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Improved Varta PROmotive CV Batteries

Johnson Controls has revised its range of Varta-branded CV replacement batteries to replicate all OE applications. Johnson Controls is the largest European supplier of OE batteries to the truck and bus industries. The range of Varta PROmotive CV batteries now provides virtually total coverage of the UK commercial vehicle parc, with capacities ranging from 140 – 225 Ah.

Heavy Duty batteries are rated 140 and 170 Ah, while Super Heavy Duty are offered with 180 or 225 Ah capacities. All four products use calcium-silver technology to provide reserves of power for high loads at high temperatures and longer service life than conventional lead acid battery technology.

6th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Name Change For Varta In UK

VB Automotive Batteries Ltd. is the UK subsidiary for the Varta brand of Johnson Controls, the world’s largest automotive battery manufacturer, with over 1,000 locations worldwide. Effective 1st October 2007, VB Automotive Batteries Ltd. will change its name to Johnson Controls Batteries Limited.

25th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Fuel Prices Drive Increase in DIY Activity

(Akron/Tire Review) According to new research from the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), DIY activity actually increased last year, a shift that AASA said may have been driven by rising fuel costs.

“Fuel price increases in 2006 may have strained personal budgets, so consumers’ search for savings in other portions of car ownership is a logical reaction,” said Frank Hampshire, AASA’s senior director of market research. “Consumers looking for ways to cut repair costs may have performed their own maintenance, while those looking to improve fuel economy may have purchased products related to that end.”

The study showed that in 2006, 52.9 per cent of vehicle owners performed light DIY on their vehicles, compared to 40.0 per cent in 2005. Medium DIY efforts increased to 29.4 per cent in 2006 from 27.9 per cent in 2005, and heavy DIY rose to 25.6 per cent in 2006 from 25.0 per cent in 2005.

21st September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Viking Stocks New Range of Varta Batteries

This battery season sees the launch of a new range of batteries supplied by Varta. With over six million cars in the 6-9 year old UK car parc and a further seven million in the 3-6 year sector, this new range is designed to help Viking International’s customers more effectively meet end user expectations. All Varta batteries incorporate the latest Calcium-Silver technology, adopted by top car manufacturers to enhance battery life by as much as 20 per cent. The range includes the Varta Black Dynamic, the Blue Dynamic, and the new Silver Dynamic, accepted as an OE fitment for Audi, BMW, Citroen, Ford, Peugeot, Saab and Volvo.

5th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Private Firms “Prey For Value Hunters”

The UK’s dwindling number of privately owned tyres, exhausts & batteries firms are looking more and more like potential takeover targets, according to a new report by business analysts Plimsoll Publishing. Latest research shows that 804 of the UK’s top 1000 tyres, exhausts & batteries companies remain in private hands, and their values are increasing faster than those of their corporate competitors. Their exclusivity, niche products and unique services are adding to their attractiveness.

Another more practical factor is also coming into play, according to Plimsoll’s senior analyst, David Pattison. “The increasing age of owners and principals at some of these companies is causing them to consider their choices,” he says. “While many family firms have succession plans in place, an offer for the company at the crucial moment is often listened to sympathetically, as the new generation review their options.”

But the big prize for corporate and private raiders is the hidden potential of family-run companies. Current owners typically strip out 80 per cent of profits as fees. To the value hunter, this is a huge platform on which to build. But for those who are not averse to the idea of a takeover, their past activity may backfire on them.

13th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kyoto Japan Tire Corp.: Tyres, Batteries And Tubes

Kyoto Japan Tire Corp designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of automotive tyres, as well as inner tubes and batteries under the ‘Kyoto Japan’ brand name. In 1999, the company shifted its production to the People’s Republic of China, while maintaining its high technical standards and stringent quality control.

All types of tyre are included in the range, from car radials (including winter and high performance tyres) through light truck and van tyres (bias and radial), truck and bus tyres (bias and radial) and large OTR bias tyres. All products carry DOT, ECE, Inmetro and other international approval markings.

Full details of the product range are available on the Kyoto Japan website, which also contains a section entitled “Tire School” that provides the layman with a wealth of information on tyre construction, tyre terminology, an explanation of sidewall markings, what the size markings mean and a list of load and speed ratings. There is also a section on how to select the correct tyre.

9th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit’s Green Emphasis

Kwik-Fit, Europe’s largest independent fast-fit company, has been at the forefront of ensuring that tyres collected from its centres are reprocessed for many years. As the company’s range of services has extended in recent years to embrace brake replacement and vehicle servicing and MoT work, so Kwik-Fit has worked with waste management companies to dispose of all waste products.

More than five million tyres and almost 40,000 tons of tyre casings are removed from cars and vans annually by Kwik-Fit. Some tyre casings are remoulded and others, along with tyres, are shredded or crumbed. The resulting material is used as: fuel in the cement industry, in landfill engineering projects, as surfaces at sports and equestrian centres and playground, to make carpet underlay and roof tiles and in producing portable rail crossings. The steel cord in casings is extracted and re-used in steel making.

7th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

£5000 Reward for Tyre Theft Information

Bristol tyre retailer Autospeed is offering a £5,000 reward for information on a theft that took place at the Nailsea centre at The Vines Industrial Estate, between Saturday evening and Sunday morning of the 7th and 8th July. Workers at the centre arrived to work on Sunday 8th July to find that nearly all of their stock had been stolen overnight. In excess of 500 tyres, batteries, brake components were taken, including a Robinair AC650 air conditioning machine and a set of Supertracker wheel alignment gauges.

Autospeed Divisional Director, Simon King said: “This is a very serious crime and we are urging residents to contact the police if they have any information or saw anything suspicious. Autospeed is offering £5,000 reward for any information leading to the conviction of the people involved in the theft.”

Anyone who has any information please contact DCI Andy Jones on 0845 45 67 000 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

26th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

‘Clean Up Or Close Down’ Ultimatum To Salvage Yard

In Vermont, the state authorities have issued a ‘clean up your act or be shut down’ ultimatum to a salvage yard that has operated for 10 years without a licence. Among the complaints are a lack of adequate fencing and serious mismanagement of hazardous wastes, including oil, antifreeze and lead acid batteries. A major cause for concern is a tyre pile, estimated to contain some 50,000 tyres; as well as a potential fire hazard, the pile creates a risk of mosquito-borne diseases, said the authorities.

16th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Plimsoll: Rising Interest Rates Have “Silver Lining”

Rising interest rates are bad news for homeowners – but they could be a lifesaver for some businesses, according to commercial analysts at Plimsoll Publishing. “Our research shows more than a quarter of UK Tyres, Exhausts & Batteries companies are in more debt than they have been at any time in their history, “ said David Pattison, senior analyst at Plimsoll. “Rising rates are a useful wake-up call. Many of the companies in question have been enticed by low interest rates and the lure of easy debt secured on rapidly rising property prices, and so have been able to cover up flaws in their business strategies – effectively buying time. There is just enough time left for these firms to look seriously at their balance sheets and change direction.”

If companies reduce their level of debt and streamline their business models, they may have a future, according to Plimsoll. Plimsoll, which has conducted independent assessments of private and publicly quoted companies for the past 20 years, has an established track record of spotting the warning signs for businesses. Nearly nine out of 10 failed companies in the UK had earned a “danger” or “caution” rating from Plimsoll in the two years before their demise.

19th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

VTI Measures Aircraft Tyre Pressure

Finnish firm, VTI Technologies Oy, will supply bare die pressure sensors for use in Crane Aerospace & Electronics’ SmartStem(TM) tyre pressure monitoring system. The capacitive pressure sensors are built into the tyre’s inflation stem and the technology is passive, obtaining its operating power from an external reader or interrogator. The advantage being that there are no batteries, power sources, or wires.

“The demand for tire pressure measurement applications is growing. VTI can offer pressure measurement solutions that are based on capacitive measurement principle providing a very low power solution with parallel resistance higher than 10 GOhm. These features are highly appreciated by the aircraft industry. VTI’s pressure platform not only offers good temperature stability but also provides extremely high resolution, particularly for those applications where minor pressure changes need to be measured,” says Rick Russell, Director of Sales and Marketing, VTI Technologies.

18th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Banner Supplies BMW with AGM Batteries for Hybrid Project

From June 2007, Banner is to equip the BMW 1 and 3 series with AGM technology batteries, which have a lead-acid basis and employ glass fibre nonwoven mats. This product offers the special cyclical resistance, which is needed for use in BMW’s gentle hybrid concept. The recovery of brake energy and an automatic start-stop system reduce CO2 emissions without any loss of engine performance. Banner now offers the AGM batteries in OEM quality and wishes to further expand its co-operation with BMW.

From June 2007, Banner is to supply the BMW plant in Regensburg with a 90Ah AGM battery for standard inclusion in the BMW 1 (3/5 doors) and 3 Series (Coupé). During the remainder of 2007, around 50,000 of these batteries are to be supplied to BMW and subsequently, the delivery volume is to be systematically increased through the linkage of additional BMW plants.

11th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Varta Introduces Three-Tier Battery Range

Varta Automotive Batteries is launching a new, three-tier product structure, aimed at making it easier for the trade to specify the correct battery for every age and complexity of car. The Blue Dynamic range, which provides 80 per cent replacement battery coverage of the UK car parc, is now joined by a Silver Dynamic product for the latest high specification models and a Black Dynamic battery targeted at cars over seven years old.

6th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Shows Training Academies to Fleet Customers

Kwik-Fit has thrown open the doors of one of its four UK training academies for the first time to show leading fleet customers the courses its apprentices, fitters and specialist technicians undertake. Representatives of two of the UK’s leading leasing and fleet management companies Masterlease and Carillion went behind the usually closed doors to gain a first-hand insight into the training undertaken by Kwik-Fit’s centre fitters and mobile technicians.

Kwik-Fit employs more than 4,000 people in the UK and the company’s Training Academy, which has operations in Derby, Gloucester, Harlow and Perth, is the foundation for its business success. That success in the fleet industry translates into a dominant market share of the UK fast-fit market with solus or dual supply agreements with almost all of the country’s top 50 contract hire and leasing companies; more than one million vehicles on tyre management programmes and more than 60 industry awards that recognise best practice delivery in the company car and van marketplace.

6th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Chosen for Green LCV

Coventry based manufacturer of zero emission commercial vehicles, Modec Limited, have chosen to fit Kumho tyres as OE on their range of environmentally friendly vehicles. Kumho will supply freight truck tyres to Modec, who officially opened their Binley factory on March 8. The Modec range of electric light commercial vehicles, which are powered by nickel chloride batteries, reportedly generate 102bhp and can reach a top speed of 50mph with a range of 100mph. The Modec is able to carry a load of up to 2 tons.

Kumho has participated in the development of the Modec from the earliest stages. “I am very honoured to work with Kumho Tires, who have supported this project and process from the beginning,” said Graham Mclntosh, product developer at Modec Limited. “Kumho Tires’ product fits the quality and price of Modec which is in high demand in urban cities.”

29th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors