Known for its style, speed and performance marketing values, Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational company based in Milan, Italy, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, with a temporary privatization period by the consortium led by the Chinese state-owned enterprise ChemChina.
Pirelli has used its P Zero Red supersoft Formula One tyre for the first time in 2012 today. The tyre was specifically designed for tight and twisty street circuits such as Monaco, making the most iconic Grand Prix on the calendar the perfect venue for its introduction. Jenson Button set the fastest time of the day during the second practice session with a time of 1:15:746 on the supersoft tyre.
Kings Road Tyres claims to have the largest and most comprehensive range of tyres for commercial applications in the UK, and now the wholesaler is making information on all of its commercial products available in a single brochure, with the publication of Kings Road Tyres’ Commercial Range Guide 2012. The new Guide is the first time KRT has combined its truck and bus, agricultural, industrial and construction, otr and high speed crane, pneumatic industrial and tubes and flaps ranges in a single publication. Also for the first time, the brochure is available in an easy-to-use electronic format by clicking the link to KRT Commercial Range Guide 2012.
1,200 items of Manchester-based contract hire and leasing specialist, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions are now covered by a contract with Vacu-Lug Tyres. The leasing firm has signed a managed Pay-As-You-Go which includes both light and heavy trucks and specifies the fitment of Pirelli steering axle tyres and Vacu-Lug Duramold tyres on drive and trailer axles. ATS Euromaster will operate as Vacu-Lug's service partner on this nationwide contract.
Ibstock, Leicestershire-based Go Plant Limited has signed a two-year fixed price contract for the supply and management of tyres for its nationwide fleet of refuse collectors, sweepers and other specialist vehicles with Vacu-Lug.
Pirelli will bring its P Zero Yellow and Silver Formula One tyres to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, the tyre supplier has announced. As is now customary, the Italian manufacturer announced its compound allocations for the three races following the coming weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. In Montreal’s Canadian Grand Prix, Pirelli will bring its P Zero Yellow soft and P Zero Red supersoft tyres, while at the Grand Prix of Europe in Valencia, the teams will have the P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft at their disposal.
Pirelli has announced a variety of upgrades to its consumer website, including a new section about tyre labelling. The website, the main information source for Pirelli’s various products on the UK and international markets, boasts a greater degree of interactivity, helping visitors to make more informed tyre choices. Pirelli UK managing director Dominic Sandivasci commented: “We recognise that the new labelling legislation may be confusing to some of our consumers, so we felt it was important to create an interactive platform on our website to help our customers understand more about the changes, and how they can ultimately benefit from the new labelling regulations.”
High performance cars require high performance tyres – obviously. What’s not quite as obvious is that today’s tough market conditions are sharpening the motorist’s eye for real value and service – especially in the more discerning and therefore challenging high performance tyre market, which increasingly demands ‘high performance service’ to match. The good news, says Stapleton’s, is that this is exactly where it can make a vital difference – by throwing the weight of its nationwide network of 19 warehouses, 18 distribution points and a stock of 1.2 million tyres behind tyre retailer’s business.
Over 70 Point S UK members, staff and suppliers gathered in Solihull yesterday to reflect on the independent retail network’s development in 2011 and plans for 2012. At the end of 2011 Point S UK had 45 members and 125 points of sale. And although the group opted to slow down additions to its membership in order to ensure high standards, this is still ahead of initial goals of 100 plus points of sale within two years of the network’s inception. That said the group is now revving up its membership once again, with ambitious targets and plans for national coverage. Looking around the mini-exhibition hall next door to the conference presentations you can see that that Point S UK is still growing and gaining influence in the market.
Pirelli, Kumho and Dmack have announced that they will supply tyres to the 2013 MSA British Historic Rally Championship, following the competition’s move to an open choice era. Dunlop, the supplier to the UK’s premier historic rally series for the past four years will continue to make its tyres available to the championship, which takes in both gravel and asphalt events across the country. The championship features old-school rally machinery dating from the 1950s to the 1980s. “We firmly believe this is the right time to open up the tyre supply situation,” said championship manager Simon Marks. “More tyre manufacturers are now in a position to supply the historic market and our competitors will now be able to choose between four excellent suppliers.”
Kumho’s new Ecsta LE Sport KU39 is an asymmetric ultra high performance tyre designed for Europe’s top car marques; the manufacturer reports the tyre was developed using the latest KADAS prediction tools and on Europe’s most demanding test tracks. The Y speed rated product’s key selling points are its enhanced performance, braking in wet conditions and controlled ride and refinement. Kumho says its high grip tread compound ensures maximum traction and braking performance, while its specially designed casing provides impressive high speed stability.
Pirelli has welcomed the plaudits its P Zero tyre received from Auto Express’s recent product awards. Auto Express has been conducting tyre tests in the UK for over a decade, and the magazine’s most recent product awards assessed 10 different tyres on aquaplaning, cabin noise and economy. A former winner in this size, the Pirelli P Zero was named one of the top three with Auto Express stating: “It [the Pirelli P Zero] makes its way into our top three thanks to an excellent performance in the wet tests, comfortably winning the braking and handling disciplines and finishing in the top four in the other categories.”
The Pirelli Grand Prix Challenge, which first went live in the US in 2011, has now been expanded to the UK market. The tyre maker has high expectations for the online Formula One prediction game – last year, the American GP Challenge website received 140,000 unique visits and had over 700,000 page views. Prizes to be won through the challenge include a trip to the 2013 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
While financial analysts described the results as “a big beat”, on the day the news was announced Pirelli’s share price fell 10 per cent. Pirelli pre-tax profitability was said to have been better than consensus of analysts’ estimates, mostly due to better price/mix and cost control. Market watchers also welcomed the fact that margins are at record levels.
Pirelli & C. SpA has announced first quarter revenues of 1.556.5 billion euros, up 11.1 per cent compared with 1,400.9 million euros in 31 March 2011. Pre-tax profits (EBIT) after restructuring charges grew by almost half to 209.4 million euros (up 46.1 per cent compared with 143.3 million in the first quarter 2011).
Pirelli’s 2011 annual report will reflect the tyre manufacturer’s “broader narrative”, presenting detail that goes beyond the numbers in an attempt to capture the spirit of Pirelli. The company said the project will include Art Deco inspired illustrations reflecting the tyre-maker’s values, in addition to texts by internationally renowned authors HM Enzensberger, Guillermo Martinez, William Least Heat-Moon and Javier Cerca. A summary of the report will also be available through a free iPad App.
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