Stapleton’s has restated its commitment to the constant development of its passenger car tyre offering. “What we’re incessantly asking ourselves is ‘who exactly are we doing all this for?’” says Nigel O’Hara, Stapleton’s wholesale director. “And the answer is, that everything we do is for our retail partners first and foremost – and by extension […]
With its new DriveGuard car tyre, Bridgestone has produced a new touring product for the European market that makes the extended safety and mobility of runflat technology accessible and convenient enough to reach a broader range of drivers than ever before. Launched at a well-subscribed event in Monaco, Tyrepress finds the manufacturer rolling the dice on a newly end-user focused strategy. While the DriveGuard branding and concept of a runflat that can be fitted to any TPMS-enabled car were launched in North America two years ago, the manufacturer’s management representatives explained to T&A that the latest tyre has been developed with a newly European focus. But Bridgestone was also prepared to double down on what it considers to be a “game-changing” product. Considering the pre-existence of the runflat technologies contained within the tyre and the DriveGuard brand well before the European iteration’s launch in January’s Monaco-based event, Bridgestone laid its cards on the table when it stated that the new touring tyre would “revolutionise the tyre industry.” This sort of rhetorical gambit is rarely seen in the tyre industry, so Tyrepress was interested to learn how the company would back up these claims, and whether the tyre lives up to its billing.
In addition to its Rotalla product range, Enjoy Tyre also supplies the Routeway private brand’s versatile range of seven patterns. These include the EcoBlue RY22, RY26 and RY26+, the Velocity RY33, and Suretrek RY86 XL. A second phase range extension will be launched in the near future, Enjoy states.
Contract tyre manufacturer Enjoy Tyre has introduced a series of new patterns for its Rotalla car tyre range. The Setula E-Pace range initially comprises two models; the RH02 and RH01. The RH02 is available in 62 sizes in T, H and V ratings between 12 and 16 inches. The RH01 has 36 sizes in H and V from 14 to 16 inches. The patterns include 70, 65, 60, 55, and 50 series. For higher performance cars, Rotalla also has another new line in the Setula range; the S-Pace RU01 is the new pattern for the UHP segment in V, W and Y ratings. It is currently available in 66 15 to 20 inch sizes in 55, 50, 45, 40, 35 and 30 series.
We’ve heard that European new car registrations went up by 9.3 per cent in 2015 and we’ve heard that the UK delivered record figures. But what has been less widely reported is the fact that the strong European increase has been driven by what analysts have called “an SUV boom”. A boom that the British market played a key part in.
For the first time in the history of European car sales, SUVs led the way, outselling the traditional subcompact and compact segments, posting an increase of 24 per cent at 3.2 million units. Their market share grew from 19.8 per cent in 2014 to 22.5 per cent in 2015, leaving the subcompacts in second position with 22 per cent share, and the compacts segment third with 20.6 per cent. These vehicles along with the mid-size saloons and sports cars were the only segments to gain market share in 2015.
Central Tyre, Chester has been names as the 2015/16 Pirelli Performance Centre of the year. Each year Pirelli awards one of its 107 Performance Centres with the PPC of the year title. To determine the winner 11 top performing PPCs had a video mystery shop exercise, scored by an independent assessor. Central Tyre, Chester achieved a near perfect score and were therefore recognised with the award.
Zenises has launched a new website “designed to accommodate the company’s expanding business activity and showcase its multi-brand tyre brand portfolio”. Zenises.com carries details of the firm’s Z and T brands and introduces the firm’s long-standing association with Westlake passenger and commercial tyres as well as more recent tyre brand additions such as Triangle truck tyres.
The latest Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures show that 10 per cent of MOT failures were due to tyre issues – the second most frequent reason. Overall, DVSA reported that nearly 50 per cent of all faults found on MOTs last year could have been avoided by routine maintenance such as replacing bulbs, windscreen wipers and tyres.
Maxxis International has enhanced its passenger tyre portfolio with the launch of the Premitra HP5 tyre. The brand states that the latest addition adds a new dimension to Maxxis’ diverse product offering.
Nokian has launched its latest summer tyre, the iLine, available in a wide range of sizes towards the end of the first quarter of 2016. Intended for small and medium-sized cars, the tyre’s major performance characteristics include a focus on fuel efficiency and better water dispersal with the Finnish manufacturer’s “Venturi Grooves”. Nokian has also used pine oil in its rubber compound for the tyre to increase durability.
Membat is exhibiting at Automechanika Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s leading regional trade fair for automotive industry, which takes place between 26 and 28 January 2016.
The Mediterranean tyre brand will introduce the tyre patterns developed during 2015 to the local market. The new catalogue will include the Passion Runflat tyre. In less than a year, this pattern has achieved A Grade in all sizes for Wet Grip.
Following the appointment of Sean Maddocks as sales director back in September 2015, Davanti has named Andrew Billingham and Andy Kent as regional sales managers. Their rolle will be to support company’s network of distributors and the brand’s commitment to expanding the brand globally.
One of the most immediately visible tyre brands at this year’s Autosport International show was Landsail. Not only did Group Tyre member Oak Tyres take out a five times bigger stand this year, the company also sponsored the Performance Car Show, which means the brand’s name was being dropped show new releases weeks before the event and that branded hoarding adorned the Performance Car Show’s entrance. When you consider that Oak Tyres also organised a Davanti-branded stand at the show, the company was one of the most prominent tyre brands present.
Ford’s new Focus RS models will be equipped with Michelin Pilot Super Sport and Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, depending on customer requirements.
Unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September 2015, the new Ford Focus RS will be fitted with Michelin’s flagship Pilot Super Sport road tyres in 235/35 ZR19 front and rear and Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres are available as an option in the same size.
ACEA European passenger car registrations figures show the market grew 9.3 per cent year-on-year to 13.71 million units in 2015, helped by a 16.6 per cent year-on-year jump in December. Future growth is not expected to continue at this rate because the market situation is said to be “still evolving”, “risky” and “volatile”. As a result analysts predict 2.5 per cent year-on-year growth during the next month.
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