LEGISLATION
CAM Systems previewed the first stages of its new Retail Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application to its retail customers at the recent Brityrex exhibition. According to the company, the new system granulises data providing them with options for more effective customer capture, contact and sales conversion for operations conducted at the counter, on the phone and over the web.
Szabolcs Schmidt, head of the European Commission's road safety unit, said he agrees that winter tyres could improve road safety. He announced there will be a 2013 EU study to evaluate the role that tyres could have in increasing road safety. Schmidt spoke at a policy breakfast at the European Parliament hosted by German MEP Dieter-Lebrecht Koch, who is vice chairman of the body's transport committee. The event was organised by Mobivia Groupe with the support of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association.
Chinese tyre manufacturers are reportedly boosting their efforts to develop closer links with European markets after a recent meeting between the China Rubber Industry Association (CRIA) and Europe’s Imported Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ITMA). The first of several planned meetings between the two organisations was held at the request of CRIA who are investigating opportunities on behalf of their 1,200 members about how they can deepen their engagement within Europe.
On its Chinese-language website, the China Rubber Industry Association links the recently-expired US tariff on consumer tyres with the European tyre label – and refers to both as a “double whammy” for China’s tyre makers. The tariff, which the association also called an attempt at trade protectionism, is held responsible for China’s tyre passenger car and light truck tyre exports to the US dropping from 43 million in 2009 to 31 million in 2010 and 27.3 million the following year.
When National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) chairman Stephen Callow made his debut speech at the association’s 83rd annual dinner it may not of been long, but it was to the point. Callow used the opportunity to criticise what he termed as the "frightening and unacceptable" numbers of part worn tyres on sale in the UK.
He told the 500 plus members and guests, gathered for the dinner and Tyre And Fast Fit (TAFF) awards that run in parallel at the Hilton Hotel, Deansgate that market studies put the number of part worn tyres sold annually in the UK at over three million. Of course, other sources put the figure even higher.
The board of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) has agreed that market surveillance should be the number one priority of the work of the organisation. The next priority of the board, which meets twice a year, emphasises that environmental as well as social and economic sustainability should remain a focus of the European tyre and rubber industry.
As the introduction of compulsory tyre labelling legislation draws ever nearer, independent data providers DriveRight have seen a new stream of enquiries from tyre manufacturers and distributors.
Director Richard Bailey explains, "The question from the industry was 'where do we get label information?' We have communicated via our EC1222.com website that we have manufacturer label information available; now the prevalent enquiry has become 'how are we going to get it?'
With the EU tyre labelling laws effect up on us, the new legislation marks one of the biggest changes to legislation affecting fleet tyre sales in recent years and will impact upon the whole tyre industry.
Styron has added an SSBR (Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber) rubber production line aimed at supplying tyre manufacturers to its factory in Schkopau, Germany. According to the company, Dr. Reiner Haseloff, minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt Germany and other dignitaries celebrate the opening. The new production line introduces an additional capacity of 50,000 metric tons at the production facility in Schkopau, Germany.
The organisers of Brityrex, ECI International, have thanked exhibitors and visitors for their role in the latest show held at EventCity, Manchester 9-11 October. According to the company, Brityrex visitor numbers increased 5 per cent compared to the 2010 exhibition, with footfall growing to 2435 visitors.
Today is the third and final day of this year’s Brityrex show. The past two days have seen good visitor numbers at the new EventCity venue and Tyres & Accessories has enjoyed the opportunity to catch up on the latest UK industry news.
The UK government Department for Transport (DfT) thinks the British tyre industry could take up to six months to catch up with all the necessary requirements for European tyre labelling compliance. Furthermore, the department's prevailing view is said to be that “heavy handed enforcement is not on the agenda” in the first half of the year following the introduction of the new rules. Their view is that the introduction of the law is not about a short term rush to change, but rather a long-term transformation of the way the market interacts with consumers in the same way as has taken place in the white goods industry over a decade.
Ten years is a long time in the tyre industry. A decade ago, virtually nobody knew the name Sailun; hardly surprising, as the Chinese firm had yet to produce its first tyre. The company was established in November 2002 and the first Sailun truck tyre – a S816 pattern tyre in size 10.00R20 – was manufactured in 2003. In the following years Sailun has undergone phenomenal growth, and the firm’s original truck tyre factory has been joined by passenger car radial, OTR tyre and retreading plants. A further major stride in the company’s history took place last year when Sailun embarked on an initial public offering, which is said to have raised around RMB 1 billion (£100 million) – funds the company is drawing on for new capital expenditure projects. In September, just two months’ shy of Sailun’s tenth anniversary, Tyres & Accessories was given the opportunity to visit the tyre maker’s facility and new headquarters in Qingdao and talk about Sailun’s significant current and planned developments.
While some may have expected the mild 2011/12 winter to have put the mockers on UK winter tyre market growth (not to mention the complication of tyre labelling legislation – see Related News), ATS Euromaster was confident enough to place its biggest ever order of seasonal stock in March 2012. The reasoning behind its £10 million order rested to a large degree on fleet customers. Now the tyre service specialist has reported that fleet customers’ forward orders for cold weather tyres are already 80 per cent up for winter 2012/13 compared to last year. ATS-E has begun the switch to winter rubber for some of its customers in earnest from the beginning of this month, and is expecting its total cold weather tyre sales this year to increase by sixty per cent over 2011 volumes.
With tyre labelling virtually upon us and with TPMS kicking in at the same time (see the forthcoming October magazine's Company News section for more coverage on this), the market needs to know where it stands with regards to enforcement…as soon as possible. We know the Department for Transport has got the whole West coast rail franchise fiasco fallout to deal with, but without proper attention the strength of the imminent labelling legislation could be seriously undermined. Indeed many questions are already being raised. This point is emphasised by a photo currently doing the rounds on the Internet. It is small and of mediocre quality, but what is clear about the image is that it portrays two Chinese-produced tyres of the same size model, speed and load rating on top of each other in a warehouse. A common sight you might think until you realise that the two apparently identical products bear two different European labelling results. The first BB-71 and the second CC-71.
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