HiQ will celebrate its third anniversary as a fully franchised network at its “biggest ever” two day conference and business networking event. The conference will be held at Mercedes-Benz World venue in Surrey on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 of November, with more than 120 guests including all Franchise partners, a number of HiQ Centre managers and some key suppliers in attendance.
Rackhams Auto Body Centre in Ipswich has installed a second wheel alignment bay, the second of which is operating a state-of-the-art Hunter HawkEye WA Imaging system with an in-floor lift from supplier Pro-Align. The other aligner is also from the American alignment firm, a Hunter P411 with conventional sensors. Rackhams’ purpose built Boss Hall Business Park site, which primarily operates as a body repair centre, repairs about 50 to 60 cars a week, about half of which require wheel alignment.
A Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle dealer covering the North East of England has invested in four Haweka Axis200-2 wheel aligners, turn plates and car kits. Bell Truck and Van in Billingham, Gateshead, Longbenton and Spennymoor says the investment will enable them “to help customers save costs on fuel and tyres”. The dealer group purchased the aligners from Haweka after seeing a demonstration of the equipment in their workshops.
Mercedes-Benz has selected Yokohama tyres as original equipment for two additional models. The Japanese tyre maker’s C.drive2 AC02 MO tyres, which is based upon its export market C.drive2 high-performance comfort tyre, will be fitted in sizes 205/55R16 91H, 205/55R16 91V and 225/45R17 91V to Mercedes A- and B-class models. In addition to these two recent homologations, Yokohama already supplies original equipment tyres for a range of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, including the G class, CL-class AMG, ML-class AMG, C class, C-class AMG, CLS class and SLK Class.
Martin Tomczyk is the new DTM champion. In Sunday’s penultimate season round at Valencia, the Audi driver wrapped up the title by finishing third and prior to the finale at Hockenheim, he is now beyond reach with an advantage of 13 points. His main rival Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz) only scored two points by finishing seventh and now has to defend his current second position in the drivers’ standings at Hockenheim. With his third race win of the season, Mattias Ekström (Audi) came within two points from the Canadian.
Continental has introduced a world first product it says can lead to commercial vehicle weight savings of up to 12 kilograms per axle. Produced by the company’s ContiTech Air Spring Systems business unit, the air spring contains a plastic piston that saves up to 75 per cent of the weight of conventional steel pistons. Another breakthrough feature is that the air spring has an interior volume that can be used entirely for enhancing comfort. This new product has debuted on the Mercedes-Benz Actros, a vehicle that Continental says utilises a completely revised drive and chassis concept in which the ContiTech air springs with plastic pistons play a “decisive” role.
Shropshire couple Keith and Norah Ashworth, owners of Avon Tyres fleet customer Burnt Tree Vehicle Rental, are to tackle the Classic Safari Challenge 2011. The pair will contest a classic 1964 Mercedes-Benz 190 Fintail, shod with Avon rubber, in the event, which runs from August to September. The event, organised by the Endurance Rally Association, covers more than 3,500 miles of stunning African landscape as it crosses Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa on its mammoth journey.
Hankook Tyres recently sponsored The Royal International Horse Show, one of the biggest outdoor shows in the UK, in a move to reach out to a new audience. The Royal International Horse Show, which took place at its venue at Hickstead, attracting more than 15,000 visitors. The event ran over 6 days (26 – 31 July) and was televised on Sky Sports. Spectators were given the opportunity to see a wide variety of show jumping, eventing, dressage and showing competitions from the world’s elite horses and riders.
Continental has announced its latest two original equipment contracts with Mercedes-Benz. The German tyre maker will supply tyres for the CLS saloon and high-end versions of the Mercedes Viano and Vito vans.
Russian corporation Tatneft, which operates the Nizhnekamsk Solid Steel Chord Tire Factory, reports that a delegation of representatives from Continental AG and Daimler AG visited the company in mid-July with a view to selecting the tyre maker as an original equipment supplier for its Mercedes-Benz Trucks Vostok joint-venture facility. The delegation toured the Nizhnekamsk factory in Tatarstan and viewed the technologies and production processes in use.
Yokohama’s commitment to motorsport in its many different forms has been illustrated in a busy July schedule that included touring cars, rallying and endurance racing. The brand is the official supplier to the FIA World Touring Car Championship, which visited Donington on 16-17 July for its UK leg. Yokohama supplied drivers at the recent FIA European Touring Car Cup in Salzburg, Austria, on 23-24 July, where Fabrizio Giovanardi clinched the title with a victory and a second-place finish in the Austrian rain.
Mercedes-Benz has selected the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 as an original equipment fitment for its new CLS. The Goodyear tyre, which was launched earlier this year, will be fitted on the four-door performance coupé in size 255/40R18. This newly-announced OE fitment, Goodyear Dunlop notes, is one of 30 original equipment deals involving the tyre.
Stephen Blakely, managing director of Wigan-based Blakeley’s Waste Management Ltd, has referred to his company’s decision to renew its three-year pence per kilometre (PPK) contract with Michelin as a “sound business decision.” Explaining this in greater detail, Blakely said the waste management firm “previously suffered from frequent tyre-related downtime, but this began to drop noticeably with the Michelins. The peace of mind we get from Michelin rubber has been one of the driving forces behind our decision to renew this contract.”
Fast fitter ATS Euromaster has been given HR Magazine’s “Best HR Team – Private Sector” and “Most Effective Use of Internal Communication” awards, recognising a year in which human resources strategy was used to help the company through the difficulties of the recession. The company entered 2008 with severe economic problems and had to close approximately 80 of its smaller service centres. The department used employee forums, road shows, DVDs and training programmes in a three-year strategy designed to make the company communicate better internally and provide a better service for customers. The Awards, run by HR Magazine, were presented to Group HR director Irene Stark and Jane Linnell, Group Internal Communications Manager, in front of more than 500 guests, most of them senior HR professionals from top UK companies.
Yokohama has announced that it has been awarded original equipment fitment contracts on new Mercedes-Benz SLK and CLS models produced at the car manufacturer’s German plant. The Advan Sport V105 has been selected for both the SLK-class two-seater roadster model and the CLS-class premium luxury four-door coupe models. The tyre was developed jointly by Yokohama and Mercedes-Benz (or Daimler), with the MO mark on the sidewall signifying the manufacturer’s approval. The V105 will be introduced into replacement markets around the world later, with the number of available sizes extended from the beginning of 2012 accordingly.
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