Independent tyre distributors building ships for choppy waters ahead
In October 2014’s Wholesale feature, Tyres & Accessories asked whether Europe’s independent tyre wholesalers still have a future in the context of the German company Ihle Baden Baden’s failure and subsequent sale to Michelin. Pointing to the lightening of the business due to such factors as the price transparency offered by e-commerce (and online marketing) we wondered whether the value of the relationship between customers and their suppliers had become more tenuous, relying only on price and reliability of deliveries. Should these two considerations become the only weapons in a wholesaler’s arsenal, T&A suggested that their role becomes more akin to a specialised freight forwarder.
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Goodyear confirms Wolverhampton plant closure
Goodyear Dunlop UK has confirmed the closure of its Wolverhampton retreading plant. Closure will happen on a phased basis. The first roles to be made redundant are likely to occur on 31 December 2015, with anticipated production at the plant ending no earlier than January 2017. “It is important to understand that no alternatives to the companys proposal have been made”, company representatives wrote in a statement.
Continue Reading The end of Goodyear Dunlop’s UK retreading
Just before the September Retreading Special went to print, Goodyear Dunlop was in consultation on the proposed closure of its Wolverhampton mixing and retreading plant, announced in June. Though the plant was the subject of significant investment as recently as 2012, its viability has ultimately reduced to a level at which Goodyear Dunlop believes “there is no other option” but to close the facility, in the words of UK managing director, Erich Fric, who spoke to Tyres & Accessories shortly after the announcement. Indeed, the company’s exit from Wolverhampton appears the logical conclusion to decades of diminishment since its post-war peak, when Goodyear employed more than 7,000 jobs in the city, mostly manufacturing new tyres, an activity that ended in 2006. With the new tyre manufacturing site the subject of a £150m redevelopment plan to make the area a housing zone, Goodyear Dunlop signed a 10-year lease on the land occupied by its mixing and retreading operations, a commitment that was augmented by a five-year investment plan that brought two new Next Tread retreading machines and a Banbury mixer to Wolverhampton.
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Michelin launches fleet tyre management apps
Today Michelin launched Michelin Tire Care, a suite of connected software solutions designed to help hauliers get the most out of their tyres. The idea is that as fleets use the mobile/tablet-based software they both get more performance (and therefore financial value) from their tyre purchases and in doing so see the value of premium and especially Michelin truck tyre products.
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Oak Tyres outlines brand strategy in new Davanti era
Oak Tyres has undergone some dynamic changes this year as it adapts its business to a shifting wholesale landscape. The most radical of the company’s developments in 2015 has been the launch of its fully owned private brand Davanti, which Oak’s management most recently supported at CITExpo 2015 in Shanghai. To accommodate operations associated with the new brand, Oak Group Holdings was formed, with the Oak Tyres 100 per cent wholesale business now under this umbrella alongside Davanti Tyres, and promotional merchandise producer Davanti World. With the Davanti product designed as “an opportunity for margin”, in the words of general manager Larry Cross, Oak Tyres’ brand portfolio has increased its scope. Stating that “we have a very clear, defined brand strategy at Oak, which we have refined continuously over the past five years,” Peter Cross, commercial manager at Oak Tyres, told Tyres & Accessories a bit more about the company’s current outlook, and how the second tier “exclusive brand programmes” are offering customers the opportunity “to maximise their profits”.
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CITExpo bids farewell to Everbright in 13th edition, previews move to modern facility
The 2015 edition of the China International Tire Expo opened on 9 September in Shanghai with around 350 exhibitors – the show’s most ever. The sustained growth represented by these numbers has led to the decision by organiser Reliable International Exhibition Services to transfer CITExpo to the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center (SWEECC), built in the centre of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo site. The show also boasts strong continuity, with around 80 per cent of 2014 exhibitors back in 2015, according to Reliable; in past years the organiser has come to expect a similar proportion of its customers booking their space for the following year during CITExpo.
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Uncertain outlook for Asia-Europe tyre shipments: MCS
Asia-Europe container transportation rates are currently at a deep low (see graph), but the obvious price benefit to importers of tyres from South-East Asia is mitigated somewhat by volatility in shipping conditions, which affects punctuality and reliability of tyres’ delivery. Shipping lines’ over-estimation of the market potential has led to artificial capacity restrictions used to mitigate over-capacity, and in some cases, cancelled shippings. With these factors fundamental to UK tyre wholesale, Tyres & Accessories asked freight forwarder Maritime Cargo Services partner Rob Shelley about the issues currently at play in this market.
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Tyre Industry Awards 2015: Winners
The winners of the 2015 Tyre Industry Awards were announced during the 86th NTDA Annual Dinner on 1 October following the new one-day Tyre Industry Conference at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Birmingham. Attendance at the dinner set a new record, with 60 tables sold out. The speaker and presenter of the awards was former England Rugby Union international, amateur dancer and current television pundit, Austin Healey, who added some trademark irreverence to proceedings. The Awards were also live-tweeted as they were announced on the @Tyrepress Twitter feed. The awards were sponsored this year by Sailun Tyres.
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Broadening range, broadening appeal
Truck tyre retreading and the new truck tyre market upon which it depends have developed in terms of sophistication over the years. At the same time increased amounts of low-cost products have put pressure on the opposite end of the market. Recent years have seen Michelin address this with investment at the top and now additional product lines at the bottom. Tyres & Accessories met with new Michelin UK head Guy Heywood, who was promoted from his role as sales director for the company’s commercial vehicle tyre sales in the UK and Ireland earlier this year, in order to find out more.
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Continental chalks up another tyre test victory for the WinterContact TS 850
Even during its third year on the market, Continental’s WinterContact TS 850 is a frontrunner in many winter tyre tests. Following its recent victory in this year’s GTÜ size 225/50 R17 test and the 205/55 R16 comparative test conducted by Germany’s ADAC, Austria’s ÖAMTC and Switzerland’s TCS, the WinterContact TS 850 has secured a second consecutive victory in the size 185/65 R15 winter test performed by German motoring magazine Autozeiting. The publication describes the tyre as “invariably safe, fast and balanced.
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Same name, upgraded performance – Goodyear launches 2nd-gen Vector 4Seasons tyre
It’s already gained the attention of Auto Express’s tyre testers, been rated “exemplary” and taken top honours in this month’s Auto Bild test of ten all-season tyres, and gained approval as original equipment on Audi, Ford, Vauxhall/Opel and Renault models. Therefore it’s high time that we report the launch of the second generation Goodyear Vector 4Seasons.
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Toyo Tire & Rubber names new president, chairman
The Board of Directors at Toyo Tire & Rubber today resolved to hold an Extraordinary Meeting of Shareholders on 12 November in order to present its candidates for the positions of chairman and president. Shareholders will vote on whether to approve Katsumi Komaguchi as the company’s new chairman and Takashi Shimizu as its president.
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Bridgestone celebrates 10th anniversary of Bulldog acquisition
10 years after Bridgestone bought Bulldog, the retreading market is a different place. A decade ago passenger car retreading was still going on (albeit some way from its peak). At the same Chinese tyres were present, but in nowhere near the current quantities – and in some cases they were being sold at the same or higher prices they are now. On top of this many more retreading operations were running than there are today.
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Not involved in F1 tyre allocation – Pirelli addresses Singapore GP theories
Although the name Mercedes isn’t mentioned even once, there’s no mistaking that a statement issued by Pirelli yesterday aims to finally put an end to the conspiracy theories circulating since last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
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Continental hands CEVA responsibility for UK tyre logistics
CEVA Logistics has been awarded the contract to provide tyre warehousing and transportation services to Continental in the UK. The new five-year contract is worth more than US$50 million and involves CEVA’s management of the 21,000 square metre Continental warehouse within the Central Park industrial estate in Rugby. The supply chain management company will receive, store and dispatch around three million tyres a year and also manage Continental’s UK transport requirements using both its own dedicated fleet and a network of regional partners.
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