This month Bridgestone Europe is launching a new advertising campaign to support its winter tyre range; the integrated multimedia campaign will be shown in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden and is aimed at demonstrating how Bridgestone tyres keep “winter under control”.
Statistics shared at Continental’s recent European ContiWinterRoadshow indicate that a total of 73.8 million winter passenger car and 4×4 tyres were sold in Western Europe last year and a further 18.7 million in Central Europe. These figures are up 12.8 per cent and 10.7 per cent year-on-year respectively. Last year’s sale of 92.5 million units is viewed as a ‘peak’ for winter tyres; Continental says it expects sales to stabilise at around 90 million by 2015. This year, the German manufacturer anticipates that both the Western and Central European markets will experience a moderate decline; it estimates 65.8 million winter passenger car and 4×4 tyres will be sold in Western Europe and 17.7 million in Central Europe.
With little over a month until the EU tyre labelling legislation becomes mandatory, independent DriveRight report an influx of enquiries from all over Europe for labelling information via their EC1222.com website. When the EC1222/2009 legislation was announced, DriveRight foresaw a need for an independent supplier of label information. The company, with its 12 years of experience in the tyre industry, obtained the data of 91 major manufacturers and launched EC1222.com as an independent entity.
The Euromaster Group has announced that it is to expand into Portugal, the 16th European country in which it has operations. The Group has a network of 48 locations in the country, and more than 2,000 across the continent. The Group says customers of its UK-based ATS Euromaster stores will be able to access its all-round service options for UK cars, vans and trucks visiting the continent.
After declining by 7.8 per cent in July, new passenger car registrations in Europe were down by 8.9 per cent in August. Eight months into the year, the downturn reached 7.1 per cent as the EU registered 8,268,642 new cars.
Luca Negri has been appointed Pirelli’s new industrial director for the UK. He takes over from Paolo Battistini, who will return to Pirelli’s Milan office to work in the Company’s Industrial business unit. Negri will be based at the tyre maker’s Carlisle site.
Established in 2002 and with the backing of the highly-regarded Mesnac Company Limited, Sailun reports that it is gaining a “fast-growing reputation” for its radial truck tyre range. According to the company, its development has been fuelled by quality standards enhanced by the research, design and technical testing facilities occupied by over 300 technical Sailun engineers and staff in the National Economic and Technological Development Zone in Qingdao.
The Italian Grand Prix takes place this weekend (7-9 September, 2012) in Monza, following swiftly behind the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, and Pirelli returns to its home nation with the same P Zero White and Silver tyres it used in the previous meeting. Monza is the fastest circuit on the Formula One calendar, and puts similarly high energy loading through the tyres as at Spa. Pirelli, which knows the circuit well since the Autodromo Nazionale is situated half an hour’s drive from the company’s Milan headquarters. Pirelli highlights the first chicane, characterised by heavy downhill braking; the Ascari curves, with their several rapid direction changes; and the famous Parabolica, a wide, open radius corner that puts a lot of lateral stress through the tyres as being the most challenging areas for its rubber. Pirelli says these sections, coupled with some of the season’s fastest straights, mean tyre temperatures can peak at up to 130°C and choosing the right tyre for the conditions will be important.
The British passenger vehicle market was the only car parc in Europe to increase registrations in July. According to analysis produced by Jato Dynamics, Europe’s new car sales declined by 8.2 per cent in July, and 4.9 per cent year-to-date compared to last year. Great Britain grew 3.5 per cent. Meanwhile Italy and Spain recorded the greatest drops in July unit sales. Volkswagen’s Golf maintained its position as Europe’s top performing model.
Specialty chemicals Group Lanxess reports continued growth in the second quarter of 2012, with EBITDA pre-exceptionals rising 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 362 million euros. Sales increased 8.1 per cent to 2.42 billion euros. Commenting on the results, company CEO Axel C. Heitmann said “we believe these results confirm our view of the seasonal development, and we are therefore adhering to our target of raising EBITDA pre exceptionals by five to ten per cent for the full year. Our focus on megatrends and growth regions, combined with our technological expertise, provide stability in an increasingly challenging environment.”
Supported by German logistics provider Fiege, Toyo Tires Europe is now distributing tyres to its business clientele via an internet-based B2B platform. The platform has already been rolled out in Germany, Italy, the Benelux countries and, most recently, the UK.
Italian brake manufacturer Tarox launched its carbon ceramic ultra-high performance braking range earlier in the year, a product that draws on the company’s motorsport experience extending as far as Formula One. It continues to supply quality replacement products for models such as the Mk2 Ford Focus RS, and though the company supplies all car shapes and sizes, its managing director told Tyres & Accessories that it continues to pursue quality certification as a strategic necessity.
June was a good month for new bus and coach (>3.5 tonnes) registrations, which increased by 16.5 per cent, boosted by the good performance recorded in the UK (+97.9 per cent), Germany (+39.0 per cent) and France (+24.5 per cent). The Spanish (-15.4 per cent) and Italian (-21.5 per cent) markets declined.
Across the EU, demand for new trucks (3.5 tonnes to 16 tonnes, excluding buses and coaches) was down 4.1 per cent in June, with 25,459 new registrations in the EU. However the UK bucked this general trend.
In June, new commercial vehicle registrations dropped for the fifth consecutive month, falling by 5.8 per cent compared to June last year, as a total of 157,232 units were recorded in the EU. Italy (-29.8 per cent) and Spain (-28.7 per cent) faced a double-digit downturn, while France (-0.8 per cent) and the UK (+0.2 per cent) remained relatively stable. Germany was the only major market to post growth (+8.8 per cent).
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