Brad Freeman ended 2017 on a high, clinching the Maxxis FIM EnduroGP Junior World Championship title in the final round with the help of Maxxis MaxxEnduro Extreme Soft tyres. 2018 is promising to be just as thrilling for the Beta Boano Racing Sport team rider, as he gears up to take on The Maxxis FIM Enduro GP and British Enduro Championship, again with the support of Maxxis.
The Michelin brand’s value has grown some 30 per cent to US$7.9 billion in the latest Brand Finance Tyres 10 ranking. As a result Bibendum is now the world’s most valuable tyre brand.
The Maxxis Group has officially inaugurated its first plant in India. The Maxxis Rubber India facility in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state, was set up with an investment of approximately US$400 million and specialises in the production of tyres and tubes for two-wheel vehicles. Production at the site began half a year ago with an initial daily capacity of 20,000 tyres and 40,000 tubes.
Consumers are increasingly likely to research their tyres online pre-purchase, regardless of whether they complete an e-commerce transaction. Peer review website Tyre Reviews has therefore become an influential destination in the car tyre market: discussing Tyre Reviews’s audience, owner, Jonathan Benson, states that 94 per cent of Tyre Reviews visitors are engaged in the tyre buying process, with its users predominantly “high earning, well educated, male automotive enthusiasts looking for the best possible product for their vehicle.” In 2017, the site delivered 25 million pageviews to tyre buyers, and claims to have influenced around “one-sixth of UK tyre sales.”
Maxxis shares that it has been selected to provide original equipment tyres to the new KTM 790 Duke. The supply arrangement was announced at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan last month.
This year Stapleton’s celebrates 80 years since Sydney Stapleton set up his business in a simple parade of shops at 195 High Street, Watford in 1937. An entrepreneur of terrific dynamism and foresight, he was among the few to spot and take advantage of the fast-growing market for tyres. A decade on, in the post WWII years, the company’s total weekly wage bill amounted to the princely sum of £20. It’s safe to say in this 80th anniversary year the wage bill’s grown considerably now Stapleton’s employs some 1,100 staff at eight regional sales offices and eleven distribution hubs nationwide. It’s also safe to suggest that Sydney Stapleton would be staggered by the scale of his old business, with a current stock capacity of 1.5 million tyres available at any given time.
Maxxis will be using next week’s EICMA event to treat its fans with a sneak peak at its latest tyre innovations. The tyre manufacturer will be exhibiting plans to introduce its latest ATV and motorcycle tyres to the market. It will also be announcing “exciting new [OE] plans in the pipeline”, and will also be joined by a newly crowned world champion.
Beta Boano and Maxxis-sponsored rider Brad Freeman has added another title to his name after crossing the finish line in first place on Maxxis MaxxEnduro tyres and winning the Enduro GP Junior Class title at this year’s Maxxis FIM EnduroGP World Championship.
For the enduro world championship, Freeman used MaxxEnduro tyres, designed to perfectly fit enduro conditions. The tyre features side blocks, which provide accurate steering and handle aggressive cornering in the muddiest of conditions.
The UK’s largest wholesaler, Stapleton’s acknowledges this growing interest in SUV tyres while adding that uncertainty in our domestic market as inflation rises, sluggish growth, and the reduced value of the pound are adding to the case for cheaper products in the SUV/4×4 segment. The wholesaler backs up Goodyear’s point that the current market has been good for premium brands, with demand for such products strong in the SUV/4×4 segment.
Global tyre brand and Cheng Shin Rubber wholly owned subsidiary, Maxxis has created a portfolio that is particularly strong in the 4×4 tyre market, with an emphasis on the more extreme off-road conditions an important part of its marketing strategy. The accessibility of the 4×4 and SUV car market to more budget conscious motorists has increased with lower priced vehicles entering the booming market. As such, Maxxis is positioned as a lower cost alternative to the traditional premium brands, though also offering global brand recognition through its activities in extreme sports.
Maxxis is currently holding its European distributor conference in Marbella, Spain. Scheduled to take place between 11 and 14 September, the conference welcomes some of the continent’s leading names in tyre distribution, with over 14 EU countries represented, along with delegates from both China and Taiwan.
Maxxis, has announced the appointment of experience tyre industry marketeer, Nikki McCluney. As a HiQ Goodyear Dunlop alumni – and with over twenty years’ senior level marketing experience spanning retail, fast fit, fuel and light commercial vehicle, McCluney is tasked with raising awareness of the quality, performance and value offering of Maxxis products across passenger car, bicycle, motorcycle and specialist tyre markets. McCluney is also tasked with cultivating the existing UK dealer network and promoting the impressive profit margin opportunities available, and lifetime warranty offered on a majority of car tyres. Developing relations with existing and prospective overseas distribution partners in order to grow market share across Europe is also on the agenda.
In recent years, demand for high performance and UHP tyres has increased considerably (see GfK data earlier in this section). However, this trend has also resulted in greater complexity in the market. Current trends see more small cars and family saloons being fitted with 16, 17, 18 and 19 inch rims, and as a result, motorists are requiring bigger, but better performing, tyres. Such demand indicates the need for manufacturers to offer a broader range of tyres, in a variety of tread patterns and load and speed ratings, to satisfy the market.
In any sphere of driving, from motorsports to day-to-day motoring, peak performance doesn’t come cheap – and that goes for the tyres as much as for the vehicles themselves. After all, when you’ve invested in a prestige, state of the art vehicle you won’t want to sully its perfection with tyres that are in any way inferior to those fitted as original equipment – especially since they’re the parts transmitting your vehicle’s raw power to the tarmac and turn it into adrenaline and acceleration.
Almost 10 years on from the trauma of the global ‘credit crunch’ and we’re still not entirely free of the economic aftershock. The resulting times of austerity have made for tough competition for every pound in the motorist’s pocket – and the forecasts suggest even more tough times ahead. In a trade as utterly international as the tyre industry the outcome of the 23 June referendum on the EU was always going to have profound effects – and the marginal victory for the Brexit side predictably has caused dramatic weakening of the pound against both the Euro and the dollar.
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