle (Length of time from Initial Contact to Close). Since the Buying Cycle (The phases a person progresses through when making decisions aka Decision Process) directly affects the sales cycle the discussion had at least two avenues to travel… Read Full Post…

An earlier Easter and modest consumer spending rebound helped retail sales rise in March, particularly furniture and luxury goods, categories that were the worst hit during the recession, according to an early measurement.

The latest numbers out Wednesday from MasterCard Advisor’s SpendingPulse show sales rose in most categories, including clothing, appliances and consumer electronics.

The figures track all forms of payment, including cash.

The March figures benefit from relatively easy comparisons to March 2009, when consumers cut back on spending and shopped mainly for necessities and the stock market hit its recession low.

Also, the retail month ended on Saturday, the day before Easter, so virtually all Easter purchases fell in March this year, said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for SpendingPulse.

“All Easter benefits counted in March of this year when last year, a week counted in April,” he said.

Still, consumers continue to spend cautiously. Read Full Post…

Sales of existing homes fell for a third straight month in February, pushing sales down to the lowest level since last July. There is concern the fragile housing rebound is faltering, making it harder for the overall economy to recover.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that sales of previously occupied homes dropped 0.6 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.02 million.

The weakness in sales depressed prices with the median home price dropping almost 2 percent from a year ago to $165,100.

Sales activity varied across the country. Read Full Post…

Rising sales, particularly during the holidays, helped quadruple jeweler Tiffany & Co.’s fourth-quarter profit, the company said Monday, indicating luxury customers are willing to spend more as fears about the economy lessen.

The quarter that ended Jan. 31 produced more than half of Tiffany’s fiscal 2009 profit, and the company, known for its signature turquoise boxes, forecast fiscal 2010 earnings ahead of Wall Street’s expectations.

Tiffany earned more $140.4 million, or $1.10 per share, compared with $31.1 million, or 25 cents per share a year earlier. Excluding a restructuring charge, Tiffany earned 86 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Read Full Post…