Authorised VW dealers will integrate a fast fit service in Germany under the name “Car Center” by the end of 2001 open to all car brands. Besides brakes, exhausts and shock absorbers the offer will also include accessories like alloy wheels.
The tyre can no longer be regarded as an isolated part of a car but is integrated into an increasingly complicated network or system. Progress in electronics especially has been revolutionary and has enormous influence on the work of tyre technicians. The engineers have to think in systems and integrate the tyre into all parts of the motive power of the car. Between the two corners “tyre wheel system” and the engine, is a wide field which the car makers and their suppliers are exploiting step by step. Immediately next to the tyres are modules such as brakes, shock absorbers and axles. Around the tyre is the “chassis”. The producers of certain of these elements in the past developed their own product without contacting the producers of neighbouring chassis parts. They were driven by their customers in the car industry, who gave information about the performance of the product with the target that all the parts should be compatible. As development progresses, this becomes harder and harder. In the future the suppliers will be forced to cooperate one with another, in order to make the best possible technology available for the car.
From the spring of 2000 the new ContiPremiumContact will gradually replace the ContiEcoContact CP as the tyre for top-class cars. With this new summer tyre Hanover expects a significant increase in the replacement and the original equipment business in tyres with speed categories of 190 km/h and above during the next few years. The new tyre was presented to the international trade press in mid-February. A study undertaken by the development/consultancy “Institut für Sensorikforschung und Innovationsberatung” has established that the first and foremost user requirement of a tyre is safety. By which he means aquaplaning protection, short brake distances, steering precision, roadholding and tracking stability. With three construction specifications – an innovative bionic contour emulating a cat’s paw that extends in width when the brakes are applied, an asymmetric tread pattern and a third-generation silica compound – the PremiumContact wants to fulfil these requirements. Continental is seeking a total of 37 original equipment approvals from 14 vehicle manufacturers with the PremiumContact – available in eleven different 16 and 17 inch sizes. In the replacement business the ContiPremiumContact will initially be launched in 13 sizes, a 75 p.c. market coverage, according to the manufacturer. The new tyre will be positioned at the same price level as its predecessor.
In this year Mercedes wants to establish a so-called “Express-Service” covering the range from exhausts to brakes. Within one hour customers utilising this special service are assumed to be on the road again.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
