Truck tyres are joining the ranks of Hankook Tire’s second brand, Laufenn. Hankook Tyre UK will preside over the global launch of these products at this year’s Commercial Vehicle Show, presenting the Laufenn tyres alongside its expanding Hankook commercial vehicle line-up.
The founder of the Independent Tyre Fitters Alliance has exposed four councils in the North West of England for issuing licenses for taxis fitted with illegal unmarked and unsafe part worn tyres. John Stone, owner of National Tyre Distributors Association member Stone Tyres showed how vehicles with aged part worn tyres could pass the taxi compliance and licensing procedure at each council, raising questions about passenger safety in the North West and UK.
The insolvency administrator handling the case of 16 Fintyre Group companies in Germany reports further progress. Miguel Grosser from law and insolvency administration firm JAFFÉ states that 31 TyreXpert, Secura and Duro retail outlets are selling tyres again and providing a full range of customer services. Other centres, including those belonging to Reiff Reifen und Autotechnik, can operate on a “restricted” basis but not sell new products.
After eliminating 30 tyres from its 2020 summer tyre test in a preliminary wet and dry braking round, Auto Bild scrutinised the remaining 20 more closely. The findings are now out, and the motoring publication is very happy with more than a third of the tested candidates. First place in test was shared by two tyres.
A meeting between the management of Apollo Vredestein BV (AVBV) and employees took place today to discuss the future of the company’s tyre factory in Enschede, the Netherlands. The workforce was told that Apollo Tyres intends to “specialise” production at the site in order to ensure profitability. Measures related to this realignment include reducing AVBV’s personnel by approximately 750 full-time employees over a period of 24 months.
In previous features on commercial vehicle tyres, Tyres & Accessories has noted the varied effects European Union tariffs on product manufactured in China have had on the market. Questioning whether the tariffs have “worked” is a complex question, because their effect on new tye segmentation and retreads have been varied across Europe’s major markets. Truck tyre markets in France and Germany reacted in very different ways to the UK, at least partially because the latter market was contracting anyway.
Everton FC and Davanti Tyres will continue their official brand partnership for a further three years, following the extension of their commercial partnership. The new deal was unveiled at Davanti’s first ever International Dealer Conference at Everton’s Goodison Park stadium in Liverpool on Friday, 28 February. Davanti discussed the impact of its Official Tyre Partner status with the club on global growth since the arrangement formally began in 2017, in addition to presenting further details of its 2020 plans.
The promoter of the FIM MXGP World Championship has extended its partnership with Dunlop. Infront Moto Racing has signed the tyre brand up to a new three-year partnership agreement to be an official tyre supplier of the series.
It’s official – the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) won’t take place next month. The decision to cancel GIMS follows an announcement made earlier today by the Swiss Federal Council. The Council has decided to prohibit large-scale events involving more than 1,000 people. The ban comes into immediate effect and will apply at least until 15 March 2020, the day GIMS 2020 was scheduled to conclude.
Goodyear claims that it has achieved an industry first, having developed an all-season tyre with both the Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) sidewall marking an A-rated fuel efficiency on the EU tyre label. The new tyre, which Goodyear confirmed to Tyres & Accessories is the third generation of its test-winning Vector 4Seasons line, was conducted jointly by Goodyear’s technology teams in Luxembourg and Germany, in conjunction with original equipment manufacturers, leveraging tread pattern developments present in its all-season lines for the replacement market, as well as new rubber compounding formulations.
Winchester-based Micheldever Tyre Services – which has established a wholesale distribution network of 15 sites around the country, supplying over 6,000 retailers nationwide – will stock a large selection of BFGoodrich’s All Terrain T/A KO2 and Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 ranges, helping to ensure excellent product availability throughout the year.
Pirelli says its tyres will be become safer and greener in the coming five years, and will come to market more quickly, too. The company has outlined its performance targets for the Pirelli passenger vehicle range within its new 2020-2022 Industrial Plan, which was approved on Wednesday
Last month we heard that, according to the latest market data collated by analysts at GfK, both the value and the volume of the overall sell-out UK car tyre replacement market decreased in 2019. However, the value-rich SUV tyre sub-segment and its all-season tyre sub niche continue to show encouraging signs of growth. So, with this in mind, the March magazine’s SUV tyre feature takes a closer look at the latest trends in this particular market space.
Continental has launched the new WinterContact TS 870, a winter tyre for small to medium sized cars, at an event in Kittilä, Finland. The tyre is the successor to 2016’s WinterContact TS 860, which has been widely recognised for the quality of its performance in tyre tests. The new tyre, which has a newly designed high-technology tread design and a new iteration of Conti’s Cool Chili compound with optimised crosslink density, features balanced performance improvements over the TS 860, notably five per cent shorter braking on ice and grip on snow, seven per cent increased tread life, and best-in-class noise, represented by one-wave (70dB) on the EU tyre label.
The motorsport calendar now includes an all-new event – the world’s first all-electric, multi-brand touring car championship. Pure ETCR vehicles will be equipped with a Williams Advanced Engineering battery unit and a 500kW Magelec Propulsion powertrain – the equivalent of a staggering 680bhp – that drives the rear wheels and enables 0 to 100km/h acceleration in just 3.2 seconds. This torquey power will be delivered to the racetrack via products supplied by one of Pure ETCR’s founder partners – Goodyear.
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