Kidderminster-based aftermarket distributor Universal Automotive is continuing to grow its range of products under the VECO brand with the addition of an exhaust fittings line-up. The company says that it can now offer a comprehensive range of quality VECO replacement components covering all necessary fitments to give the garage service trade a complete exhaust ancillary product solution.
Wolfrace, a leading UK brand of alloy wheels, has announced its new range of Pro-Lite wheels suitable for road and track use. With a wide and successful range of what it terms the ‘mainstream’ car enthusiast and modified car market with Wolfrace alloy wheels, exhausts and performance air filters, the Wolfrace Eurosport range now features the company’s first lightweight wheel suitable for road and track use.
Euro Car Parts, an independent supplier of car parts, accessories, tools and equipment in the UK, has recently secured a distribution agreement with Klarius UK to supply the Timax range of exhaust systems, and exhaust mountings via its 60 UK branches. Klarius is one of Europe’s major manufacturers of ‘type approved’ aftermarket exhaust systems and its current catalogue lists over 5,500 part numbers. The company’s products are compatible with 97 per cent of the UK car parc.
Viking International’s online ordering facility was recently nominated for an NTDA TAFF award. Here the company explains why its service offers dealers a “quick and convenient solution for all tyre, exhaust, cat and battery needs.”
According to company representatives, the site has been designed with the end-user in mind first and foremost. Tyres are clearly displayed by size, speed rating or price according to the user’s preference, with special offers highlighted for ease of use. Exhausts and batteries are easily looked up by the product part / code or simply by the vehicle make and model. All information is updated in real time, so pricing and stock are constantly updated, enabling dealers to offer their customers an immediate quotation. A unique customisation tool also allows dealers to adapt the website for their own use, uploading their own logo, changing the colour-scheme to match their own as well as displaying their own retail prices on-screen.
ATS Euromaster is embarking on a consultation exercise “reviewing” as many as 80 of its UK centres. According to a company spokesperson, the tyre retail chain currently runs 456 centres, but is looking into the viability of continuing to run some in their present format. Therefore mergers, redundancies and some degree of reorganisation are all being discussed. However the company is apparently not currently looking into the sale of branches.
ATS Euromaster are offering a series of discount vouchers redeemable at any ATS Euromaster centre in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland online. Consumers can access the deals by logging on to www.atseuromaster.co.uk and include discounts on a range of different car and van tyres, including Michelin and Pirelli, as well as great savings on an array of popular fast-fit parts and services such as wheel alignments, batteries and exhausts.
On 13th August 2009, Motor Vehicles Regulations came into effect, making it illegal to fit a non type-approved catalytic converter to a vehicle registered on or after 1st March 2001. This means that a "Y" registered or newer vehicle requires a type-approved "cat". The new law also requires that replacement Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) are also type approved. The following information, supplied by the NTDA, outlines the reasons behind the law’s introduction and the importance of compliance.
The UK has the worst road pollution in Europe, according to a recent government report, with 95 per cent of cities exceeding the European Union limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). This figure is almost double that of the next worst polluter, Germany, where 52 per cent of cities exceed the limit, followed by Italy with 42 per cent, France (21 per cent) and Spain (14 per cent). While the report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs warns that the UK will face large fines for breaching the EU limit unless radical measures, such as national road pricing and subsidies for electric cars, are taken, exhaust system manufacturer Klarius firmly believes that the best solution would be to ensure the quality of exhausts and catalytic convertors fitted to the UK’s cars.
According to a new report published by financial analyst Plimsoll, one in seven companies in the UK tyre, exhaust and battery industry could change hands due to economic pressures and the presence of a number of cash rich competitors. The report suggests that the market is going into an extended period of consolidation, which could pave the way for a defragmentation of the sector, currently regarded as one of the UK’s most sprawling. Plimsoll’s David Pattison, author of the new Plimsoll Industry Analysis – Tyres, Exhausts & Batteries, explains: “In our report we analysed 535 companies with a turnover of over £1 million per annum and have picked out 140 that are primed to be taken over. Buying one of these businesses represents a massive opportunity for someone to enhance their share of the market. Either way, the market is set for a wave of takeovers in the next months”.
Plimsoll says that its report will tell you which companies are set to be buying and who will be selling. Readers of Tyres and Accessories are entitled to a £50 discount of this new special edition of the Plimsoll Industry Analysis – Tyres, Exhausts & Batteries. Call 01642 626400 for further details and quote reference PR/TI75.
ATS Euromaster opened a new “flagship fast-fit centre” in Huddersfield Street, Galashiels, following investment of more than £800,000. The new centre, which opened in May, is located 200 yards from the previous site, which is being demolished to make way for the A7 trunk road extension.
Situated directly opposite the Gala Water Retail Park, the new facility boasts five vehicle work bays, including one dedicated to commercial vehicles, and is equipped to provide a complete range of fast-fit services for motorists including tyres, brakes, batteries, shock absorbers, exhausts and oil. Open six days a week, it is manned by a team of six highly skilled technicians.
Klarius, the UK-based manufacturer of the TIMAX brand of exhausts and catalytic converters, has returned to a five day week and is reporting increased export sales. The announcement follows investment of over £1.2million in UK manufacturing and R&D over the last 18 months. Klarius was bought from US owners ArvinMeritor LVA in August 2007. After some redundancies last year, the company started employing new staff again in January this year, with the 10 new jobs created said to support growth from increased exports into Europe.
Value growth in consumables and accessories fell from 2.4 percentage points in 2008, to nearly flat growth this year, according to research compiled by Datamonitor. The inference is that the value of distress purchases such as tyres and exhausts (in addition to big-ticket satnavs and stereos) is falling as consumers defer replacement and as total average mileage falls. The consumables and accessories (C&A) segment is said to account for the largest share of the European retail aftermarket in the UK (8.3 per cent).
Brian Hurman, a mobile tyre mechanic with HiQ in Longlands Road, Middlesbrough will celebrate his 30th anniversary at a HiQ fast fit centre in style, when he swaps the forecourt for the fast lane of the British Touring Car Championship. Hurman will be working trackside at Croft race circuit this weekend (13 and 14 June), changing tyres for Matt Neal, Jason Plato, and all the stars of the series, which HiQ supports as a title sponsor.
The 30th anniversary gift represents a gesture of thanks for all his work at the centre and the North-East area over the period. Hurman said: “It’s a dream come true to be changing the tyres for Vauxhall and all the teams in the touring car championship. I am a huge fan of the BTCC so it was such a lovely shock when I was told I had been given this opportunity.”
BA Bush & Son and its wholesale operation B.A.B. Distribution (a member of the wholesale group Grouptyre) has invested in a new retail facility. At a time when many businesses are contracting, the family concern, which this year marks 60 years in business, is celebrating by opening its 14th tyre retail depot in Bourne, Lincolnshire, at the end of April. The expansion is set to continue in July/August when the company is scheduled to open a new, purpose-built tyre retail centre in Spalding. According to company representatives, branch number 15 is “absolutely state of the art” and even has its own bridge.
“We always aim to reinvest profits in the company and are taking advantage of economic conditions to implement an aggressive growth strategy designed to increase our market share throughout Lincolnshire, Humberside and East Yorkshire by providing unrivalled levels of customer service,” said director Tom Bush, adding: “For many years we have met the needs of customers in Bourne from our Boston and Sleaford branches, so it was logical to develop a stand alone facility, albeit linked to and fully integrated within our retail operation, which would enable us to provide a more comprehensive and better quality of service to customers in this area.”
Kwik-Fit has signed a contract with Tyre Bay Direct to supply Uniflate Nitrogen Inflation systems across its UK and subsidiary European centres. The system, supplied exclusively to Formula 1 Grand Prix Racing for the last 17 years was the first nitrogen inflation system ever developed for tyre inflation. Rollout of the system has begun across Kwik-Fit’s 595 UK centres and will be completed by the end of July 2009. Kwik-Fit reportedly chose the Uniflate Nitrogen Inflation system following successful trials in the Netherlands earlier this year, which led to the installation of over 200 systems countrywide.
Adding Kwik-Fit’s UK outlets extends Tyre Bay Direct’s distribution of the Uniflate Nitrogen Inflation system to around 1,500 European outlets, ranging from fast fits, service centres, MOT bays and car dealerships through to independent fleet users and Borough councils. On its website Tyre Bay Direct’s parent company, Pneu-Air, also names ATS Euromaster, Merityre, Selecta Tyre, North Eastern Tyre & Exhausts and Demon Tweeks amongst its customers.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
