Schrader International has appointed Aaron Nelson as its new regional sales manager in Western Canada. Nelson brings nearly a decade of experience working with automotive and diesel performance products. Based in Edmonton, Nelson’s responsibilities include assisting Schrader customers with their TPMS programs and driving sales growth throughout Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Toyo Tire & Rubber reports it has expanded its automotive operations in the Americas with the establishment of Toyo Automotive Parts De Mexico S.A. DE C.V. The subsidiary specialises in automotive anti-vibration products and began operation in January. The Japanese company says the opening of Toyo Automotive Parts De Mexico will enable it to bolster sales of automotive anti-vibration rubber products in the global market through the creation of an optimal supply structure in Mexico, a location it expects will continue to grow as a global production and export base for motor vehicles.
Volkswagen has approved Continental summer tyres for original equipment fitment on three of its models – 15 and 16-inch versions of the ContiEcoContact 5 and ContiPremiumContact 5 will be fitted to the Golf 7, the CC receives a 17-inch rim diameter version of the ContiSportContact 5 and ContiEcoContact 5, while the car maker says that the Beetle will be fitted with the 20-inch ContiSportContact 5.
Automotive distribution group The Parts Alliance has conducted a survey of garage owners to gauge their confidence. With the UK economy wheezing its way back to growth, the survey asked whether garages within the group’s Servicesure Autocentres network were planning to invest in new equipment, take on new staff, seeking new capital, and how confident […]
Automotive part supplier First Line has increased its range of products for technicians with turbo hoses. The company reasons that the growing number of vehicles fitted with forced induction engines makes the addition of turbo hoses a “natural development”. The company includes more than 400 reference numbers in this product category, including all of the most popular European vehicles.
Launch UK has unveiled its latest generation of diagnostic tools. Centring on the X-431 PRO, the line is said to offer a full fault system diagnosis for American, Asian and European vehicle manufacturers. As one the first Android based diagnostic tools, X-431 provides greater speed, reliability and ease of use over other diagnostic tools.
UK automotive and cycling services retailer, Halfords Group has appointed Andy Randall as managing director of its garage servicing and auto repair business, Halfords Autocentres. Randall joins the business in March.
The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) has announced that Wendy Williamson will become the new chief executive, taking over from Brian Spratt in July this year. Williamson held several positions in the Unipart Group of companies including that of director & general manager at Truck & Trailer Components (TTC), a Unipart subsidiary. More recently, she has been running the aftermarket section of the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT).
The apparent UK tyre market is estimated to have grown by 3 per cent in 2013 at the behest of growing automotive market, according to Tyre Industry, a new market Report from market intelligence provider Key Note. Read a little further and there are suggestions that the 2014 – 2018 period could be some of the UK tyre market’s best years yet.
Canada’s Pneus Supérieurs and OK Tire Stores have entered into a strategic alliance that creates one of the largest networks of tyre and automotive service dealers in the country. Under the agreement, Pneus Supérieurs will join OK Tire Store’s network of independent dealers as an associate member and shareholder.
The latest Michelin tyre for the North American market has been designed to maintain high traction over its entire working life, a level of performance it achieves through choice of compound, groove geometry and the inclusion of added grooves that appear when a certain level of wear is reached. This whole-life gripper, the all-season Michelin Premier A/S, debuted at the North American International Auto Show on 14 January ahead of its April 2014 market launch.
Continental’s newly-published provisional key figures for the 2013 fiscal year show the tyre and automotive component maker achieved an adjusted EBIT margin of 11.2 per cent, comfortably beating the target of at least 10.5 per cent set last November. Year-on-year sales increased slightly, rising from €32.7 billion to €33.3 billion.
DriveRight, the wheel and tyre data supplier, is partnering with Lockside Software to help customers manage data across multiple channels from one central place. Together they provide integrated solutions to turn raw data into appealing product presentations, in the most cost and time efficient way: Geni-Sys is Lockside’s solution to effectively manage and control multiple sales channels from just one back-end. It also works in conjunction with Lockside’s software Catalog’nTime, which is an efficient tool to produce catalogues or advertising material, such as flyers or brochures.
The TPMS market was worth 1.4 billion yuan in 2012, according to research published in 2013. According to Huidian Research, this number is expected to exceed 1.5 billion yuan in 2013. Although China’s TPMS market has maintained rapid growth in recent years in parallel with a booming automotive and following tyre sector, the market scale is still relatively small compared with other automotive electronics products (such as EMS, ABS, automotive audio, airbags and auto instruments) and this industry is still described as being “in the initial stage of development”.
BMW UK says the new electric i3 electric “defines the car of tomorrow”, a sizable claim backed up by exclusive tyre supplier Bridgestone, who describes the i3 as representing a “milestone in automotive history”. The tyres designed specifically for fitment on the i3 also required, says Bridgestone, the adoption of an entirely new concept. The answer was something it calls ‘ologic technology’.
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