![Bosch acquiring Unipart’s Autoparts Garage Programmes](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/UNIPART-AUTOMOTIVE-Van.jpg)
Bosch acquiring Unipart’s Autoparts Garage Programmes
Bosch is set to acquire Unipart Group’s (UG) Automotive Aftermarket workshop programmes in the UK. These programmes include the Unipart Car Care Centres (UCCC), a network of independently run garages, the KiS online garage management software, which helps to organise all daily workshop activities, and the Unipartner Consumer App. It is planned for all existing customer contracts to be transferred to Bosch. According to Bosch, “It has been agreed that the purchase price will not be disclosed”.
Continue Reading![Hella appoints Grant as UK managing director](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Neil-Grant.jpg)
Hella appoints Grant as UK managing director
Hella has appointed Neil Grant as its new UK managing director. Grant will begin his latest role in January 2020. He has been the financial director (FD) of Hella UK, based in Chipping Warden, for four years. He will take over from current MD, Matthew Say, who has been leading the UK operation for the past four and a half years.
Continue Reading![Fowler Welch tests Bandvulc, Continental tyres at Millbrook](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CGE19206-0519.jpg)
Fowler Welch tests Bandvulc, Continental tyres at Millbrook
After years of fitting Bandvulc and Continental tyres to its fleet, leading supply chain logistics provider, Fowler Welch, has now put the two manufacturers’ low rolling resistance (LRR) offerings to the test. In a joint-trial at Millbrook Proving Ground, Fowler Welch and Bandvulc arranged an evaluation of the performance and efficiency benefits of low rolling resistance tyres, with support from Continental and its ContiPressureCheck TPMS system.
Continue ReadingSurvey: Mechanics intimidate UK motorists
Recent research has found that 58 per cent of motorists found it daunting to engage with garages and mechanics. Conventionally seen as inconvenient and commonly suspected of being overpriced, automotive repair garages and mechanics grew a reputation of inconsistency in the industry, the ClickMechanic research found. Furthermore, the majority of motorists said they would put off work until the last minute. Looking closely at its customer database, 54 per cent of drivers state that they would either wait until issues reoccurred, or until the vehicle was no longer functioning.
Continue ReadingETRMA welcomes the provisional agreement on European Tyre Labelling Regulation review
In mid-November, the Green Party in the EU Parliament put out a statement on twitter saying: “tyres release more than 500,000 tonnes of microplastics into the environment?”. Stating that this means it is “time to reinvent the wheel”, the green party added: “Yesterday [13 November] we fought hard and we managed to convince the EU to label tyre abrasion in order to tackle plastic pollution”. With this in mind, Tyres & Accessories asked ETRMA what the pan-European tyre industry is adding to the discussion.
Continue Reading![How Ricardo contributed to JCB’s world speed record-breaking tractor](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/guy-martin-and-and-the-world-s-fastest-tractor-2_730.jpg)
How Ricardo contributed to JCB’s world speed record-breaking tractor
JCB set the British Record for the fastest modified tractor at Elvington Airfield near York in June 2019 in a tractor designated ‘Fastrac One.’ It reached a speed of 103.6 mph with motorbike racer, lorry mechanic and TV personality Guy Martin in the driver’s seat. JCB then embarked on an ambitious plan to break its own record and developed ‘Fastrac Two’ – which was 10 per cent lighter, more powerful and even more aerodynamic. Also driven by Guy Martin, Fastrac Two hit a peak speed of 153.771mph on its way to clocking a record average of 135.191mph.
Continue Reading![Trailblazer tyre technician training gets underway](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IMG_20191119_122858.jpg)
Trailblazer tyre technician training gets underway
Ask anyone involved in tyre industry training and they will say two things. Firstly, there is a growing need to develop a sustainable career path in the technical end of the tyre business. And secondly, that structured training needs to move with the times. The good news is that, after months and years of hard work by key industry figures, there is now an appropriate answer to both questions. So, with this in mind, in mid-November Tyres & Accessories visited the first cohort of trailblazer Licence Commercial Tyre Technician (LCCT) training, which incorporates an accredited apprenticeship standard and the NTDA’s REACT licence.
Continue Reading![Autogem invests in new mezzanine level](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Autogem.jpg)
Autogem invests in new mezzanine level
Autogem has invested in a new mezzanine level at its headquarters/warehouse in order to provide “greater efficiencies and speed of product delivery to customers”. The expansion, which has taken place roughly two years after the company’s move to Autogem House in Abbey Road, North London, creates 400-pallets’-worth of additional space, which in turn allows the company to house more products.
Continue ReadingAlfa Power Scoops Prestigious Industry Award
Leeds-based company Alfa Power is has been awarded the accolade of “Best EV Charge Point Operator 2019” from SME News, which runs the annual UK Enterprise Awards, showcasing the best in UK small and medium enterprises.
Continue Reading![Pirelli ‘highly commended’ at Northern Automotive Alliance Awards](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/pirelli-naa_awards.jpg)
Pirelli ‘highly commended’ at Northern Automotive Alliance Awards
Pirelli has been ‘Highly Commended’ within the Corporate and Social Responsibility Award for its approach to sustainability, and natural rubber sourcing at the 2019 Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA) Awards. The NAA judging panel congratulated Pirelli for “showing everyone that no matter how difficult, everyone has a part to play in ensuring an ethical supply chain.”
Continue Reading![Fake parts: a £34 billion problem](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Performance-Tuning-Car-Show-7-1.jpg)
Fake parts: a £34 billion problem
“Fake parts” have risen to become a multi-billion-pound problem affecting the safety and performance of vehicles in motorsport and on the road, according to European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) estimates. January’s Performance & Tuning Car Show at Birmingham’s NEC will hold a forum at which consumers can seek expert advice on this worrying trend.
Continue ReadingVolvo offers fleet car drivers one year’s free electricity
Volvo has announced that drivers and buyers of any new Volvo plug-in hybrid model (PHEV) will benefit from a year’s free electricity to charge their car. The offer is open to both private and business customers. Volvo says this is because its “intention is to encourage drivers to get into the habit of keeping their car’s hybrid battery charged, it’s the company car driver who will receive the refund at the end of the year rather than their employer.”
Continue Reading![End of UK road signs by 2027, says report](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/red-stop-sign-39080.jpg)
End of UK road signs by 2027, says report
A new report entitled UK Connected and Automated Mobility Roadmap to 2030, proposes that improved vehicle connectivity will result in road signs and signals being decommissioned as early as 2027. The report by Zenzic, an organisation “dedicated to accelerating the self-driving revolution in the UK by uniting industry, government and academia”, states that emerging CAM (connected and automated mobility) technologies will eliminate the need for road signage, with UK drivers seeing “naked highways” by 2027.
Continue Reading![GKN Wheels on world’s fastest JCB Fastrac](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/WFTrunwaybSIDE.jpg)
GKN Wheels on world’s fastest JCB Fastrac
GKN Wheels and Structures report that the company was one of the key partners in JCB’s recent tractor speed record. Following two successful runs at Elvington Airfield in York, the JCB Fastrac broke the world record for a tractor, achieving a peak speed of an incredible 153.771mph and an average of 135.191mph.
Continue Reading![Road Hero spacesaver spare aims to lift the burden of punctures](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/lQ84Zm-T.png)
Road Hero spacesaver spare aims to lift the burden of punctures
Now that many of the cars sold in the UK since 2012 come without a spare wheel fitted, Road Hero is offering a convenient solution. Each Road Hero Kit is tailored to the model, year and body style of the car. The kits have everything you’d ever need to swap your punctured wheel and be on your way in just a few minutes.
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