Ford of Britain has joined TyreSafe as part of its UK Corporate Social Responsibility programme. Through its membership, Ford of Britain will support TyreSafe’s campaigns, helping to educate drivers of both car and commercial vehicles about the importance of proper, regular tyre maintenance. It will also provide the group with other valuable insight to help improve road safety.
Pirelli’s entrance into Formula One tyre supply was informed, in common with most motorsport tyre suppliers, by the desire to enhance recognition of the brand and sell more road tyres. When manufacturers start to market their tyres based on their motorsport involvement, a primary rhetorical stance is often to speak of “race to road” technological advantages; in other words, motorsport research yields certain technologies that help to improve companies’ passenger car tyres. To mark the end of its first season as the sole supplier to F1, Pirelli has released a statement comparing its race and road tyres that reveals where the crossover actually occurs:
Earlier this month, Pirelli was awarded the Ducati’s 2010 Best Product Innovation Award, an award offered by the motorcycle manufacturer to its most innovative supplier of the year. As a way of determining who receives this coveted award, the Italian firm utilises a committee made up of members of its Purchasing, Technical, Quality and Logistics departments; the committee analyses the performance of its suppliers from all evaluated aspects. In particular, Pirelli gained recognition from Ducati for its work in its development of the Scorpion Trail tyres for the Ducati Multistrada and the new 240/45 ZR17 size Diablo Rosso II for the Ducati Diavel.
Pirelli & C. SpA has announced the resignation of Francesco Profumo from the company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Profumo submitted his resignation following his appointment as Italy’s Minister of Education, Universities and Research in the government being set up under new Prime Minister Mario Monti. In a statement, Pirelli said it “wishes to thank Mr. Profumo, an independent Board member and member of the Strategies Committee, for his valuable contribution.”
Toyo Tire & Rubber’s Nitto brand will appear in the popular automotive-based Facebook game Car Town thanks to a deal between Nitto Tire U.S.A. and Cie Games. The one-year part multiple phase integrated partnership gives Car Town players the chance to participate in Nitto-branded game missions featuring the company's new line of tyres, and will also offer new in-game activities, virtual items, community contests and giveaways.
According to the latest vehicle registration figures, the Volkswagen Golf remains Europe’s best-selling car despite a sales decrease of 2.5 per cent in October compared to a year earlier (its sales also fell 1.8 per cent measured year-to-date). The Volkswagen Polo, with sales up by 1.2 per cent in October, regained second place while the Ford Fiesta claimed third, selling 26,553 vehicles.
Pirelli says the challenge for its tyres at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, the penultimate round of this year’s Formula One World Championship, will be in maintaining their performance throughout the operating range of temperatures. The race will be run from dusk to nightfall, meaning that track temperatures tend to fall and then stabilise. This affects pace, degradation and wear. In addition to the manufacturer’s 2011 specification tyres, the Abu Dhabi circuit will act as a proving ground for Pirelli’s latest range of development tyres, echoing last year’s first appearance on a contemporary Formula One car.
Fuel consumption and tyre wear account for a large chunk of most transport operators’ ongoing costs, thus it is crucial to eliminate all unnecessary expense. Incorrectly aligned bus and coach wheels, for example, can have an adverse effect on both tyre wear and fuel consumption. When PSV wheels are aligned properly, these two problems are reduced, less strain is placed upon mechanical components, drivers report reduced fatigue and tyres are less likely to overheat.
Following the publication of positive nine-month figures yesterday (8 November), Pirelli chairmain Marco Tronchetti Provera today released details of the manufacturer's goals between now and 2015. The headlining statement of intent is the desire to be "global premium leader" (following a so-called "local by local" strategy) by 2015. And in order to achieve this Pirelli is increasing capital investment up to a value of 2.2 billion euros for the period 2011-2015.
Pirelli & C. SpA has reported that in the nine months ending 30 September 2011, the tyre manufacturing group saw "all economic indicators improved over the period," with revenues growing by 17.9 per cent to 4,265.8 million euros and profitability – understood as the ratio of the operating result to sales – by 10.6 per cent.
Although Continental merged its Passenger & Light Truck Tires and Commercial Vehicle Tires divisions into a single unit, the Tires division, on August 1 this year, both remain as business units within the combined division. At the start of next year management of the Commercial Vehicle Tires business unit will be handed over to Dr. Andreas Esser, who is currently responsible for Continental’s passenger car and van tyre replacement business in the Asia-Pacific region. In his new role, the 52-year old will report directly to Tire division chief Nikolai Setzer.
A three-year agreement signed between Pirelli & C. S.p.A and the Politecnico di Milano, or Milan Polytechnic, on November 4 is expected to tackle several key research areas. The Italian tyre maker and the polytechnic will undertake research into Formula One tyres using mathematical models that simulate tyre grip and wear in relation to the surfaces of various circuits, study the de-vulcanisation of end of life tyres and nanocharges and biopolymers, and will continue work on Pirelli’s ‘Cyber Tyre’ by developing mathematical models that allow the chip contained in the tyre to “interpret” different road surface conditions. The agreement also covers training activities; the Polytechnic will focus on the recruitment, placement and training of engineers in Brazil, China and Mexico. These activities will be supported in coordination with the structures Pirelli has or is developing in those regions.
To better target female consumers, Cooper Tire & Rubber has signed a parternship with well-known North American online automotive resource AskPatty.com. This formal agreement continues the tyre maker’s relationship with AskPatty, which began in July with a series of online articles supported by AskPatty’s social media outlets to help educate women on the importance of tyre care.
According to a recent study commissioned by Kwik-Fit, as many as 1.9 million part-worn tyres may have been purchased by UK motorists in this past year – and many more drivers would contemplate buying them. The study of 2,024 UK adults, carried out by ICM Research in September 2011, not only showed that the aforementioned six per cent of car owners fitted part-worn tyres to their vehicles; it also revealed that as many as 19.3 million motorists, or 62 per cent of car owners, would consider buying part-worns.
Fleets with fewer than 25 cars, vans and trucks apply almost as much control to buying petrol and diesel as those with more than 25 vehicles, according to new research by MIB Data Solutions. The company asked 3003 companies with fewer than 25 vehicles and 616 with more than 25 how they acquired fuel (The results do not total 100 per cent because some use more than one method of purchasing).
Nick Boddington, managing director, said: “The results of this survey are quite surprising. Certainly, we expected a much greater disparity between small and large fleets when it comes to the amount of control they apply to fuel buying but the figures for all the methods of purchasing we investigated are very similar.
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