Giti Tire has been named ‘Top Commercial Vehicle Tyre Brand’ in a countrywide study organised by China’s leading commercial vehicle magazine. Commercial Motor World’s survey involved live interviews with 110,000 participants over a six month period, covered 24 tyre brands and utilised the expertise of several leading Chinese universities. At its conclusion, Giti Tire won the Customer Satisfaction Award.
March's edition of Tyre & Accessories is due to arrive on doorsteps any day now. The virtual version, however, is online now. As well as the latest news and reviews, the March magazine contains the latest information and analysis on 4×4 tyres as well Ancillary garage services, so if you are a subscriber simply click more to read it now.
…but may be counter-suing the Environment Agency for millions. On 1 February Recycled Construction Systems Ltd (RCS) was ordered to pay £27,244 in fines and costs for illegally storing 100,000 waste tyres at a warehouse in East Devon. In the case was brought by the Environment Agency (EA) and heard at Exeter Crown Court RCS was found guilty of illegally depositing and storing 96,000 waste tyres at Westerhope Units, Dunkeswell. According to the EA, the company was one of several defendants in the South West’s largest ever waste crime investigation.
Following on from its highly rated performance in the ADAC summer tyre test, Michelin’s Energy Saver + has claimed a top ranking in another German auto publication. Gute Fahrt’s summer tyre test awarded the tyre top place with a "very good -" rating overall. Comparing twelve 205/55R16 W tyres on a Volkswagen Touran, Gute Fahrt judged the Energy Saver + to deliver the best all-round performance in wet and dry conditions.
Generation Y is square in Cooper Tire Europe’s sights following an overhaul of the company’s marketing strategy for the region. The tyre maker reports undergoing a major shift in emphasis towards increasing brand awareness among the 18 to 35-year-old male demographic.
According to consumer magazine Which?, local councils in England and Wales paid out £22.8 million in compensation to drivers for pothole related damage in 2012. Which is a lot, really, and indicates the extent of the pothole problem on our roads. The Which? findings have also prompted TyreSafe to warn that the current ‘pothole epidemic’ blighting the UK’s roads is not only causing added financial burden for drivers and councils, but also carries the risk that it could lead to a rise in the number of tyre related road casualties.
The newcomer draws first blood – only a month after its launch, Dunlop’s Sport BluReponse has beaten the Michelin Energy Saver + in a head-to-head ‘mini test’ carried out by Auto Express magazine. Reporting its victory, Dunlop quotes comments made by tyre tester Jamie Fretwell from Auto Express, who declared the BluResponse a “worthy addition” to the tyre maker’s range.
Pirelli has launched a communication project for undergraduate, postgraduate and recently graduated students, offering the chance of a two-month paid work placement in Milan, in addition to publication in the manufacturer’s 2012 Annual Report alongside artwork by New Yorker cartoonist, Liza Donnelly. The brief presented by Pirelli is simple: find the most significant word that sums up the values students would like to matter most in their future. Pirelli will send the submissions, accompanied by the students’ explanations of their choices, to a jury in order to select the 10 most representative words. These 10 words, and the accompanying reflections, will then be interpreted by Donnelly, and printed in the 2012 Report.
A new competition promoting fleet driver safety has been launched today in a bid to find the UK's best Company Car Driver. The ‘Fleet Driver of the Year' award starts in earnest today, with the launch of the entry website at www.fdoty.com. This unique competition is being organised by vehicle leasing company ALD Automotive, in association with Fleet World magazine, and event partners Peak Performance and Toyota & Lexus Fleet Services.
Continental has commented on the selection of the ContiWinterContact TS850 as one of Auto Express magazine’s Editor’s Choice 2012 products. Peter Robb, brand manager at Continental said: “We are delighted to have been commended by Auto Express. The ContiWinterContact TS850 has taken the winter market by storm. In a string of tyre tests in Europe, the tyre has consistently beaten the best to take top spot. This award from Auto Express is another testament to its outstanding performance.”
Late last year Tyres & Accessories spoke to Peter Smith, joint managing director of one of the UK's leading motorcycle and scooter tyre wholesalers, for an overview of the ‘PWT’ (powered two wheeler) replacement tyre market in 2012 as experienced by Bike Tyrestore.
The e-paper version of December's Tyres & Accessories is now available online. This issue contains in-depth features reviewing 2012, reporting on Garage Consumables, a review of Reifen China and much more. All subscribers have to do to view the latest issue is click more.
The USA's Time Magazine has awarded The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) with the title of one of its "Best Inventions of the Year 2012”. AMT is designed to help drivers maintain optimal tyre pressure, helping to increase the longevity of the tread and the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. All of AMT's components, including a miniaturised pump, will be fully contained within the tyre. Time's technology editors listed AMT alongside the Tesla Model S electric car amongst others as one the year’s 25 “most important innovations.”
On 29 October Federal Marshals raided Chinese tyre manufacturer Shandong Linglong’s stand at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, according to a variety of news sources originating from reports by US magazine Tire Business. In what must be a first, even for the characteristically glitzy Las Vegas event, government officials confiscated the contents of the company’s exhibit as partial repayment of a $26 million court judgment against the company made in 2010.
Maxxis International has aligned its brand with some of the UK’s biggest performance car shows and events in 2012, mostly in conjunction with the drifting team Team Japspeed, which it sponsors. “This season’s events have been some of the best yet, with amazing cars and bigger crowds than ever, and we are delighted with the response from what is, after all, a hugely knowledgeable and very demanding customer base,” said Maxxis International UK’s managing director Derek McMartin.
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