Here Wayne Daniel, UK operations manager for Point S Tyre & Autocare, discusses the ongoing recruitment crisis within the motor trade and highlights how investment in training and development can be part of the solution.
At the end of October i247 published a white paper highlighting what fleets need to know in “The Evolving Tyre Landscape”. Tyres & Accessories got in touch with i247 Group director of Tyres, David Legg, and learnt how his company deploys a data-driven approach to tyre selection.
With much talk of the impact of electric vehicles and rapid tyre technology developments, Tyres & Accessories recently interviewed Stapleton’s Tyre Services managing director, Andy Fern. As well as considering the main trends that have impacted the tyre market in 2023, the discussion also considers which factors will continue to influence the market’s ongoing direction in future.
Enso has expanded its service network via fitting partnerships with IN’n’OUT Autocentres and M4 Tyres. This distribution expansion follows Enso’s nomination as a finalist in the Clear Our Air Category of Prince William’s The Earthshot Prize. And, according to the company, “reaffirms Enso’s commitment to setting new standards for London’s electric taxi industry”, by providing access to its “double-A rated specialist EV tyres across the entire city”.
An analysis of MOT failure data suggests that independent garages should consider how best to service demand for electric vehicle tyres. Matt Cleevely, managing director of Cleevely Electric Vehicles (EV), said the company is stocking a growing inventory of EV-specific tyres, with around 100 sales every month. This is on the back of new data analysis by Garage Industry Trends, which reveals that half of all EV MOT failures on vehicles registered after 2016 relate to tyres – almost double that of a diesel. Additionally, almost 60 per cent of EV advisories relate to tyre condition.
Firestone has launched the new Roadhawk 2 Enliten summer touring tyre. The Bridgestone brand says the new model offers “best-in-class wet grip” as well as longer mileage and a greater than 10 per cent reduction in rolling resistance, optimising fuel or energy consumption, based on internal testing on size 225/55 R17 101W. The integration of Bridgestone’s Enliten technology, which reduces material consumption and tyre weight, as well as using the new NanoPro-Tech high-silica compound for greater wear resistance, ensures the Roadhawk 2 Enliten is an “EV-ready tyre”: a tyre suitable for fitment on vehicles using and electric or conventional combustion engine powertrain. The new tyre will be available from January 2024 in 17-21” sizes to cover 90 per cent of the market. After the addition of 16” sizes in 2025, the range will comprise 112 size variations. The Firestone Roadhawk 2 Enliten is the successor to the Roadhawk summer touring tyre.
October’s new car market grew by 14.3 per cent to reach 153,529 registrations, 7.2 per cent above pre-pandemic levels and marking the best performance for the month since 2018, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The 15th month of consecutive growth was driven almost entirely by large fleet registrations, which grew 28.8 per cent to reach 87,479 units. Private demand was stable at 62,915 vehicles, a 0.3 per cent increase, while the much smaller business sector saw registrations fall -15.2 per cent to 3,135 units. With the sustained increase in new car registrations, overall vehicle uptake is now up 19.6 per cent in the first 10 months, with the market currently enjoying its best year since 2019.
i247 Group has published a white paper designed to help fleets better-understand the changing tyre industry and to stoke conversation relating to the tyre sector’s greatest challenges and opportunities. Titled ‘The evolving tyre landscape – what fleets need to know’, the white paper covers six areas: The evolving automotive landscape; Cost challenges; Sustainability – how green is your fleet policy?; The rise of electric vehicles (EVs); Supply chain challenges; And Industry innovation – future trends and technology.
Yokohama will exhibit its electric vehicle-compatible and sustainable technologies at the Japan Mobility Show 2023, (Tokyo Big Sight’s East Hall 2 in Koto-ku, Tokyo, 26 October to 5 November). The manufacturer’s booth has been assembled under the theme, ‘Yokohama: Creating the Tires of the Future’, with a focus on the company’s latest and future tyre technology developments. These will include tyre mounted sensors, as well as the concept aerodynamic Advan A50 fin tyre, and the Japanese premiere of the Advan Sport EV, Yokohama’s newly launched dedicated high performance tyre for electric vehicles.
Sailun Tyre Group is expanding its range of Atrezzo ZSR2 and ZSR2 EV tyres. By the end of the year, 14 new tyre dimensions ranging from 16 to 20 inches in diameter, a total of 54 sizes will be introduced. The majority of the sizes are concentrated on vehicle models with R19 and R20 wheel sizes. Corresponding tyre dimensions for the fast-growing SUV segment will follow in spring 2024.
In just over a month, the Earthshot Prize will announce its 2023 winners in Singapore. Enso Ltd is one of 15 global finalists for this year’s prize, and company founder and chief executive officer Gunnlaugur Erlendsson was amongst a handful of climate tech entrepreneurs who yesterday met with Earthshot Prize founder and Council member, Prince William.
Following the news of the electric-vehicle-tyre-orientated brand’s nomination for the EarthShot prize, Enso Tyres have release a preview of the company’s new electric van tyre.
Tyres fitted to electric vehicles (EVs) face a shortfall in longevity versus those fitted to petrol or diesel cars, new fleet data from epyx suggests. The first tyre change for electric cars is taking place at an average of 17,985 miles and 551 days old, compared to 24,641 miles and 585 days for hybrids, and 24,335 and 670 days for petrol and diesel cars. On average tyres fitted to EVs are lasting 6,350 fewer miles than equivalents on internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles. The data is taken from epyx’s 1link Service Network platform. Car and van fleets totalling more than four million vehicles use 1link to manage and process SMR.
London-based specialist Electric Vehicle (EV) tyre technology company Enso has been named as one of the 15 global finalists for The Earthshot Prize, which was launched by Prince William in 2020.
Pirelli has claimed leadership in supplying tyres for premium and prestige electric cars at the IAA Mobility car show in Munich. Pirelli equipped almost 25 per cent of the BEV cars and 30 per cent of the plug-in hybrids among the new electric cars on display. The cars were fitted with a mix of Pirelli’s products, such as its P Zero performance and its Scorpion SUV ranges, all featuring the company’s “Elect” marking that signifies that the models have been developed with EV-specific technologies. The Italian brand said that its original equipment homologations for EVs have grown at a rate more than double that on the previous year.
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i247 Group
Cleevely Electric Vehicles
Bridgestone
SMMT
Yokohama
Sailun
epyx
Pirelli