LeasePlan Corporation N.V., known for its Car-as-a-Service concept, and SAIC Mobility Europe, a division of China’s largest vehicle manufacturer, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bring the first large full electric Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) to continental Europe. Tyres & Accessories understands that tyres and maintenance are included in the deal.
Avon Tyres is the new headline sponsor of Fleet Live, the largest event for the fleet sector in the UK, attracting over 2,000 visitors, taking place at the NEC in Birmingham on 9-10 October.
Established in 1885, Avon has a long history of developing, producing and selling tyres. The British brand will showcase its van and 4×4 tyre ranges suitable for fleet vehicles on stand E40 at the NEC. Avon is a well-established name in the fleet market and its highly-popular AV11 van tyre is the tyre of choice of many leading fleets as it offers excellent value for money thanks to its mileage performance and ability to withstand the harsh demands of urban driving where its resistance to impact damage is a key benefit. It is available in a range of fitments to suit vehicles such as the Ford Transit, Iveco Daily, Vauxhall Vivaro, Volkswagen Transporter Window Van and Mercedes Sprinter.
2018 has been an important year for the European and UK truck tyre markets. With anti Chinese-produced truck tyre tariffs having been introduced in May, some sources – especially those focusing on retreading – are already reporting a positive uptick in demand as a result of reduced numbers of Chinese-produced tyres. But how does this translate into the new tyre market? Here Tyres & Accessories considers the latest data from market research specialists GfK, with a particular focus on the UK new truck tyre replacement market.
Bridgestone has partnered with the Freight Transport Association (FTA) as well as its Transport Manager conference series, becoming the Gold Sponsor of the events for 2018.
To be held across the country between September and November, the 10 stand-alone conferences co-ordinated by FTA will highlight key issues for those working in the industry. Each event will include an address by the local Traffic Commissioner, a question and answer session with the DVSA directors via video clarifying problems raised by transport managers and updates on other areas including Clean Air Zones, Brexit, Earned Recognition, lowering emissions, managing your maintenance provider, smart tachographs, and much more.
Goodyear Tyres has opened a new 24-hour commercial support hub for its TruckForce network in Southampton. TruckForce’s network is made up of a combination of Goodyear Dunlop equity-owned hubs and independent service providers, offering crucial truck tyre servicing and breakdown assistance throughout the UK.
Back in June Bakers Dolphin Coach Travel – one of the longest established independent coach companies in the South West – announced that Michelin was a four-way trial that saw the French tyre manufacturer’s products pitched against fitments from three competitors.
DRS Logistics has partnered with Pirelli using the company’s latest Triathlon range, designed to maximise performance on UK’s mixed roads. Additionally they use Pirelli’s on-line Fleet Management system, which monitors closely costs and also helps streamline multiple service provider paperwork. This allows DRS to focus less on tyre management and more on looking after its customers.
Lothian will continue to roll on premium Michelin tyres after the largest municipal bus company in the UK renewed a three-year Effitires contract with Michelin solutions.
The new agreement will see Michelin solutions supply, fit and manage tyres across Lothian’s fleet of more than 800 single and double-deck buses, which is used to operate more than 70 services in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas of Midlothian and East Lothian.
Tructyre chief executive officer Glenn Sherwood has announced the launch of Tyrewatch, a predictive tyre management system the company states can “prevent 95 per cent of tyre related breakdowns”, from The Satellite Applications Catapult in Harlow, near Oxford, an organisation which has assisted the project in implementing satellite communications connectivity. The new system for fleets, three-plus years in development for its initial phase, combines tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) with increased and continuous cellular and satellite connectivity and artificial intelligence to provide automated analysis of fleets’ tyres. The system works by connecting sensors continuously monitoring tyre pressure, temperature, vehicle speed and GPS location to TyreWatch’s servers, which in turn alerts drivers, fleet managers, and tyre servicing providers where action should be taken. All of this results in a trio of potential benefits: economic, safety, and a step towards autonomy for logistics vehicles.
Almost two years has passed since Continental Tyres bought Britain’s largest independent retreader Bandvulc tyres. While the integration has gone smoothly by all accounts, the shape of the market has changed significantly. First, we have to acknowledge that the acquisition has put both Continental’s new and retreaded products in a much stronger position than before. For example, the decision to offer Uniroyal through Bandvulc gave the retreader’s strong fleet business better access to Continental group new products, while at the same time significantly increasing Conti’s domestic retreading capabilities.
Volvo Buses has secured an order of 23 fully electric buses from public transport company Arriva in the Netherlands. The buses will operate in the city of Leiden in the province of South Holland. The order was signed June 28 at a ceremony in conjunction with the Volvo Ocean Race, which finished in the Hague this week. Deliveries will take place between Q1 and Q3 in 2019.
South Korea-based tyre manufacturer Hankook, which is a leading player in the UK truck tyre market in terms of unit volumes, has stated that it is not affected by the recently introduced European anti-Chinese truck tyre import tariffs. Commenting as part of a statement on the company’s current and ongoing exhibition plans, Tony Lee, Hankook Tire Europe vice president for marketing and sales said:
Prometeon Tyre Group’s recent appointment of Kirkby Tyres as its official wholesale partner for Pirelli truck & bus product is “a landmark in Kirkby’s history as with this agreement, this is Kirkby’s first appointment as a national distributor of a major tier-1 tyre brand”, according to Dave Dorrity, managing director of Kirkby Tyres.
The latest data from market analysis specialists GfK suggests that the market is predominantly made up of regional usage 22.5-inch tyres – a trend that is increasing year-on-year. Here Tyres & Accessories takes a look at the latest market data from a number of sources in order to give an overview of current trends. This article focuses on data provided by GfK, but – owing to the fact that it is current hot topic – also analyses different estimates about how many tyres are made in China, something that is outside the scope of the data provided by GfK and therefore our conclusions on this point are something quite separate to GfK’s input.
It is clear that European anti-truck tyre tariffs are already having marked impact on the shape of the market. This is putting pressure on affected importers and manufacturers alike, but – as we have seen elsewhere in this feature – it could also lead to price increases and product shortages. Here Tyres & Accessories takes a closer look at the issue and what is being done in response based on contributions of industry associations such as the NTDA and ITMA as well as key industry figures.
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