A HiQ fast fit manager has revealed his frustration at the preponderance of acronyms in the automotive industry – a state of affairs he describes as “infuriating”. Stuart Carr says he has been driven to distraction by the creeping usage of perplexing acronyms in manufacturers’ manuals. Carr said: “I actually enjoy picking out a manual from the glove box and having a read through, but upon recent inspection I stumbled across reams of unnecessary jargon.
At last week’s Challenge Bibendum in Berlin, Michelin announced its intention to partner with the City on the Move Institute (IVM). Launched by PSA Peugeot Citroën in June 2000, IVM is an organisation that seeks to bring forth innovative solutions for urban mobility and joins various parties together to work on related projects. The organisation seeks partnerships with companies capable of playing a decisive role in improving the quality of future urban mobility, and in this capacity Michelin and IVM will exchange ideas and discuss challenges and solutions facing sustainable mobility, an area of common interest to both.
Those of you happy to throw away £300 a year rejoice – according to research by Continental Tyres, there’s a good chance you’re doing this already courtesy of your driving style. Over the driving lifetime of a motorist this adds up to the equivalent of £18,000 (at today’s fuel prices), enough buy a new car. Across Britain, more than £1 billion a year is squandered through uneconomical driving. But Continental believes this needn’t be the case.
At this year’s eSafety Challenge, which begins in Vienna on May 30, Bridgestone will present and demonstrate two new tyre pressure monitoring systems. The patented commercial system that Bridgestone will demonstrate features a valve containing a built-in radio frequency unit that screws onto the valve stem; a passenger car version integrated to a snap-in valve will also be demonstrated.
One of the UK’s fastest-growing fleet companies has signed up to a Michelin tyre policy across its fleet. Leicester-based Total Motion, which was set up in 1998 and typically manages fleets of more than 30 vehicles, has historically used a variety of premium brand tyres. However, the company says new internal cost and performance analysis demonstrated that using Michelin tyres and fast-fit specialists ATS Euromaster would provide significant benefits to the company and its customers.
Pirelli heads immediately from one of the quicker tracks seen on the calendar to the slowest: Monaco. The tight and twisty confines of the principality are ideal territory for Pirelli’s PZero Red supersoft tyre, which makes its debut in Monaco. For the first time, by extension, it is also twinned with the PZero Yellow soft tyre – which becomes the prime nomination after five Grands Prix as the option.
Korean tyre manufacturer Nexen Tyres has announced the availability of its new high-performance summer tyre with what the company terms “smooth-run features”. Nexen believes the CP661 (TR) offers “noticeable energy savings” and “excellent handling on both wet and dry surfaces”. The range comprises twenty-five sizes from 13” to 17” with aspect ratios between 55 and 70 and is made at Nexen’s Korea and China production facilities. A CP661 tyre is currently fitted as OE on the KIA Soul and the KIA Forte model.
We've heard of the super-single category of truck tyres that are designed to reduce rolling resistance and increase fuel economy by replacing twin tyre fitments with a single, wider tyre. But what about a truck tyre that can carry so much more load than standard products that a trailer fitted with these can cancel out the need for an entire axle? Alongside the numerous passenger car tyre developments Tyres & Accessories reported on yesterday, Michelin also unveiled what we might tentatively call a five tonne truck tyre – a product that has the potential to be revolutionary in the truck market.
Yokohama Tire has updated its website and introduced the world to Shin – the tyre maker’s new corporate icon. The red persona, who resembles a tyre handling robot, is a prominent feature on the revised yokohamatire.com website.
During the 2011 fiscal year, which in Japan began on April 1, 2010, net sales at Yokohama Rubber increased 11.4 per cent year-on-year to 519.7 billion yen (£3.9 billion); leading this sales growth were tyres and hose, sealant and adhesive products, and the company reports it “reinforced its sales momentum” through successfully implementing price increases that offset the effect of rising raw material costs and the appreciation of the yen. Operating income increased 37.5 per cent to 29.5 billion yen (£223.0 million) and net income grew 21.2 per cent to 13.9 billion yen (£105.1 million).
Governments have G8 summits, economists have the World Economic Forum in Davos – for those with an interest in mobility development there's Challenge Bibendum. The 11th Michelin-sponsored forum has grown from an opportunity to present wonderfully creative ideas to the point that the technology on-show at this year's event (held in Berlin for the second time, from 18 – 22 May) are closer than ever to the production technology of tomorrow. True, some of the wackier concepts like free-mind and thought assisted driving that could be seen may still be some way off, and there were a number of prototypes that are more illustration that innovation, but the majority of technology demonstrated at Michelin's window on the roads of future is either 2 – 3 or 5 – 7 years from actually hitting the market.
The Campaign for Better Tyres has published tyre comparison data originally commissioned by the Dutch Government. The information supplied covers rolling resistance, road noise and wet grip measures for a number of summer and winter/all-season tyres currently sold in Europe. The Dutch data categorises tyres into those that are ‘safe, fuel efficient and silent’, those recommended as a ‘secondary choice’ and tyres that fail to measure up. The tyre information can be downloaded in pdf form at http://www.bettertyres.org.uk/why-better-tyres/buying-better-tyres.
Haweka has announced the introduction of the Axis200, the new name for the latest version of Haweka's long-established TA20 commercial vehicle laser wheel alignment system. The Axis range consists of five models – the Axis10 for cars, Axis50 for agricultural machines, Axis200 and 500 for commercial vehicles and the Axis4000 computerised camera system for commercial vehicles.
Research carried out for Kwik-Fit shows tyre damage from potholes to have more than doubled in the last year. Based upon the findings of the ICM Research-conducted survey of 2,000 adults, the fast fit company estimates the number of motorists sidelined by a pothole related puncture to have grown from 1.5 million in 2009 to 3.8 million in the preceding 12 months. In 61 per cent of cases this brief pothole encounter led to irreparable tyre damage; survey respondents reported spending an average of £65 on replacement tyres.
A recent HiQ survey suggests that negative perceptions of the fast-fit industry amongst women continue to linger after independent research revealed that while 70 per cent of women believe they receive a dishonest and untrustworthy experience when they visit a garage. The research, commissioned by HiQ, also disclosed that 24.3 per cent of women charge the men in their lives with taking their car in for new tyres because they found the whole so unpleasant. However it is worth pointing out that the level of trust is not much higher amongst members of the more traditionally dominant sex: 62 per cent of men feel the same way. What’s more, 53 per cent of men surveyed “do not trust garages and tyre dealers for advice, and would rather research online instead”. HiQ says that five female marketing experts are attempting to change these perceptions by bringing the fast fit industry in line with high street shopping experiences.
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