brakes Archives - Page 28 of 33 - Tyrepress

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Put the Brakes On

Which asks if faulty Vauxhall handbrakes are to blame for ‘roll-away’ accidents?

Drivers are blaming Vauxhall handbrakes for a series of ‘roll away’ accidents that have seen cars release themselves and crash. According to a Which?, report more than a dozen cases involving both Vauxhall Vectras and Signums that have careered into other cars, trees and houses have been reported.

The government’s car safety watchdog, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa), says it is investigating several cases but to date has found no problem with the design or construction of handbrakes. Vauxhall told Which? it was aware of a small number of incidents. The company is now planning to inform all Vectra and Signum owners about the correct way to put on the handbrake.

9th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

National Tyres Outlines Expansion Plans

National Tyres and Autocare has plans to open 14 new branches in Scotland by the end of 2008. Chairman and chief executive Alan Revie, who led a management buy-out of the company from Continental in 2001, reportedly sees these new additions to National Tyres as a first step in an expansion that will see the company operating more than 400 sites throughout the UK. At present National Tyres operates 204 outlets nationwide. “We are looking to expand the network and, as the first stage of a UK wide strategy, have identified 14 towns and cities across the central belt and Highlands where we plan to open branches by the end of 2008,” said Revie. “The funding is in place to do it, we have already opened a new branch in Falkirk and another will open shortly in Edinburgh.”

The company has reported healthy sales during 2007, with six-monthly results to June 30 showing sales of £51 million, up 19 per cent from the same time last year. Parent company the Axle Group has reported pre-tax profits of £5.7 million for the 2006 calendar year, a 17 per cent increase on the 2005 results. According to Revie “2006 and the first half of 2007 have been driven by excellent performance across the group. We are confident that we can sustain the growth trajectory of the business and I expect to see further improvement in both turnover and profits through our core business of selling tyres and as the results of our investment in MOT centres and the brakes programme begin to feed through to the bottom line.”

3rd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Firestone Pushes the Boat Out

Firestone will once again support Bicton College in their efforts to improve the lives of farmers in developing countries. A 1962 Fordson Super Dexta was restored to its former glory by a team of Bicton College agricultural engineering students, in a ‘24-hour challenge’ in April this year. This involved fully restoring the engine, steering, hydraulics and brakes in only one day.

22nd June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Drivers Think Speed Limit is Too Low

Half of UK drivers believe that the current speed limit for motorways is too low, a survey by tyre specialist, HiQ, has revealed. Fast fit specialist HiQ, carried out the questionnaire in centres throughout its national network in order to determine just how much drivers knew about UK speed limits. The results demonstrated that UK drivers were on the whole, extremely knowledgeable about speed limits, despite some drivers believing there should be changes to current limits.

The most striking call for change was in motorway limits where, according to the survey, 51 per cent of drivers believed that the current motorway speed limit of 70mph was too low, with 37 per cent believing the limit should be increased to 80mph. A small minority of those questioned thought that the limit should be increased to 100mph or that there should be no restrictions at all.

18th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hayes Lemmerz Reports Estimated Q1 Results

On May 15 Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc., global supplier of wheels, brakes and powertrain components, announced their estimated results for the first quarter of 2007 and issued updated guidance for the 2007 full fiscal year. The estimated results are unaudited, have not been reviewed by the company’s independent auditors, and are subject to adjustment during the course of preparation and review of the Hayes Lemmerz quarterly financial statements.

For the fiscal year first quarter 2007 Hayes Lemmerz expects to achieve sales of approximately US$560 to $565 million, Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $54 to $58 million, slightly negative free cash flow and capital expenditures of approximately $16 million.

16th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Wabco and TVS Group Agree to Brakes Business Demerger

Wabco, a leading provider of vehicle electronic systems to the global commercial vehicle industry, and India’s TVS Group, who amongst other things produce and distribute automotive components and hardware, have announced their intention of transferring the brakes business of their Indian joint venture Sundaram Clayton Ltd (SCL) to a new wholly-owned subsidiary, WABCO-TVS (INDIA) Ltd., (WABCO-TVS) through a demerger plan.

The demerger of the brakes activity will result in two separate corporate entities. The non-brakes business and investments will remain with SCL, who are based in the Indian city of Chennai. The demerger plan is conditional upon securing the approval of the relevant stock exchanges, shareholders, creditors and the Madras High Court.

15th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear’s Marathon Now Better Equipped to Go the Distance

Goodyear is set to release a longer-lasting and more durable version of its ultra-low profile trailer tyre, the Goodyear Marathon 455/40R22.5 LHT (Long Haul Trailer). To differentiate this new and improved version from the existing Marathon a plus symbol has been added; the LHT+, as the new tyre is to be known, has the distinction of being the lowest diameter 22.5” trailer tyre on the market and, Goodyear claims that, amongst other performance improvements, the LHT+ offers 10 per cent more mileage than its predecessor.

With the Goodyear Marathon LHT+ 455/40R22.5 tyre featuring what its manufacturer states is the lowest aspect ratio – 40 per cent – offered on a trailer tyre, operators are able to maximise the size of the brakes fitted to units wearing the Marathon LHT+, making the tyre a suitable choice for maximum cube ‘Mega Trailers’.

14th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hayes Lemmerz Receives Ford 2006 World Excellence Award

Hayes Lemmerz International has been awarded the Ford Motor Company’s Silver World Excellence Award for exemplary performance during 2006 as a supplier of automotive wheels and brakes.

In granting the World Excellence Awards, Ford specifically gave recognition to the Hayes Lemmerz automotive steel wheel facility in Ostrava, Czech Republic and its automotive brake facility in Apodaca (Monterrey), Mexico, for achieving the highest levels of performance in cost, quality and delivery. In announcing the award recipients, Ford’s senior vice president for global purchasing, Tony Brown said, “Their efforts have positively impacted customer satisfaction.”

23rd April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyreweb Opens New 20,000 sq ft Warehouse

As Tyreweb approaches its 30th year in business, company founders Karl and Susan Webber are celebrating their business’ expansion into a new 20,000 square foot warehouse. But what triggered the company’s recent success?

“Over the years, Tyreweb found on many occasions it was impossible to source tyres that were required the same day that were non stock tyres, being aware that other companies would be in the same position, we put a van on the road to offer two deliveries a day to customers a little further afield,” the Webbers told Tyres & Accesssories.

11th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Top Marks for Conti Automotive in “Auto Motor und Sport” Brake Test

The top six vehicles in Auto Motor und Sport magazine’s 2006 brake test (published January 1/2007) are equipped with brake components and systems supplied by Continental Automotive Systems. Ten passenger cars and SUVs took part in the tests. Six of them were assessed overall as “good”.

29th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

EBC Brakes Partners with Bridgestone

It is no small accomplishment for a smaller company such as EBC Brakes to find itself as a preferred partner of Bridgestone, but following successful pilot testing, a nationwide rollout of EBC Brakes to all 163 of the Bridgestone First Stop fitting centres is underway. Publishing the news EBC pointed out that there is absolutely no financial connection between the two companies. Instead the relationship is described as: “Merely an exploitation of a common quality base of consumers looking for good tyres and good brakes in one location.”

12th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Conducts Study into Hybrid Vehicle Acceptance

A European study conducted by Continental’s Automotive Systems division reveals that a quarter of all motorists in Germany are considering purchasing a hybrid vehicle. These findings are based upon a survey of one thousand motorists, and are a favourable finding for the division, which produces a number of components used in the production of this type of car.

7th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Cabot Announces First Quarter Results

Tyre industry carbon black supplier Cabot Corporation has announced a net income of US$54 million for the first quarter of 2007. This is almost double their net income for the same fiscal period a year ago, in which a net income of US$24 million was achieved.

26th January 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Keep Your Distance with ACDIS

Accidents in heavily congested traffic are a part of many motorists’ driving history and are often impossible to avoid. In start-stop traffic the temptation to ignore recommended safe distances between vehicles is very strong, especially on multi-lane roads where some drivers treat cutting across lanes as if it were a sport.

17th January 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

NTDA: Reducing MOT Frequency Naive

A report by the HM Treasury, recommending major changes in the frequency of MOTs, has been labelled a “naive view of the contribution MOT’s make to safety on our roads” by the NTDA. “We have been aware for some time that the Treasury have been reviewing the current MOT regime in the UK,” commented NTDA director Richard Edy, adding: “These initial findings, that motorists would save £465million if the tests were done after the first four years and then every two years, takes no account of the importance of regular vehicle testing plays in reducing accidents on our roads.”

30th November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors