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Titan Tire to Raise Prices in March

Titan Tire Corporation, a subsidiary of Titan International, has announced price increases for its Titan branded OTR, agricultural and construction tyres, and Titan manufactured Goodyear branded agricultural tyres. These price rises will take effect March 1, 2010, and will in most cases incorporate an increase of up to six per cent. Titan comments, however, that “certain tyre prices may rise in excess of six per cent due to realignment and positioning of the product.”

18th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

National Opened 6 Branches in 2009, Next Opening: January 2010

National Tyres and Autocare finished 2009 on a positive note with a string of new branch openings and looks to the year ahead with plans for further acquisition and investment as part of the company’s expansion strategy. Despite a tough year all round for the market, National launched a number of new branches throughout the year, including sites in Livingston, Grimsby, Norwich, Selby and Leicester. Further branch openings are on National’s agenda for 2010 with the first, in Wrexham, due to launch at the end of January.

8th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Analysts Predict Strong Winter Tyre Season

Market analysts at Deutsche Bank are predicting that the European market is in the middle of experiencing a strong winter tyre season. After two weak years in Germany, 2009 was strong due to low dealer inventories and good winter conditions, the analysts point out. And if the second run of cold weather and snow affecting the UK and Europe at the moment is anything to go by 2010 is offering the right conditions for increased demand in this sector.

5th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

DriveRight Partners eBay

DriveRight has partnered with online sales giant eBay, introducing eParts as a feature of any eBay Store involved in wheel and tyre sales. Searching for products is now easier for online shoppers, reportedly resulting in superior conversion of eBay traffic for store owners.

With more wheel and tyre retailers launching websites to attract online shoppers, eBay stores are a popular way to manage web-based sales. DriveRight’s Tyrefit product behind eParts allows smaller sellers to leverage their eBay stores to even greater effect, providing their customers with an enhanced search function to locate a wider range of suitable aftermarket product for their vehicles.

8th December 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Analysts: Tyre Makers to Raise Prices in 2010

Financial analysts expect tyre makers to increase prices between 5 and 8 per cent in January 2010, in part due to increased demand and supply shortages in some markets. The Morgan Stanley analysts once again singled out Hankook for particular praise and a “Buy” rating, saying: “After raising tyre prices by an average 7 per cent in the US in mid-October, Hankook is planning to raise average selling by…6 – 7 per cent in other major markets from early next year.”

Yokohama, Continental and Nexen have all announced plans to raise prices by 5-8 per cent from January next year, the analysts explained, adding: “Hankook is also scheduled to begin price negotiations with…OEMs this month and is targeting a 3 per cent average selling price increase. These price hikes should help it offset natural rubber price hike to a large extent.”

8th December 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Watts Tyre Group to Raise Prices 6% in 2010

Watts Tyre Group has announced a 6 per cent average price increase, effective 1 January 2010. The news “follow[s] significant increases in raw material prices, principally natural rubber which forms the principle cost element of solid tyres. Watts also expect transportation costs to increase over the coming months,” the company wrote in a statement. RSS3 pricing broke through the 280US¢/kg barrier in early December, 12 months after hitting a low of 107US¢/kg – an astonishing rise of 165 per cent. Over the last quarter the price has risen by over 30 per cent alone bringing it within reach of the 2008 record high, Watts representatives reported.

4th December 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Global Recession Costs UK Tyre Manufacturers and Distributors £299 million

The recession has cost the UK tyre manufacturers and distributors £299 million in lost profit during the last year, according to new research by Plimsoll Publishing. David Pattison, senior analyst and author of the Plimsoll Analysis – Tyre Manufacturers & Distributors, commented: “The recession has hit the sector hard with more than half of the companies analysed in our new report making less profit than they were a year before. The bill in lost profits stands at £299 million”.

When pressed for a reason for this collapse in the bottom line of companies throughout the market, Pattison suggested: “With demand so subdued and the resultant competition, many companies are unable to charge the price they need to make healthy profit margins. In the absence of pricing power many companies will have to make painful but necessary cutbacks in the next 12 month”.

3rd December 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Morgan Stanley: Michelin Revenues to Grow 7% in 2010

Although Michelin managing partner Michel Rollier has expressed doubt that the tyre major’s revenues will increase in 2010, other expert opinions differ. Morgan Stanley Research Europe stated on November 24 that “we expect revenue growth of seven per cent – far more optimistic than Michelin management's recent outlook of no growth.” This prediction is even more optimistic than the Bloomberg survey of analysts that netted an average estimate of revenues rising by 4.3 per cent to 15.4 billion euros. To expand on the Morgan Stanley projection, an expected ten per cent volume growth should be partially offset by a three per cent decline in price/mix.

26th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

MacSams Launches UK Tyre Portal

Consumer choice for online tyre purchases has been broadened through the launch of a new website by Edinburgh based company MacSams. The macsamstyres.co.uk portal enables motorists to purchase new tyres online and have them fitted by a local garage, and MacSams Tyres says buying through its website offers savings of up to 45 per cent on the rates found at traditional fast fit centres. Indeed, the company expresses confidence it can offer “the cheapest online destination for tyres in the UK.”

10th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

When Handed Lemons – Kwik-Fit Fleet gains new business through operator belt-tightening

You’d have to look under a fairly isolated rock to find someone unaware of the beating the transport industry has taken in 2009, but fewer people are aware that dwindling fleet vehicle purchases have also brought some benefits. Kwik-Fit Fleet is one firm to have gained from this effect of the recession Head of Kwik-Fit Fleet Mike Wise, when talking with Tyres & Accessories, reflects that the fleet industry has been for the last 15 or 16 months totally dominated by recession affected businesses looking to cut costs, and this has proven a boon to the fast fit services provider: “Since the recession struck in 2008, an increasing number of businesses have extended their fleet replacement cycles,” he explains. “Recession-induced lengthening fleet replacement cycles have provided a major business opportunity for Kwik-Fit Fleet as tyre consumption rises and an increasing volume of MOTs and service and repair work is required as vehicles move into their fourth year of operation and even longer.”

3rd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement Will Aid Tyre Sales

Editorial/Comment, International News, News

On 15 October EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton and Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon initialled a free trade agreement (FTA), which the EU calls “the most important ever negotiated between the European Union and a third country.” Estimated to be worth a total of 19 billion euros in new trade for EU exporters, the agreement is designed to remove virtually all tariffs between the two economies.

However, it is a bilateral deal. And European carmakers, apparently fearful of being swamped by imports of more economically priced Korean cars in an already depressed market, were the first to call for a rethink through industry body ACEA. However this appears to have been too little too late and according to the commission, the initialling signals the end of negotiations. The current “stable legal text” will be formally presented to EU Member States in early 2010. So what does this mean for the European tyre (and associated product) markets?

30th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Stapleton’s Reviews “Extremely Positive” Year

Stapleton’s says that, despite the current economic climate, sales have been “performing well” over the past twelve months, reaching levels similar to those in 2008, and that it feels well-placed to take advantage of the current growth in the replacement tyre market. That the wholesaler has seen its private and exclusive brands – which include Primewell, Matador, Prestivo and Nexen – growing is perhaps unsurprising due to current market conditions, though Stapleton’s is keen to show that the programmes available alongside these labels are to some extent also responsible for their rise. “All of these ranges are offered with attractive dealer support packages to reward valued loyalty,” the company states. It also stocks all the major names.

14th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

North Hants Tyres: Specialist Niche Sees Little Change

Classic car tyre provider, North Hants Tyres says that the past year has yielded a rise in classic radial sizes such as 125×15, 145×15 and 165×15 as the major manufacturers ceased their production. The small niche market for specialist tyres has, according to the company, seen little fluctuation and, in spite of undoubtedly difficult market conditions, there has been an increase in sales over the past year.

5th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Online Tyre Sales Still a Mid Range Market

With 70 per cent of us now having access to the Internet, and consumers making an average of 2.1 virtual purchases a month, maintaining the right online presence is as important as ever. According to the 2009 Oxford Internet Survey, the two most common online activities are researching product purchases and actually buying them (about 80 per cent of web users having done each). However with a multitude of distractions out there in cyberspace, tyre businesses have developed complex e-marketing strategies designed to lure customers to their sites with low prices, before up-selling them onto more expensive products. Some of the clearest evidence to date shows that the Internet is an increasingly competitive mid-range market, not a budget bargain basement as some say.

Comparing online price monitoring data with the results of market research conducted by Encircle Marketing shows that national fast fits continue to be the most expensive places to buy, with tyres costing £86.22 between January and August 2009. No surprises there. The fact that tyres are cheapest at pure e-tailers (£65.91) on average, won’t surprise many either. In fact, with the exception of average prices at autocentres rising to meet those at car dealerships (£78.68 and £79.18 respectively) the pattern is pretty much the same as it was last year.

2nd October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Cam Commits to £1.3 Million Software and Services Programme

Cam Systems, the leading provider of software solutions and services to the UK independent tyre industry, has announced that it is investing £1.3 million in a customer charter called Cam 20:20. According to the company, Cam 20:20 sets out the its aims to serve customers more effectively by providing “wider IT options…and by ensuring the transparency of Cam’s performance against defined customer service levels.” In other words, the company is furthering its joined up approach to tyre business systems, with new products and a set of new service level agreements.

Cam 20:20 is the result of customer surveys conducted by Cam that highlighted the requirement for both more tailored and, at the same time, more comprehensive services from one systems provider. This means the launch of a 32 bit version of the company’s popular Cameo software, which runs on the latest windows operating systems and vastly improving reporting capabilities – even opening up the possibility of Google-style analytics. At the same time, Cam’s .NET system rewrite will deliver document management software (for purchase and sales ledgers, fleet management and call centre options) in the early part of 2010.

To support the introduction of Cam 20:20, the company has created a dedicated customer services team after appointing Steve Bazeley to the new role of customer services director. And new service level agreements (SLA) provide a more tailored approach to IT service needs. Customers can opt for Premium, Business or Standard agreements.

2nd October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors