Andrew is an editor for WhatTyre, Tyrepress, and Tyres & Accessories magazine. He has more than a decade of experience in editing, writing, and journalism.
Tyre servicing equipment manufacturers Sicam and Werther International have requested an arrangement with creditors. The two associated companies are part of the Beissbarth Automotive Service Equipment (BASE) Group, controlled by Bavarian company Stargate Capital. The group also includes the UK’s Tecalemit, in addition to Beissbarth, Apac Lube, Accu-Turn, Oma, Tecnotest and Fog Automotive. Werther and Sicam are based in Italy
GaragesNear.Me, a car service and repair booking platform, has hailed its first national show, the UK Garage & Bodyshop Event at the NEC in Birmingham, as “a fantastic success.” The company hosted a variety of visitors on its stand, introducing itself to garages visiting the show and encouraging them to join up to the platform, which many did.
Prometeon Tire Group has appointed Luca Frangi as CEO for its Eastern European organisational structure. Frangi has almost 20 years of experience within Pirelli. He will take up his new position in July 2022. Prometeon added that Jarosław Krzempek will leave the company from 8 July 2022 to take advantage of new professional opportunities.
Giti Tire appeared on the 19 June episode of Top Gear, supporting the presenting trio’s participation in a round of the British Truck Racing Championship (BTRC). The episode focused on commercial vehicles – an HGV special – as presenters Chris Harris, Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness passed their lorry driving tests before driving across the UK in new DAF, Mercedes and Scania pulling units. Their journey ended at Pembrey Race Circuit, where McGuinness then competed in a BTRC round in a fully liveried Giti truck.
Hankook says the Ventus S1 Evo Z marks a new era in its high-end-tyre portfolio, streamlined for highly demanding sportscars. The manufacturer focused on delivering high grip in different weather conditions, developing a new silica enriched compound mixture with the latest generation of functional polymers, technology originating from its racing tyre development. This compound undergoes a slower curing process with low temperature vulcanisation to increase the blending of those molecules that then influences the driving performance. This ensures a consistently high level of grip across a wide range of applications and the result is a tread compound which is bespoke for sports cars of premium manufacturers, representing the top of their range.
Giti Tire has extended its non-exclusive distribution agreement with long-term Nordics partner Vianor. The new extension will run until 2024, which will mean the relationship between the companies will pass its 20th anniversary. The deal covers GT Radial passenger car, SUV and light truck tyres (both summer and winter) and Giti heavy truck and bus products in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Vianor distributes tyres through its own self-branded stores and independent retailers, at more than 500 points of sales.
Goodyear’s Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 was launched in late 2021 with the promise that it would be “ready for anything”. The tyre has certainly impressed in its initial run of independent tyres tests, picking up wins in the Auto Bild, Auto Motor und Sport, and Tyre Reviews tests. But Goodyear’s mission for the tyre has gone beyond its traditional wet and dry performance characteristics; the manufacturer wants to bring this technology to a very wide selection of cars – hence its plan to offer 65 fitments between 17” and 22”, a relatively broad range, by 2023. The tyre and this range is designed to offer fitments for existing growth vehicle types, like SUVs, and future dramatic changes in the market, with a construction making it suitable for the wave of battery electric and hybrid vehicles quickly entering the car parc. In 2021, petrol cars retained a leading 40 per cent share, but battery electric (EV) cars took a record 9 per cent of the European market and hybrid (PHEV and HEV) grew to a significant 20 per cent share, according to ACEA data.
The Giti Tire Motorsport by WS Racing team won the VT2 class and achieved third place in the SP8T class with its all-female racing team at the 50th ADAC TotalEnergies 24hr Nürburgring endurance race. Both vehicles delivered their results on GitiCompete GTR1 tyres. The new BMW M4 GT4 of ‘Girls Only – Ready to Rock the Green Hell’ achieved a magnificent third place in the powerful SP8T after a near seamless weekend of high-octane action which saw the race go the full distance.
Three different cars using Pirelli’s Scorpion gravel tyres took the podium places on Rally Poland, the latest round of the European Rally Championship. The Skoda Fabia of Mikolaj Marczyk led the Hyundai i20 R5 of Tom Kristensson and the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Ken Torn. Each driver made the most of the reliability of the Pirelli Scorpion. Marczyk took the lead after Hyundai driver Nils Solans – also running Pirelli tyres – encountered problems on SS6, while Kristensson and Torn finished 13 seconds ahead of the fourth-placed crew. Pirelli said the highly variable conditions of the roads in Poland put the Scorpion tyres to a challenging test.
Essex garage owner Laurence Nichols has promised to drive his Harlow business into a new era having strengthened ties with the First Stop network on his 50th anniversary in the motor trade. Nichols runs Uncle Tom’s Motorist Centre, which he named after his father who died in 1989. Now 63, the garage owner began his career making the tea for colleagues back in 1972, before his family business fully kicked into gear in 1976. When his father Tom passed away, he decided to change the name of the garage in his memory. He says thoughts of his father continue to spur him on.
The UK Garage and Bodyshop Event at the Birmingham NEC hosted the finale of Autogem’s inaugural TPMS Expert competition on Wednesday, 8 June. 12 regional finalists assembled on Autogem’s stand to demonstrate their problem-solving skills in front of hundreds of onlookers, including a judging panel of industry experts. Merityre’s Liam Gaynor was crowned TPMS Expert (large retailer) with Hometyre’s Craig Schwartz taking the small retailer award, while all 12 finalists were commended for detecting various TPMS faults quickly and efficiently, communicating them clearly to the panel. Meanwhile Autogem, which has developed the TPMS Expert award over the past few years to help raise standards and awareness about tyre pressure monitoring systems, has been praised by automotive retail bosses and industry experts for its first nationwide competition.
GfK data shows that the 17” and above UK tyre replacement market continues to offer both increased volume and value. While the 19” and above segment retains the characteristics of specialised fitments, the top two fitments account for more than one-fifth of replacement tyres sized 17-18”.
Kumho’s surprise victory in the 2021 in Auto Bild’s 52-tyre summer tyre test with its Ecsta HS51 high-performance tyre did not prevent the manufacturer from replacing the tyre with the Ecsta HS52 successor high performance tyre. Some sizes are already available at Kumho dealerships nationwide, with the balance of the line-up due shortly.
With a wave of new ultra-high performance products from global brands arriving in the post-pandemic market, Tyres & Accessories looks at data supplied by specialist tyre industry analyst Astutus Research showing just how quickly the market for high rim diameter (HRD) tyres is now growing in Western and Central Europe (this data excludes Russia, Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe).
The European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) judgement that the European Union’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs should be annulled has been welcomed by many of those responsible for distributing these products across the continent. Yet for importers of these products in post-Brexit United Kingdom, the truck tyre tariffs introduced by the European Commission appear to be persisting. Speaking to representatives of the Imported Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ITMA), the association whose members are most directly concerned with these tariffs, Tyres & Accessories now understands that the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) does not intend to annul the tariffs since the ECJ’s judgement does not apply legally in the UK, even considering the view that the tariffs were implemented improperly under EC law. It follows that the status quo on these tariffs will be maintained, at least until the TRA reaches tyres in its review of the lengthy list of trade remedies inherited from the UK’s time as a member of the EU. Until such a review takes place, the tariffs will continue to apply until at least November 2023, and UK importers are effectively blocked from joining European colleagues in ending and recouping duties found to be improperly implemented.
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