MWSD completes senior management board
Motor Wheel Service Distribution (MWSD) has completed a recent series of changes to its senior management board with the appointment of Jason Mayor as chief commercial officer.
Motor Wheel Service Distribution (MWSD) has completed a recent series of changes to its senior management board with the appointment of Jason Mayor as chief commercial officer.
Wolfrace’s latest product to emerge from its ‘skunk works’ development department is the Aero, a ‘turbine style’ alloy that’s available in the company’s customary wide range of sizes, offsets, PCDs and finishes. This wheel is suitable for both passenger car and commercial applications thanks to its load indexing.
Launch UK has been named “Best Launch Business 2016” by the brand’s European division.
The UK operation, based in Plymouth, is the only genuine distributor of Launch products in the UK and this award acknowledges the high quality of its customer service from the point of sale through to aftersales support.
A new report prepared for Australian Tyre Recyclers Association (ATRA), “Carbon Value Proposition, Resource Recovery using Tyre Derived Fuels”, states that replacing one tonne of black coal with one tonne of TDF can save emissions of up to 1.05 tonnes of CO2-e into the atmosphere.
Original equipment tyre approvals are standard practice in the automotive industry, however vehicle manufacturers’ influence on later replacement tyre choice is generally restricted to passive recommendation via OE tyre selection. Mercedes-Benz is taking a more hands-on approach in India, and has teamed up with Continental to offer a range of approved products for replacement tyre customers.
After a period of relatively stable and low raw material prices, the wheel and tyre industry is now experiencing extensive increases in the cost of both rubber and steel. All major tyre manufacturers have already announced price increases, and although STARCO states it has fought hard to mitigate these increases, it now finds itself in a position where it must pass some of this additional cost on to its customers. This price increase will affect all STARCO market segments.
The economically-teetering country of Venezuela was a recurring theme in Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s 2016 financial report. The tyre maker’s deconsolidation of its subsidiary in that country drove down both sales and unit volumes for the year, however the measure had a more favourable impact upon Goodyear’s bottom line.
From next month, the Mitas Terra Force-R range will grow by a further five sizes. Commenting on the upcoming new additions, the Trelleborg Group company’s director of motorcycle tyre and tube products says that by extending the range to include a V speed rated 90/90-21 tyre size, riders “will get a perfect set for a combination of 90/90-21 54V for front wheels and 150/70R17 69V for rear wheels.”
Spartan Race is billed as the world’s best obstacle race series and is present in over 30 countries, including the UK, where those wishing to test their mettle can compete in three race classes – Sprint, Super and the dauntingly-named Beast. The concept has its origins and greatest presence in the US, and Spartan Race has taken on a new tyre partner in that market. Yokohama Tire Corporation has teamed up with Spartan Race in order to highlight its Geolandar range of light truck tyres.
When it comes to winter driving, Nokian Heavy Tyres observes that an extra couple of percentage points improvement in grip “makes all the difference.” This is why when developing a successor to the Hakkapeliitta Truck F, the Finnish tyre maker says it wanted to make an “already excellent” steer tyre “even better.” The Hakkapeliitta Truck F2, it adds, is a completely redesigned tyre with a “more aggressive tread pattern” that maximises grip.
The GT Radial SportActive became available around a year ago as a new flagship tyre for the brand, distributed in the UK by Micheldever. Towards the end of 2016, Giti Tire held an event for its wholesale partner and a large group of its most successful dealers in Vilamoura, Portugal, with track-based demonstrations of the tyre’s capabilities at Portimao’s Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. GT Radial has leveraged a racing partnership before to market the tyre in the UK; it partnered consumer high performance driving magazine Evo for its popular 2016 series of track day events at the Bedford Autodrome, making its tyres available for amateur racing enthusiasts to try out on vehicles such as the Audi S3, Golf GTI, BMW 340i and Toyota GT86.
Zenises’ diamond and gold embellished world’s most expensive tyre has been featured on Jeremy Clarkson’s Amazon Prime vehicle, The Grand Tour. Launching the final show in the series from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, Clarkson introduced the Guinness World Record-holding Z Tyre to the studio audience. The show concluded with co-host Richard Hammond drifting alongside the lead driver of Acorn Zenises Motorsport, Steve ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni.
The European car industry boomed in 2016 – with new car registrations for the year totalling 15.14 million units, a 6.5 per cent increase when compared to 2015. This is the second highest volume seen since 2007 when total registrations exceeded 16 million units. In addition, the results also demonstrate that the SUV take-up trend continues to boom. In fact, the switch to SUVs was the clearest car sector trend in 2016. To be precise, the European SUV sector grew 21.4 per cent last year, increasing from 3.2 million units registered in 2015 to 3.9 million last year. In contrast, the traditional segments grew by just 2.2 per cent – 10 times slower!
At the end of January Nokian Tyres renewed its Nordman product family with the introduction of the Nordman 7, including an SUV variant. The Nokian Nordman 7 SUV studded tyres utilise a unique stud technology that offers safe and comfortable winter driving. The carefully tried and tested technological solutions ensure that new Nokian Nordman tyres are a reliable choice for the varying Northern conditions in terms of safety as well as overall economy.
While the Audi Q2 is not top-of-the-range as such, it does offer premium technology such as connectivity/infotainment and plenty of room for upgrades.
Indeed, in keeping with the slogan “If it doesn’t match it will be matched”, the Q2 can be upgraded to taste, which also catapults it into the upper price segment of city SUVs.
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