Totrax has announced that it is introducing Cam Systems Cameo product to provide “greater flexibility and efficiency to its business through streamlining its day to day operating system.” By replacing its outmoded platform with the modern Cameo software system, Totrax aims to flex and grow the programme with its business, which has doubled in size over the past three years.
India’s Balkrishna Tyre (BKT) is setting some ambitious targets for its continued growth. In 2009 BKT held a 3 per cent market share in the off-highway tyres segment (comprising Agricultural, Industrial, Construction, Earth Moving Equipment, ATV and Lawn & Garden), with an expected share for the end of 2010 reaching 4.5 per cent, according to BKT. By 2015, the company hopes to reach a 10 per cent share. BKT has grown its turnover from $82 million in 2004, to $220 million in 2007 and $310 million at the end of 2009. The production value for the end of 2010 is estimated to be $450 million.
A logistics firm which has distributed Michelin tyres to retail outlets nationwide for seven years has decided to fit the company’s tyres to vehicles across its fleet. Great Bear Distribution, a 16-year-old Chester-based firm operates from 25 depots across the UK. It has signed a three-year contract with Michelin which will see tyres professionally fitted and serviced by a combination of ATS Euromaster and independent Michelin Business Advantage dealers. Existing fitments across its 65 rigids, 77 tractor units and 250 trailers will gradually be replaced with Michelin rubber over the coming months.
Thanks to a combination of bad weather and economic gloom, most sectors of the motorcycle and scooter tyre replacement industry suffered during 2010. So it is good to hear of one manufacturer reporting a large growth in sales. This manufacturer is the maker of Sava tyres. And while Bike Tyrestore, the UK trade distributor for the Slovenian produced brand, comments that Sava is not yet a “household name”, it notes that its products are approaching dominance in the UK motor scooter replacement tyre market and Sava is also making strong progress in the fields of light motorcycle and on/off road tyre sales.
As of January 17 a new president will be at the helm of Cooper Tire & Rubber’s North America Tire Operations. Responsibility for the US$2 million plus operation, which produces passenger car and light truck tyres, primarily for sale in the US replacement market, will be transferred from Cooper Tire & Rubber chairman, CEO and President Roy Armes to Christopher E. Ostrander. In addition to this new post, Ostrander will also serve on the company's Executive Committee and as an officer of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company.
More than 30 guests of A-One Tyres, Federal Tyre's sole distributor in Malaysia, recently attended a training weekend in Chungli, Taiwan.
India’s Apollo Tyres has begun commercial vehicle tyre exports to neighbouring Bangladesh. Initial sales will focus on cross-ply tyres for heavy and light commercial vehicles and these products will be distributed through the Rahimafrooz Group, Bangladesh’s largest manufacturer and distributor of automotive and industrial batteries.
Cold weather and snowy conditions do not just provide an opportunity for those selling winter tyres, Pro-Align has explained in a new statement. The effects of the climate last long after the snow has cleared, with the quality of road surfaces affected and providing motorists with the additional hazard of potholes. The UK’s pothole problem costs UK motorists around £2.8 billion each year according to the website potholes.co.uk, and Pro-Align says workshops without the latest four wheel alignment equipment may be missing out on a lucrative revenue opportunity. Driving over potholes is a major cause of wheel misalignment, which can reduce vehicle safety, increase fuel costs plus poor vehicle handling, causing distraction and concern for drivers. Unless workshops are equipped with the correct equipment, they will not be able to properly diagnose customer’s alignment problems and carry out the subsequent corrective work, claims the alignment specialist.
Hofmann Megaplan has given away one of its megamount Smart lever-less tyre changers to Mill Tyres of Boston, Lincolnshire, the latter having won the company’s Brityrex 2010 prize-draw. The Smart can handle rims up to 30” in diameter, and is specifically targeted at “tough rim and tyre combinations”, including runflats, according to Hofmann Megaplan.
Toyota recently celebrated the sale of its 20 millionth vehicle in Europe, just 10 years after recording its 10 millionth sale in the continent. The company's entry into the European market began in 1963, supplying 190 Crown models to a distributor in Denmark. Today, Toyota has nine production plants in Europe, building vehicles, engines and transmissions, as well as R&D, design and training centres. The company's investment in its European operations stands at 1.2 billion Euros and it employs around 3,000.
TPMS-maker Schrader is taking the long road to Las Vegas to promote its EZ-Sensor product line to tyre dealers, distributors and consumers, reports Tire Review. Schrader embarked on a 6,400-mile journey around and across the country, leaving Detroit on 18 October and reaching the Global Tire Expo/SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center by 2 November. The “EZ Road to SEMA” Cross-Country Tour made a scheduled stop at Tire Review’s offices in Akron, its first on the journey. Carl Wacker, vice president, sales and marketing, and Tony Davenport, business development manager, are driving a custom-liveried, EZ-Sensor-fitted Toyota Prius on the Tour.
The first of the new promotions by Grouptyre and its value brand Federal is nearing its conclusion, but the wholesaler says retailers still have time to sign up and win a Red Letter Day experience. Focussed on Federal high performance, light truck, 4×4 and SUV tyres, for which Grouptyre is the exclusive UK distributor, the 2010 incentive runs as two consecutive promotions that the company says have already attracted “a great deal of interest”.
Goodyear has targeted US operators of the Cessna Citation CJ3 and Falcon 20/50/200 business jets with a new rebate promotion called ‘Flight Options’. The manufacturer is currently offering a $100 per tyre mail-in rebate programme, which it announced today at the National Business Aviation Association’s NBAA2010 trade show. Goodyear is distributing rebate coupons and further information at its booth (number 6670).
Just four years since its launch, Vacu-Lug Tyres has produced its 100,000th Duramold WZY2 tyre, a product the firm describes as a premium quality remould for the municipal and waste management industry. To commemorate the achievement, Vacu-Lug organised a special 'treasure hunt' competition for its tyre distributors and their customers.
The tyre has now entered Vacu-Lug's stock and will be despatched at random to one of its nationwide network of distributors in the near future. Upon discovering the tyre bearing serial number 100,000, the distributor and the customer for whom it is destined will share a treasure trove of £500-worth of tyres. Simultaneously, the find will trigger a £500 donation to the Help for Heroes campaign.
After opening new distribution centers in Ohio and Indiana – new markets for its vast operations – American Tire Distributors is now eying expansion into New York, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and the entire New England area, reports Tire Review.
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