Manchester United names Apollo official tyre in UK and India
On 21 August, Apollo Tyres signed a three-year partnership with Manchester United, which sees the company named as the official tyre of the world-famous football team across both the UK and India. Details of the investment associated with the deal have not been released. What we do know is that as well as access to player appearances in both countries the company will be making the most of its association with Man U in online advertising as well as its marketing and point of sale material. In addition, in a development of its ‘go the distance’ philosophy, Apollo Tyres will create football-based play zones in local communities in the UK and India; these will feature recycled rubber and encourage healthy lifestyles among youngsters.
Continue ReadingPirelli commends long-serving staff
A total of 44 employees from Pirelli’s Burton upon Trent and Carlisle factories have been recognised for their ongoing commitment to premium tyre manufacturer Pirelli. Each year, Pirelli holds annual dinners to reward its employees who have worked with the company for a period of either 21, 30 or 40 years.
Continue ReadingAn age old message?
It hasn’t been a good month for global transport’s PR. A runaway train in Canada, followed by a train crash in Spain, a bus crash in Italy and the recent head-on railway collision in Switzerland tragically broke decades long fatality records in each area. Of course mass transport in the developed world has never been safer and incidents like this are thankfully rare. And despite the innate Gestaltist tendency to draw a correlation between the random international happenings, there isn’t one. But that doesn’t stop us being all the more aware of such incidents. Just like when you buy a new car and suddenly realize how many of that make, model and colour suddenly appear despite having been on the roads all along. With this in mind, one of the three incidents that has recently caught public attention stood out particularly clearly for this tyre journalist – the Italian bus crash. Before the investigation was even carried out, my mind was drawn back to another coach crash in the UK. While it is just speculation to suggest that aging was a factor in both cases and there is in fact no clear link between them, one couldn’t help but wonder if it was another case of apparent age-related tyre failure.
Continue ReadingShandong Yongtai, Treadsetters buy Covpress
China’s Shandong Yongtai Chemical Group, manufacturer of the Durun tyre brand and the DMack tyres used in the World Rally Championship, and UK tyre wholesaler Treadsetters have jointly acquired automotive supplier Covpress. The two companies are believed to have paid £30 million to buy the Coventry-based firm, which employs around 450 people and manufactures body panels for vehicle manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan and Renault. Chinese and UK media sources report Shandong Yongtai will hold a 70 per cent stake in Covpress and TIA Group company Treadsetters the remaining 30 per cent.
Continue ReadingGrouptyre member Kenway Tyres celebrates 30 year anniversary
North-east Scotland Grouptyre member Kenway Tyres has celebrated 30 years in the tyre business, wholesaling tyres into the 8,000 square mile region and operating three retail sites in Aberdeen and Dundee. Kenway has expanded during its lifespan to capitalise on the success of its original site in Aberdeen. “We’re extremely proud of our achievements here at Kenway Tyres”, says managing director Alan Kennaway.
Continue ReadingBridgestone announces latest bike promotion winners
Two biking fanatics have received prizes from Bridgestone’s motorcycle team, responding to contests conducted at a recent motorcycle festival, and on the company’s social networking pages. Katrina Rex beat dozens of men to win a set of premium Bridgestone radial bike tyres at the recent Shropshire Bike Festival, holding out tyres on her outstretched arms for a longer period of time than anyone else. Meanwhile, Steve Trudgeon from St Austell triumphed in a Bridgestone Facebook competition, earning a place at the Honda Ron Haslam Race School at Donington.
Continue ReadingTransport MP visits Goodyear Wolverhampton
Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Transport, Gavin Williamson visited the Goodyear factory in the West Midlands last week. The famous Wolverhampton factory has been developing tyres for 85 years in the region and is now a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for retreaded truck tyres. Gavin Williamson MP started: "Goodyear are an important employer for the local area. My constituency starts at the edge of Wolverhampton so many of my constituents will be working at the plant. It is an important local employer and important local investor in the West Midlands.”
Continue ReadingTop 10 excuses for not buying a tax disc
A motorist who claimed to have taken so much Viagra he could not leave the house was just one of a number of excuses from people who failed to tax their car. According to information released by DVLA, motorists caught for not having a tax disc last year used a variety of excuses, which included "My mate said that if the cost of the tax is more than what the car's worth you haven't got to pay it." One motorist claimed to have fallen out of a tree while fruit picking and broke both arms so they could not fill in the necessary forms, while one motorist even blamed their mobile phone.
Continue ReadingComparative tyre test highlights grey import risk
Chinese tyres often rank poorly in comparative tests undertaken by European publications, unable to match the performance of premium rivals. But what sort of tyres do these premium manufacturers themselves produce for the Chinese market, and how would they fare against their European market siblings? German motoring magazine Auto Bild assigned its staff the task of finding out, and the results were interesting.
Continue ReadingHidden strength: Is the UK becoming an all-season tyre market?
For a decade or more the case has been made for the development of winter tyre market in the UK. While there have always been residual levels of winter tyre take-up in the most northerly and mountainous parts of Britain, in the past 10 years or so tyre manufacturers have invested considerable time, effort and resources in making it a relatively normal part of the UK tyre culture. In recent years there has been development in the winter tyre market and it seems clear that this has far from peaked. However, at the same time there is now evidence that sales of all-season tyres have matched and overtaken these. With all this in mind Tyres & Accessories spoke with representatives of Bridgestone, Falken and Hankook and asked what is the right tool for the job in the UK? And is the UK becoming an all-season tyre market?
Continue ReadingThe UK seasonal tyre market is larger than you think
The UK tyre industry has been taking deliberate steps to develop its winter tyre market for over a decade. As a result winter tyre sales constitute an increasingly important market position (see Related News in the subscriber section of this article). At the same time, the evidence Tyrepress.com has seen suggests all-season tyre sales have been growing at an even faster rate and could even be outperforming winter tyres when measured across complete 12 month periods. Back in May (see Tyres & Accessories May, page 18) we reported on the latest relevant research produced by market analysts GfK, which suggested winter tyre sales were accelerating faster than ever. This month, in keeping with our winter versus all-season theme, we expand on this data to include a number of all-season details and compare it with the conclusion drawn by our other sources.
Continue ReadingBlackcircles launches first Tesco Click & Fit in Bletchley
The first “Click & Fit” tyre service has launched at Tesco in Bletchley. The service allows customers to order tyres and make a fitting appointment through Tesco’s tyre partner Blackcircles’s website, before dropping off their car at a “Pit Stop” fitting bay at the supermarket. Tesco told local news source the Milton Keynes Citizen that customers could expect discounted tyre prices and Clubcard reward scheme points as extra incentives for using the service. An idea in the works since the companies partnered on the Tesco-Tyres.com website in January 2011, the potential for rolling out this model nationwide is clear, given the supermarket giant’s UK prominence.
Continue ReadingBBC programme slams Kwik-Fit…again
Kwik-Fit has once again found itself at the centre of unwanted attention after a BBC consumer programme accused it of recommending work that didn’t need to be done and of failing to properly carry out free tyre safety checks. On 10 July, the “Your Money, Their Tricks” programme mystery shopped 10 Kwik-Fit branches with 10 different cars. The cars, which were of various ages and models, had been pre-inspected by a forensic engineer and had been prepared in order to demonstrate whether checks had been carried out. Similar allegations were made by the BBC’s “Watchdog” programme in September 2010. But this time it was rather tackily presented, as the title of the programme and the in-show caricatures demonstrate.
Continue ReadingIconic Bond car surfaces
Ever wanted to live out your James Bond fantasies? Now the Lotus Esprit Series 1 ‘Submarine’ Car used in the “The Spy Who Loved Me” is up for auction you can…if you have enough money. But don’t bother trying to change the tyres.
Continue ReadingUHP segment where ‘the vast majority of the action takes place’ – GfK
The observation that trends regarding tyre size and speed rating have been tracing an upward trajectory for some time is nothing new, but the clear focus of the world’s largest tyre manufacturers on higher than high performance segments in Europe has perhaps never been so pronounced. Chasing improved profit margins with increased technology is always attractive to those with the capability and the incongruously strong luxury car market has provided an additional reason for migrating business focus from V-rated and 17” tyres into WYZ and 18”-plus territory, according to Automotive market research company GfK.
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