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Michelin Appoints New Factory Manager at Ballymena Site

Michelin has appointed a new factory manager to lead operations at its Ballymena plant. Wilton Crawford takes over from Graham Whitehurst and started his new post on 18 January 2010. With over 20 years of experience at Michelin – with a vast majority of that time spent at five different Michelin locations in the US – Crawford represents an international appointment and is looking forward to the challenges ahead.

Meanwhile, Graham Whitehurst (who worked at the Ballymena site for over 12 years, the last five as plant manager) will now co-ordinated the company’s ‘Michelin Manufacturing Way’ programme, based in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

23rd February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Takes Minority Stake in Taquipneu SA

The Michelin Group and the Group Taquipneu have signed a cooperation agreement that sees the global tyre manufacturer take “a minority stake” in commercial vehicle and industrial tyre distribution specialists Taquipneu SA. Details of the size of the stake and the value of the deal have not been released.

The strategy is for the two companies to work together in a mutually beneficial partnership that sees Michelin transfer some tyre and trade know-how, while Taquipneu Group offers what Michelin representatives called its customer facing “operational excellence.” The intention is said to be for Michelin to grow in the segment, with Taquipneu strengthening its sustainability and the two companies respecting each others’ independence.

19th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Alliance Names Sales VPs, CFO

Alliance Tire appointed three veteran tyre executives to its management team, reports Tire Review: Bob Arnold is vice president of aftermarket sales; Randy Gaetz is vice president of OE sales; and Todd Richardson is chief financial officer. “We’re building an outstanding team to serve our customers in the field,” said Manny Cicero, president of Alliance Tire USA.

18th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon OE Customer Achieves New Production High

The Morgan Motor Company has achieved a new record for output in 2009, with the total cars built expected to total around 690 – a 73 per cent increase on the company’s usual figure of 400, according to reports in Autocar. The car-maker’s tyre supplier, Cooper Tire Europe, which supplied Avon ZZ3s for the Aero 8 and Aeromax models, declared itself “extremely proud” of its long association with Morgan.

18th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Online Retailer Popgom Reports 7.3 Million Euro Turnover

Online tyre retailer Popgom was founded in France in 2008 by Christophe Tesseraud, previously European CIO at Michelin. The tyre major is a minority (approximately one-third) shareholder in the business behind Popgom, Tyredating SAS, and today the firm operates retail tyre portals in France, Spain and Germany. Company representatives claim that a site catering to the UK market will be established in 2010.

18th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti 360° Fleet Services Gets Underway

In February 2010 Continental is introducing its ‘Conti 360° Fleet Services’ to the UK and seven other key European markets. According to Continental, this new and diversified range of products and service, including tyres and other mobility solutions for the European road transport industry, is the manufacturer’s response to the changed requirements of international freight transport. Conti 360° Fleet Services is specifically aimed at fleets operating across national borders, and through the modular fleet optimisation package it offers Continental’s fleet experts focus on cost minimisation with clear cost control and reliable timeframes.

16th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

S-mark Enforcement to Begin on 23 March 2010

Enforcement of the European s-mark legislation that took effect in October 2009 is set to begin in the UK on 23 March. From this date onwards anyone selling tyres not in compliance with Directive 2001/43 (in other words non s-marked tyres) will be subject to the consequences of a statutory instrument signed off by Department for Transport minister Sadiq Khan on 10 February. BTMA chief executive, Graham Willson, told Tyres & Accessories that this approved text will now be laid before parliament and, unless there is an adverse reaction from parliament – something that is considered unlikely, the statutory instrument completing the implementation of directive 2001/43 will become effective on 23 March 2010.

Some industry observers see the time before this as the last chance saloon for anyone who has been clearing stocks of non-compliant tyres, with the Vehicle Certification Agency and Trading Standards are expected to be vigorously enforcing the new law, with penalty fines of up to £5,000 a tyre for those caught selling non-compliant products after 23 March.

12th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Western Europe Small Passenger Car Registration Share Rises in 2009

One of the more widely anticipated effects of the car scrappage schemes popular in Europe as stimuli for the industry in 2009 was the increase in market share of A and B-segment small cars (exemplified by Ford’s Fiesta and Ka, Fiat’s 500 and Panda and Volkswagen’s Polo and Fabia). Data released by Deutsche Bank analysts shows that the predicted swing transpired to a significant degree – these small cars comprised 45 per cent of 2009’s registrations in the zone, compared with 39 per cent in 2008. In terms of passenger car tyres, it seems the trend must follow in Western Europe, though we predict the general growth in small car rim-sizes will mitigate this factor somewhat.

11th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

European CV Sales Down 32.4% in 2009 – ACEA

The European Automotive Manufacturers’ Association has confirmed what we already knew – last year commercial vehicle registrations plummeted. According to ACEA figures, new registrations of commercial vehicles was down 32.4 per cent compared with 2008, and this downturn affected all segments and all countries represented by the organisation. In total, 1,706,996 vehicles were registered throughout the year.

4th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Klarius Buys Quinton Hazell

On the 2 February 2010, automotive aftermarket manufacturing and distribution business Klarius completed the purchase of the Quinton Hazell automotive group (QH) from US-based Affinia. Quinton Hazell is headquartered in Leicester, England, with strong manufacturing and distribution assets in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The purchase brings a wide range of well known automotive aftermarket and OEM brands together, combining extensive manufacturing resources from both companies with global sales and distribution networks, boosting the group’s annual turnover to over £350 million. According to Klarius, further acquisitions, which should the group’s turnover pass half a billion euros, are planned.

3rd February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Signs of Timid Recovery in European Car Tyre Market, Truck Market Depressed

ETRMA, the European tyre manufacturers association, has released market data detailing the stop-start nature of most European tyre markets in 2009. According to ETRMA, “the tyre industry has mixed feelings for the year 2009,” diplomatically summing up what was an atrocious year for some and a tough but stable slog for others.

The data shows that the contraction of passenger car tyre sales was smaller in 2009 than in 2008, however OE tyre sales recorded a -18 per cent decrease. The good news is that during the last quarter of 2009 a small but constant increase was reported for both markets.

1st February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

DriveRight Takes Its Tyre E-Commerce Data to Russia

DriveRight has introduced its product offering into Russia by appointing Bazakoles as DriveRight’s Russian-based agent. With DriveRight predicting Russia will become one of Europe’s largest internet markets, possibly even second behind Germany, and an emerging passenger car market to back up tyres, the company is confident the move will bring a “significant advantage” to the company.

DriveRight director Duncan Hadley explained: “The partnership with Bazakoles has been seamless in terms of providing a product to a new region that they can take to market very quickly. Unlike other products sold into non-English speaking countries, DriveRight’s database has been easily deployed without the complication of language barriers or translation services. For example, an Audi A3 is known as an Audi A3 in any country, and a tyre size of 195/60/R15 is the same, even in Russia. Our data is language neutral."

26th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Doctor Claims to be Rightful Michelin Heir

A man claiming to be a legitimate heir to the Michelin family wants a piece of the family’s fortune, according to the London Telegraph. Jean-Philippe Rouchon, a 42-year-old osteopath from Puy de Dôme in central France, says he is a direct descendant of one of Michelin’s two founding brothers. His father Patrice Michelin, he claims, is the grandson of Andre Michelin, who co-founded the tyre giant with his brother Edouard in 1888.

11th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Watts Tyre Group Launches Interfit European Service Business

Watts Tyre Group has announced the launch of Interfit, the industrial tyre business' international service operation. From 5 January Watts Tyre Group service operations throughout Europe will begin the process of rebranding with goal of completing this by June 2010. According to the company, the launch of Interfit serves as a repositioning in the industrial tyre service market by formally creating a dedicated, specialist service division. Interfit will service the forklift truck market through its depot and mobile press operation acting as a service partner to the OEM dealer networks. Customers will be managed through regional offices in UK, France and Germany where administrative functions and local service desks are based.

5th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Euromaster Introducing Franchise System in Germany

Following on from its successful activities in France, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic, which began in summer 2009, Euromaster is rolling out plans to expand in the German market through the introduction of a franchise system – and the company reports that numerous tyre dealers have already shown interest in working together with the tyre and wheel service provider.

8th December 2009/by Tyrepress Editors