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Stapleton’s to Buy Central Tyre

Company News, News, UK News

Stapleton’s (Tyre Services) Limited has agreed to buy 56 Central Tyre stores from Pirelli UK Limited. The deal, with a price-tag to be determined when the transfer of Central’s properties is completed, sees the tyre retailer and distributor expand its retail operation from 45 stores to a new total of 101 throughout the UK. The proposed transaction includes both retail and commercial tyre fitting outlets and the existing Central Tyre workforce is expected to transfer across to Stapleton’s upon completion of the sale. Initially Stapleton’s plans to concentrate on integrating the new stores into its network, meaning the company will be responsible for STS Tyre Pros, STS Tyre & Exhaust and now Central Tyre-branded outlets. It is not clear if and how this might change in the future.

16th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Holds China Tyre Plant Groundbreaking

Continental today (10 October 2008) broke ground for its new tyre production plant in Hefei, Anhui Province, China. Located in Hefei’s New and High Technology Industrial Development Zone, the first phase of Conti’s new plant will cover around 70,000 square metres of construction area. The China factory project is the first factory investment of Continental’s Passenger and Light Truck Division has made in China. According to a company statement it is the largest Foreign Direct Investment project in Anhui Province so far.

“Continental has 137 years of experience with rubber and especially with tyres. Nowadays we produce about 120 million tyres a year worldwide. We will invest around 185 million euros in the Hefei plant, which is scheduled to be completed by 2010. We are aiming for an annual production of four million PLT tyres here in Hefei in the first step. In the long run our capacity should exceed 10 million tyres a year by far”, Wente said. “This will be a next step forward to achieve our goal of strengthening our Asian business”, he explained.

10th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Point-S and Team Collaborate in Fleet Joint Venture

Over the weekend two of Germany’s largest independent dealer cooperatives, point S and Team, negotiated the terms of a joint venture that will see the two companies cooperate in the local fleet business. A letter of intent relating to what one might call the “team S” joint venture was signed this morning (Monday 29 September 2008) and will take effect 1 January 2009. The 50:50 joint venture will cover the area of fleet, large-scale sales and key account business. The negotiations were led by Juergen Pischinger and Peter Lüdorf and sought to synergise the benefits of Team’s strength in the commercial vehicle tyre business and point-S’s in passenger car tyres.

Between them the two cooperatives run over 1,100 service stations across Germany and thus have broad market coverage. Details of the name and headquarters of the new joint venture and personnel consequences are not yet clear, however layoffs are not planned. Instead the company hopes to operate a European-wide service in the future.

29th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Afghan Tyre Smugglers Hurting Karachi Businesses

Pakistani news sources are reporting that Karachi industry, importers and manufacturers are feeling the malevolent effects of smuggled tyres coming across the border from Afghanistan. The contraband products are flooding the local marketplace, leading to a reduction in the share local businessmen can hope to attain.

According to reports, Pakistan has a demand for more than two million passenger car tyres annually, and as much of 70 per cent of this market is satisfied by tyres smuggled into the country through Afghan Transit Trade. An estimate by analysts puts a figure of one billion rupees (7.2 million pounds sterling) on the loss to the national exchequer as a result of this activity, in addition to the obvious harm caused to the local economy.

19th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone UK Receives Award from European CEO

Bridgestone UK has received a special award from the global tyre manufacturer’s new European CEO Toru Tsuda for its outstanding business performance in the first half of 2008. Bridgestone, which is based in Warwick, continues to focus its efforts in working with independent tyre retailers and its well established Truck Point programme to strengthen its brand and market share aspirations.

With 20 Bridgestone sales companies in Europe, the CEO award is presented to the company that excels in all areas of business improvement, focusing specifically on increases in like-for-like sales, market share, category mix and profitability.

8th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Central Tyre Gives Away Sensor Valve Caps

Central Tyre depots in the UK are offering tyre valve caps that instantly tell drivers whether tyres are the correct pressure as part of a new road safety campaign. Throughout September and October Central Tyre is giving a set of four K-Pressure Optic Sensors to all customers purchasing any two Pirelli tyres. They normally retail at £37.60. The K-Pressure Optic Sensor valve caps are designed by Pirelli.

They are the only warning caps on the market that automatically close the valve immediately when a pressure drop is detected. Individual sets are ready calibrated to pre-set pressures, printed on the caps, and they are designed to compensate for increases in tyre pressure over the course of a journey.

3rd September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Antitrust Authorities Give Green Light to Conti Oltas Acquisition

After the approval of the Turkish antitrust authorities in late August Continental AG has acquired 89.66 per cent of the shares in Oltas SPA headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey. Oltas is Continental’s exclusive tyre distributor for the Continental, Uniroyal and Barum passenger car and commercial vehicle tyre brands in Turkey.

“We are glad about this quick approval process. Now we will improve our market position for commercial vehicle and passenger car tyres in Turkey and in Eastern Europe overall significantly step by step,” said Dr. Alan Hippe, Executive Board member responsible for the Passenger Car Tire division.

1st September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Analysts Welcome Michelin’s Plans to Cancel Mexico Plant

A few days after the news that Michelin was walking away from earlier plans to build a new factory on a Greenfield site in Mexico, financial analysts have lauded the decision as “a wise move.” Michelin initially announced its plans to invest up to $740 million by 2014 in a second passenger car and light truck tyre plant in Mexico last year. Construction was due to begin in late 2008, the production line was expected to start running in 2010 when output would begin towards its 15 million passenger car tyres-a-year target.

The strategy here was believed to be for Michelin’s management to use significant natural attrition of the company’s North America work force to transfer production from the US to Mexico, where labour costs are reportedly four times than in the US.

1st September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Roadrunner Tyres Get Stuck in at Garstang Show

First Stop depot, Roadrunner Tyres had a significant presence at this year’s Garstang Agricultural Show as part of a summer of events which has seen the dealership out and about across the region. Roadrunner Tyres, part of Bridgestone’s network of independent tyre retailers, hosted a large hospitality area which celebrated fifty years of the tractor tyre including showcasing a vintage tractor and giving away Bridgestone merchandise.

The vintage tractor was the star attraction at the event along with a huge Firestone tractor tyre. Staff from Roadrunner Tyres, which is based in Garstang, were also on hand offering information and advice to visitors to the stand on its products and services, which include agricultural, commercial and car tyres, servicing and repairs.

19th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

RMA Projects 2008 US Tyre Shipments to Decrease 4%

Tyre shipments in the US are projected to decline by nearly 4 per cent this year compared to 2007, says the Rubber Manufacturers Association. Combined OE and replacement tyre shipment for the passenger/light commercial vehicle and truck segments are anticipated to decreased by more than 12 million units to approximately 298 million, reports the RMA. Such a decline, it believes, reflects anticipated worsening domestic economic pressures for both the consumer and commercial sectors.

13th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Mastercraft Deal “Mutually Satisfactory”, Says Silverline International

Mastercraft Tires, an associate brand of Cooper Tire & Rubber, has appointed Warwick-based Silverline International as its official UK distributor. T&A spoke with Silverline’s Chris Dawson about the new range, and what attracted the company to the brand.

“We had been speaking with Cooper Avon over a period of two years, and they offered the Mastercraft brand to us in a mutually satisfactory deal,” explains Mr. Dawson. “For some time we had been looking long-term for a partner that could give continuity of supply. For us the ability to supply light truck sizes was important.

8th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Exclusive Brands Account for 11% UK Car Tyre Market

News, Product News, UK News

GfK data exclusively seen by Tyres & Accessories shows that sales of exclusive brands account for 10.4 per cent of the 2007 UK car tyre replacement market. Based on the results of GfK’s ongoing research, this means 2.62 million of these tyres were sold in the market last year. GfK defines exclusive brands from the retail perspective, meaning tyres that are only available from one clear retail network such as Kwik-Fit’s Arrowspeed brand or ATS’s Riken.

7th August 2008/by Andrew

Yokohama to Manufacture Tyres in Brazil, Russia

To meet growing demand in Russia and Brazil, Yokohama Rubber intends to begin manufacturing passenger car tyres in these two countries, with production commencing as early as 2010. Tyre supply in both markets is currently met with tyres manufactured in Japan and the Philippines, however a company spokesman reports that the combination of strong business prospects and the opportunity to avoid high import tariffs has led to the decision to set up local operations.

“It makes more sense to produce tyres there and sell them directly in the region,” he said. “We’ll keep shipping value-added products from Japan. The spokesman added that the facilities in Brazil and Russia will “start small and expand if and when sales increase.”

28th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Recyclatech Researches Using Microbiology in Tyre Devulcanisation

The Recycling Commercialisation Centre has awarded funding to Scottish tyre recycling company, Recyclatech, to further develop a technique designed to make rubber easily bondable with natural or synthetic rubber. According to a Plastics & Rubber Weekly report, the rubber can then be reused in car tyres and products such as basic underlay for carpets, soundproofing materials for apartments and Wellington boots. Furthermore, Recyclatech’s process is said to be ideal for disposing of waste tyres. In this process worn out tyres are crumbed into small particles, which are then put through the microbiological technique.

24th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti to Acquire 89.66% Stake in its Turkish Tyre Distributor

Continental AG reports it has agreed to acquire 89.66 per cent of Turkey based tyre distributor Oltas Spa. The purchase value of this shareholding, previously held by Turkish Fortune Global 500 corporation Koç Holding and other Koç Group shareholders, has not been disclosed. Approval of the deal by Turkish anti-trust authorities is pending and further approvals from the European authorities are not required in the case of this majority holding.

Oltas exclusively distributes Continental, Uniroyal and Barum branded passenger car and commercial vehicle tyres in Turkey, and has built up a franchise dealer network of 200 outlets. According to Conti, Oltas achieved sales of 39 million in 2007.

22nd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors