Trelleborg to Acquire UK’s Watts Tyre Group
Trelleborg has signed an agreement for the acquisition of the UK’s Watts Tyre Group through its Trelleborg Wheel Systems business area, an action the Swedish company believes will strengthen its industrial tyre segment position through geographic expansion and an increased presence in the aftermarket. Watts has annual sales of approximately £27.4 million and about 230 employees. The purchase consideration amounts to approximately £21 million.
Continue ReadingReport Links Marubeni with £650 million Kwik-Fit Sale
Just over a month after the news that Kwik-Fit owners PAI had appointed Credit Suisse to analyse the options for the sale of the company, newspaper reports have linked Japanese trading house Marubeni with a possible purchase. Marubeni’s other UK interests include ownership of Yokohama HPT tyres and a network of 24 car showrooms through its Marubeni Automotive Ltd subsidiary. It is also said to own one of the largest dealers for Toyota and Mazda in Europe. Despite the reports, a company spokesperson told Tyres & Accessories that Kwik-Fit is “not in advanced discussions with anyone, specifically not Marubeni.” Rather the reported sale of the company is said to be in the very early stages, with the timeframe to completion unclear at this time.
Continue ReadingBroadway Bought By Traxx Tyres
Less than two weeks after former Grouptyre member Broadway Tyres went into administration, new owner Traxx Tyres has announced its purchase of the company’s assets. Tyres & Accessories understands that Traxx Tyres, which is new to the UK market, is connected to successful tyre wholesaling in Australia. It is fair to say that Traxx has taken the British market by surprise with its first UK acquisition, reportedly outbidding competing offers for Broadway Tyres. Sources close to the negotiations told T&A that Broadway will not be a member of Grouptyre under its new ownership and that instead the national wholesale operation will be running its own logistics operation from High Wycombe in order to maintain continuity of supply to its customers and in competition with Traxx Tyres.
Continue ReadingTWG sees Continuation of 2010 Trends into 2011
Yesterday saw the Tyre Wholesalers Group Annual Lunch held at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull. At the event, TWG chair Ashley Croft reviewed the year in UK tyre wholesaling, saying that “TWG members are fortunate within the replacement side of our market to have enjoyed a year of consistent market size, although the busy first half of the year has been balanced by a quieter period following.” Croft also looked forward to 2011, in which he forecasted “a year of challenges” for TWG members, commented on the rising interest in winter – or cold weather – tyres in the UK and the long-term potential effects of a consistent, large seasonal market; the persistently low availability of product throughout the year; his concerns about tyre labelling; and the education of non-NTDA member retailers. Below, tyrepress.com presents the transcription of his speech.
Continue ReadingPoint S UK Growth Ahead of Schedule
The plans of international tyre buying and marketing cooperative Point S to fill in the gaps in its European market map with a UK operation are reported to be “ahead of schedule.” In less than a year since membership talks began and just four months after the news of Point S (UK) Ltd formation was announced, the company’s plans for the establishment of one of the largest retail networks in Britain are said to be running so well that they could meet next year’s target before the end of 2010.
Continue ReadingBroadway Tyres Enters Administration
High Wycombe-based wholesaler Broadway Tyres entered administration yesterday (4 November) after being officially declared insolvent the day before. The company is understood to have faced cashflow problems related to significant debts. Bearing in mind the fact that Broadway is a member of the 13-company Grouptyre operation, what affect is the move is likely to be on Grouptyre in general and Broadway’s customers in particular? A source close to Grouptyre told Tyres & Accessories that customers won’t notice any disruption in either service or supply as the collective is working closely with both Broadway and the administrators to ensure it is “business as usual” for customers. The source also suggested that Grouptyre will be continue to honour its supply agreements post-administration whatever the outcome of this period is.
Continue ReadingMichelin Fill Up with Air Campaign “Helps Nearly 5,000” Reduce Emissions
Michelin says it has helped nearly 5,000 motorists save fuel this summer as part of its annual Fill Up With Air campaign. The event has been touring the UK since May and shows drivers the importance of keeping tyres at the correct pressure. The tyre giant believes the campaign has reduced the annual CO2 emissions of participating drivers by around 145 tonnes, assuming the 4,753 drive an average of 12,000 miles per annum at 35mpg. These figures suggest those motorists would save more than 12,700 gallons of fuel and around £70,000 on fuel bills in addition to the increased wear and the added costs of replacing incorrectly inflated tyres more frequently.
Continue ReadingDeruibotire 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.
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