Nokian Tyres & Continental – 9 decades of winter tyres
The winter tyre is 90 years old in 2024. Nokian Tyres brought the Kelirengas, its first product with a winter-specific tread pattern, to market in 1934. This was also the year that Continental threw its hat into the winter tyre ring with a tyre called the Gelände.
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‘Tariff man’: What Trump 2.0 means for the tyre business
The scale of Donald Trump’s success in the recent US election surprised many and disappointed those looking for a return to the White House for the democrats. But whatever you think of the once-again President Elect, based on his many and varied promises to the electorate, there is no doubt that his second term will result in change. The question is how will that change affect tyre businesses?
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Let’s go round again – what’s next for ATD?
On 22 October 2024, American Tire Distributors, Inc. (ATD) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It was the second time in around six years that the large – if not the largest – US tyre distributor made such a petition. And ATD did so leaving more than half-a-billion dollars outstanding with some of the world’s largest tyre manufacturers as well as some of some of the fastest-growing tyremakers (see Tyrepress.com and page 27 of the November edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine for further details relating to both the Chapter 11 announcement and how much money is outstanding with which tyremakers). This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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Competition heats up in the Europe’s coldest tyre markets
September has been a month of official openings. Specifically, Nokian Tyres opened its Romania tyre factory – something it has done in record time (see pages 14-16 for the details). And Linglong flipped the switch on passenger car tyre manufacturing at its Serbia plant too (see pages 18-19). At the same time, October’s magazine focuses on tyre wholesale (see page 44 onwards) and industrial tyres (from page 36). However, this column turns its attention to an arguably under-reported part of the European tyre market – the Nordic/Scandinavian tyre business.
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Looking forward: The enduring role of industrial tyres in the post-pandemic environment
The COVID-19 pandemic showcased the critical role played by the commercial and industrial tyre sectors in ensuring uninterrupted supply chains and the global flow of essential goods. From food and medical supplies to industrial equipment, tyres were at the foundation of the logistics chain that kept the world functioning amidst lockdowns and restrictions. Commercial tyres, specifically designed for long-haul trucks and delivery vehicles, facilitated the smooth transportation of crucial supplies, while industrial tyres ensured that heavy machinery continued operating in factories, warehouses, and construction sites, while material-handling tyres kept crucial logistics systems going – all of which highlights the indispensable contribution to economic resilience made by off-highway tyres. This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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Sustainability, new European-orientated factories and EV tyres
July’s edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine focuses on three points – our latest ranking of the leading tyre manufacturers in terms of turnover and accompanying analysis of key players in terms of share price and third-party brand valuation (see pages 14 to 21); headlines and interviews from the recent The Tire Cologne exhibition (see pages 26 to 41); and our scheduled mining and construction tyre feature (see page 48 onwards). While they are not intentionally related, the impact measured within the pages of our leading tyremakers table and accompanying analysis, echoes into the key themes and movements on-show at Tire Cologne. And that impact revolves around three themes: one philosophical, one strategic and one product-related, namely – sustainability, investment in factories and the development of electric vehicle ranges. Of course, these themes interrelate like the overlapping circles of a Venn diagram. But they also represent distinct themes in and of themselves. This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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East meets West: The interplay between Far Eastern tyremakers and western markets
As this June edition of Tyres & Accessories went to press, we were all preparing for The Tire Cologne. Lauded as Europe’s leading tyre exhibition, the 2024 show will be an undoubtedly international event (see next month’s July issue for the review of what took place). Within Tire Cologne’s international remit, Tyres & Accessories understands that a number of well-known as well as up-and-coming Far Eastern manufacturers will be present this year. Since China is the world’s largest producer of tyres by unit volume, and in order to catch up with developments that have taken place post-Covid, T&A recently spent time in China meeting with numerous domestic and international tyremakers there.
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A strange way of price-fixing
At the end of January, the European Commission (EC) announced that it is had begun conducting “unannounced inspections” – commonly known as dawn raids – at the European offices of the world’s leading tyremakers. The investigation intends to find out whether or not “the inspected companies may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices”. In the days immediately after that news broke, it quickly became apparent that (in alphabetical order) Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear, Michelin, Nokian and Pirelli all received those visits. All the above companies issued statements denying the allegations and confirming that they are cooperation with the authorities. The EC’s announcement was short on detail and the investigated tyremakers are being understandably tight-lipped about the whole thing, which leaves significant questions about what the grounds for such an investigation were in the first place.
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From kitchen table to the world – Vimexa celebrates 10th birthday
It’s now little over a decade since Rutger Veerman told us of his plan to establish himself as a ‘matchmaker’ for tyre, wheel and battery companies. The idea was to serve as an intermediary between supply and demand, matching stocks in and outside Europe with customers seeking these products. Vimexa Automotive BV figuratively opened its doors for business in January 2014.
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Leading European tyremakers investigated as part of price-fixing investigation
Unannounced inspections, investigations, visits, raids. Whatever you call them, having the European Commission come knocking uninvited is not how any tyre manufacturer wants to start 2024. Nevertheless, that is exactly what happened at the tail-end of January across “several member states” within the European Union.
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Backing the right sustainability horse
In recent years market observers have worn out the word unprecedented, but 2023 was another year of significant developments. From the ongoing impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the continuing challenges of pandemic-related disruption to the transformation and rationalisation of European manufacturing that has followed in its wake, several stories have run and run because of their multi-faceted repercussions for the whole tyre business. In short, for some it was a good year. But for many, it has been a challenging 12 months – not least for those in the manufacturing side of the tyre business (see pages 28, 30 and 41 for more on that).
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Coalition against unfair tyre imports requests tariff review
Ahead of the expiry of anti-dumping tariffs on China-produced truck tyres imported into the European Union, on 20 October the European Commission reported receiving a request to review these. The European industry observers our sister title Neue Refeinzeitung (NRZ) spoke to expect a preliminary decision at the beginning of the review. Meanwhile, Chinese market sources told Tyrepress China that the tyre makers at the centre of the case have generally responded “calmly”, having become accustomed to “trade barriers” from Europe. Whatever the current market reaction is, the investigation will be concluded “within 12 months and in any event no later than 15 months from the date of…publication” (20 October 2023), according to the Commission.
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Sunak’s EV U-turn is ULEZ-related smoke and mirrors
A week before we went to press, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the UK would no-longer be phasing out ICE vehicles by 2030. Rather, the deadline would be pushed back to 2035. Not only was that decision a u-turn, it was a policy decision explicitly designed to slow down sales of electric vehicles, as number 10’s official statement at the time testifies: “Under revised plans, the Government will move back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by five years, so all sales of new cars from 2035 will be zero emission. This will enable families to wait to take advantage of falling prices over the coming decade if they wish to.”
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Will European truck tyre market shares follow the UK experience?
15 years after our first market share survey of its kind, and almost 10 years after we identified that “the UK truck tyre market is a five-horse race”, this month we’ve taken another look at the figures and spoken to sources close to the leading players in order to provide an up-to-date snapshot of what is going on in the UK truck tyre replacement market (see pages 14 to 31 of the September magazine). This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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Cyber security and the tyre business
For many, security is all about cash-management, stock-handling and making sure the premises are locked at the end of the day. In addition, tyre businesses have had to get more savvy over the years to avoid fraudulent orders. Now, with everything from phones, tills and even tyres themselves transmitting and receiving data, cyber security is the order of the day. There are lots of different sides to cyber security, so let’s start with some of the most recent most relevant examples to the tyre business. This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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