ETMRA
During this Tire Technology Expo in Cologne, Germany, ETRMA secretary general Fazilet Cinaralp shared some information on the subject of the European tyre label and its enforcement. “As the label uses a system of self regulation and self declaration, there is a need for regular ex-post controls at point of sales,” she commented. “For this reason, in June 2012 the European Union created a committee solely responsible for tyre labelling.”
It has been quite a month for the forecasters. Not the weather forecasters mind you – although the winter weather that has sprinkled the UK and parts of Europe with a fresh dusting of snow will no doubt have kept them busy too – but rather the market forecasters. With ETRMA reporting that tyre unit sales fell off a cliff last year, Conti saying the market is likely to bottom out in 2013 and with other analysts predicting 2013 will be a good year for tyre retailers, what is on the horizon for the next 12 months?
With 2012 behind us, perhaps tyre dealers can look forward to a more prosperous 2013. That is certainly the view of analysts at Plimsoll Publishing Ltd, who recently predicted a year of growth. A new market report produced by Plimsoll, which looks into the financial performance of the UK’s largest 693 Tyre Dealers, found average growth was as high as six per cent. However the 2013 Tyre Dealers report concludes that this is by no means widespread as this successful growth is being driven by a quarter of the industry – an “elite” band of 190 companies to be precise.
Continental AG expects its full-year 2012 free cash flow to come in at around 1 billion euros. Speaking at an investor’s presentation in New York, Conti CEO Dr Elmar Degenhart upped its previous assessment of about 750 million euros by a third. The statement came as a surprise to financial analysts and apparently even for the CEO himself, who reportedly only found out in the last few hours.
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After two consecutive years of modest growth in total tyre unit sales, European tyre makers are reporting double digits drops across the board in 2012. While previous market growth can be qualified by the fact that the increases came despite a decrease of ETRMA member market share, it is clear that the economic crisis is far from being over.
Pan-European retail business point S says it is on top of the world – almost literally – after sponsoring the two races in the Nordic World Cup opening which was held Kuusamo, Finland on the weekend of the 1 and 2 December. point S congratulated the winners of the races it sponsored, which were: Marit Bjørgen, in the lady’s 5 km Cross Country and Petter Northug in the men’s 15 km Cross Country men’s. The event saw 25,000 spectators watch 10 World Cup contests, with 400 competitors from 30 nations and television coverage estimated to reach 100 million people.
Tyre Wholesalers Group chairman Ashley Croft has called upon the tyre industry to campaign for greater attention to be paid to poorly maintained tyres after Department for Transport figures showed an increase in the number of Killed and Seriously Injured in 2011 where “illegal, defective or under-inflated tyres” were a contributory factor. The chairman also addressed the issue du jour, EU labelling legislation, and while he expressed support for the tyre label and supported the wish to scrutinise the grades on labels, he also suggested that it was not “the number one priority of the tyre industry”.
Nokian Tyres withdrew its self-produced “winter grip label” on 21 November following pressure from European tyre manufacturer’s organisation ETRMA and some competitors. The company reports that the label had not been and was not planned to be distributed outside Nordic countries. The news is set against the backdrop of the introduction of mandatory tyre labelling on 1 November 2012.
Audi centres are offering a range of winter tyre and wheel options, including winter wheel and tyre sets priced from £799 to £3,659 for all current Audi models. Tyre-only sets also available priced from £540 to £1,300 and previous generation models can also benefit from a set of winter tyres from £325.
The body representing Europe-based tyre producers, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association, has launched its own Twitter account. The association will post news and updates to https://twitter.com/etrma.
The ETRMA has called for action against one its own members after Nokian Tyres took the initiative of producing its own ice and snow label. The association is specifically asking authorities in Finland, Norway and Sweden to put an immediate end to the initiative. Nokian tyres, which specialises in winter tyres, appears to have devised its own additional labelling system in response to the fact that the new EU tyre label that became mandatory on 1 November 2012 doesn’t include snow and ice performance information. Furthermore, due to the fact that the EU label requires tests to be conducted at relatively high ambient temperatures, winter tyres in general have shown a tendency to appear to perform poorly on the EU label.
UK businesses could reduce fuel costs by up to £500 million a year if they fitted more fuel efficient tyres on their company vehicles, according to new research by the Energy Saving Trust. According to a statement from the organisation designed to highlight the fuel saving benefits of low rolling resistance tyres, the difference between the best and worst tyres on the market in terms of efficiency can reduce vehicle fuel consumption by up to 7.5 per cent over the lifetime of the tyres.
For the ETRMA, the introduction of European tyre labelling legislation today is a marked step forward in the evolution of the market place. “Consumers will now be able to buy their new tyres knowing how fuel efficient and noisy they are, and how much grip on wet roads they provide. A new and now compulsory EU label will grade tyres from A to G for rolling resistance (fuel efficiency) and wet grip (safety), whilst the number of dBs on the label will display their rolling noise,” the association wrote in a statement flagging up the official introduction of the rules.
Szabolcs Schmidt, head of the European Commission's road safety unit, said he agrees that winter tyres could improve road safety. He announced there will be a 2013 EU study to evaluate the role that tyres could have in increasing road safety. Schmidt spoke at a policy breakfast at the European Parliament hosted by German MEP Dieter-Lebrecht Koch, who is vice chairman of the body's transport committee. The event was organised by Mobivia Groupe with the support of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association.
The board of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) has agreed that market surveillance should be the number one priority of the work of the organisation. The next priority of the board, which meets twice a year, emphasises that environmental as well as social and economic sustainability should remain a focus of the European tyre and rubber industry.
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