The British Rally Championship will move to a seven-round format in 2013, with the Scottish Rally returning after a seven-year break and Rally North Wales back as the opening round. Rallye Sunseeker will host the season’s finale in October. Pirelli has been the series’ official tyre supplier since 2007.
The latest Pirelli UK report filed with Companies House shows a slight drop in pre-tax profit in 2011 despite sales jumping almost £40 million year-on-year to £329.7 million. Profit decreased from £12.2 million to £12 million during the year. The company singled out its original equipment segment activities as a strength during the year, noting that Pirelli UK continued to secure new contracts with prestigious vehicle manufacturers.
Hankook Tyre UK recently hosted its 4th annual Hankook Golf Classic at the Staverton Park Golf Club, located close to the tyre manufacturer's UK headquarters. Over 80 guests, including tyre retailers, fleet managers and Hankook personnel showed off their golfing skills. A special guest was Calum Clark, a senior player for Northampton Saints Rugby Club, of which Hankook is the sponsor.
Luca Negri has been appointed Pirelli’s new industrial director for the UK. He takes over from Paolo Battistini, who will return to Pirelli’s Milan office to work in the Company’s Industrial business unit. Negri will be based at the tyre maker’s Carlisle site.
The route between Pirelli’s UK facilities in Burton-on-Trent and Carlisle is well trodden by Derby-based haulier ATL, and the company has just put three of its newest vehicle acquisitions to work on the company’s most arduous contract. The Mercedes-Benz Axor 2543 tractor units are consistently fully laden and rack up 8,600km a week carrying raw materials and finished tyres between Pirelli’s locations.
According to Pirelli, the new Scorpion Winter tyre, designed for high-performance SUVs and crossover vehicles, features improved safety under braking and cornering while offering “the same standards of comfort, reliability and handling that was previously only available on sports cars.”
Mitas Tyres UK Limited says its customers will benefit from extension of its distribution contract with Derbyshire-based Ascott Transport Limited (ATL); the deal with ATL enables next-day delivery on the company’s range of agricultural, industrial and motorcycle products. ATL manages the storage and distribution of the tyre maker’s tyres throughout the UK, and hold stocks of Mitas, Continental and Cultor-brand tyres to the value of £800,000 to £1,000,000.
Pirelli has confirmed that it is investing a total of £20 million in its Carlisle tyre production factory. As Tyres & Accessories reported following a visit last month, the money is being invested in research and development as well as factory upgrades. According to company representatives, of the £20 million total, £11.4 million is being spent on research and development and £9 million on machinery upgrades.
TyreSafe is carrying out an investigation into part worn tyres available in the UK alongside Auto Express magazine, and the organisation has recently uncovered the story of a driver from Tyne and Wear, who suffered paralysing injuries as a result of his car losing grip when running on recently-purchased part-worns. Keith Johnston, is now permanently paralysed from the top of his chest down, only able to move his arms and neck. He told TyreSafe that he hopes his story will urge other drivers to think twice about which tyres they choose.
Double British Rally Champion and former Pirelli Star Driver Keith Cronin claimed victory on this weekend’s Pirelli International Rally, the third round of the 2012 Pirelli-supported MSA British Rally Championship. Pirelli Star Driver Jukka Korhonen shone in his TEG-prepared Skoda Fabia R2 at the weekend, securing his best finish of the season with sixth overall, and second in class. Meanwhile, a sterling performance in a Ford Fiesta R2 allowed 21-year old, Jussi Kumpumaki who is part of the Finnish Ford Junior Team, was presented with the coveted Pirelli yellow jersey and a nomination towards the end of season Pirelli Star Driver shoot out.
Snap-on Tools has appointed Mark Houston as its new Warrington branch manager. In his new role Mark Houston will be responsible for the successful management of Snap-on’s 75 franchisees in an area which extends from Carlisle to South of Birmingham and includes North Wales. He will be supported by a back-up team of 5 Field managers.
Nissan’s decision to produce its new Invitation model at its Sunderland, UK plant is likely to create 2000 jobs at the company and its suppliers. Production of the Invitation, which is a project totalling around £125 million, is due to start in 2013. Nissan says it will produce 100,000 of the cars a year when manufacturing gets underway.
Going against a trend witnessed in the tyre industry over recent years, Carlisle Companies says it will transfer tyre production from China over to the United States – for cost reasons. At the company’s forth quarter 2011 conference call on 2 February, Carlisle Companies chairman, president and CEO David Roberts reported positive developments regarding efficiency levels at the company’s Jackson, Tennessee tyre making facility and then shared plans to make US production a greater priority.
Pirelli will provide tyres to the MSA British Rally Championship for the next two years. The premium manufacturer has supplied the control tyre to the series since 2007, and was previously contracted until the end of the 2012 season. Pirelli says the addition of two years has shown its ongoing commitment to national-level motorsport.
Tyre companies are no strangers to sport sponsorship. Motorsport deals have become almost de rigueur in some circles of late, and football has provided other manufacturers with a respectable alternative to on-track involvement. Yet the sporting world offers a plethora of opportunities; tapping one of the more unexpected of these is Carlisle Tire & Wheel, whose Radial Trail RH trailer tyre has been named official tyre of the 2012 American Bass Anglers Tour.
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