Pirelli has confirmed that it is investing a total of £20 million in its Carlisle tyre production factory. As Tyres & Accessories reported following a visit last month, the money is being invested in research and development as well as factory upgrades. According to company representatives, of the £20 million total, £11.4 million is being spent on research and development and £9 million on machinery upgrades.
MG Motor UK is doubling the size of the design centre. According to the company, the latest stage of the rebirth of Longbridge will see substantial investments in the design studio, the engine test centre and the factory. Meanwhile, the firm is recruiting new engineers and designers to work on the next generation of MG cars as the firm prepares to hit the export trail to mainland Europe within two years.
The popularity of cars such as the Range Rover Evoque has led Jaguar Land Rover to introduce 24-hour working at its Halewood production plant. 1000 new jobs were created to support the new third shift at the plant, which has trebled its workforce in the past three years and staff from the first night shift clocked off on the morning of Tuesday 14 August 2012.
Bristol-based caravan manufacturer Bailey has decided upon a 100 per cent Michelin fitment policy for its new Unicorn caravan range, which will be available in retailers from September 2012 onwards. The two tyres fitted as standard equipment to the caravans are the 185/65 R 14 Energy Saver+ and the 185 R 14 Agilis. In a press release announcing the supply arrangement, Michelin notes that “despite being more expensive than the previous brand, the company believes that a premium caravan should be fitted with a premium brand of tyres.”
June was a good month for new bus and coach (>3.5 tonnes) registrations, which increased by 16.5 per cent, boosted by the good performance recorded in the UK (+97.9 per cent), Germany (+39.0 per cent) and France (+24.5 per cent). The Spanish (-15.4 per cent) and Italian (-21.5 per cent) markets declined.
Volkswagen has selected the Bridgestone Ecopia EP25 tyre as original equipment for the manufacturer’s new up! city car. The A-segment car was introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011, and Bridgestone started delivery of 165/70R14 81T and 175/65R14 82T size Ecopia EP25 tyres in November 2011. The blue motion version of the up! will be fitted with 175/65R14 82T.
128,871 new vans (up to 3.5 tonnes) were registered in the EU, or 6.5 per cent less than in the same month last year. Germany was the only significant market to post growth (+12.3 per cent), while all others contracted. The French shrank by 0.8 per cent, the British by 2.5 per cent, the Italian by 30.3 per cent and the Spanish by 30.9 per cent.
During preparations for its production debut in late 2012, the all-electric Audi R8 e-tron has just set a world record for a production vehicle with an electric drive system on the Nürburgring Nordschleife – the toughest test track in the world. Racing driver Markus Winkelhock piloted the high-performance, all-electric sports car around the demanding 12.92-mile track in 8:09.099 minutes.
"It is very encouraging that new car sales increased again in June with a boost to private registrations of 9.8 per cent said Sue Robinson, Director of the RMI National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, commenting on the SMMT's new car registration figures, which show month on month sales were up 3.5 per cent compared to June last year.
The UK van and truck market for June was stable, according to figures from the SMMT, down just 0.4 per cent.
At 22,287 registrations, the van sector was down 2.5 per cent for the month, year on year (-10.1 per cent for the year to date), but truck registrations remained strong and rose 14.7 per cent, with 3,577 registrations during June. Year to date, the truck market has risen 26.0 per cent.
Preliminary figures released by the European Environment Agency show that Europeans are buying more efficient cars, with average carbon dioxide emissions from cars continuing to fall.
The latest report from AlixPartners reveals that the decline in vehicle sales is not evenly distributed across Europe, but has distinct focal points.
Belgium, Italy and France have experienced double-digit declines in sales and the outlook remains negative. In the UK, Germany and Spain, by contrast, declines have been relatively moderate (between 0.8 per cent and 2.4 per cent), while the markets in Russia and Poland have grown slightly.
The European automotive industry is severely in need of consolidation, says AlixPartners. In North America, the crisis of 2008/2009 led to "a healthy streamlining" of the automotive industry – by contrast, only three car factories have been closed in Western Europe since 2007, while eight Eastern European plants were opened during the same period.
In May, ACEA figures show that new commercial vehicle registrations continued the downward trend commenced in January, facing the sharpest decrease since 2009 (-17.8 per cent , compared to May 2011). The UK was the only market to post growth in the month (+10.0 per cent ), while Germany (-13.6 per cent ), France (-22.1 per cent), Spain (-27.4 per cent ) and Italy (-42.4 per cent ) all recorded double-digit downturns. From January to May, the EU market shrank by 11.8 per cent, compared to the first five months of 2011.
A report from the global business advisory firm AlixPartners says that, while the global automotive industry overall remains a growth industry, the Western European industry is facing the prospect of its second severe market downturn in recent years.
North American semi trailer manufacturer Wabash National Corporation has approved Cooper Tire & Rubber’s Mastercraft-brand Roadmaster RM871(EM) as an original equipment option on all of its dry freight and refrigerated van models as well as on its Transcraft and Benson brand platform trailers.
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