Nova Motorsport signs 5-year RallyX Championship tyre supply agreement
New motorsport tyre brand Nova Motorsport has signed a five-year partnership to make it the official tyre supplier to the RallyX Championship, starting with the 2024 season opener in Sweden (10-11 May). The deal represents continuity for the championship in a sense; Nova Motorsport has acquired the rights to sell products under the Avon Motorsport and Avon Racing brands from Cooper’s owner, Goodyear; has recruited several key staff from the former Cooper Avon operation based in Melksham; and has acquired all residual stock from the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company and Avon Motorsport business, including the world leading ACB11 rallycross tyre. Nova Motorsport said it is making a “firm commitment to uphold the legacy, performance and quality of Avon Motorsport products.”
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Former Cooper Avon managers James Weekley, Matthew Vincent join Nova Motorsport team
Nova Motorsport has continued its recruitment of former Cooper Avon managers previously based at the companys erstwhile European headquarters in Melksham. James Weekley, former general manager at Avon Tyres Motorsport, leads Nova Motorsport as commercial director. Ex-Cooper Tire/Avon Motorsport product technology manager Matthew Vincent has also become Novas senior product category manager. The two appointees join Paul Coates, Cooper Tire/Avon Motorsport general manager, whose appointment was previously announced, and who has become Novas contracts manager. The experienced team has been assembled by founder and managing director of the brand’s parent company, SPC Group, Paul Hallas.
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Bridgestone outlines European restructuring in 24MBP
Bridgestone Corporation has presented its Mid Term Business Plan (2024-2026), and for Europe this entails significant restructuring and rebuilding within the truck and bus tyre as well as the retreading business. Chief executive officer Shuichi Ishibashi and Masato Banno, the company’s chief technology officer, discussed 24MBP on 1 March.
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GRI appoints former Conti leader Barry Guildford global commercial director
Speciality and agricultural tyre manufacturer GRI has appointed Barry Guildford as its new global commercial director (GCD). The appointment bolsters the company’s increasingly international leadership team as the Sri Lanka based company proceeds with its global growth strategy. Guildford arrives with a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success in strategic leadership and sales management roles within the tyre industry over the last 23 years. He has held a variety of leadership positions within Continental, most recently as head of region Northeast Europe & head of sales ContiTrade. He joined GRI officially on 1 March. GRI has made significant strides in integrating sustainable materials in its flagship tyres in the last year, and demonstrated its leading sustainability position and expanding manufacturing base in Sri Lanka to Tyres & Accessories – see Tyrepress next week for more details.
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Bridgestone highlights four original equipment trends to watch in 2024 and beyond
Bridgestone has revealed four tyre trends to look out for as the automotive industry evolves with the rise of electric vehicles. The tyre manufacturer is a major tyre supplier for many of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers, holding a significant share of the OE market. It is designing and supplying more fitments for EVs than ever before. In the European OE market, Bridgestone’s team has shared four major trends it believes will have the biggest impact on an evolving automotive industry throughout 2024 and beyond.
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ETB, Britannia hit platinum customer service levels for second successive year
ETB Autocentres and Britannia Tyres have been awarded the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award for 2024, in honour of the retail experience created for their customers over the past 12 months. The tyre retail and autocentre chains qualified for the independent award after recording more than 50 ratings of between 4.5 and 4.9 between 1 January and 31 December 2023. The networks received the same award in 2022, upgrading their gold standard performance in 2021. ETB and Britannia said the awards validate a their work to create a memorable experience for motorists over the past 12 months.
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Horiba Mira secures Euro NCAP accreditation for active safety testing
Horiba Mira proving grounds in Warwickshire has extended its European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) accreditation to conduct official active safety system testing on passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. The facility is globally recognised as a leader in vehicle safety engineering, with a long-standing association with Euro NCAP. It has been accredited for passive safety testing since 2012 and is currently supporting the development of the organisation’s new heavy truck rating scheme testing protocols.
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Hella Academy launches with IMI ADAS training
Hella has announced the launch of its Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) approved training facility, Hella Academy in Chipping Warden, Banbury. Initially opening with two IMI accredited Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) courses, the brand-new training centre is equipped with a modern classroom and state-of-the-art workshop to blend key theoretical learning with hands-on training. Hella Academy’s ADAS IMI AOM 230 course provides technicians with the insurance approval needed to work on ADAS-equipped vehicles while its ADAS L2 Award covers calibration, vehicle alignment, workshop requirements and more. Both two-day courses are available to book now.
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Titan International buys Carlstar Group for US$296 million
Titan International, Inc. (TWI) has bought Carlstar Group LLC. for approximately $296 million in a cash and stock transaction, which closed on 29 February 2024. The transaction price represents a multiple of approximately 4x Carlstars full-year 2023 pre-tax profits (adjusted EBITDA) of $73 million. Carlstar reported revenues of around $615 million in 2023.
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Halfords shares plummet after consumer tyre-related profit warning, but Autocentres remain ‘bright spot’
Halfords Group’s share price fell by around a quarter in response to an unexpected profit warning notice on 28 February, which suggested Halfords would make substantially less profit than the firm forecast roughly a month earlier. At least part of the reason for the profit warning was softening demand in the consumer tyre sector. Halfords stock recovered slightly in early trading on the morning of 29 February, however the five-day chart shows that the company’s share price remains around a quarter down.
Continue Reading Bridgestone reorganises management structure, instates EMEA region
Bridgestone has detailed a number of organisational changes to its global management structure that went into effect at the start of 2024. Tyrepress reported the company’s promotion of Central Europe managing director Christian Mühlhäuser to vice president of the North Europe region on 22 February. The creation of Mühlhäuser’s new role is part of the transition from Bridgestone EMIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) to the newly created Bridgestone EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Core Tyre Business Unit. Bridgestone told Tyrepress that the changes have been made “as part of move to further strengthen the global management structure.”
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Halfords issues surprise consumer tyre-related profit warning
After years of strong and often tyre-driven profit growth, Halfords Group plc has warned investors that “further material weakening” in “cycling, retail motoring and consumer tyres” will result in “a significant drop in like-for-like revenue growth”. As a result, that specifically means £13 million less “underlying profit before tax (PBT)”, than previously stated or PBT “in the range of £35-40 million”.
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Remember This? – February 2024
Our monthly magazine column looks back at the biggest news events from the tyre industry five, 10, 15 and 20 years ago. This months edition looks back to February issues from 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019 for some of the biggest tyre industry news of those months. Click the month and year to access the digital edition of the relevant issue of the magazine from Tyres & Accessories’ expanding digital archive.
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Prometeon joins ETRMA
Prometeon Tyre Group has become a full corporate member of ETRMA effective immediately. ETRMA president Chris Delaney welcomed the decision, saying: “I am thrilled to welcome Prometeon as a full Member of ETRMA. Their membership will enhance the representativeness and expertise of the organisation”.
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Infopro Digital buys DriveRightData
DriveRightData’s acquisition by Infopro Digital aligns with the company’s “commitment to quality, accuracy and innovation” and the two firms’ integration “will cultivate synergies across both global product portfolio” DriveRightData representatives said in a statement announcing the news on 23 February 2024.
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