When American racer Tanner Foust won the opening round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill over Easter weekend, he helped to continue Avon Tyres’ dominance of the category in recent years. Champions of the prestigious series in the last 20 years have all used Avon’s rallycross rubber.
The latest analysis from JATO Dynamics, the provider of automotive intelligence, reveals that new car sales in Europe for March declined by 7.1 per cent and were also down 7.5 per cent, year-to-date compared with Q1 2011. While there was growth in the British and German markets, this was countered by reduced sales in France and Italy.
Michelin has announced details of a road safety competition for young drivers run through Facebook. The company explains that social media is a logical means for disseminating information to the young; nearly 80 per cent of young Europeans aged 16 to 24 are regular users of social media. They are also the main victims of road accidents, twice as likely to be involved in accidents as older, more experienced drivers. Every year nearly 5,000 young people aged 18 to 24 are killed in road accidents in the European Union on average. Named Tom European Tour, Michelin’s game invites young people who drive – or are learning to drive – to travel with a virtual character named Tom through the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Spain.
Hot on the heels of the news that growing Korean tyre manufacturer Nexen has secured OE supply to Fiat, the firm has revealed details of its plans to expand in the well-known marques domestic Italian market. With a replacement market potential of over 30 million tyres a year in the passenger car segment, Nexen has suggested Italy is one of its key countries for expansion in Europe.
The latest issue of Russian motoring magazine, Avto-Revyu (No. 6/2012) features a tyre test based on a range of 185/60 R15 products. This size is a mainstay of the Russian market due to strong sales of Volkswagen’s Polo there.
Tyres tested include the Michelin Energy Saver and Energy XM2, Bridgestone Ecopia EP100, Continental ContiEcoContact 5, Goodyear EfficientGrip, Nokian Hakka Green and Pirelli Cinturato representing so-called “green” tyres as well as the Hankook Optimo K415, Kama Euro 236 and Federal Formoza FD1 “normal” tyres.
The Cooper Tires British F3 Series – long established as a feeder series to the pinnacle of single-seat racing – begins at Oulton Park on Easter weekend, alongside the British GT Championship, provided and sponsored by Cooper brand, Avon. The F3 series runs on Cooper rubber, and the brand has been title sponsor since the 2009 season, when it took over from Avon; in total the company has now been involved in the series for 30 years, its first season being 1982.
World Superbike rider, Sylvain Guintoli has spent the off-season riding in the UK on his own Ducati 1198SP road bike fitted with treaded Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tyres. The Team Effenbert Liberty Racing rider, who was born in France but now lives in the West Midlands with his British wife, decided to get out on track on his own tyres. Guintoli competed in the British Superbike Championship last year, and the rider decided to return to a cold Snetterton in January, and tackled Mallory and Oulton Park in March.
After being live for only a few months, Michelin says the mobile version of its corporate website has proven to be a huge hit. The French tyre maker describes the site’s stats as “encouraging” and says it has experienced a 135 per cent increase in visits. Other pertinent statistics reported by Michelin are that the average visit to the site lasts one and a half minutes, and 30 per cent of users are located in the United States, with 18 per cent in France.
On 27 March the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, released its figures for commercial vehicle registrations during the month of February. These show demand for new commercial vehicles to be weaker in all major markets, with EU registrations declining 11.3 per cent year-on-year. The major market downturn ranged from 3.2 per cent in France to 29.9 per cent in Italy; the UK experienced a 16.6 per cent decline in total new commercial vehicle registrations. In total, 126,010 new commercial vehicles were registered in the European Union during February 2012, while UK registrations came to 11,102.
Following an inaugural season it has called “highly successful”, Pirelli will continue to support the FIA World Rally Championship Academy as the 2012 season gets underway at Vodafone Rally de Portugal later this week (29 March – 1 April). Pirelli will again provide its K4 tyre on gravel and its RX5 and RE7 tyre on asphalt to 13 rising stars and their co-drivers. The season will feature three gravel events: Portugal, Greece and Finland, followed by three asphalt events: Germany, France and Spain. Representing 11 countries worldwide, competitors will pilot identical Pirelli-branded Ford Fiesta R2s, each prepared by Cumbria’s M-Sport operation from a facility in Krakow, Poland.
Although De Klok Banden has only been headquartered at its current site for seven years, organic growth and partnership deals in recent times mean space within the wholesaler’s warehouse in Oud-Beijerland, the Netherlands is already at a premium. When Tyres & Accessories met with company director Wim van der Heiden in late February, he shared that De Klok is planning to move some time soon.
Just recently Italian firm Gomme Piave, which specialises in the retreading of OTR tyres, celebrated its 50th anniversary. And despite the uncertainties the industry has faced during this time the company maintains its dedication towards innovation. “When retreading first emerged in the 1950s Italy developed into one of the leading countries in this sector, and this tradition remains strong to this day,“ shares Giomme Piave’s owner Augusto Favaro. “There is no other country in Europe that can boast having these specialised competencies to such an extent.”
As well as being represented by Kings Road Tyres in the UK, the Aeolus brand is distributed by Heuver Tyrewholesale in a number of markets on the continent. This year the brand will be present at the Dutch wholesaler’s stand and also have its own show presence, and during Reifen the Chinese manufacturer will not only show its latest products from its established truck and OTR tyre lines – the company’s new range of passenger car tyres will also be on display.
Europe's new car sales decline by 9.5 per cent in February, and 8.1per cent Year-to-Date compared to last year. According to the latest analysis from leading provider of automotive intelligence JATO Dynamics, the European new car market continues to suffer, as economic uncertainty kept customers out of showrooms in February.
US-based company TBC Corporation, which calls itself the country’s largest marketer of tyres for the automotive replacement market, has acquired automotive service provider Midas for approximately US$310 million. The all-cash transaction will see Midas shares change hands for $11.50 each, a price that represents a 75 per cent premium over Midas’ closing price of $6.58 on 11 August 2011, when Midas announced it would conduct a strategic review process, and a 28 per cent premium over the closing share price as of 12 March 2012. The proposed transaction has been unanimously approved by both companies’ boards of directors. In addition, Midas chairman, president and CEO Alan Feldman has signed a tender and voting agreement in support of the offer.
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