Speaking during Challenge Bibendum last week, managing general partner, Michel Rollier confirmed that Michelin continues to invest in its Dundee and Ballymena plants in the UK, where the firm is said to have made “tremendous efforts” to improve the efficiency and productivity of its plants.
The results of Delticom’s ‘Tyres online 2011’ survey show a large minority of British drivers are willing to purchase tyres online. In the internet retailer’s survey of more than 5,000 potential tyre buyers in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, 47 per cent of British respondents expressed their readiness to buy tyres on the web; this is, admittedly, far below the 74 per cent of French drivers willing to purchase online, but slightly more than Germany, where 40 per cent of those surveyed answered in the affirmative. In Italy and Spain, only around 18 per cent of respondents answered positively regarding internet tyre purchasing.
Demand for new cars declined in most European markets during April, with new registrations down 4.1 per cent year-on-year. The UK market drop was even more pronounced, with 7.4 per cent fewer registrations than in April 2010; France suffered an 11.1 per cent year-on-year decline while 23.3 per cent fewer cars were registered in Spain. The only major market to buck this downward trend was Germany, where 2.6 per cent more new registrations were reported in April 2011. In all, 1,089,118 new passenger cars were registered in the EU (including Romania and Bulgaria; data for Malta and Cyprus is currently not available); around one eighth of these were registered in the UK, which recorded a total of 137,746 new vehicles for the month.
It came as no surprise to see Casey Stoner complete a superlative weekend, claiming an imperious victory at Le Mans for the Repsol Honda Team, having proved faster than anyone else all weekend. In completing his victory, he set a new record total race time, beating the former record by 25 seconds. Stoner put his victory partially down to the speed with which he could increase the temperature of his tyres, while their consistency allowed him to maintain fast lap-times throughout the race. Dani Pedrosa claimed one victory over Stoner, setting the new lap record at 1:33.617 seconds, 0.6 seconds faster than the previous benchmark, but his race was ended with a broken collarbone following a collision with Marco Simoncelli.
Casey Stoner finished the first day of practice for the French Grand Prix fastest overall, lapping under the existing lap record by nearly half a second. His fastest lap came on the harder option front and rear Bridgestone slicks, though he also lapped under the lap record and set provisional fastest using the new soft asymmetric rear tyre. Masao Azuma, chief field engineer at Bridgestone Motorsport: “I am pleased with the performance of both our slick tyre options today as we can see from the laptimes that both worked well.
Towards the end of April television viewers in the UK and several other European countries were amongst the first to experience the latest corporate advertising campaign produced by Bridgestone Europe. These television commercials form part of a new multi-prong advertising approach that also involves print, billboard and web advertisements. Bridgestone Europe says the campaign, which was produced in close cooperation with Bridgestone Corporation, will also be used in Bridgestone markets outside of our region.
Last year a new name appeared in the UK tyre retail scene. At the start of June 2010 point S Development, together with UK Tyre Group, announced the establishment of a local point S network. At the time the UK based point S operation was the 19th national network to be set up in Europe (this number has since grown to 20), with the 50 or so outlets operated by the independent members of UK Tyre Group forming the new network’s initial core. At the time, UK Tyre Group directors shared with Tyres & Accessories that the plan was to increase this network to 100 outlets within two years. This has been achieved in half the anticipated time; after almost a year in the local market, Point S UK reports its plans are progressing very well.
Management at Point S Development – the France-based operation responsible for developing the international Point S network – have spoken of significant growth plans since late 2009. Many of their goals have already been realised and today Point S is represented by networks in 20 European countries, making it one of the region’s largest retail tyre organisations. With Point S now represented throughout much of Europe, Point S Development is casting an eye across the Atlantic. Plans for expanding into North America on the drawing board since 2009 are now being implemented in more concrete terms.
Hankook has released details of a new global TV advertising campaign. The ‘Be One with It’ campaign will roll out in nine different countries in Europe including Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, France, Russia and Hungary as well as in North America (USA/Canada). Instead of showcasing only the tyres’ performance, the campaign focuses more on the drivers feeling of ‘being one’ with the tyre and the road. Extreme sports such as jumping off cliffs and airborne helicopters with specially designed wing suits, called the ‘base jump’ are utilized to present the theme.
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Bridgestone has announced that Citroën has selected its Potenza RE050A sports tyre for the Citroën DS3 Racing, Citroën’s hot hatch in the premium DS line. The 215/40R18 tyre is now fitted on all Citroën DS3 Racing production cars. The ultra-high-performance Potenza RE050A is designed to handle the power output of an over 200 hp turbo-charged engine like this Citroën DS3 Racing. It has an asymmetric pattern designed for a dynamic balanced performance with sharp response, precise steering and high-level wet safety.
A recently signed sponsorship agreement is expected to boost the profile of Bridgestone’s winter tyre line-up. Bridgestone Europe has entered into an agreement to sponsor the majority of events in the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, and under the terms of the agreement the tyre maker will be a main partner at the 34 World Cup Alpine Ski events in eight European countries – Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland – during the 2011-2012 season.
Legal firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) advised the management of Kwik-Fit on the well-known tyre retailer’s sale to Japanese conglomerate, Itochu Corporation, it emerged today. Nice to know, you might think, but what does this tell about the deal itself? According to the company, BLP fielded a cross-practice team to provide corporate finance, real estate, private equity, employee share schemes and tax advice – and this implies that that all these aspects have been involved in negotiations and ultimately the deal itself.
Following 44 years with Michelin, UK and Ireland product marketing and technical manager Peter Debenham has announced his retirement. Taking over the position is Laurent Mozziconacci; the 38-year old from Michelin’s hometown of Clermont Ferrand in France is new to the UK operation but brings 17 years’ experience at Michelin with him as he crosses the Channel. He previously spent eight years working for the agricultural division in France, most recently in the same role he is taking over in the UK. Prior to specialising in agricultural tyres Mozziconacci spent eight years as an account manager for Michelin's truck product line – initially covering the Nice region of southern France, before spending four years in Grenoble at the foot of the French Alps.
The jury is still out – so to speak – on whether or not there will be any action taken as result of the recent ETRMA findings relating to clean oil compliance in tyres. The official body responsible for enforcement of the Reach rules in the UK, the Environment Agency (EA) was one of the first to go on the record in response to the ETRMA’s findings. In a statement entitled “ETRMA press release – our view” the EA summed up its position.
“We have received information from…ETRMA about possible breaches of REACH restriction 50 concerning PAHs in extender oils and tyres. This information was released by the ETRMA in a press release [on] 1 March 2011…” EA said in the statement dated 7 March.
Having sponsored teams in several Brazilian motorsport categories, Brazil-based retreader Vipal has begun sponsorship of the Buggyra team in the 2011 European Truck Racing Championship. “Vipal and Car and Truck Racing have been shoulder in shoulder since the company´s foundation. For thirteen years we have sponsored the Formula Truck in Brazil, contributing to the success of the category in the country. Now, due to Vipal´s expansion in Europe, we have decided for this sponsorship. Furthermore, what’s even better is that we get started in this new phase together with the current champion of the category”, explains Maria Locatelli, Vipal sales and marketing director.
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