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15541

MMS Annual Poll 2000/2001: German Tyre Retailers Have Missed Their Targets

In the German tyre retailing business, the mood has swung towards the negative side over the last year. This is the main result of an annual poll carried out by the Marketing + Management-Systeme (MMS) among 2,400 German tyre retailers. According to the MMS-report, 80 percent of tyre retailers have been disappointed in their economic expectations. Among the co-operation members this is even higher at 85 percent. The main reason for the depressed mood has been the disaster of the winter tyre business in 2000 and there is no sign of any compensation in the form of new business activities. For 80 percent of the companies questioned, their central goal is to improve their service quality during this year. One year ago 30 percent of the retailers had stated that their expectations had been more than fulfilled, for 49 percent the expectations had been fulfilled. This time there are just three percent for whom the expectations have been more than fulfilled and another 17 percent who had achieved their aims. The most serious problem is the high quantity of winter tyres in stock. They block the capacities for the coming summer tyre season and cost a lot of time and money. First calculations are that 28 percent of the winter tyres have been not sold, which means a volume of five million units. With an average worth of 85 DM this adds up to an amount of approximately 400 million DM up to 425 million DM.

15542

ETRA-Conference In Leipzig

A year ago, the conference of the European Tyre Recycling Association (ETRA) was held in Schwerin, dealing with the present situation and future perspectives of scrap tyre disposal in Germany. Many questions and problems that were left unanswered in 1999 were also discussed at the following conference in Leipzig, which took place at the beginning of last December. Also this time there were few new answers to be found concerning the well-known problems in this area. Why is it so difficult to solve these problems connected with the recycling business? Some answers: the participants in this market are very diverse – and so are the individual aims. In addition, the market situation for recycled scrap tyres is still not the best, and new ideas for sensible and economical applications are few and far between at the moment. Even if they exist, they may still be blocked in many cases, e.g. the use of rubber in road surfaces. On the other hand there is a requirement for European quality standards for products which are already distributed. Furthermore, the knowledge of some companies in this sector is quite limited: it is either the tyre-, disposal- or the marketing-know how that is missing. In many cases the financial backing for new projects is insufficient. Not to mention a number of scandals concerning illegal landfills, which has negatively influenced public opinion about this business sector. Finally the serious market participants, as well as their association ETRA, have run up against a wall of disinterest on the part of the state and the tyre manufacturers.

15543

New President For Trelleborg Wheel Systems

Maurizio Vischi (45) will become President of agricultural tyre manufacturer Trelleborg Wheel Systems on June 1st. Mr. Vischi is currently head of the TWS Agricultural Radial Tyres business unit, located at Tivoli in Italy, where he will continue to be based. The current President, Anders Pettersson, is leaving to take up a new position as a divisional president for the security group Gunnebo AB. TWS was formed at the end of 1998 as a joint venture between Trelleborg (which owns 60% of the jv) and Pirelli, as a specialist manufacturer of agricultural and forest tyres.

15544

OE Tyre Satisfaction Study Rates Dunlop And Michelin

The latest study by J.D. Power & Associates, measuring OE tyre satisfaction, puts Dunlop at the head of light truck OE tyres for the first time and Michelin tops for passenger vehicles, for the fourth year running. The study sought the views of more than 39,000 consumers in their first three years of vehicle ownership.

15545

Internet Motorcycle Tyre Guide Launched By Dunlop

Dunlop Online has launched what it says is “the most sophisticated guide to motorcycle tyres on the net”. It gives surfers tyre fitment and pressure data for their motorcycles, along with the recommended Dunlop tyre for their machine. Details are on ww.dunloptyres.co.uk/motorcycle

15546

The Truck Tyre Business

That the heavy truck tyre business is changing dramatically at all levels cannot be denied. Tyre dealers doing this business almost as a sideline in their local markets are facing a decrease but they are not too sad about this development because it is becoming harder and harder to earn money with truck tyres. This sector of business is decreasing because, for hauliers and their fleets, an enormous process of consolidation is taking place. In the future we will have tyre dealers saying good-bye to the truck tyre business and tyre dealers being strong in car and truck tyres. The media predict that goods traffic will increase significantly in coming years. Tranportation by waterway, railroad and especially road haulage will grow. But that might be a scenario for the longer term, because now we can read predictions of lower new truck registrations of about ten percent this year, and also next, in most European countries. But the stock lists seem to be stable because hauliers use their trucks longer (although they would prefer to buy a new one but it is too expensive) and modern trucks have a greater life expectancy than previously. The truck market is undergoing a process of structural changes. Mega fleets have arisen, absorbing a lot of the medium-sized and small hauliers. For the big fleets the four premium tyre brands Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone and Goodyear dominate. Their second brands are cheaper but good quality nevertheless. At the budget tyre level, brands like Toyo, Hankook or Marshal compete with the third brands of the four big market players for 15 percent of the market.

15547

New UK Truck Servicing Network For Continental

Continental Tyre Group is to set up a new UK truck network, comprising independent businesses with exclusive territories, managed by Continental. This will obviously affect the commercial division of Conti’s subsidiary National Tyre Services. Some will be sold, while some will be taken over by existing staff – a number of these are expected to join the new truck network, which will be called ContiNetwork.

15548

Winter-Workshop 2000 With Michelin

At the end of November Michelin invited motor journalists to a so-called “Winter Workshop” at the “Arctic Driving Centre” near Rovaniemi (Finland). The main topic of the event was of course the capabilities of winter tyres. Despite the very mild climate at the end of last year the tyre industry expects that with 18.4 million winter tyres, sales will reach a new record this season in Germany: Based on this Michelin says that customers will spend some three million DM for new tyres and service. As well as such basic market data, the Winter Workshop gave those present the chance to check out the advantages of modern winter tyres. To illustrate this the tyre manufacturer had prepared four different sections, focusing on influences on winter performance such as the tread depth, the age of the tyre and the tyre speed index and dimension. All in all, 24 combinations were tested and more than 50 journalists driving the test cars led to a great number of – sometimes astonishing – results, and the data allowed the establishment of average values for each section. Michelin says that the results of the workshop will have a bearing on future developments and the criteria for choosing the right tyre. Learn more about this in the January edition of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.

15549

Further Firestone Recall By Ford

Ford has announced that it will replace up to 13 million Firestone tyres fitted to Ford Explorer SUVs. This is double the number of tyres recalled last year and the cost to Ford will be around $3 billion, with the exercise taking nine months. It was this decision which precipitated the announcement from Bridgestone/Firestone that it would sever all ties with Ford; an announcement which caused Bridgestone shares in Tokyo to fall by over 9 per cent.

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15550

More Production Cuts From Goodyear

In the US, Goodyear says that it will reduce tyre production this month and next, due to weak demand for new cars and trucks. Cuts will be made across the board with no layoffs or shutdowns planned. The reduction follows a second quarter cut in production of six million tyres, despite increased demand as a result of the Firestone recall. Shares in Goodyear fell 20 cents at the news.

15551

Heavy Fines For Scrap Tyre Abuse

In January, two men pleaded guilty at Worcester Magistrates court to charges relating to the illegal dumping of scrap tyres in a case brought by the Environment Agency. The two men were fined a total of £12,250 and ordered to pay costs of £5,500.

15552

Truck Grand-Prix With Continental

Truck Racing at Nürburgring is traditionally a highlight of the racing season in Race- and Super Race-series for big trucks. Once again, 200,000 visitors came to see the competitions combined with a big entertainment programme. The smell of diesel and rubber, lots of sausages and beer, country music and a little bit of Western romance – these are the basic ingredients of this three-day-long fun and sports event. The important tyre manufacturers like Goodyear, Fulda and Pirelli were there too and used this occasion to communicate with their customers in an atmosphere much more relaxed than normal. The only tyre supplier for Truck Racing, Continental, had invited almost 2,000 guests for the races. For twelve years the German tyre manufacturer has supported European truck sport. And the involvement means more than just supplying the tyres. Technical support on the race tracks, mounting and professional advice are also part of the programme of sponsoring different teams. Since 1991 all teams of the Super Race-class have driven exclusively on Continental. With up to three trucks weighing 30 tons, the Continental service team accompanies the competitions all over Europe. Two service vehicles have space for 200 truck tyres each – enough to satisfy the needs of all the teams for a complete race weekend. Besides the enthusiasm for motor-sports Continental’s involvement has other practical reasons. Firstly, all target groups from the original equipment sector to the end user can be reached. And secondly, the racing itself provides concrete proof of the high performance and resistance of Continental’s truck tyres.

15553

“Eufori@” – Two Premieres For Pirelli

Consumer demand for run-flat tyres is at an all-time high. In the U.S., for example, a recent study found that nearly seven out of eight consumers place run-flat tyres at the top of their list of features desired on new automobiles. Therefore it is expected that the demand for run-flats will increase within the next few years. This is one of the reasons why Pirelli has developed such a tyre on its own, regardless of the fact that the company is working together with Goodyear and Sumitomo on Michelin’s PAX system. But the launch of the new tyre – called “Eufori@” – was not the only premiere for Pirelli: this run-flat is also the first tyre manufactured using the Italians’ MIRS technology. In size 205/45 R17, the “Eufori@” is original equipment on the new Mini Cooper S, shown at the Tokyo Motorshow at the same time. The name of the tyre, which will of course also be available for the replacement market and in the additional size 225/45 R17, was chosen from more than 20,000 suggestions made during an internet campaign at the end of last year. “We expect that in three years run-flats will account for about 10 % of the high performance tyre market”, explains Francesco Gori, Senior Vice President Market Development Unit at Pirelli. “Other car manufacturers who are interested to use Eufori@ as original equipment are BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford and VW/Audi”, adds Maurizio Boiocchi, responsible for research and development at Pirelli Reifenwerke. From remarks such as these, one gets the impression that run-flats will become standard equipment on cars much faster than did other features, such as ABS.

15554

Cradle To Grave Tracking Standards Announced

The Automotive Industry Action Group – Radio Frequency Identification – Tire and Wheel Work Group, has developed a two stage standard for labelling of OE tyres, allowing tracking from cradle to grave. The first stage is a simple label and RFID tag. The second stage will be the approval of an RFID read write chip inserted in the tyre at the point of manufacture. The AIAG will be carrying out evaluation and testing of suitable systems later in the year. (For further information on smart tyre technology see the July 2001 issue of TYRES & ACCESSORIES.

15555

First Stop – 100 Partners Have Joined Since Its Foundation Two Years Ago

Barely two years ago, Bridgestone/Firestone Deutschland GmbH introduced the First Stop System to the German market with the intention of inviting tyre dealers to join this new form of cooperation. Since then, 100 dealers have already joined this system in Germany. And with more than 1,000 partners all over Europe, the system has spread across 16 countries, so far. In Germany, Prignitzer Falas GmbH in Pritzwalk (Brandenburg) is First Stop partner N° 100. With 24 employees serving customers’ needs, this shop is not only successful in selling tyres, but it also deals with passenger cars, agricultural and industrial machinery, as well as selling and renting trailers. Moreover, a driving school is also included. Passenger cars, trucks and tractors each contribute one third of the turnover. This company has been a Bridgestone/Firestone customer since 1993. The First Stop idea is very simple: enhancing their line by the house brand “First Stop”, Bridgestone/Firestone grants exclusive selling rights for this economically-priced tyre to its partners. Thus, both the summer tyre “FST 2000” and the winter tyre “First Stop Winter” were born. Furthermore, the First Stop package also includes a uniform image and individual training programmes, covering technical and business know-how. Dealers who opt for cooperation will be furnished with substantial marketing support, which covers the complete advertising and POS segment, as well as training programmes. As their commitment to the tyre manufacturer, First Stop partners promise to always use up-to-date equipment to cope with the latest tyre technology, to join training programmes regularly and to always offer a proficient and friendly complete service for customers.

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