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Pneus Online Reports 40% Sales Increase Due to UK Online Tyre Purchase Habit

Pneus Online’s turnover grew 40 per cent in the first quarter of 2010. According to the company, “a harsh winter and a difficult economical environment enhanced the growth of the discounter.” The company has not released any details of its profitability. Pneus Online made a 14.7 million euro turnover in 2009 selling in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italia and Ireland.

27th April 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

ATS Euromaster Launches 2010 Winter Tyre Offer

Following the onset of the harshest winter driving conditions in years during the 2009-2010 season, there has been much speculation – and some evidence – over the likelihood of growth in the UK market for specialist tyres in 2010. For example, Finnish manufacturer Nokian has recently reported “strongest growth” in winter tyres (see ‘Nokian Preparing for Growith in 2010’). ATS Euromaster is positioning itself for a run on winter rubber having launched a dedicated cold weather tyre offering for car and light commercial fleets up to 7.5 tonnes, in which it will label and store off-season tyres for customers. The company says it will build on “a wealth of expertise within the Euromaster Group”, which already supplies, fits and stores cold weather tyres for fleets across northern Europe. ATS-E says it supplies 300,000 cold weather tyres to Holland every year – a significant number, especially considering this is in a country with a similar climate to the UK.

27th April 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Eldan Opens New German/Austrian/Swiss Office

Danish recycling and separation technology company Recycling A/S has opened a new sales office in Düsseldorf and appointed Dieter Jerschl as sales manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Dieter Jerschl joined Eldan on 1 April. In conjunction with company’s existing sales partner, Erich Niebuhr BmbH in Rheinland-Pfalz, Dieter Jerschl will coordinate all international sales activities in the Germany/Austria/Switzerland region.

15th April 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Offers Clairoix Workers £120 a Month in Tunisia

Multiple news sources have reported details of a recent offer made to workers at Continental’s now closed down Clairoix tyre plant. On March 24, workers from the factory, which has been out of operation since early this year, received a letter from Continental offering them employment in Tunisia. Any enthusiasm the former Clairoix staff may have held towards upping sticks and moving to the North African nation would have quickly evaporated, however, upon reading the remuneration on offer.

14th April 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Smartphone Service Delivers Real-Time Traffic Info

At the moment coverage is restricted to French roads, yet the ViaMichelin real time traffic information map scheduled to go on sale in May 2010 gives motorists everywhere a taste of services awaiting them around the corner. Information for all of France will be accessible through a total of 22 matrix codes, 21 of which focus on specific cities and one for the whole country.

9th April 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres offers Increased FOD Resistance

Military aircraft operators could soon benefit from new foreign object damage (FOD) resistance tyre technology that has been developed by Dunlop Aircraft Tyres and being employed for the first time on the new Airbus Military A400M. The tyres feature the superior sidewall FOD resistance of bias tyres, which are more suited to operations from semi and unprepared airstrips, as well as what Dunlop Aircraft Tyres describes as “advanced materials”, which are designed to give improved protection in the tread area.

7th April 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

What is April Fools’ Day?

According to Wikipedia, April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is a day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on a fool's errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. Traditionally, in some countries, such as the UK, Australia, Canada and South Africa the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool". Elsewhere, such as in France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, Brazil, and the U.S., the jokes last all day. The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392). Many writers suggest that the restoration of January 1 as New Year's Day the 16th century was responsible for the creation of the holiday, but this theory does not explain earlier references.

1st April 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Delticom Reports 72% Profit Growth in 2009

German based online tyre retailer Delticom, owner of the mytyres.co.uk portal, has reported revenues of 311.3 million euros in the 2009 financial year, a year-on-year increase of 20.2 per cent. During the reporting period the company’s EBIT increased 78.8 per cent to 29.4 million euros, and Delticom notes that, in relation to revenues, this corresponds to an EBIT margin of 9.4 per cent – exceeding the forecast of 7 per cent. Consolidated net income for 2009 was 20.2 million euros or 1.71 per euro share, up 72.4 per cent from the previous year.

31st March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Govt Subsidies Sought for Michelin Dundee

The recently appointed manager at Michelin’s factory in Dundee is said to be seeking Scottish Government investment in the plant. Scotland on Sunday reports that John Reid is seeking these funds in order to reassure Michelin in France “that their operation and the commitment they make to a site is valued by the country it operates in.” Reid, who took over as plant manager in January, also said the Dundee factory aims to specialise in tyres designed for the growing electric car market.

29th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

DEKRA Testing Highlights Dunlop SportSmart Mileage

Independent tread wear testing carried out by safety and quality specialist DEKRA has delivered a positive result for Dunlop’s new SportSmart motorcycle tyre. The Dunlop tyre was testing against Michelin’s Power Pure tyres, Pirelli’s Diablo Rosso and Bridgestone’s BT016 at DEKRA’s Narbonne Test Centre in France during January and February. During the testing staff from the centre rode 2009 model Suzuki GSX-R1000 bikes over a 4480 kilometre selection of open roads in southwest France – 15 per cent motorway and 85 per cent open and city roads, of which 45 per cent were twisting mountain roads – in order to compress the effects of many weeks of hard European sports riding into a considerably shorter time span.

23rd March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin: Winning Customers Over to Four Lives

If a retreading themed interview began with the sentence “we operate no retreading business”, than the interviewer has either turned up at the wrong appointment entirely – or is speaking with those in charge at Michelin. The focus of the French company’s commitment thus does not centre upon a marketable product or item, but on a concept – specifically, the concept that a Michelin commercial vehicle tyre has “Four Lives”. “Our concept is the most economic and most environmental on the market,” Jean-Marc Lechêne told Tyres & Accessories. The executive vice-president and chief operating officer (COO) for truck tyres in Europe is convinced that the ongoing professionalisation of truck fleets in Europe will further increase the establishment of professional (service) arrangements.

22nd March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

February EU New Car Registrations Up 3%

European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association figures show that new car registrations over all European Union countries (excluding Cyprus and Malta, whose data was “unavailable”) rose 3 per cent in February 2010, compared with February 2009. A total of 974,346 new cars were registered in the covered territories. Compared to figures at the same stage of 2009 the small rise in February registrations means that there are 7.9 per cent more new cars on the EU’s roads in 2010. However, given that 2009 was a year in which financial turmoil prevailed, the evidence suggests that this rise has only partially eaten into the drop experienced from 2008; compared to figures recorded in that year, February 2010 has seen 15 per cent fewer registrations and 16 per cent fewer in cumulative year-to-date numbers. Spain, the UK, Italy and France all registered significant increases, while Germany, Romania, Hungary and Poland saw dramatic drops. In the same region, Renault Group, PSA Group (Peugeot and Citroen), Nissan and Kia were the manufacturers with notable increases, while Toyota Group saw a significant drop.

17th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Plays its Travel ‘Trump Card’

The Michelin Group is first and foremost a tyre maker – 99 per cent of its business is directly tyre related. Yet the residual proportion of Group activities not centred upon the black, rubbery rings – the company’s maps and guides, ViaMichelin and Michelin Lifestyle – should by no means be viewed as just a sideshow, a therapeutic diversion from the serious business of producing tyres. In the words of Michelin managing partner Jean-Dominique Senard, “the one per cent is crucial to the 99 per cent of sales. It gives us half a billion contacts through our website clicks, and tens of millions of maps and guides are sold.

17th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Growing Demand, Tyre Labelling Prompts Lanxess to Boost Nd-PBR Capacity

Some 20 million euros are to be invested in increasing production of Neodymium Polybutadiene (Nd-PBR) rubber at Lanxess’s sites at Dormagen in Germany, Orange (Texas), USA and Cabo in Brazil. In total, 50,000 additional tonnes of the high-performance rubber will be manufactured at the three sites once the extra capacities go on stream between the first quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.

10th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti: High Performance Segment Offers Attractive Growth Opportunities

Despite the continuing automotive industry downturn, Continental says it sees attractive opportunities in the high performance tyre market segment. Continental AG board member and head of the company’s Car Tyre Division, Nikolai Setzer, says new technologies and investment in research and development will aid Conti’s growth in this particular market. He also believes the company can boost its replacement market business through further success with OEM customers.

8th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors