Earlier this year (at the end of July), LeasePlan Corporation N.V. changed ownership and announced that it had been informed by its previous 100 per cent shareholder (Global Mobility Holding B.V. – a joint venture of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft and Fleet Investments B.V.) that it had reached an agreement with a consortium of long-term investors to acquire full ownership of LeasePlan in a 3.7 billion euro deal.
Vehicle leasing giant LeasePlan has appointed ATS Euromaster, National Tyres & Autocare and Fleet Tyre Network (FTN) as its tyre fitment partner in favour of previous incumbent Kwik-Fit.
Bridgestone has extended its “much valued” fleet agreement with one of the UK’s leading independent logistics firms – Downton. The new five year pence-per-kilometre (PPK) contract builds on the existing 10-year partnership with the UK’s largest privately owned third party logistics provider.
Renault’s 6×2 T-series Optifuel will roll off the production line on Michelin 315/70 R 22.5 X Line Energy tyres as standard, after intensive trials.
During three days of testing around a 143.6 mile test route, the low rolling resistance Michelin 315/70 X Line Energy tyres – designed to operate at a high average speed on long-distance trunking – showed a three per cent advantage in fuel efficiency over a set of competing premium-brand 295/80 R 22.5 ‘regional’ tread pattern tyres. The trials took in a combination of A-roads and motorways, and were conducted with the support of Michelin’s UK technical team.
Goodyear has become MAN’s exclusive tyre partner for its MAN ProfiDrive driver training initiative across Europe. The partnership includes equipping all 25 tractors and trailers used by MAN ProfiDrive with the latest Goodyear premium tyres. These comprise the fuel-efficient Fuelmax, the dedicated mileage line Kmax and the mixed service Omnitrac II for use both on and off road. Goodyear will maintain the tyres, which includes taking over the tyre repair shop. The partnership further involves Goodyear training the MAN trainers in tyre matters. This builds on Goodyear’s and MAN’s long-term close collaboration related to original truck equipment. The two companies have worked together for some time with events such as the MAN Trucknology Days.
At the start of October, the truck/commercial tyre division of Delticom AG, reported that it has successfully recruited further authorized Goodride support centres in Germany.
Take-up of Epyx’s new Tyreserve e-commerce service is reportedly being driven by company car and van drivers. According to Epyx, the option of having tyres fitted during routine servicing (and therefore without visiting a fast-fit centre) is proving to be attractive to fleet end users.
Three of the largest French tyre distributors have agreed to cooperate on the Fleetpartner fleet tyre project. Together partners Eurotyre, BestDrive and Siligom offer some 550 points of sale across the country, in a move designed to appeal to key account customers.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) won a European award today (20 October) for its efforts in improving road safety at work through its own staff driving guidelines and safeguards. The accolade has come from the Brussels-based European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), a leading non-profit organisation dedicated to reducing the numbers of deaths and injuries in transport in Europe.
A new analysis of future automotive demand in Africa suggests the continent will experience “significant growth opportunities” and almost double in the next 10 to 12 years. The IHS report, which is called “Final Automotive Frontier”, suggests that Africa, with one of the world´s fastest- growing middle classes, is showing “pronounced promise for the global automotive industry”.
Krone has become the first trailer manufacturer to offer Goodyear’s latest winter commercial vehicle tyres as original equipment. Krone has approved the Goodyear Ultra Grip Max T in sizes 385/65R22.5 and 385/55R22.5 for trailers destined for severe winter operations.
The instability in Ukraine plus the plummeting oil price has had a devastating impact on the outlook for trailer demand in Russia, according to new research published by Clear. Nearly 24,000 trailers were wiped from the last forecast for the 2015 – 2019 period in the report issued in March 2015. In the latest forecast a further 8,000 trailers have been removed from the forecast for Russia and the Ukraine.
Avis UK has released findings from business traveller behaviour and attitude research showing that UK businesses are the most frequent renters of cars. While the results do not refer to tyre consumption directly, the trends picked up in the research do inform the tyre market.
Audi UK recently staged a three-day tyre training session for over 200 of its service advisors at MIRA support provided by Micheldever Tyre Services. According to the company, the training event was specifically designed to give attendees an insight into how tyres impact the performance and handling of vehicles, specifically the differences between new and worn tyres, summer and winter tyres, as well as the significant difference between premium and budget tyres.
On 5 October the Linglong Tire 2015 China Truck Racing Championship concluded at Beijing Jinggang Speedway, the final station of 2015 CTR. This truck racing challenge reportedly attracted plenty of truck fans from home and abroad coming to watch the live show. Linglong Tire was both the title sponsor and nominated tyre supplier.
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