LEGISLATION
India’s JK Tyre has told the country’s Economic Times that it will likely increase the price of its product range by a figure of up to 4 per cent. The rise would be put down to higher costs, especially natural rubber. The online report also said that JK Tyres’s prices have risen by more than 10 per cent since May.
From 2012 European legislation dictates that all new cars will be fitted with tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). With many modern vehicles already being fitted with them and the pressure watching technology due to become mandatory Tyres & Accessories has researched and compiled the latest information on the subject in order to answer the question: how will TPMS change the tyre retail business?
To start off with, there certainly appears to be a need for it. The 2008 Annual Tyre Pressure Review undertaken by Kwik-Fit found just over 46 per cent of cars tested had at least one tyre underinflated. Scaled up to represent the current level of UK registrations, this means that a staggering 12.46 million cars could be running on the roads like this, using £1.5 billion pounds of extra fuel and creating literally thousands of extra tons of carbon emissions. That 30 per cent extra tyre wear also means that an unnecessary 108,000 tyres each year have to be manufactured and disposed of too.
Since 2007 the world’s biggest tyre industry show, Reifen has had an annually-held Chinese twin event named Reifen China. 25-27 November, 2010 sees the fourth “Asian Essen Tyre Show” taking place at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in Pudong, Shanghai in a joint-organised event between the China United Rubber Corporation and Messe Essen, the latter coming off the back of another successful Reifen expo in Germany back in June (see Tyres & Accessories, July 2010). As always, Reifen China will be held in parallel with the latest Rubber Tech event and cover manufacturers, distributors, repair shops, recycling, waste disposal and retreading in relation to the Chinese and wider Asian market. A programme of technical seminars will run concurrently, with past subjects including tyre proving and testing, retreading trends and tariffs imposed on exported Chinese products.
From Continental’s perspective, sales across the EU in the truck tyre replacement market are up 29 per cent versus the same timeframe last year, with the UK figure said to be up 5.5 per cent, a few percentage points less than other estimates. Raw materials are still increasing, with the knock-on effect of pushing tyre prices up. Supply is also expected to be tight in the second half, as tyre manufacturers are struggling to meet the increase in demand (and cope with the shortage of raw materials). “We are also seeing a high level of hire vehicle utilisation which could lead to vehicle shortages towards the end of the year,” company representatives told Tyres & Accessories recently.
The Independent newspaper has hailed the forthcoming 2012 labelling legislation saying “drivers will soon be able to make a much more informed choice when buying tyres – and the product should be better too.”
Asking the question “how did you choose your last set of tyres?” the report, written by the Independent’s David Wilkins pragmatically suggests “the chances are that you simply asked for the cheapest option or told the garage to fit tyres of the same brand and type as those being replaced” and confesses “The truth is that most of us lack the knowledge to make informed choices about the subject.”
Upcoming European tyre labelling and associated regulations are serving as a laxative for some tyre manufacturers, while others are relishing their implementation. Counted amongst this second category is Michelin, who sees similarities between the label and its own ‘innovation strategy’ – the tyre maker’s focus upon three areas it sees as inseparable: Reducing vehicle fuel consumption, ensuring outstanding safety performance and offering greater total mileage.
The Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Northern Ireland Environment Agency are working together on new legislation affecting the tyre industry. They have chosen Brityrex as a major platform for an important tyre trade campaign to raise awareness about the new legislation covering the chemical make-up of tyres and retread rubber.
With effect from the beginning of January this year new European REACH legislation states that extender oils shall not be placed on the market, or used for the production of tyres or parts of tyres if they contain more than the threshold limits of PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon). The restrictions also apply to the marketing of tyres and treads for retreading.
The Imported Tyre Manufacturers’ Association has welcomed its second new member in less than a month. Nordexx, the house brand name of Britain’s NDI Tyre & Tube Supplies and of Denmark’s Nordisk Daek Import A – S has been welcomed by ITMA director Peter Taylor, who described NDI’s joining as further validation of the services ITMA provide to its members in what are very challenging times.
The frigid winter we all experienced was good news for Deldo Autobanden NV. The Antwerp, Belgium based wholesaler was inundated with requests from unprepared dealers for cold weather tyres, and even in these balmy summer months the memory of Jack Frost is helping propel sales. “We are already having a great winter season,” confirms Deldo’s international sales and marketing manager, Rutger Veerman. “As of June 1 we had already sold 70 per cent of all our winter tyres. This is the first time we have seen people ordering this early in the season; they are doing so because the last winter season was of course cold and people had difficulties finding enough tyres. People are therefore ordering as early as possible to secure some of their winter business.”
While most of the rainbow nation was preparing to welcome people from far and wide to the first World Cup on African turf, the country’s legal eagles were deliberating over whether or not to kick certain Chinese tyres out of the country with an anti-dumping investigation. On 4 June 2010 the South African press reported that the High Court of Pretoria’s Judge Willie Hartzenberg set aside an earlier ruling made in 2007 by the Trade and Industry Ministry (Itac), to terminate anti-dumping probes against Chinese tyre exporters. He further ordered that (Itac) complete an anti-dumping investigation within four months. The judgement was duly lauded as bringing "fair competition" to the tyre manufacturing industry by those who brought the case, namely Bridgestone South Africa, Continental Tyre South Africa, Dunlop Tyres International and Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Holdings through their representative body South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference.
Whether or not the Chinese tyre imports in question can accurately be described as dumping – and it would be prudent to let the courts decide that – the ruling is another sign that products manufactured in the People’s Republic are not the quick and easy sell they once were. As far as tyres are concerned, the combination of increasing natural rubber, oil and steel input prices, combined with an unstable shipping cost context and added to the increasingly inhospitable international trade climate mean the latest decision in South Africa may force some Chinese factories to rethink either the delivery strategy or destinations of their tyres.
The UK R2RC (Right to Repair) strategy group has been disbanded, having decided it has achieved the goals it set when it was formed in February 2007. The decision was made at a recent Automotive Aftermarket Liaison Group (AALG) meeting, from which the UK element of the campaign was born, that R2RC end. The AALG accepted that recommendation.
Jim Mazza, the chairman of the campaign, said: “The motor vehicle specific regulations and guidelines introduced on 1 June 2010, which will run until 2023, are a fantastic outcome and far beyond my expectations. These coupled with other European legislation and directives provide strong protection for the independent automotive aftermarket and ensure an ongoing competitive environment from which the motorist will benefit. The UK Strategy Group is very satisfied with the outcome of the campaign.”
With Shanghai's CITExpo 2010 fast approaching, Wilko Fong – managing director of event organiser Reliable International Exhibition Services – gave a question and answer session covering the make-up of the show's exhibitors, its visitors, the focal theme of this year's show, and related events such as the massive Shanghai Expo 2010 and the Automotive Testing Expo, which takes place in the week following CITExpo in Beijing.
ECI International, the organiser of Brityrex, says a new-look venue will greet exhibitors and delegates at October’s show at Manchester Central (formerly known as the G-MEX. The venue has spent £30 million over the past two years completing a major redevelopment programme. The most striking result of the investment can be seen by the addition of the new Charter Foyer and the new and extended Central Foyer, which have added cohesion to the venue’s facilities and offer greater ease of access within the Manchester Central site. The new Central Foyer is much larger than its predecessor and has added additional event space.
Ontario Canada-based tyre marketer and distributor Hercules Tire International has joined the Imported Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ITMA). Hercules, which has worldwide sales in excess of US$500,000,000.00, will be represented within the association by its European Sales and Purchasing manager, Paul Sleath.
Newton’s First Law of Motion states that ‘every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it’. For tyres, this external force is seen in rolling resistance, and it is primarily caused by the repeated deformation and recovery of the tyre as it comes into contact with the road surface. Reducing rolling resistance is, in theory anyway, relatively simple – yet achieving a reduction in rolling resistance without compromising on other essential tyre qualities is another matter entirely. In designing its latest generation trailer tyre, the Marathon LHT II, Goodyear referred to this as “mission impossible”. Yet through much research and development work the tyre maker believes it has achieved this seemingly unreachable goal.
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