Giti Tire’s Gibson finishes third in 2021 British Truck Racing Championship
Giti Tire’s Martin Gibson secured third place at an action-packed season finale of the 2021 British Truck Racing Championship (BTRC) at Brands Hatch. A capacity crowd watched Gibson finish fourth, second, fifth and third over the first four races. Entering the last race still in contention for the title, Gibson’s truck sustained a catastrophic hit at the Paddock Hill bend in traffic resulting in his retirement to the pit lane and ending his challenge.
Continue ReadingCOP26: Michelin’s Dundee partnership approach a ‘blueprint’ for industrial transformation
With global leaders gathered in Glasgow for the COP26 climate and sustainability summit, ecological issues have become a focus of recent media coverage. During the summit’s Transforming Industrial Sites to a Net Zero Future event, Michelin chief executive Florent Menegaux explained how the 32-hectare ex-Michelin tyre factory in Dundee (Baldovie) is now operating as Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc, a partnership between Michelin, the Scottish Government and Dundee City Council. Specifically, Menegaux set out how the transformation of the company’s former manufacturing site in Dundee sets a blueprint for a greener future at industrial sites and stressed that the venture could not have been launched by Michelin alone:
Continue ReadingTX Tyres adds truck tyres and more to product portfolio, celebrates 50 years
Founded as Panther Tyres, TX Tyres celebrates 50 years in business this year. In a recent visit to Liverpool, Tyres & Accessories took the opportunity to meet managing director and former NTDA chairman Stephen Callow, consider the legacy of his father (company founder Ron Callow) and to look to the future of the TX Tyres retreading operation, which includes diversifying into new segments.
Continue ReadingWelsh retreader Tuf Treads invests in Marangoni autoclave and nail hole detector technology
Llanelli-based Tuf Treads was founded in 1979 on a different location to where the retreading facility can now be found. Back then, current owner Mike Rees joined William Lloyd in the establishment of a new venture focusing on retreading tyres in four sizes according to the Peters system. Much more recently, the firm’s current Cross Hands retreading factory took delivery of a new Marangoni nail-hole detector to upgrade its quality control procedure, something that is just the latest in a history of steady development at the company. Tyres & Accessories visited Tuf Treads to find out more about the company’s past, present and future.
Continue ReadingCorghi Proadas calibration system added to servicing equipment range
Recognising the proliferation of ADAS within the car parc and the servicing demand it brings, Corghi has expanded its product range, with the release of the Proadas. The new product enables the calibration of safety-critical front sensors such as camera, radar and lidar, and targets businesses ready to enter ADAS servicing with an easy to use solution. The Corghi Proadas is available in the UK via distributor Rema Tip Top and is compatible with most equipment produced by the brand’s parent company, the Nexion group.
Continue ReadingSEO: Blackcircles catching Kwik Fit in UK tyre search engine positioning
On the one hand, most sources agree that online tyre demand is booming as a result of the pandemic and its related lockdowns. However, on the other hand, such rapid growth has also led to increased competition online. One way of finding which tyre firms are getting ahead in the online space is to consider the race for pole-position in Google search results. Since Google is the by far the biggest search engine online holding a dominant 92.47 per cent global market share as of June 2021 (87.7 per cent in the UK specifically), getting your brand ahead of the competition in search results makes a big difference. And paid search advertising, known as pay-per-click (PPC) – is one way to do that. In order to get a handle on the tyre retail sector’s virtual performance in 2021, Tyres & Accessories worked with SEO marketing specialists Evolved who analysed the organic search and PPC performance of the top 23 UK-based etailers and concluded that online specialist Blackcircles is taking ground from bricks and mortar market leader Kwik Fit, amongst other things.
Continue ReadingPro-Align: maximise wheel alignment opportunity with standard free checks
Wheel alignment checks offer garages the opportunity to demonstrate professional customer service while boosting profitability considerably, with a sizable proportion of the car parc suffering from misalignment, according to a leading garage equipment company. Pro-Align, the distributor of Hunter garage equipment products, says that 70 per cent of cars on the road today are misaligned. This, it continues, means there is a prime opportunity for workshops to help identify these issues through free alignment checks for every customer, regardless of what they had originally booked in for. After returning the initial outlay on machinery, Pro-Align says realignment jobs can then typically return profit margins of 88 per cent.
Continue ReadingAutogem’s TPMS tool, expertise and aftermarket strength rewarded
Aftermarket supplier Autogem is bringing its product range to life in front of hundreds of garage businesses at Mechanex 2021, energised by its maiden victory in the NTDA’s Aftermarket Supplier of the Year Tyre Industry Awards category. The company said that it will showcase its solutions to a host of key decision makers and centre owners at the 9-10 November event. While making its name as a one-stop shop for all sorts of garage consumables, Autogem is also a specialist in TPMS, built around its investment in the I-sensor Pro handheld tool. The tool offers instant, personalised tyre pressure reporting with a completely integrated tread-depth measuring device to give technicians a full picture of the condition of each tyre they are tending to on an easy-to-read colour screen.
Continue ReadingBridgestone & Webfleet solutions highlighting fleet electrification at MOVE 2021
As part of their commitment to help shape sustainable future mobility, Bridgestone EMIA and its Webfleet Solutions subsidiary are supporting the adoption of electrified fleets across the region. As sponsors of MOVE 2021, both companies are today in London showcasing their work to address EV concerns among fleet customers and accelerate the electric future.
Continue ReadingBTMA: UN red alert on climate change is a call to action
Recent years have seen tyre industry interest and investment in sustainability sharply increase. In August the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published an uncompromising report warning that “Scientists are observing changes in the Earth’s climate in every region and across the whole climate system” and adding that “some...are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years.” Here, British Tyre Manufacturers Association chief executive, Graham Willson explains why the UN red alert on climate change is a call to action and what it means for the UK tyre industry:
Continue ReadingMagowan’s pioneering paperless warehousing in the tyre business with Cam systems
During our recent visit to Magowan’s T&A met with founder Darryl Magowan Snr., Darryl Magowan Jnr, David Magowan and IT manager Ben Tinsley who gave us a guided tour around the bespoke newbuild warehouse and who also explained the thinking that has gone into the project.
Continue ReadingModular Beissbarth equipment range helps maximise ADAS opportunity
The rise of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems within the European car parc is a fast-growing trend. Not only are many cars already fitted with ADAS, the standardisation of various forms of ADAS on new vehicles, coupled with their adoption within the fast-growing electrified car parc, ensure that the demand for ADAS-enabled vehicle servicing will continue to rise. Therefore the ability to service increasingly connected vehicles remains the most prominent consideration for servicing equipment suppliers. Everard, the UK distributor of Beissbarth equipment, notes that ADAS recalibration represents a necessary step in many routine maintenance jobs, calling it a natural extension to wheel alignment services. Altering wheel alignment often changes the alignment of sensors and cameras; for ADAS to work as vehicle manufacturers intend, it is vital that these components are carefully and accurately recalibrated.
Continue ReadingSMMT: October car registrations at 20-year low
New car registrations fell in October for the fourth consecutive month, with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reporting a 24.6 per cent decline to 106,265 units compared with October last year. The market’s monthly performance was the weakest seen since October 1991; demand from large fleets fell by 40.4 per cent, driving most of the decline. Private demand declined by just 3.3 per cent, but SMMT points out that consumer uptake during the pandemic-affected October 2020 was weak as well.
Continue ReadingGoodyear, Michelin, Lodge and Vaculug amongst winners of government fleet tyre contracts worth £200 million
Following the news that Goodyear has retained the UK police fleet tyre contract, Tyres & Accessories contacted Crown Commercial Services in order to confirm which other tyre firms have succeeded in winning their part of the two government tyre supply contracts which together are worth an estimated £200 million.
Continue ReadingSMMT: More new plug-in vehicles in 2021 than during whole of last decade
New plug-in vehicle uptake rates have accelerated so rapidly that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) forecasts more of these joining Britain’s roads in 2021 than during the whole of the last decade. It expects that around 287,000 zero-emission cars will be added to the UK car parc this year, a figure equalling around one-sixth of all new cars. A total of just 271,962 new battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (BEVs & PHEVs) were registered between 2010 and 2019. Furthermore, current forecasts suggest that BEV registrations will exceed those of diesel by the end of 2022.
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