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 heads immediately from one of the quicker tracks seen on the calendar to the slowest: Monaco. The tight and twisty confines of the principality are ideal territory for Pirelli’s PZero Red supersoft tyre, which makes its debut in Monaco. For the first time, by extension, it is also twinned with the PZero Yellow soft tyre – which becomes the prime nomination after five Grands Prix as the option.
Sebastian Vettel held off a spirited performance from Lewis Hamilton to win the Spanish Grand Prix by 0.6 seconds, both drivers running the new harder compound PZero Silver tyre during the closing stages. The new Silver, which had its first outing in Spain, proved to be a central talking point, once again putting tyres firmly in the conscience of the sport’s followers. Though Lewis Hamilton had been vocal throughout the weekend in his reservations about the tyre, he found enough speed to challenge Vettel all the way to the line, also recording the Grand Prix’s fastest time on the Silver.
North East-based tyre wholesaler and retailer Tyrespot recently screened what the company is describing as “a highly successful TV advertising campaign in the North East of England.” The campaign, featuring two characters, promoted the company’s free tyre safety checks that are available throughout its network of retail stores. The advert was filmed at the beginning of the year and aired during April.
MAM Software has released Autopart Tyres R013, the latest version of its software solution for sales order processing, stock management, accounting and reporting. Employing Microsoft Windows SQL database technology, Autopart Tyres provides an integrated business environment that can help streamline internal operations, improve customer service and maximise profitability. Autopart Tyres is scalable and aimed businesses of any size, including multi-user, multi-branch operations.
Pirelli has previewed the Spanish Grand Prix and the debut of the latest evolution of its harder compound tyre, suggesting that it should provide a longer-lasting alternative to the Yellow-coded softer compound that has been the teams’ favourite this F1 season. The company’s motorsport director Paul Hembery states: “Our new PZero Silver tyre is an evolution of the existing tyre that should provide an extra five laps or so of running compared to the previous version, widening the gap between the new hard tyre and the soft.
Andrew Warne and Danny Georgiou agree that their VIP trip to Maranello, courtesy of Grouptyre and Pirelli, was a “once in a lifetime experience”. Warne, who runs the BMW and Mini servicing business Warne Motors in Bury St. Edmunds, and Georgiou, whose business is Thetford-based tyre and exhaust centre Burrell Way Tyres, won the all expenses paid visit to Italy in the latest Grouptyre/Pirelli promotion. Both businesses are supplied by Grouptyre member, We Sell Tyres (Wholesale), whose business development manager Danny Jackson hosted the trip.
To encourage repeat business at its franchised dealers, Vauxhall has pledged to match the best price on a large selection of the tyres offered through its more than 400 MasterFit retailers throughout the UK. Under what it calls its Tyre Price Promise, the network will price match Continental, Pirelli, Dunlop, Michelin and Firestone brand tyres sold within a five mile radius of its outlets.
During a recent roadshow with financial analysts Pirelli & C Spa chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera told the market watchers that the tyre industry is benefitting from an unprecedented combination of favourable conditions. Morgan Stanley analysts agreed, explaining that the Italian tyremaker’s upbeat comments support the bank’s thesis and “overweight” rating: “Pirelli remains an attractive second derivative play on booming premium car demand, offering unmatched premium tyre and emerging market exposure.”
The newly-released annual report from YHI International states the Singapore-based wheel manufacturer and automotive components distributor is embarking on a “new exciting era.” Specifically, the company has begun a five-year expansion plan to grow its manufacturing and distribution segments and achieve sales of S$1 billion (£494 million) by the 2015 financial year.
Pirelli is returning to the scene of some of its pre-season F1 testing this weekend, the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona. The supplier’s PZero tyres – or at least, previous iterations of the evolving rubber – have been seen there four times already: once last year in private testing, twice this year during the official test ‘season’, and once more as part of Pirelli’s on-going private test campaign last month. This means that teams and Pirelli alike have a good deal of data on Barcelona, with its challenging mixture of corners and speeds highlighting every aspect of a car’s performance. Motorsport director at the Italian brand Paul Hembery says “the new tyre – which we have tested extensively – reduces degradation and improves tyre wear.
Public health minister Anne Milton MP has proposed banning cars from streets on Sundays to allow children to play in them. The move, she said, would help get youngsters off their computers and enjoy outdoor physical activities. With two-thirds of UK children predicted to be obese by 2050 if current trends continue, outside play is seen as a way of tackling the problem.
After almost half a season of sitting on the sidelines, Pirelli’s medium Formula One tyre will finally take to the track at Valencia at the end of June. Its supersoft counterpart has a much shorter wait before seeing action for the first time, however – the Italian tyre maker reports the supersoft will debut at the Monaco Grand Prix on May 26; at this, the seventh event of the 2011 championship, the supersoft tyre will be used as option and the soft as the prime tyre. This combination will also be repeated two weeks later in Montréal. July’s Silverstone-hosted British Grand Prix will see a return to the use of the hard tyre as prime and the soft as an option – just as was the case during the first five Grands Prix of the season.
After crashing on Friday and missing the entirety of the second free practice session, Sebastian Vettel took his third grand prix win of the year, using a four-stop strategy to convert his pole position in Turkey to victory. The top five finishers used a four-stop strategy for the first time this year. Jenson Button was obliged to concede two places in the closing stages of the race, finishing sixth for McLaren, after a three-stop strategy forced him to run on PZero Silver tyres that were seven laps older than those of his team mate. Virgin’s Jerome d’Ambrosio drove a two-stop strategy, while Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi used a three-stop strategy to help propel him from last on the grid to a point-scoring 10th place finish.
Scottish driver David Bogie has extended his lead at the top of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship drivers’ standings with his second win out of three rounds on the Pirelli International Rally in Carlisle on the weekend of April 29 and 30. Now leading the pack by seven points, the 23-year-old from Dumfries has performed consistently well throughout this season, taking first on Rallye Sunseeker in February and second on the Bulldog International Rally North Wales last month.
Results for the first three months of the current financial year show Pirelli & C. SpA revenues increasing 23.4 per cent year-on-year to 1,401 million euros and a 43.3 per cent growth in the company’s gross operating result (EBITDA) to 203.4 million euros. The operating result (EBIT) before restructuring charges was 146.5 million euros, compared with 90.2 million euros in the first quarter of 2010, while EBIT after restructuring charges was 143.3 million euros, a year-on-year increase of 63.6 per cent. EBIT margin increased from 7.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 to 10.2 per cent.
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