September results in the segment of buses and coaches over 3.5 tonnes were diverse across countries, leading to an overall 5.5 per cent contraction of the EU market. While the UK (+43.3 per cent) and Spain (+5.3 per cent) performed better than in the same month last year, France (-22.7 per cent), Germany (-26.3 per cent) and Italy (-26.6 per cent) experienced a double-digit downturn.
September, demand for new vans (light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes) declined across the EU, except in Slovakia (+9.5 per cent) and the UK (+1.1 per cent), resulting in an overall 13.5 per cent decrease. France (-12.4 per cent), Germany (-14.6 per cent), Italy (-27.6 per cent) and Spain (-34.3 per cent) all faced a double digit downturn. In total, the region counted 123,938 new vans in the month.
In September, the EU recorded 18,529 new heavy trucks (over 16 tonnes), or 14.8 per cent less than in September 2011. All significant markets contracted, from -6.7 per cent in the UK to -18.6 per cent in France, -22.9 per cent in Germany, -28.6 per cent in Spain and -33.8 per cent in Italy. Nine months into the year, the decline was 7.7 per cent, with a total of 162,355 new registrations.
In September, ACEA figures reveal that a total of 150,910 new commercial vehicles were registered in the EU, which is 13.7 per cent less than in the same month last year.
Michelin has marked the 60th anniversary of the introduction of radial truck tyres in 1952. The company says its first Michelin X Radial truck tyre helped to transform the road transport industry, which until then was using cross-ply tyres. The company says radialisation made trucking safer and more efficient. Of course, following the innovation, other manufacturers pursued the same path, meaning that radial tyres accounted for 100 per cent of the Western European truck tyre market in 2011. Michelin now estimates that radials account for 73 per cent of truck tyres worldwide.
Today’s F1 drivers cut their teeth in one of several formulae, the newest of which, Auto GP, was established in 2010. The winner that year was Romain Grosjean, who now competes alongside former F1 Drivers Champion Kimi Räikkönen at Lotus Renault. The series’ original tyre supplier was Michelin, but the French giant was replaced by Kumho in time for this season’s 14-round championship, which took place at seven venues on three continents. Run in conjunction with the World Touring Car Championship, it has also enjoyed round-by-round coverage on Eurosport.
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena secured the 2012 Drivers’ World Rally Championship title at the Rallye de France Alsace on 7 October, making it their ninth consecutive victory and Citroen Racing’s eighth Manufacturers’ title since 2003. Their victory marks a significant moment for Michelin motorsport, since it is the 20th Drivers’ WRC championship to be won using the company’s tyres – as well as being the 22nd time the Manufacturers’ title winner has used Michelin rubber since the introduction of the series by the FIA in 1973. Michelin’s oft-stated desire for competition between tyre manufacturers in motorsport is also satisfied by this statistic, since all of these 42 victories were claimed within a framework that allowed open competition between tyre companies.
Bridgestone Europe's newest ad campaign emphasises its continued sponsorship of Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup events in Europe, as well as Bridgestone's winter tyre range.
Fines for drivers of all motor vehicles – including motorcyclists, – who are caught without a breathalyser kit, will be implemented in France from March 2013, according to the Institute of Advanced Motorists. The fines were due to be enforced from 1 November 2012.
New car registration figures for the EU from ACEA show that demand for new cars was down -10.8% in September, amounting to 1,099,264 units, compared with September 2011. Nine months into the year, the downturn reached -7.6%, with a total of 9,368,327 new cars registered in the EU.
France has long been associated with fashion, and the organiser of the upcoming Pneu Expo 2013, which takes place next March in Lyon, has ensured visitors to the tyre industry show don’t miss out on this French tradition. Organiser Editions VB says that on the exhibition’s opening night visitors will be able to attend a fashion show, in which “graceful models will parade in sexy outfits composed of…recycled inner tube.”
This month Bridgestone Europe is launching a new advertising campaign to support its winter tyre range; the integrated multimedia campaign will be shown in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden and is aimed at demonstrating how Bridgestone tyres keep “winter under control”.
Welshman Elfyn Evans has become the second-ever winner of the Pirelli-supported WRC Academy, a series attached to the FIA World Rally Championship and designed to identify future champions by pitting young drivers against each other in identical Ford Fiesta R2 rally cars. When Evans took his fourth consecutive win this year on the all-asphalt Rallye de France, his table tally rose to a level that put the title mathematically out of his rivals’ reach, despite there being one round of the Academy left to go this year.
Statistics shared at Continental’s recent European ContiWinterRoadshow indicate that a total of 73.8 million winter passenger car and 4×4 tyres were sold in Western Europe last year and a further 18.7 million in Central Europe. These figures are up 12.8 per cent and 10.7 per cent year-on-year respectively. Last year’s sale of 92.5 million units is viewed as a ‘peak’ for winter tyres; Continental says it expects sales to stabilise at around 90 million by 2015. This year, the German manufacturer anticipates that both the Western and Central European markets will experience a moderate decline; it estimates 65.8 million winter passenger car and 4×4 tyres will be sold in Western Europe and 17.7 million in Central Europe.
SD International was established ten years ago and in headquartered in Shanghai, with sales offices in the UK France, Slovakia, Argentina and Dubai. The contract tyre manufacturing specialist has a wide portfolio of private brands, including Maxtrek, Pace, Briland, Zeta and Autoguard.
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