Bridgestone dismisses 500 tyre retail branch acquisition reports
Bridgestone representatives have dismissed reports that the company is considering acquiring up to 500 tyre depots in the UK in a bid to go head-to-head with the leading tyre retailer in the UK, Kwik-Fit. According to the reports, which surfaced over the weekend in The Telegraph, Bridgestone “is seeking to buy eight to 10 regional automotive retail groups within a year and merge them into one brand.”
Continue ReadingChequered flag waved on Fort Dunlop motorsport tyre manufacture
Tyre production at Fort Dunlop, a site that was Europe’s largest tyre manufacturing facility as recently as the 1970s, has ended as Dunlop Motorsport transfers its motorsport capacity to facilities in France and Germany. A total of 241 manufacturing jobs vanished as the final shift left the factory on the afternoon of 30 May; local MP Jack Dromey, who had fought to retain Dunlop motorsport manufacturing in Birmingham since Goodyear Dunlop first announced plans to leave the site a year ago, referred to the end of production as “a day of shame”.
Continue ReadingPirelli offers condolences to Jim Clark Rally victims
Pirelli has expressed its condolences to those affected by two accidents at Saturday’s Jim Clark Rally, which was the second round of the British Rally Championship. Three people were killed and one injured when a race vehicle veered into a crowd at around 4pm, while five people were injured in a similar incident two hours earlier.
Continue ReadingCatalytic converter thefts on the increase
Police forces across Britain are warning companies about the high number of catalytic converter thefts, which are causing a considerable cost to UK businesses. With precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium increasingly being used in catalytic converters, the current trend for rising metal prices is increasing thefts of these valuable components. However, the […]
Continue ReadingIAAF issues survey on access to tech data
The IAAF is urging its members, garages and parts distributors, to take advantage of an opportunity to give the European competition authorities a first-hand view of the difficulties encountered in accessing technical and cataloguing data from the vehicle assemblers. Following the IAAF’s survey of vehicle assemblers at the start of 2014, the European Commission have […]
Continue ReadingUnipart Automotive introduces Quote Finder tool
Unipart Automotive has introduced a time-saving Quote Finder tool for the first time. The Quote Finder allows motorists to enter their vehicle registration and mileage when visiting www.uccc.co.uk, before selecting which job they require. Unipart Automotive currently has a network of more than 700 Unipart Car Care Centres, and the new online service will help motorists identify their nearest five garages and every cost associated with their initial request.
Continue ReadingBridgestone supports White Helmets with Extance training
Members of the historic motorcycle skill display team, White Helmets are to train with Enduro and Dakar legend Mick Extance, courtesy of Bridgestone. The tyre manufacturer is backing The Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team with equipment and tyres for 2014, and has put the group in touch with the seven times Dakar Rally competitor’s off-road school in Powys, in an attempt to improve each soldier’s riding ability.
Continue ReadingBBIF offers more start stop battery help
The British Battery Industry Federation (BBIF) has announced two moves designed to help the public when buying batteries for their vehicles. For motorists owning vehicle operating ‘start/stop’ systems, fitting the correct replacement battery is an important topic.
Continue ReadingJohn McGuinness Manx TT tribute pack
Dunlop has launched a tribute pack to celebrate its return as ‘official tyre partner’ to the 2014 Tourist Trophy races. The pack, signed by John McGuinness, includes a specially minted Isle of Man 50p coin, three Isle of Man postage stamps showing McGuinness in full throttle and a piece of the ‘Morecambe Missile’s 2013 race winning tyre as used in laps five and six of the Senior TT.
Continue ReadingATS Euromaster reports increased UK winter tyre demand
Following what it describes as “massive growth” in sales of winter tyres over the past three years, ATS Euromaster expects higher demand than ever in 2014. The tyre specialist says it is in talks with fleets about their requirements for winter 2014/15 and is urging customers to place their orders for cold weather tyres sooner rather than later, to avoid missing out.
Continue ReadingPirelli-backed Porsche Club Championship gets top TV package
The Porsche Club Championship will be broadcast on European motorsport channel Motors TV, allowing the series and exclusive tyre supplier Pirelli to reach an even wider audience. The channel will broadcast all seven rounds, with races shown on Wednesday afternoons. The Porsche Club Championship is organised by Porsche Club GB, the largest officially recognised Porsche […]
Continue ReadingPhilips X-tremeVision takes Auto Express headlamp bulb of 2014
Philips Automotive’s X-tremeVision headlamp bulb was named Headlamp Bulb of the Year in consumer magazine Auto Express’ Product Awards. The manufacturer’s VisionPlus headlamp was also one of two bulbs to pick up a commendation. The X-tremeVision previously picked up a commendation from leading German Car magazine AutoBild in its 2013 lighting tests. Phillips’ X-tremeVision has […]
Continue ReadingHiQ appoints property agent to aid ‘ambitious’ network growth plans
HiQ has hired property agent CPBigwood to identify new sites as it seeks to increase its number of branches. HiQ retail director Farrell Dolan told Tyrepress: “Our growth plans for our network are ambitious, but we are in the process of developing a new retail model that will make it easier for prospective franchisees to join the HiQ network.”
Continue Reading90% would recommend Autobutler
Garages joining Autobutler.co.uk, the online servicing, maintenance and repair portal, could benefit from referral business after 90 per cent of customers said they would recommend it to others. In a survey of more than 2,800 existing Autobutler users, 90 per cent said they would recommend it while 93 per cent said they would book their car in for work again via the online portal.
Continue ReadingUK and European motorists increasingly buying tyres online
UK and European motorists are increasingly choosing to purchase tyres through the Internet. The latest research published by one of the largest tyre e-tailers, Delticom also suggest – perhaps unsurprisingly – that consumers are increasing tending towards their online retail platforms. These results of the research have been published in the Delticom Report “Tyres Online 2014”.
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