ATS Euromaster doubles winter tyre order

ATS Euromaster has doubled its investment in cold weather tyres to more than £6 million for winter 2011/2012, with orders spread across a mix of premium, mid-range and budget brands. As a result the company reports that it will be stocking a range of sizes suitable for most makes of car and van. Last year the company spent around £3 million on winter tyre stocks.

Chris Hufflett, group operations director of ATS Euromaster, told Tyres & Accessories: “Last year the UK had its first real taste of cold weather tyres and they quickly became ‘hot ticket’ items – we could have sold our stock several times over. Long range forecasts for this winter point towards it being the fourth bad winter in succession. If this rings true, it will drive a very strong market for cold weather tyre sales across the board.

“In many ways the UK’s take-up of cold weather tyres is mirroring the pattern our colleagues at Euromaster saw in Holland a decade ago, when winter fitments were introduced.  Sales there have continued to grow year on year, and our Dutch colleagues now fit over 300,000 winter fitments annually.

“Much of the early demand for cold weather tyres in the UK during winter 2010/2011 was led by NHS Ambulance Trusts spanning England, Wales and Scotland. This year we have received advance orders to fit these tyres across hundreds of additional ambulances and rapid-response paramedic cars nationwide.  There is also strong demand from home delivery companies and utilities fleets, plus retail fitments will begin in earnest as winter approaches,” he adds.

Peter Fairlie, Group Sales Director at ATS Euromaster, commented: “When we launched our cold weather tyre offer in April 2010 no other fast-fit service provider was promoting winter fitments for fleets.  Naturally, we regard it as a great compliment that several months after launch, other service providers and franchised car dealerships were rushing to follow our lead.

“What sets ATS Euromaster apart is the extensive experience we have in cold weather tyres, shared via our Euromaster Group colleagues in Europe, where we are the leading cold weather tyre experts, with annual group sales exceeding 1.5 million units.”

ATS Euromaster also says that utilising hundreds of ‘tyre hotels’ throughout its own network, rather than a central warehousing method, ensures the fastest access to a customer’s tyres when the seasons change.

“If snowfall arrives earlier than planned, having the tyres on-site at a local level means we can get customers into the centre and back on the road as quickly as possible.  This also negates the need to use logistics providers for deliveries, which risk becoming delayed by adverse winter weather.”

ATS Euromaster’s cold weather tyre prices start from £174 for a set of four Riken 145/70 R13s, including fitting, and are available from ATS Euromaster centres throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Fleets order in winter tyres in buyback deal

Testament to ATS Euromaster’s flexibility is a recent job fitting cold weather tyres across 300 new Volkswagen Caddy Maxi’s on behalf of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions. ATS Euromaster replaced all four tyres – plus spares – as soon as the new vehicles arrived in the UK. The vans are being supplied to British Gas, which now operate a cold weather tyre policy helping ensure the British Gas fleet remains safe and mobile throughout the winter.

Peter Fairlie, group sales director at ATS Euromaster explained: “We agreed a deal to buy back the existing summer fitments and replace them with Michelin Agilis cold weather tyres. This will ensure the vans are fully prepared for the colder months ahead.”

In addition to customers fitting cold weather tyres on vehicles for the first time, ATS Euromaster will also be supporting motorists who adopted a winter fitment policy last year. The company has approximately 20,000 part-worn cold weather tyres stored in tyre hotels throughout its network, each labelled with a vehicle registration number and barcode to ensure they are re-fitted to the same customer’s car or van.

“Our tyre hotels are located within our own centres as this offers us additional flexibility versus a central warehousing approach. It also guarantees the fastest access to a customer’s tyres when the seasons change.

“If snowfall arrives earlier than planned, having the tyres stored locally means we can get motorists into our centres and back on the road as quickly as possible.  This also negates the need to use logistics providers for deliveries, which risk becoming delayed by adverse winter weather – particularly if the logistics provider hasn’t fitted cold weather tyres across its fleet.”

Related news:

• Pirelli winter range part of a ‘responsibility’ to road safety

• ATS Euromaster urges drivers to prepare for “worst winter on record”

• ATS Euromaster wins Van Fleet award for winter tyre hotels