Tracey Mortimer promoted to managing director of Continental Tyre Group UK and Ireland
Continental Tyres has appointed Tracey Mortimer as managing director of its UK and Ireland tyre business. Mortimer will assume leadership of the manufacturer’s UK division on 1 January 2025, replacing Tarik Görgün who is relocating to the US with his family. Tracey Mortimer has more than 20 years of experience in the industry and has held senior consumer and commercial tyre sector roles at Continental Tyres. Over the course of her career she has performed a range of marketing and sales functions. She was most recently consumer tyres sales and solutions director UK and Ireland. Mortimer will oversee overall business strategy and execution for the company’s tyre business across the UK and Ireland in her new role.
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Platinum grade for 6 HiQ centres
Beginning in May, HiQ Tyres & Autocare tasked specialist automotive consultancy CAR Consulting Group with performing a nationwide audit of its network. All 160 centres took part in an audit that evaluated more than 200 parameters, including aesthetics, customer service and technical expertise. CAR Consulting Group has now concluded the audit, and HiQ reports that the results show a 27.6 per cent improvement since the last evaluation.
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Navigating the future of ADAS: How tyre dealers and fast-fits are negotiating the challenges
Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) are a suite of electronic technologies designed to assist drivers in performing driving and parking functions. These systems rely on a variety of sensors, cameras, radars, and LIDAR to detect and interpret the environment around the vehicle. By providing real-time information and performing automatic operations, ADAS enhances driving safety and comfort. Key features include adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, collision warning systems, and parking assistance, for example. As regulations and consumer demand for safety and convenience grow, ADAS is becoming increasingly ubiquitous in modern vehicles. And – perhaps even more importantly for garages – when major work is undertaken on a vehicle as well as an increasing amount of not-so-major work – ADAS requires recalibration. In other words, the tyre and fast-fit garages of today have to know how they are going to handle ADAS-related challenges and questions.
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Auto3iii deploying AI in garages
Auto3iii’s reports that it has strengthened its software solutions with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Using its own Large Language Model (LLM), the Auto3iii is now allowing workshops to compare car defects and vehicle damage with images from millions of other vehicles around the world.
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GSF Car Parts opens West Midlands NDC
GSF Car Parts has announced that its new National Distribution Centre (NDC) in Wolverhampton is now operational and delivering to branches across the UK. The company took over the 500,000 square foot facility in Wolverhampton back in May. Moving forward, it will serve as the company’s central logistics hub, modernising GSF’s supply chain infrastructure and streamlining delivery processes into its 194-strong national branch network.
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Ring names new area sales manager
Ex-Magowan Tyres salesman, Colin McCourt has recently joined Ring Automotive and will be primarily managing accounts on the island of Ireland, looking after both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. McCourt has more than 20 years experience in the aftermarket, including previous roles with Forte Lubricants, Magowan Tyres, Würth Ireland and Charles Hurst.
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Eden Tyres launches first mobile tyre vehicle
Eden Tyres & Servicing kitted out its first-ever mobile tyre fitting van. Now officially on the road, the new van is based at the company’s Ashby garage and will bring “premium tyre fitting services” to Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Burton-on-Trent.
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TyreSafe extends independent consumer tyre website partnerships with Tyre Reviews
TyreSafe, the UK’s leading tyre safety charity, has extended its reach in the independent consumer tyre advice space by partnering with Tyre Reviews. TyreSafe says the collaboration seeks to further its mission of increasing tyre safety awareness and education among road users, providing them with critical, unbiased insights on tyre safety, performance, and purchasing decisions.
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TyreSafe asks Christmas road users to ‘Keep Your Tyres in Good ‘Elf’
TyreSafe has relaunched its ‘Keep Your Tyres in Good ‘Elf’ campaign for a second successive year. In addition to appearing on bus backs and websites, the initiative had a strong social media reaction in 2023, as the sight of Santa’s elves performing a range of tyre checks provided fun and engaging reminders about the importance of road safety during the festive period. The campaign was also backed strongly by TyreSafe supporters.
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TyreSafe chair attends parliamentary breakfast
On the morning of 4 December 2024, TyreSafe chair Stuart Lovatt attended the National Motorcycle Council (NMC) and National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) parliamentary breakfast at the House of Commons. The event is sponsored and hosted by Fabian Hamilton MP and to discuss “Motorcycling and the Future of Transport”.
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Tyrepress sister consumer website becomes partner of TyreSafe
Tyrepress sister website WhatTyre became a partner of TyreSafe this year, following up many years of covering the organisation’s important road safety activities and stakeholder partnerships in Tyre Industry Publications’ business website and magazine Tyres & Accessories. The company’s independent consumer tyre advice website is dedicated to helping drivers make informed decisions about tyre replacement and maintenance. Therefore partnering with the leading UK tyre safety organisation to extend its messages is a natural fit. As a result of its business-to-business and consumer titles, Tyre Industry Publications is uniquely positioned to reach a broad coalition of road users and the tyre suppliers and fitters that make the tyres that keep them safe. The reciprocal partnership will help ensure that crucial tyre safety information is disseminated effectively across the UK.
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Cimcorp enters UK market
Finnish automation specialist Cimcorp is expanding its footprint in the UK. Announcing this development, Jarkko Hakkarainen, Head of Operations for Cimcorp’s European region, explains that while the main focus is to “ensure the success of our new projects,” the company is also studying future opportunities in the tyre industry, where Cimcorp aims to enhance its competitiveness through ongoing conversations with key players. Hakkarainen recently relocated to the UK to support Cimcorp’s expansion.
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Yokohama ATG demonstrates agri tyre technology in Merseyside field demo day
Yokohama-ATG took its agricultural tyre technology on the road in the UK at the end of October, on Merseyside farmer, blogger and Alliance influencer, Olly Harrison’s fields. Hosting farmers from across the UK as well as Alliance distributor Kirkby Tyres, the day gave the manufacturer’s European technical team the opportunity to demonstrate live the technological benefits of the Alliance branded agricultural tyre range.
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All-season a growth segment for the van tyre market – GfK data
Figures from the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) show that the market for new vans is relatively buoyant in 2024. In the UK, light commercial vehicle registrations have consistently trended upwards, with October figures registering a 3.5 per cent year-on-year increase versus 2023 over the first 10 months of the year – a figure that increases to 4.7 per cent if we remove the marginal Pickup and 4x4 categories, which are the only light commercial segments to contract in this period. This growth in new vans on UK roads has been steadier than in 2021, when pent-up demand after the pandemic played a role before 2022 saw the market fall back within touching distance of the nadir of pandemic sales. The healthy outlook in 2024 is to some extent undermined by both the stalling electrification of the UK van parc (see textbox for more) and more rapid growth achieved in some continental European markets.
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GT Radial Maxmiler range tailored to suit growing UK van tyre market – Micheldever Tyre Services
Giti Tire’s GT Radial brand continues to develop its Maxmiler van tyre range, according to exclusive distributor Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS). It adds that new additions are due to arrive in 2025 to “ensure the range remains relevant and future-proof.” Tyres & Accessories asked MTS about how it is currently viewing the UK van tyre market, and for its tips on best practice for keeping light commercials moving.
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