Decision time: details of the 2012 TAFF Awards finalists

Since their introduction, the NTDA Tyre & Fast Fit (TAFF) Awards have become something of a tyre industry institution and the competition is always keen. After all, who wouldn't want the bragging rights of saying that you have been chosen as number one in your sector by your customers?

For those who don't know, the awards are made in a number of categories, in which five finalists have been selected, following nominations from NTDA members. The tyre industry then gets the chance to vote for a winner in each category, with voting forms published in the June, July and August issues of Tyres & Accessories, or you can cast your vote via the NTDA website.

As well as the usual five categories, for the second time there will be a Tyre Centre of the Year award, where members can nominate one of their centres, which will be ‘mystery shopped’ and assessed by market research experts Encircle Marketing.

The final award is that of ‘Innovation’ and companies are invited to put forward a product or process that they believe is truly innovative. These are whittled down to a shortlist and a panel of industry experts picks a winner.

The winners of all these awards will be announced during the NTDA Annual Dinner, which this year is being held at the Hilton Deansgate, Manchester, on Wednesday 10th October. Incidentally, 2012 sees a new sponsor for the TAFF Awards; chemical company and synthetic rubber supplier Lanxess.

As usual, Tyres & Accessories is giving all the finalists a chance to set out their stalls and make a final pitch for your votes, so without further ado, let’s see what the 2012 finalists have to say for themselves.

Tyre Manufacturer of the Year

This year the five largest tyre companies in the world go head-to-head, with Goodyear Dunlop replacing Hankook in the list of nominees. Bridgestone, Continental and Michelin have all won the award in the past, while the fifth nominee – Pirelli – were last year’s winners.

Bridgestone UK Ltd

Speaking on behalf of Bridgestone UK, John McNaught, managing director, said: “Being shortlisted for the Tyre Manufacturer of the Year award is always a great pleasure for Bridgestone, as the TAFF list is based on votes from prominent people in the industry and demonstrates to us that we are acknowledged for our innovative thinking. The award is one that we were proud to hold in 2010 and was a great boost to the company and to our customers as it recognised our efforts to consistently provide the best possible products to the industry.

“It is an award that we are looking to reclaim in 2012 after a year of extremely hard work undertaken across the company and would be a fine reward and recognition for our dedicated service.”

Continental Tyre Group

Continental aims to be at the forefront of the tyre industry whether in developing innovative products or in the unique support that it provides its customers. In order to achieve this Continental invests heavily in developing innovative products across its ranges. From working with manufacturers in developing extended mobility products such as the ContiSeal, the puncture resistant tyre, to making further advancements in winter tyre technology with the ContiWinterContact TS850.  

This is backed by consistently high performance in leading independent tests. Continental currently has a broad range of accolades from leading motoring publications, such as ‘Best Winter Tyre’ in the 2012 Autoexpress product awards and Best Buy accolades with Which? magazine for the latest ContiPremiumContact 5 and for the ContiEcoContact 5 in certain sizes.

This same tyre development approach is true across all business units with the innovative CSEasy industrial solid tyre, which can be fitted without the need for a mounting press, to the latest generation of truck tyres with fuel saving technology and the world’s first tyre cost calculator to show these savings in real terms.

As well as striving to deliver the highest quality products to its customers, Continental works closely with retailers to understand and improve their business, helping them to win new customers, increase profitability, improve customer service and retention. 

Continental is the world’s fourth largest passenger tyre manufacturer in the original equipment and replacement market. Its Commercial Vehicle tyre business is one of the largest manufacturers of truck, bus and industrial tyres worldwide. The product development focus of the Continental brand is to optimise all safety-relevant characteristics, while simultaneously minimising rolling resistance.

Goodyear Dunlop Tyres

Goodyear Dunlop is one of the world’s largest tyre companies with two global brands operating in more than 60 facilities in 25 countries around the world. Goodyear Dunlop’s innovations have set automotive standards around the globe for more than 100 years. The leading tyre manufacturer has pioneered tyre technology and continues efforts to be an industry leader in every continent. Employing over 70,000 people globally, the company sets high standards in employee relations aiming to be First with People. 

Over the last 12 months the company has introduced over 15 new products into the market including the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT, Goodyear EfficientGrip, Dunlop Sportmax RoadSmart II as well as enhancements in the Goodyear Marathon Range and investing in further developments in Retreading Technology. 

Goodyear Dunlop is not only taking strides in its manufacturing. It also takes win after win on the track with its Dunlop Motorsport division. Dunlop Motorsport competes in championships such as the American Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series, IDM, British Touring Car Championship, Moto 2 and Moto 3 as well as V8 Supercars and many more. 

Over the past 12 months the Goodyear brand has been adorning the skies of the UK with its Goodyear Blimp and has made an impact nationally with an integrated road safety campaign. 

Goodyear Dunlop reports that it is pleased and proud to be nominated for Tyre Manufacturer of the Year at the TAFF Awards. 

Michelin

With more than 111,000 employees, sales organisations in more than 170 countries and an annual R&D budget of 600 million euros, Michelin is the worldwide leader in tyre manufacture. 

New products launched in the past year include the Pilot Road 3 sport touring motorcycle tyre which the company says has re-written the rulebook in terms of wet grip and the Primacy 3 car tyre which offers motorists high performance in three critical safety areas – wet braking, dry braking and wet cornering.

Michelin’s commitment to offering its customers products which offer the best overall balance of performance was highlighted by the Michelin Performance Tour which took place between April and June 2012. This was a real-world test of tyre performance where a convoy of identical cars drove more than 30,000kms around Europe to highlight the performance benefits of the recently-launched Energy Saver+ car tyre. Run by DEKRA, the test showed that the Energy Saver+ lasted 9,300kms longer and braked 1.2m shorter in the wet (after 18,000kms) than the average of the four premium brand competitors’ tyres in the test.

On the motorsport front Michelin again took all three places on the podium in the premier LMP1 class at the 24 hours of Le Mans, one of the few international race series open to competition between rival tyre manufacturers and an excellent test laboratory to develop the next generation of high performance car tyres.

This link between the track and the road was highlighted by Michelin’s return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed where, in addition to having a main stand, the Company sponsored the Supercar Paddock and Supercar Run.

Pirelli UK Tyres Ltd

Pirelli is an Italian industrial enterprise active in more than 160 countries. The Pirelli Group is the fifth largest tyre manufacturer in the world in terms of turnover, with 22 factories in four continents, and is a leader in the premium and high technology segments of the tyre market.

For over a century Pirelli has developed as a truly inspirational enterprise, deeply rooted in the diverse national markets. Its competitive strength is founded on technological and research capabilities and the professional skills of its human resources. Pirelli attributes significant priority to the improvement of performance and minimalisation of environmental impact.

With UK factories in both Burton upon Trent and Carlisle, Pirelli has also produced the first to market “AA” rated tyre – the Pirelli Cinturato P7 Blue – in accordance with the new European Union labelling legislation.

Pirelli is a pioneer in the production of tyres for cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles, with a wide range of solutions designed to achieve the highest levels of performance and comfort on all roads and in all weather conditions. Truck and bus tyres provide high performance as well as high levels of safety and Pirelli offer a wide range of solutions to meet different needs and road conditions. 

The firm is also a leading tyre manufacturer in the world of Motorsport and is the official tyre supplier to several motorsport programmes including Formula One, GP2, GP3, the British Rally Championship, World Superbikes, Ferrari Open, MINI Challenge and GT Cup Championship.