Following the recent tragedy of typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Maxxis International has set up a donation fund for its “Maxxis family” members from around the world to contribute to those in need.
IGA ‘concerned’ over limited technical information
“It is extremely concerning that access to manufacturers technical information is still limited for independent garages” said Stuart James, Independent Garage Association (IGA) Director. A new study by BOVAG, The IGA’s European counterpart, has found that only six of 13 manufacturer websites examined in the study allowed the researchers to successfully establish a connection between the vehicle and the manufacturer’s website.
Ground rubber from scrap tyres has resilient properties that can be used to enhance the performance of construction products. For the asphalt industry, which currently depends on materials with very high embedded energy costs – polymer-modified bitumen is expensive in carbon terms both to make and to transport and store – asphalt made using bitumen modified with rubber concentrate from ground recycled tyres could therefore offer a welcome solution to greenhouse gas emissions associated with traditional asphalt manufacturing.
The IAAF and its members have raised more than £85,000 for motor trade charity BEN in 2013. The staggering figures were confirmed at the recent IAAF Annual Awards Dinner, where the charity was again featured prominently.
The traditional envelope donation raised £5,800 which was swelled by the proceeds of an auction for a World Cup 1966 football shirt, which bore the autographs of several of the World Cup squad. The competitive bidding reached the heady heights of £1000.
The IAAF’s conference has once again lived up to expectations with the delegates discussing the wide range of opportunities and threats for the ‘next generation’ of automotive aftermarket pioneers. Held at Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel at the National Exhibition Centre, delegates expressed their appreciation at the breadth and quality of the topics covered and the informed speakers who made presentations to nearly 100 aftermarket personnel.
Falken supplying Autosolo tyres at Autosport International
Building upon the success of its inaugural support of the Under 17 Motor Club in 2013, Falken Tyre Europe is helping more young drivers to get involved in motorsport by providing tyres for the Autosolo event at Autosport International, which takes place at the NEC between 9 and 14 January 2014.
Contract tyre manufacturer, Enjoy Tyre is promoting its Rotalla range and a trio of winter tyre patterns in particular. The S100 M+S, S110 and S210 have all been produced as so-called “skid proof winter tyres”. All three patterns reportedly offer a thin multi-curve tread incorporating significantly deeper grooves in order to maximise performance in both standard and difficult winter road conditions.
Kings Road Tyres, a leading distributor of Michelin, Kleber, Goodyear, Trelleborg, Firestone and Taurus agricultural tyres, has confirmed its presence at next month’s LAMMA 2014 farm machinery and equipment show. The company is exhibiting on Stand B119 during the two-day show at the East of England Showground (near Peterborough) on 22 and 23 January.
BMTR Pirelli PPC of the year for second time in a row
Pirelli named BMTR Pirelli Performance Centre (PPC) of the year for the second year running after the firm achieved the best score on the final audit of 2013. The annual award was inaugurated in 2007 to commemorate the efforts of the company’s Performance Centres across the country and this year six depots were in the running for the title.
The truck market was amongst the first to take steps to reduce costs when the credit crunch bit, but the flipside is that is also amongst the first to respond when conditions improve. And this is likely to have a knock-on effect on the tyre market that supplies it. Continental’s logic certainly fits with their figures. And the fact that marketing is growing again is evident based on the fact that UK and Irish truck and bus tyre replacement markets shot up 14 per cent and 5 per cent respectively in 2013. Now it is worth pointing out that these figures are based on ETRMA data which includes the top five and some other leading manufacturers, but not many of the imported brands that are popular to UK tyre buyers.
Subaru UK offers free winter tyres and wheels to BRZ buyers
Subaru UK is offering customers buying a new Subaru BRZ sports car some early festive cheer with a free set of alloy wheels and cold weather tyres, worth a combined £1095 including fitting.
“As Australia’s largest supermarkets cease making fuel offers after a watchdog deems that offering customers discounted petrol is a threat to competition, it is imperative that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) re-open their investigation into the UK fuel market” said Brian Madderson, Petrol Retailers’ Association Chairman.
MAM Software has announced that it is has joined the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA), cementing its strategic objective in developing innovative software solutions for the tyre industry. The company says that the new membership will demonstrate MAM’s commitment to operating at the highest professional standards that NTDA members expect.
There are already signs that European tyre labelling is having an effect on the purchasing decisions of consumers, thats the view of Continental representatives shared at the company at its recent annual trends briefing in London. Contis reading of market response to labelling follows a number of different view proffered by other manufacturer, supplier and retail sources. So far much of the data has suggested that the label is unused or unoffered and so therefore doesnt have much influence.
While no-one is saying the climate is easy or the market is booming, Continental Tyre Group estimates that the worst is over and the UK market currently totals some 35 million passenger car tyres a years. Of course the fact that the same experts also suggest that around 10 per cent of this is made up of part worn sales remains problematic, but this is tempered by the fact that UK market has been leading Europe in terms of new car registrations recently, which all points to increased growth of large and higher performance sizes in the next two to three years. And what’s more Conti’s UK representatives suggest that the new European tyre label is already beginning to have an impact, despite other sources both agreeing and disagreeing with this position. Tyres & Accessories caught up with Continental’s passenger tyre segment brand manager (which includes car, 4x4 and van in the role’s remit) Peter Robb at the company’s annual trends briefing in central London on 6 December to find out more.
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