On 7 December 2017, at the annual supplier conference at the Auditorium G. Agnelli Lingotto in Turin (Italy), Goodyear was awarded “Chassis Supplier of the Year” by the famous Italian-American car manufacturer Fiat Chrysler Automobiles EMEA. It is the first time a tyremaker has received the award.
ClearMotion, the proactive ride system maker, has expanded its testing to the UK, taking residency at MIRA Technology Park. Occupying brand new workshop space at MIRA Technology Park, the Boston-based leader in predictive road-sensing technology will utilize the facilities’ skills, test, and development infrastructure to better access and expand it’s EU customer base. The Midlands-based technology park is an integral part of ClearMotion’s research and development process and will be the main European test centre used by the company.
Giti Tire has announced a second OE supply contract with the Volkswagen Group in Europe. Following the contract to equip the Seat Ibiza, produced at the Spanish manufacturer’s Martorell plant, Giti Tire has now been chosen as an OE tyre supplier for the new VW Polo. Built at VW’s Pamplona factory, the Polo will roll off the assembly line wearing 185/70 R14 88H GitiSynergyE1 tyres.
It won’t be a surprise to learn that Germany’s premium car brands are the most expensive to run long-term. However, when you put Audi, BMW and Mercedes alongside each other, less of us may have guessed that Audi would be most expensive.
Recent research conducted by whocanfixmycar.com analysed more than 180,000 data points relating to the brands, and has found that Audi is 24 per cent more expensive to repair than BMW and Mercedes models and nearly 10 per cent more expensive than BMW.
Michelin previewed the Maxion Flexible Wheel with its Acorus technology for the first time in North America at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit (13 – 29 January).
“It is positive to see that demand for new cars in Europe grew by +3.4 per cent in 2017 and reached a 10-year high of 15.6 million units sold”, said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers in the UK, commenting on the latest figures by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
Volvo Buses and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have signed a cooperation agreement on a research and development programme for autonomous electric 12-metre buses. For Volvo Group this will be the first autonomous application in public transportation. Volvo Group has also presented an autonomous, battery-electric, load carrier.
At the start of a new year it is customary to take stock of the previous year and look forward to the next 12 months. This was something we at Tyres & Accessories did with online readership figures in January and found that our you love tyre test coverage first and foremost. But this wasn’t the only subject being read. Coverage of various countries’ decisions to ban combustion engines during the next decade or two was a top story on tyrepress.com last year, and it was also talk of the wider automotive industry.
The global electric vehicles market is estimated to grow of 28.3 per cent (CAGR) in volume from 2017 to 2026. According to a market research report by BIS Research, titled “Global Electric Vehicles Market – Analysis and Forecast (2017-2026)”, the demand for electric cars is increasing rapidly, with the global stock numbers crossing 2 million in 2016 after crossing 1 million in 2015. The surge is attributed to the substantial amount of investments made by the automobile manufacturers for the research, development, and deployment of electric vehicles. Mass production prospects have also led to a decline in the prices of the key components such as electric batteries, and technologies such as regenerative braking. In addition, the governments of different nations are providing tax benefits, and subsidies to fuel the production of EV’s. The government bodies are actively promoting the usage of electric vehicles in order to reduce high emission levels.
Instead of demand dropping by approximately 9 per cent in 2018 a decline in demand of 5 per cent is now forecast, followed by a further drop in 2019 leading to a total shrinking of the market by 13 per cent over the two years. According to the agency “Clear”, for 2017 the demand for trailers increased in the first half of the year but will have close to zero growth in the second half. Overall 2017 will see a 3 per cent increase in registrations.
In October 2017, European Union demand for passenger cars returned to growth after a decline in September. Registrations of new cars totalled 1,169,672 units, or 5.9 per cent higher than in October last year, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has said.
Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has reported net sales of 466.79 billion yen in the first ninth months of 2017 – a new record for this period. Of this figure, 333.13 billion yen was generate by sales of tyres (excluding Alliance Tyre Group operations, which are included in the firm’s accounts following the business’ acquisition in September 2016). Therefore, profit attributable to owners of parent increased 96.4 per cent over the same period of the previous year, to 16.7 billion yen, on a 39.7 per cent increase in operating income, to 26.4 billion yen.
Bobruisk, Belarus-based tyre manufacturer Belshina has announced that it has launched mass production of 18-inch SUV tyres. The company’s spokeswoman Viktoriya Kulik told local news source BelTA that it is making summer tyres for Geely cars produced at BelGee Factory.
Automatic tyre inflation systems is set to become a multi-billion dollar global industry during the course of the next decade. According to a report produced by Future Market Insights, the market is anticipated to reach revenue of over US$1.500 billion in 2017 and grow at a steady compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6 per cent during the 10 year period between 2017 and 2027. The forecast predicts the market to reach a revenue of over $2.7 billion by the end of the forecast period in 2027.
The global automotive brake systems market is expected to be worth US$ 31.11 billion by 2025, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. This is said to be being driven by rising vehicle production and sales and growing disposable income.
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