The HiQ fast fit network is working in conjunction with Goodyear to present drivers who purchase an EfficientGrip tyre online will receive a £10 fuel voucher to be used at their nearest Sainsbury station. In addition, purchasers can receive £20, £30 and £40 if they kit their cars out with two, three or four EfficientGrip tyres online.
A nationwide campaign by tyre manufacturer Goodyear to promote its EfficientGrip tyres will be launched on Tuesday, 2 November in Gateshead. The manufacturer will reportedly partner with five petrol stations across England to give motorists £20 of free unleaded or diesel fuel, and will be available for four hours each day or until stocks run out with an estimated 600 motorists expected to benefit at each location. The campaign is designed to stress the fuel savings potential of fitting the company’s EfficientGrip tyre.
Thompson Commercials, the largest private Renault Trucks dealer in the UK, has ordered 10 sets of xlite forged aluminium wheels for a new fleet of Premium 460.25 6×2 tractor units. The purchase of the 8.25 x 22.5-inch wheels was made after a customer specifically requested the product to further improve the vehicles’ class-leading fuel efficiency and payload capacity.
Sun Tyre & Wheel Systems, part of the $6 billion TVS Group of India, has completed the acquisition of Watts Lanka Private Limited, the firm’s solid industrial tyres manufacturing company in Colombo, Sri Lanka. No details of how much was paid for the company or of the extent of the new owner’s expansion plans have been released.
Announcing the news Sun Tyre & Wheel Systems said it is “dedicated to serving the world’s material handling industry with a wide range of tyre and wheel solutions covering most applications and operating environments.” Watts Lanka Private Limited (which will be renamed shortly) was a joint venture between Watts Tyres Limited of the UK and KVK Invest JSC of Bulgaria, principal shareholder in Balkancar Zarya PLC. One insider told Tyres & Accessories that, as the sale relates to a purchase prior to Watts’ recent buyout, this had been considered as an option for some time.
Volvo Car UK has announced the launch of its new Winter Tyre Programme, which offers drivers the opportunity to purchase a set of alloy wheels and Continental or Pirelli winter tyres. For a twice yearly charge, Volvo is also offering storage of the off-season tyres and fitment when it is time for the changeover. Volvo says the scheme is “a response to last January’s heavy snowfall, which saw the coldest temperatures since 1963 and icy conditions that caused misery for millions of motorists”.
The first of the new promotions by Grouptyre and its value brand Federal is nearing its conclusion, but the wholesaler says retailers still have time to sign up and win a Red Letter Day experience. Focussed on Federal high performance, light truck, 4×4 and SUV tyres, for which Grouptyre is the exclusive UK distributor, the 2010 incentive runs as two consecutive promotions that the company says have already attracted “a great deal of interest”.
Goodyear has targeted US operators of the Cessna Citation CJ3 and Falcon 20/50/200 business jets with a new rebate promotion called ‘Flight Options’. The manufacturer is currently offering a $100 per tyre mail-in rebate programme, which it announced today at the National Business Aviation Association’s NBAA2010 trade show. Goodyear is distributing rebate coupons and further information at its booth (number 6670).
According to research undertaken by market research company fast.MAP for mytyres.co.uk, price, choice and convenience are the main reasons why UK motorists are increasingly buying tyres online rather than from high street retailers. One thousand motorists were surveyed in September for the UK Delticom online operation, and price was identified as the most important reason for buying online. Delticom reports that over 80 per cent of respondents indicated that buying online was cheaper and more than 70 per cent said it was easier and quicker than more traditional methods: in excess of half of those surveyed cited the ability to order from the comfort of home as an important factor.
Titan International reports that at the expiration time for its eight per cent senior unsecured notes offer on October 1, 99.2 per cent of the outstanding principal amount had been validly tendered – a sum totalling US$138,884,000. The company accepted and paid for $138,874,000 aggregate principal amount of its senior notes, as per a previously announced early settlement election, and subsequently accepted for purchase and paid for an additional $10,000 principal amount of senior notes that were tendered on or prior to the expiration time.
MAM Software's new range of e-commerce solutions is banking on its ability to improve customer service and increase the efficiency of transactions both up and down tyre distributors’ and retailer’ supply chain. By handling purchases and sales electronically, MAM's e-commerce solutions are designed to speed-up responses, reduce errors and cut administrative overheads, say company representatives.
On 9 September valuetyres.co.uk was awarded the site of the week by New Media Age (NMA) magazine, scoring 81/100. Here’s how they commended the tyre etail site: “With a name like Value Tyres, you'd expect exactly that, and the tyre etailer aims to reinforce this with its website. Designed in an uncluttered grey and orange, the home page carried the Tyre Price Promise and a breakdown of the service it offers…The website makes buying very straightforward…[it] certainly does what it says on the tin.”
"We are really pleased to have been awarded site of the week for our website, we work hard to ensure that it is user friendly and informative and kept up to date to ensure that our customers are able to make an informed decision during our easy purchase process" Value Tyres website manager Tina Newman commented.
Continental Tyres is showing its support for October’s Tyre Safety month in October with a call for UK motorists to be aware of the safety benefits winter tyres offer. Traditionally the British climate has been viewed as too temperate to warrant winter tyres, yet last year’s ‘big freeze’ saw many drivers unprepared and left stranded or involved in accidents that might have been avoided had winter tyres been fitted.
The Port of Ephrata, an inland industrial area located in the US state of Washington, is awaiting a legal opinion from its attorney about proceeding with Washington Tire's prospective factory. Local newspaper the Columbia Basin Herald states that Washington Tire missed a recent deadline to supply documentation to the Port of Ephrata about the "legal authority" of company representative Abraham Hengyucius (whose real name, according to US publication Tire Review, is Hengyu Zhang) and the firm’s "legitimate incorporation".
Stapleton’s has significantly increased its stock capacity with the company’s official opening of a new 100,000 square foot warehousing facility in Birmingham. The new warehouse, which is reportedly already stocked, is designed to hold over 250,000 tyres. Company representatives told Tyres & Accessories that the site will utilise “the latest technology and picking systems to ensure the best possible efficiency and delivery turnaround, reinforcing Stapleton’s commitment to being a fast, reliable and efficient distributor.”
India’s Ruia Group is reportedly “close” to purchasing a German automotive component company, and may route any agreed transaction through its listed Falcon Tyres subsidiary. Group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia states that Falcon Tyres will raise around Rs 8 billion (£111.6 million) by way of fresh shares through a rights issue, equity convertible warrant or other means to fund its expansion programme of overseas acquisitions and capacity expansion at home.
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