The Sun Lauds Minogue for Tyre Inflation Capabilities
British tabloid, The Sun was singing the praises of Dannii Minogue today, alongside pictures of the karaoke judge checking the pressure of her tyres while on vacation in France.
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Proportion of ESP Equipped Vehicles Grows ‘Significantly’ in Europe
Product NewsBosch reports the 81 per cent of passenger cars newly registered during 2008 in its home market of Germany are now equipped with its ESP electronic stability programme, two per cent more than last year. Europe-wide, 55 per cent of newly registered passenger cars were so equipped in 2008, five per cent more than in 2007. This figure is set to keep on growing as the enforcement date for EU legislation draws nearer – the EU requires all new vehicle models from November 2011 to be fitted with the safety system, while all newly registered vehicles must have ESP from November 2014. Similar legislation has also been passed in the US and Australia.
S-Mark Won’t Take Effect in UK Till 2010
NewsS-mark legislation limiting the sound levels emitted by tyres won’t not take effect until March 2010. According to an NTDA e-zine published this afternoon, the revised deadline comes after the Department of Transport reported that there has been “a delay in putting into place the statutory instrument which is required for the new s-marking regulations to become law.” In short, there won’t be any means of enforcing the new law in the UK until March 2010.
Michelin Names New Commercial Director
Product NewsBill Schafer, 42, has been appointed commercial director of Michelin’s truck and bus operations in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Schafer previously spent five years as vice president of Michelin’s North American agricultural division based in Greenville, South Carolina.
Schafer brings 16 years of experience within the Michelin Group and most recently held roles including three years as European key account manager for Michelin Fleet Solutions based at the company’s worldwide headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France, prior to which he was commercial irector of Michelin’s truck operations in Mexico and Central America.
Klarius Responds to DEFRA Report
Product NewsThe UK has the worst road pollution in Europe, according to a recent government report, with 95 per cent of cities exceeding the European Union limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). This figure is almost double that of the next worst polluter, Germany, where 52 per cent of cities exceed the limit, followed by Italy with 42 per cent, France (21 per cent) and Spain (14 per cent). While the report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs warns that the UK will face large fines for breaching the EU limit unless radical measures, such as national road pricing and subsidies for electric cars, are taken, exhaust system manufacturer Klarius firmly believes that the best solution would be to ensure the quality of exhausts and catalytic convertors fitted to the UK’s cars.
Analysts say Euro Auto Industry up 5%
Product NewsAn analyst’s note from Deutsche Bank suggests that vehicle registrations across Europe could be rising for the second month in succession. Conversations with the industry have led the analyst to predict a rise of 5 per cent, with particular strength in Germany (up 35 per cent) and Italy (up 14 per cent. The UK (+2 per cent) and France (no change) have remained steady, while the other country to have initiated sales through scrappage schemes, Spain is down 14 per cent. The not concludes that Deutsche Bank expects the market to be 3 per cent lower in quarters three and four in 2009, following a 3 per cent decline in quarter two and a 16 per cent drop in quarter one.
Conti Clairoix Workers Face Property Damage Charges
Product NewsSeveral hundred employees from Continental AG’s Clairoix facility in France assembled outside a courthouse on July 17 during the appearance of seven of their colleagues. The seven workers were answering charges related to property damage at a regional government office in April. If found guilty, the accused face up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to 75,000 euros.
The seven are accused of stormed the office in April following the Clairoix factory’s announced closure. Furniture and computers were thrown from windows and files were removed from cabinets and strewn about. Authorities estimate that around 40,000 euros worth of damage occurred.
New Car Market Begins to Pick Up
Product NewsThe market for new passenger cars in Europe (EU27 and EFTA markets) displayed a modest increase of 2.4 per cent to 1,461,859 units in June on the back of scrappage incentive schemes in operation in more than ten EU Member States. June’s figures represent the first market increase in 14 months. Accumulative figures for the first half of 2009 show an 11 per cent drop in European new car registrations compared to the same period in 2008, with a total of 7,425,762 new cars registered compared to 8,346,828 the year before.
Michelin Receives DEKRA Tyre Test Results
Product NewsReaders of Tyrepress.com will be aware that Tyres & Accessories was in Narbonne, France in April 2009 to visit the roads on which the DEKRA Test Centre was putting several premium brands through their paces. Engaged by Michelin with part of the manufacturer’s 600 million euro annual research and development budget, the independent test centre compared the Energy Saver (195/65R15 H), the Primacy Alpin PA3 (205/55R16 H) and the Primacy HP (225/55R16 W) with other premium brand tyres purchased at the same time on the replacement market in two key areas; longevity and fuel consumption. The Test Centre presented T&A with the “circuits” it had drawn up from the varied road-types present between Narbonne and Toulouse, on which a convoy of four Volkswagen Golf 1.9l TDIs (195 and 205) and four Audi A4 Avant 2.0l TDIs (225) would travel during testing. A third set of comparative tests on these tyres was carried out by TÜV SÜD on its asphalt testing track at ATP Papenburg in Germany, this time concerned with wet braking.
Full details of the test results, including all the tested tyres and the methodologies used by both the DEKRA Test Centre and TÜV SÜD, will be published in the August edition of Tyres & Accessories. Click “More” for the headlines in each category.
EU Wheel Balancer/Tyre Changer Market Down 2.7%
Product NewsLess than 42,000 tyre changers and wheel balancers were sold across the seven leading European markets in 2008. A new report by LEO-Impact Consulting GmbH found that market volumes in this part of the garage equipment sector varied from -4.9 per cent to +0.2 per cent in the seven markets surveyed (Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain, Scandinavia, Benelux), but were down 2.7 per cent on average compared with 2007. UK market volumes were the forth largest after Germany, France and Italy. According to the report, the most important players (in alphabetical order are: Cemb, Guilano, Nexion, Samio, Sican (Bosch), Snap-On and Werther. However, there are a lot of regional and a few overseas competitors.
Social Measures for Conti Clairoix Employees Outlined in Agreement
Product NewsOn Friday June 25 the four parties involved in talks over Continental’s Clairoix tyre factory in France met in Paris to sign an agreement on the course of future negotiations. Representatives from the French Government, Conti’s French and German management and employee representatives signed their names on a document based upon the preliminary agreement concluded on June 6. The signing of this agreement is, says Continental, an “important step for all the employees as this document includes the main negotiated social measures of the jobs safeguard plan” as well as the details of their implementation.
Michelin Workers Strike Against Noyelles-les-Seclin Plant Closure
Product NewsMichelin’s Noyelles-les-Seclin factory in northern France was reportedly brought to a standstill on June 29 by striking workers protesting against plans to close the site next year. This news was published by the AFP press service based upon information provided by Force Ouvrière union delegate Gilles Cocquerez; according to Cocquerez, ninety per cent of staff at the plant near Lille went out on strike, and between 150 and 200 people staged a march through the town centre. A spokeswoman for Michelin confirmed that the factory’s production had indeed come to a halt.
Up to 3,500 Michelin France Jobs to Go by 2011
Product NewsA Michelin spokeswoman stated on June 25 that the company may cut up to 3,500 jobs from its French workforce over the next couple of years. The spokeswoman, quoted by Reuters, said “when you add up the 700 job cuts already announced when we closed our plant in Toul, the 1,093 job cuts of last week and an estimate of our workforce needs by 2011, which we see down 650 to 1,700 jobs due to productivity gains, we reach that figure of 2,400 to 3,500 jobs.”
The spokeswoman added that union representatives were informed of this estimate during a meeting on June 24.
Klarius’ Cheadle Plant Returns to 5 Day Week
Product NewsKlarius, the UK-based manufacturer of the TIMAX brand of exhausts and catalytic converters, has returned to a five day week and is reporting increased export sales. The announcement follows investment of over £1.2million in UK manufacturing and R&D over the last 18 months. Klarius was bought from US owners ArvinMeritor LVA in August 2007. After some redundancies last year, the company started employing new staff again in January this year, with the 10 new jobs created said to support growth from increased exports into Europe.
May Figures Show Continued European Market Decline
Product NewsThe ETRMA reports that in May the overall European replacement tyre market declined for the 14th consecutive month. In terms of segment demand, truck tyre sales between January and May dropped 32 per cent compared with the same period last year, and the ETRMA notes that May’s 24 per cent decline “confirms the strong deterioration of tyre demand.” According to Europool figures, approximately 600,000 truck tyres were sold Europe-wide during the course of the month.
European passenger car tyre sales decreased eight per cent during the January to May period, and decreased nine per cent in May to around 12 million units. The UK market suffered a much greater drop during the month, declining 26 per cent in May.
