The viability of a sustained winter tyre market in the UK has long been categorised as doubtful, with sales rarely climbing to 2 per cent. Meanwhile recent improvements in tyre technology and the introduction of products looking to change their perception, led by the Michelin CrossClimate’s success in the fleet market, have seen all-season tyres become an increasingly attractive proposition.
Automechanika Birmingham 2017 represented the perfect opportunity for the UK’s automotive aftermarket to gather as higher technology vehicles continue to push up turnover by 2.4 per cent in 2016. 800 such companies were present at the Birmingham NEC for this year’s show. The aftermarket accounted for £21.6 billion in turnover – a figure boosted by the presence of the more high tech vehicles on Britain’s road in addition to recent record months in new car registrations. Additionally the increasing demand for digital services has helped to boost the online side of the segment, and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which reported the latest figures, states that more car parts, accessories and services are bought online than cosmetics or groceries. Tyres, alongside lubricants and filters, are the most commonly replaced part, and help account for some of the growth in digital sales, though demand for digital devices, including telematics and tyre pressure sensors, has grown fastest. Overall, the SMMT states that the automotive sector makes a contribution to the UK economy of £12.5 billion.
The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) and ICDP have published ‘Life after Brexit: challenges and opportunities for UK automotive retail’. The discussion paper analyses challenges, outlines priorities and investigates opportunities that are likely to appear for the retail auto industry as the post Brexit situation emerges.
Poland’s electromobility market is ripe for growth. Favourable government initiatives such as the Electromobility Plan and Electromobility and Alternative Fuels Act are reshaping local mobility and igniting innovative clean technologies to achieve higher competitiveness and energy optimization. Growth will be augmented by consumer incentives and the simultaneous development of infrastructure, energy distribution, and product offerings. Players should look for opportunities in charging point infrastructure development, automotive supply chain transformation, and public transport modernisation to gain a competitive advantage.
The UK is still one of the largest and fastest growing 4×4/SUV tyre markets in Europe. In fact, according to the latest data compiled by market research specialists GfK Automotive, the UK is the second largest in Europe with sales of 1.157 million 4×4 tyres in 2015. Speaking with GfK Automotive account director Kevin Glynn, Tyres & Accessories learnt that only Italy’s annual sales of 1.4 million 4×4 tyres last year was bigger.
Using more than a billion miles of driving behaviour data, collected over three years (2011-2014), Wunelli, a LexisNexis company, has revealed the most frequent braking black spots across the UK created by speed cameras, based on motorists braking excessively just before speed cameras to avoid being caught. 80 per cent of all the UK speed cameras investigated had hard braking activity, with braking increasing six fold on average at these locations. Wunelli defines a hard braking event as a change in speed of 6.5+ mph over a one second time period, which is enough to propel a bag on the passenger seat into the footwell.
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