Bridgestone: 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.”
Continue ReadingGrouptyre Says New e-Commerce Initiative Benefits Trade
Grouptyre has launched a new e-commerce platform intended to make it easy for consumers to buy tyres via the web. In addition the Good Tyre Guide (www.goodtyreguide.com), as it is known, is also designed to channel business to retailers so they can get a share of the growing online marketplace. In its launch information Grouptyre reports that consumers are increasingly happy to buy online, citing data that suggests UK shoppers spent £38 billion in 2009 (source: 4psmarketing.com). With the launch of new site Grouptyre says it is determined that its tyre retailing customers won’t get left behind.
Continue ReadingAnalysis: Saying All Budget Tyres are Lethal is an Unfair Generalisation
What Car?’s tyre test team make a good point highlighting the differences between some premium and budget products in their recent tyre test. But it appears they went a step too far when they entitled the feature “why budget tyres could kill” lumping the three cheaper products (Arrowspeed, Ovation and Sunew) together in the their final conclusion. It might sound a touch pedantic, but the addition of the word “some” in the headline may have been fairer as this would have avoided generalising about the overall quality of tyres. It didn’t take long after Tyres & Accessories reported on the tests on our daily e-Newsletter for the manufacturers involved to take up their right to reply. The Korean manufacturer behind Kwik-Fit’s popular Arrowspeed tyre brand arguably has the best case for disputing being tarred with the saw low-budget brush as the Ovation and the Sunew tyres.
Continue ReadingReport: Budget Tyres Could Kill, But at Least They’re Quiet
What Car? has named and shamed budget brands in a test warning that tyres like these “could kill.” In the test published online on 4 August 2010 What Car? measured the performance of the Arrowspeed CP661, Continental Premium Contact 2, Goodyear Optigrip, Michelin Pilot Sport 3, Ovation VI-182 and Sunew YS112 in dry braking, wet braking, lateral grip and noise tests. The Michelin Pilot Sport 3 came out top, with particularly strong results in wet and dry braking. However, there were some shocking outcomes in the budget sector when it came to braking and noise.
Continue ReadingTAFF Awards 2010: Environment Award
In this final category only two companies – Credential Environmental and DME Tyres – survive from last year's finalists and they are joined by previous winners Kingpin Tyres, Envirotyre and Hardings Vans, a company providing a localised service. I said final category, however, it is worth noting that the NTDA's "Innovation Award" will be presented on awards night too. But seeing as the nominations for this haven't been published yet, the Environment Awards counts for the last category in our coverage. Click more for the nominations.
Continue ReadingStapleton’s Confirms Pirelli CPK Purchase
Stapleton’s Tyre Services has confirmed that it has agreed terms with Pirelli Tyre UK to purchase its CPK Auto Products Ltd business. Asked what the strategic intention behind the firm’s latest acquisition is, Stapleton’s representatives said “Pirelli’s CPK strengthens Stapleton’s position as the UK’s number one tyre distributor” and said the move sees the tyre distribution specialist “expand its trade distribution operation enabling a further improvement in efficiencies and customer service” in an official statement. No details of the terms of the sale have been released. Commenting on the acquisition, Stapleton’s chief executive, Kenji Murai, said: “We are a growing business and this latest acquisition allows us to further improve our market position. Our aim is to provide excellent value for money alongside great customer service, across all our B2B sectors. This philosophy will be at the heart of everything we do.”
Continue ReadingPirelli Sells CPK Tyre Wholesale Business to Stapleton’s
Stapleton’s Tyre Service has agreed terms to buy Pirelli’s CPK tyre wholesale business for an undisclosed sum. A TUPE consultation process commenced with elected representatives of CPK on Monday 26 July. The sale is said to fall within Pirelli UK's strategy to focus on its core business, which does not include tyre retail or wholesale operations.
Continue ReadingVeyron Tyres Last Just 37 Miles at Top Whack
While everyone else was drooling over the Bugatti Veyron Super Sports’s jaw dropping 267 mph (431 km/h) performance on the BBC’s Top Gear programme last night, Tyres & Accessories was observing the tyre geek angle – at those kinds of speeds even the best tyres simply don’t last very long. During his report, May pointed out that Bugatti engineers had told him the car’s tyres lasted for around 37 miles a speeds of up to 258 mph (414 km/h). At speeds beyond this, however, the tyres’ life expectancy is somewhat more opaque: “Ask an admiral how deep his submarine goes,” Top Gear’s May was told.
Continue ReadingWholesale Stalwart Dick Anderson Retires
After some 46 years in the industry, well known tyre industry veteran Dick Anderson retired from wholesaler RH Claydon on 30 June. Having started as a youngster in the industry with North British Tyre & Rubber (latter to become Uniroyal Tyres) in Edinburgh in 1964, Anderson says that he has enjoyed his time “in a fascinating and now complex industry” and seen the many changes over the years.
Continue ReadingKwik-Fit Sells Insurance Business for £215 million
Kwik-Fit Group Limited has announced that it has agreed to sell its UK Insurance business (KFIS) to Fortis UK Limited for £215 million, a division of Belgium-based Ageas. The transaction is subject to the usual regulatory approval, but is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2010. According to the company, the transaction marks the successful completion of a strategic review for the KFIS business announced in February 2010. Proceeds from the sale will be used to repay debt which, together with funds injected into the business as part of the recently completed covenant reset exercise at the end of 2009, will reduce net bank debt to £486 million. In an official statement on the matter, company representatives said the move leaves the business “in a strong position to exploit growth opportunities in its core fast-fit businesses.” It will also go some way towards halting speculation that the company’s private equity owners (PAI) are looking to sell the entire business as the rumours themselves appear to have been based on the size of Kwik-Fit’s debts.
Continue ReadingHalfords Sales Reach £831.6 million Supported by Nationwide Acquisition
Halfords Group Plc has reported preliminary full year 2010 results (April to April) showing sales of £831.6 million, up 4.6 per cent on 2009 and up 0.7 per cent like-for-like. The company’s gross margin grew to 54.4 per cent, while operating profit shot up 17.5 per cent to £119.7 million, representing 14.4 per cent of sales (2009: 12.8%). The acquisition and “successful integration of Nationwide Autocentres” – four of the network’s branches are already said to have converted their livery – were clearly important parts of the company’s strong results. David Wild, Chief Executive, commented: “Halfords has had an excellent year…Sales growth in core areas, margin expansion and disciplined cost control has led to the delivery of 25 per cent earnings growth…In addition we made our first acquisition, Nationwide Autocentres, which represents a natural extension of Halfords service proposition in the car aftermarket and is already making a good contribution to the Group.”
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