Britishvolt close to collapse
The Financial Times is reporting that UK battery firm Britishvolt is close to collapse after £100 million of funding for its £3.8 billion electric vehicle battery gigafactory failed to materialise.
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Entries by Chris
Crypto bubble prompts 9.2% jump in UK luxury car ownership
Ownership of Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Bentley and Porsche cars has increased 9.2 per cent in the UK in the past year, up from 221,124 in 2020 to 241,391 in 2021. Data from national accountancy group UHY Hacker Young shows that Porsche remains the most popular luxury brand with 173,523 vehicles on the road and the brand experiencing a 10 per cent increase on the total of 157,916 in 2020. Ownership of Maseratis is growing the quickest, with 10.3 per cent more on UK roads, from 10,078 in 2020, to 11,113 in 2021.
Point S’s strategy of future-proofing tyre retail – two businesses’ point-of-view
Following the news that Point S has broken through the 300-branch mark in terms of its UK tyre retail growth, Tyres & Accessories engaged with the experience of two of the network’s members. Here, Point S Tyre & Autocare Network members Gary Benwell and Russell Parker discuss how the network’s strategy of future-proofing tyre retail has boosted the profitability of their businesses.
S&P confirms Pirelli as Global Sector Leader In Sustainability
Pirelli has been named global Leader in Sustainability in the ATX Auto Components sector within S&P Global’s 2022 Corporate Sustainability Assessment, obtaining the highest score in its segment. The results published today by S&P Global – valid for inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability indices –highlight Pirelli’s score of 85 points (+8 points above 2021, as announced on 26 September 2022). Pirelli’s result was the highest in the ATX Auto Components sector and significantly higher than the sector average of 24 points.
MTS: investment in e-commerce solutions reaps rewards for tyre retailers
Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) reports that it is continuing to invest in e-commerce solutions that benefit their tyre retailer network, with its dedicated tyre selling website, TyreClick, providing a “key platform for online success”. MTS investments include development of the TyreClick site and investment in third-party expertise, such as Strategic Q, to help enhance Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
New moveero website
Off-highway wheel and hub maker, moveero, has launched a brand-new website (moveero.com), designed to help customers quickly and easily identify the best match for their “specific application and machine requirements”. According to the company, the website has been designed to make “product selection and comparison a straightforward process”.
Apollo targeting 50% increase in off-highway tyre share: Interview with European president Benoit Rivallant
During Apollo Tyres’s recent celebration of 25 years of Traxion agricultural tyre technology, Europe president Benoit Rivallant set an ambitious target of growing the company’s off-highway tyre (OHT) revenue by 50 per cent. In Europe, 16 per cent of total revenue originates from the off-highway tyre sector. This compares with 63 per cent from passenger car tyres, 12 per cent from truck and bus tyres, 8 per cent from spare tyres, 1 per cent from bicycle tyres and 1 per cent from other products. In other words, the 16 per cent originating from off-highway tyre sales is a strategically important figure, 92 per cent of which comes from the agricultural sub-segment. Tyres & Accessories took time out with the company’s European head in order to find out more about how executives plan to achieve such ambitious targets in the context of a broadly challenging tyre market environment.
The Top 20 online tyre brands 2022
11 years ago, we published our analysis of the impact of social media and price comparison on the tyre business. Back then in July 2011, Facebook was the number one social network, with 750 million users, of which a third accessed the site via mobile devices. As of July 2022, Facebook has 2.934 billion.
Crypto Tyres: How the tyre business is engaging with crypto currencies and blockchain technology
On 1 September 2022, the global crypto currency market was valued at a trillion dollars, but that figure actually peaked at $2.8 trillion in November 2021. And therefore, whichever way you look at it, cryptocurrency is now a huge economic entity in its own right. With roughly 38 and 18 per cent market share respectively, Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two largest out there. Digital currencies bring with them two main features that suggest they are the future: Firstly, because they work on highly encrypted blockchain networks outside the established financial system, they offer the potential for greater efficiency and securing; and secondly, the operate as decentralised entities, taking governments and state banks out of the equation and empowering businesses and individuals with the margins that were only previously available to banks.
5 challenges affecting the haulage and transport industry
As the world moves away from the pandemic period, businesses are working on ways of reviving themselves. For instance, the transport companies like Migway have been boosted by the tremendous growth of the e-commerce sector. Urbanisation has also contributed to the improvement of roads previously untraversable. At the same time, driver numbers are down, which means those qualified to drive heavy goods vehicles are in demand. And those factors have led to the labour market for drivers becoming increasingly attractive but also complex.
Michelin pauses production at Stoke-on-Trent tyre retreading plant
Michelin is pausing some of its retreaded tyre production for a week in October and over the Christmas period. According to the company, Michelin is “adjusting production within existing flexibility agreements due to volatile trading conditions”. However, there is no question of whether the action is related to a potential closure of the operation. Rather, company representatives were explicit: “there is no plan to close the Stoke plant”.
Goodyear Montluçon two-wheel tyre transition completing in early 2024
Following the news that Goodyear is investing in converting its Montluçon into a two-wheel tyre production centre of excellence, company officials have confirmed that, subject to consultation with the relevant employee bodies, Goodyear expects the plans to be “substantially complete by the beginning of 2024”.
Cambrian Tyres appointed exclusive importer of Goodyear for UK and Ireland
On 3 October, Cambrian Tyres announced that it has been appointed as the exclusive importer of Goodyear Bicycle Tires for the UK and Ireland. Already a top-three global tyre company, Goodyear has been establishing itself as a leading brand within the global bicycle tyre segment since 2018 via a licensing agreement with Rubber Kinetics. Rubber Kinetics produce all Goodyear bicycle tyres at their “bicycle tyre specific research, development, and production centre in Taiwan”.
Tyre brands Nitto, Michelin and Pirelli lead in social media research
In its own words, Research Tools, based in based Esslingen am Neckar near Stuttgart, specializes in marketing analysis/market research. The company recently examined the performance of 100 tyre brands on the leading social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube in cooperation with VICO Research & Consulting. The study covers the period from 2 June 2021 to 1 June 2022.
Goodyear investing 16.5 million euros in Montluçon motorcycle tyre production, ends light-truck tyre making
Following the news that it is consulting on the closure of the Cooper Melksham tyre factory, Goodyear has announced that it is set to invest 16.5 million euros into the “modernisation” of its Montluçon, France tyre production plant over the next 18 months. The news also marks the end of light truck tyre production at Montluçon. Prior to the announcement, the production of two-wheel tyres accounted for 50 per cent of the site’s activity and the site has also made motorsport tyres during its recent history.
