Deruibotire Targets 24 Million Tyres Produced in 2011
Deruibotire (or Shandong Deribao Tire Co, Ltd), a tyre-maker in Guangrao County, a region of China’s Shandong Province has big new production plans in the offing in 2011. Visiting Brityrex 2010 in Manchester with a Chinese delegation, the company’s president Yuan Tingshu told Tyres & Accessories that, while the company is currently producing 3 million radial tyres per year, it is developing a production line to produce 24 million units in 2011.
Continue ReadingGuangrao County Delegation Visits Brityrex
Brityrex 2010 attracted a group of visitors from Shandong Province’s Guangrao County, which met with Tyres & Accessories on the Tuesday evening in Manchester’s Renaissance Hotel off Deansgate. The delegation included the president of Deruibotire (also known as Shandong Deribao Tire Co Ltd) Yuan Tingshu; Guangrao Shandong vice county magistrate Li Jianjun; and Bureau of Commerce of Guangrao County director and party secretary Zhu Hanqing. The delegation gave a presentation on the strengths of Guangrao County – a location described by Li as “an economic powerhouse within Shandong Province” and one of China’s major tyre and automotive accessory producing regions, as well as the host of China (Guangrao) International Rubber Tire & Auto Accessory Exhibition (ChinaGRTAE), which is due to be staged for the second time in 2011. Along with Tyres & Accessories and other representatives of the UK tyre trade, the delegation met with the NTDA’s Richard Edy and Peter Gaster, also of UK wholesaler Kings Road Tyres.
Continue ReadingKingpin Agrees New Safety Measures After Fires
Kingpin Tyres has reportedly agreed “tough new safety measures” in the wake of three major fires on the site in the last 17 months at its Wem Industrial Estate premises. According to the Shropshire Star staff at Kingpin Tyres have agreed to develop “a safer set of standards for storing the rubber stacks and make the piles smaller to allow firefighters easier access if another fire does break out.”
Continue ReadingTaking the Plunge: The Good Tyre Guide and bridging the online retail/wholesale gap
The launch of Grouptyre’s goodtyreguide.com proves that the era of apps, widgets and plugins is upon us (see October's magazine for more on this). And while this column doesn’t normally single out individual companies for attention, the fact that we are running both e-Commerce and Wholesale features this month makes this story too apt to miss. When Grouptyre announced it was seeking to bridge the wholesale/retail divide with a solution that not only ensures it has an online footprint, but also seeks to make the enterprise profitable for everyone involved, it certainly caught the market’s attention (see September’s magazine for details of the launch). That’s not to say that Grouptyre is unique amongst wholesalers in considering an online channel/B2B plugin approach. Far from it. Tyres & Accessories has it on good authority that all of the top three have looked into operating comparable systems. The difference is that Grouptyre is the first one to seize the initiative and take the plunge.
Continue ReadingNew Goodyear Dunlop Consumer Director Relaunches HiQ Kettering
Goodyear Dunlop’s new consumer director, Juergen Titz, has made his first public appearance in the role, launching the recently revamped Kettering branch of HiQ alongside UK and Ireland managing director George Rietbergen. Titz suggested that he would open his tenure as consumer director with new strategies to improve the success of the company’s brand range, notably utilising its connection to HiQ. Following his spell as retail director for the fast fit network, a period described by the franchise as extremely successful, Titz was present at the launch to support HiQ’s biggest franchisee Chris Kisby, MD of Easy Tyre & Autocentres.
Continue ReadingGeneral Tire Drives Grabber AT Into European Market
General Tire has announced the European market launch of its latest 4x4 tyre, the Grabber AT. According to the manufacturer, the new tyre has been specifically designed to be rugged and offer high grip and good handling in both on- and off-road applications – all whilst ensuring comfortable driving characteristics. “The aim was to further improve the already very good off-road driving characteristics of the AT2 model, which is highly popular among 4x4 fans, and at the same time meet increased expectations in on-road use" said Pascal Resetta, General Tire’s product manager for 4x4 tyres. In terms of handling on dry roads, the new tyre is said to perform around three per cent better than its predecessor, whilst driving characteristics in the wet have been improved by up to ten per cent.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop UK Appoints New Consumer Director, New HiQ Head to Follow
Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Limited has announced that Juergen Titz, currently director of the company’s HiQ retail network, has been appointed as director, Consumer and Motorcycle effective 1 October 2010. He will continue to report to George Rietbergen, managing director – UK and Ireland, and replaces Mark Davison, who is said to be moving to a new opportunity outside of the tyre industry. According to the company, further organisational announcements are due to be made at a later date, following this change. Tyres & Accessories understands that this means Goodyear Dunlop will shortly announce a new face for the HiQ top in response to Juergen Titz’ promotion. A spokesman told T&A that if no replacement is announced by the end of the month, the HiQ team will report directly George Rietbergen.
Continue ReadingEric Le Corre Michelin Tyre PLC Managing Director
Eric Le Corre has been appointed as managing director for Michelin Tyre PLC following the retirement of Jim Rickard. He brings with him experience of Michelin’s operations in Europe and North America after 11 years with the Company, most recently as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Michelin North America, based in Greenville.
Continue ReadingHauling Out of the Recessionary Market
As in almost all industries, the calamity of the credit crunch has had a huge impact on the truck tyre market, reducing demand for products, and forcing manufacturers and traders to regroup. As a result of the economic crisis commercial vehicle businesses were forced to become savvier, demanding more from their tyres. Others simply went under. So with the remaining customers demanding improved performance, mileage and fuel consumption from their tyres while simultaneously being under economic pressure themselves, what affect has this scenario had on the size and development of the market? And what does this mean for truck tyre pricing both in the UK and across Europe?
Continue ReadingPirelli Reports ‘Surge’ in Post-Recession Truck Tyre Demand
With the economic recovery now seemingly underway and truck tyre sales in the UK growing again, demand for Pirelli truck products has reportedly outstripped this increase three-fold. According to the company, Pirelli’s success can be attributed to its focus on the premium market, the launch of two “extremely successful products” during the year and a number of new commercial fleet contracts. But how have these three elements linked together to put Pirelli’s sales so ahead of the market trend?
Continue ReadingBridgestone: UK Truck Tyre Market is 6-8% up on Last Year
Bridgestone UK reports that the new tyre market is starting to show signs of recovery, with the company’s data indicating that the market is running 6 - 8 per cent up on the same time last year. At the height of the recession, it was noted that fleets were parking up some units and using the dormant vehicles’ tyres to keep running costs lower in a process commonly known as cannibalisation. These stocks are now said to be coming to an end and fleets are placing new orders. There also appears to be a genuine increase in tyre demands from fleets. This is mainly due to increases in haulage and delivery volumes. However, although this activity is seen as positive it is still well below the level prior to the recession.
Continue ReadingMichelin: Political and Economic Instability Slowed UK CV Tyre Recovery
Following the recession of 2008 and 2009, in the most recent part of this year there has reportedly been “an about turn” in market truck tyre demand. However, the commercial vehicle sector’s recovery is said to be much slower in the UK than in Europe. Tyres & Accessories spoke to Michelin UK’s head of marketing – Truck, Earthmover, Martin Covington, who explained how the market’s recent history has been “a very competitive 18 months.” While Michelin reports that truck tyre volumes in Europe shot up 28.7 per cent during the first half of 2010. The UK market recovery appears to be much more gradual, rising just 6 per cent in the same period. (The niche Republic of Ireland market flew up 42 per cent, but this figure is based on the market’s relatively small volumes rapidly recovering from a low base). “OE has obviously been poor, but replacement hasn’t been as much better as it should have been,” Covington commented, pointing out that economic and political instability hit haulier confidence in the first half of the year. Interestingly (happenstance or not) the market’s return to form appears to have coincided with the formation of the current coalition government following the general election.
Continue ReadingBandvulc: Fulda Sales Beat Predictions by 25%
Bandvulc reports that its Fulda-brand commercial vehicle tyre sales “have exceeded all planned targets.” Sales for the year ending July 2010 were up 25 per cent on predicted forecasts and this reportedly shows that “the market can develop new brands if sold in a proactive, methodical way, rather than purely price driven,” according to the company. Activity is said to have been high in all tyres sizes with the largest increase in demand seen in the heavy 385/65 R22.5 and the 295/80 R22.5 sectors. “The Fulda range has been well received by Bandvulc’s independent dealers as well as the national chains and we expect to maintain current levels as well as planning for growth of up to 25,000 units in 2011/12,” company representatives told Tyres & Accessories.
Continue ReadingInfinity: July Was a Record Month
Infinity Tyres has reported that July 2010 was its best ever sales month. According to the company turnover for the month represented a massive 60 per cent year-on-year increase. Infinity sales are said to be tracking so that by the end of September 2010, after nine months, the company will have already surpassed 2009’s full-year sales figures.
Continue ReadingStoke-on-Trent Tyre Firm Stung by Credit Card Fraudsters
Kevin Ecclestone’s For Tyres shop in Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent has lost nearly £600 after Streamline – his credit card handler – reclaimed the money paid by people using cloned cards, reports The Sentinel. “They are all people who have seen us trading on the internet,” Ecclestone told the local paper. “They ring up and pay over the phone with a credit card before the tyres are picked up. When you say they can pay when they collect they make up an excuse, like they need to send someone else to get the tyres.”
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