Awards
On 12 January What Car? hosted its ‘car oscars’ in London. Hankook Tyre UK serves as associate sponsor of the What Car? Awards, and the tyre maker had extra reason to celebrate when the Kia Rio was named this year’s ‘Ultra Low Carbon’ award winner. Hankook is an original equipment supplier for the Rio, with the Kinergy Eco in size 185/65 R15 88H one of the tyre options available.
Alba Diagnostics has launched the new ALB30920 EOBD Black Box Data Recorder which the company began exclusively distributing at the start of 2012. According to the company, this ultra-compact all-in-one vehicle and driving performance management system continuously logs all engine parameters.
Reifen 2012 at Messe Essen on between 5 and 8 June next year will once again honour pioneering solutions with its bi-annual innovation awards. Messe Essen and German tyre association BRV will honour particularly pioneering products and services and are now calling for nominations.
Cooper Tire Europe says it has expanded its involvement in endurance rallying, with its 4×4 products victorious in two high-profile events this month. In the Dakar, Spaniard Xavier Foj won the T2 production class in his Discoverer S/T MAXX-shod Toyota Land Cruiser 150. Meanwhile, ex-Formula 1 driver and endurance rally veteran, Jean-Louis Schlesser, won his fourth consecutive Africa Eco Race, using Cooper’s Discoverer STT tyre for the first time.
The 20th Taiwan Excellence Award was held recently; the aim of the event is to enhance the brand image and reputation of Taiwanese firms and products in the wider, global business arena, showcasing product and technological innovation.
Federal Tire was one of those companies honoured for its innovative products. The awards are made, based on four criteria, namely R&D, design, quality and marketing and a product has to score well in every category in order to advance to the next stage of judgment.
Nexen Tire Corporation recently won the 'Good Design 2011' award for its Winguard Sport, UHP winter tyre. The latest triumph follows winning the International Forum Design Award 2010 and Good Design award from Design Korea 2011.
The Good Design Award is conferred annually by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design together with The European Centre of Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. It honours the yearly achievements of the best industrial and graphic designers and world manufactures for their pursuit of extraordinary design excellence in 25 categories including electronics, transportation, furniture, industrial machinery, architecture and so on.
Founded in 1950, and now in its 62nd year, Good Design is purportedly the world's oldest award of its kind. Submissions to the program are judged by juries on criteria for the highest aesthetic in terms of innovative design, new technologies, form, materials, construction, concept, function, utility, and energy efficiency, and sensitivity to the environment.
Workers at Cooper Tire & Rubber’s Findlay plant may still be locked out but at Cooper’s facility in Tupelo, Mississippi, employees reached one million man-hours without a lost-time incident during the course of this week. The achievement marks the second time Cooper's Tupelo employees reached the million-hour mark; in September 2010 they also passed a million hours without a lost-time case.
The winners have been drawn for the tyrepress.com/Tyres & Accessories magazine competition to win one of three pairs of tickets to the Autosport International show on 14-15 January at Birmingham’s NEC. Most of the many entries received by the closing date of 9 December correctly identified Pirelli as the 2011 season Formula One tyre supplier. The first three entrants and the winners of the Autosport tickets were: Phillip May, Katy Jones and David Peacock. Five more entrants with the correct answer will receive other tyre-related goodies (full winners and prizes listed below). Thank you to all our readers who entered; look out for more competitions in the near future.
ATS Euromaster has been named Van Equipment Supplier of the Year in the Fleet Van Awards 2011. Judges praised the organisation for standing out as “the best example of a totally van fleet-focused company”. The Award recognised ATS Euromaster’s £10 million investment during 2010 and 2011 in extending its offer to the van (and car) market, with new services including nitrogen tyre inflation, air-conditioning recharging, computerised wheel alignment, fault diagnostics and electronic brake servicing.
UK aftermarket business group The Parts Alliance has won three awards at the annual Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation Excellence Awards, held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel on 8 December. IAAF president Nick Best presented the evening’s awards, honouring excellence in the aftermarket. Parts Alliance member Mill Autoquip won Distributor of the Year; Matthew Warren of CES (UK) received the coveted Parts Person of the Year award, and Alliance Autocentre member D & D Autos won the Garage of the Year award.
Rema Tip Top’s UK branch landed the Innovation TAFF Award this year for the Ram-rod Tire Safe safety cage. In addition to the business that product attracted, Rema Tip Top says another product has been of particular interest this year. Making the argument that today’s economic climate calls for “favourably-priced solutions”, Rema Tip Top says its Minicombi plug/patch repair system is a “great alternative” to new tyre purchases, given that most tyre injuries can be repaired. “A genuine contribution to the sustainability of the environment can also be immensely satisfying to the responsible motorist,” the company maintains. The Minicombi is available for radial and cross-ply tyres and designed to be used to repair both the inside surface and puncture-canal, efficiently and durably in one step. The system can repair tread punctures of up to 10mm in diameter.
Alignment machinery manufacturer Hunter has been recognised for its technological innovation at SEMA. The company was presented with the 2011 North American Frost & Sullivan ‘Technology Innovation Award’ for its Elite TD alignment system. The award was presented to Hunter executive vice president Nick Colarelli by Frost & Sullivan programme leader Stephen Spivey. The system is distributed in the UK by Pro-Align.
Michelin has its Tweel, Goodyear the lunar Spring Tire, and now Bridgestone has unveiled its own airless tyre at the Tokyo Motor Show. The Japanese manufacturer’s take on the airless concept employs a mesh of thermoplastic resin spokes that support the tyre’s tread. The spokes are positioned tangentially from the tyre’s centre and the outer tread layer is made from tyre rubber; all tread and inner components are produced using 100 per cent recyclable materials, Bridgestone states.
HiQ has presented the owner of four fast fit centres in Cornwall with the network’s internal “excellence in customer service” award, an annual accolade presented at the HiQ’s annual franchise conference. Justin Roberton Ltd, owner of HiQ centres in Helston, Truro, Bodmin and St Austell, with wife and business partner Kim, received the award for delivering the highest levels in customer satisfaction at HiQ’s conference at Mercedes Benz World.
Earlier this month, Pirelli was awarded the Ducati’s 2010 Best Product Innovation Award, an award offered by the motorcycle manufacturer to its most innovative supplier of the year. As a way of determining who receives this coveted award, the Italian firm utilises a committee made up of members of its Purchasing, Technical, Quality and Logistics departments; the committee analyses the performance of its suppliers from all evaluated aspects. In particular, Pirelli gained recognition from Ducati for its work in its development of the Scorpion Trail tyres for the Ducati Multistrada and the new 240/45 ZR17 size Diablo Rosso II for the Ducati Diavel.
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