Sustainability in the usage phase: details of Michelin’s whole life tyre strategy
Picking up on our earlier first-look relating to Michelins whole-life sustainability strategy and previewing the extended and more in-depth take we exclusively provide in our forthcoming Trends & Facts premium supplement, here are some further details Tyres & Accessories gleaned during a recent visit to the French tyre majors headquarters. The wider context is necessary to understand why Michelin cares so much about both tyre wear and whole-life performance. And that was something that Gary Guthrie, SVP Automotive Global Brands Business Line at Michelin made the focal point of his presentation at the company’s global headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France:
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21st century recruitment, cybersecurity, AI and more: NTDA heads address 2024 Tyre Industry Conference
Opening the 2024 Tyre Industry Conference, National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) chief executive, Stefan Hay, and NTDA national chairman, Martin O’Brien, drew attention both to the NTDA’s achievement and the benefits of ongoing collaboration but also to the increasingly technological challenges and opportunities facing the tyre business.
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Pirelli talks F1 Adrenaline in Box Box Box vodcast
Pirelli has premiered the latest edition of its Formula 1 vodcast, Box Box Box, in which host Tom Clarkson talks to leading F1 personalities, Christian Horner, Laurent Mekies, and Nico Hulkenberg on the topic of Adrenaline. Among other subjects, Horner, Red Bull Racing team principal, discusses what makes Max Verstappen such a formidable racer after the Dutchman clinched F1’s world championship title for a fourth consecutive season, praising his “mental strength” and “resilience at the key moments.” The Box Box Box vodcast runs over six episodes on a different theme each time (Speed, Education, Dedication, Time, Adrenaline, Challenge). It is available on YouTube and on Spotify, with the latest episode also embedded below. It will conclude for 2025 with its sixth and final episode, online on 3 December, with Valtteri Bottas, Gunther Steiner, and Rebecca Lee, the official starter for the Formula 1 Grands Prix.
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New role & responsibilities – Interview with incoming Yokohama TWS President Elio Bartoli
From next week, Elio Bartoli will take on the role of President at Yokohama TWS. He spoke with our Italian sister publication PneusNews.it at the EMIA 2024 agricultural machinery show in Bologna earlier this month about this upcoming remit, the products displayed at the company’s Trelleborg- and Mitas-branded show stands, and much more.
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Davanti Tyres becomes technical partner of 750 Motor Club Swift Sport Challenge
Swiftly following the UK tyre brand’s three-year deal with the Mini Challenge Clubsport, Davanti Tyres has signed a technical partnership with 750 Motor Club’s new Swift Sport Challenge. The Davanti Protoura Race semi-slick tyre, supplied and fitted by BMTR Motorsport, will become the control tyre of the new entry-level formula championship from January 2025. The Swift Sport Challenge combines several concepts that aim to reduce the “cost to be competitive.” Regulations will include details such as incentivising road-going cars, disincentivising spending on pre-race test days, sharing car setup data, and removing the ability to use costly performance-enhancing data logging equipment.
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Halfords shares up 11% after first-half 2025 results
Halfords Group plc’s share price shot up after the publication of financial results that both acknowledged market headwinds and reported the acceleration of the motoring retailer’s “Fusion” retail plan. Halfords stock was trading in London at £151.36 a share, up 12.62 per cent during the last five days. Market confidence is clearly high, however, financial analysts also warned that Halfords faces an “uphill struggle” in the execution of its ambitious plans.
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Dunlop becomes official tyre partner to inaugural FIM Intercontinental Games
Dunlop has been appointed as the official tyre partner to the first-ever FIM Intercontinental Games (ICG). The event will take place at the Circuito de Jerez on 30 November and 1 December, 2024, coinciding with the FIM’s 120th anniversary. Dunlop will supply tyres from its renowned KR racing series to 48 competitors from 19 nations, representing the six continental teams. The Games unite all six FIM Continental Unions for the first time, offering a platform for young riders to compete on an international stage. The inaugural ICG will be dedicated to circuit racing, featuring two classes, Supersport and Supersport 300 with riders competing on Dunlop-equipped Yamaha R7 and R3 bikes in each of the two classes, respectively.
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Full capacity test – Pyrum Innovations closer to concluding expansion project
For the first time, Pyrum Innovations is operating all three production lines at its main site in Dillingen/Saar, Germany. The thermolysis waste tyre recycling specialist reports that the new TAD 2 and TAD 3 lines have been running alongside the original TAD 1 line since last weekend and will operate in unison for a week before TAD 1 is closed down for scheduled maintenance.
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ETB Autocentres promotes Exeter manager to oversee Cornish, Devon and Somerset depots
ETB Autocentres has promoted its Exeter centre manager Tom Beazley to oversee six Cornish, Devon and Somerset branches as retail area manager. The 32-year-old, who has been working in the fast fit industry since the age of 16, has taken on the position after playing an instrumental role in the sustained success at the Exeter depot over the past three years. He will now be a point of contact for centres in Plymouth, Bridport, Bude, Taunton, Exeter and Launceston, assisting them with their daily outputs and providing regular support to improve performance.
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Goodyear recalls batch of Eagle F1 SuperSport tyres
Hardly a mass recall, but worth noting nonetheless. Goodyear is recalling 46 Eagle F1 SuperSport tyres in the dimensions 295/30 ZR22 (103Y) and 315/30 ZR22 (107Y). The tyres, produced by Goodyear in Luxembourg between 18 and 24 March 2024, can be identified by the DOT numbers 1L1K8 JB1R/1224 and 1L1HA JC1R/1224.
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Nokian Tyres secures zero CO2 energy for Romania plant
With the signing of a long-term contract with renewable energy provider Enery, Nokian Tyres has ensured a supply of zero CO2 emission energy for its new passenger car tyre production facility in Romania. The contract is valid for 11 years from 2025 and additionally provides a framework for Enery to construct a new solar power plant in southern Romania.
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A single Halfords Autocentre brand in the next 2 years
Following the publication of the companys first half 2025 financial results, one solution to the problem of strangulated tyre demand is for Autocentres to do more service, maintenance and repair (SMR) work. Halford Group’s strategy for that is the acceleration of the development of Fusion villages. The original plan was to open around 25 new Fusion Motoring Services locations in 2025 at a cost of approximately £5 million (@£200,000 per site). 22 sites have been delivered so far this year, “with the 10 sites delivered over the Summer as the first wave now having 3 to 4 months of trading behind them”, according to the company. And ultimately this means the re-branding of retail sites under the Halfords name.
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Halfords Autocentres prop up group sales growth, amidst under pressure tyre demand
Halfords Group has reported first-half 2025 sales of £864.8 million, down 1.0 per cent compared with the same period in 2024. For its part, Halfords Autocentres reported sales of £348.7 million, down 2.3 per cent compared with £356.9 million in the first half of 2024. Meanwhile, the large-scale tyre retailer also shared details of its plans for the transition of some its acquired retail businesses into Fusion centres.
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Sinochem subsidiary Guilin Lanyu begins civil aircraft tyre production
Major tyre industry player Sinochem Holdings claims a superlative with Guilin Lanyu Aviation Tyre Development Co., Ltd., announcing that its subsidiary began operation as China’s first major civil aircraft tyre production line on 23 November 2024. Sinochem may need to further elucidate its use of the word ‘first,’ however, as Sentury Tire has been talking about producing aircraft tyres for civil applications for some time now. Semantics aside, Sinochem shares in a statement that the Guilin Lanyu plant in southern China has a capacity to produce 100,000 civil aircraft tyres annually, a quantity sufficient to meet 40 per cent of the country’s current demand for these products.
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Trump set to impose extra 10% tariffs on all Chinese goods, 25% on Mexico imports
Donald Trump appears to be making good on his promise to impose tariffs on products imported into the USA, having said he will impose tariffs of an extra 10 per cent on Chinese goods as well as tariffs of 25 per cent on all imports from Canada and Mexico.
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