At the beginning of April the sixth

At the beginning of April the sixth round-table conference about tyres and tyre technology organised by the Tip Top Stahlgruber company took place in Munich. This year’s 85 participants came from many varied backgrounds: There were tyre dealers, retreaders, material suppliers, representatives of associations (ADAC, BRV, DEKRA, TÜV etc.), scientists and representatives of the vehicle and tyre manufacturing industries.

Some of the highlights of the event included Hans-Jürgen Drechsler, deputy managing director of the BRV (Association of Tyre Traders and Non-Industrial Vulcanisers), speaking about development tendencies in the tyre trade with plenty of figures to back up the claim that the general tendency to concentration in the tyre trade is accelerating and manufacturer dependence or orientation also on the increase. Dieter Hatzfeld, formerly Michelin, now in a leading position with RuLa GmbH, the truck tyre cold cure retreader, spoke about the lop-sided pricing policy in the truck tyre field. The gist of his talk was: The price relation between new and retreaded tyres is no longer right.

The subject of Mobile Fitting was also under discussion. “Long-term participation in the truck tyre business means participation in the large fleet business and offering comprehensive service schemes”, Drechsler said. Norbert Schygulla (Deutsche Goodyear), Michael Zoeppritz (Bridgestone/Firestone), Dr.

Bernd Löwenhaupt (Dunlop), Ludwig Nelke (Michelin) and Hugo Verschoore (Butler Engineering) then introduced their own companies’ tyre run-flat systems (EMT, DSST, PAX) complete with practical fitting and maintenance suggestions. All in all, the range of subjects was far-reaching, offering something interesting for each of the guests present. Read more in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG 5/2000.