News articles on the tyre retail business
The Retail Motor Industry (RMI) has announced the formation of an MOT Working Group, to discuss MOT policy and the future of the test. The group, chaired by RMI’s MOT chairman John Ball, will meet for the first time in November, and will include representatives from a broad cross-section of the MOT testing industry. The announcement follows significant speculation that the government has been reconsidering changing the MOT interval to two years from one at present.
TPMS-maker Schrader is taking the long road to Las Vegas to promote its EZ-Sensor product line to tyre dealers, distributors and consumers, reports Tire Review. Schrader embarked on a 6,400-mile journey around and across the country, leaving Detroit on 18 October and reaching the Global Tire Expo/SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center by 2 November. The “EZ Road to SEMA” Cross-Country Tour made a scheduled stop at Tire Review’s offices in Akron, its first on the journey. Carl Wacker, vice president, sales and marketing, and Tony Davenport, business development manager, are driving a custom-liveried, EZ-Sensor-fitted Toyota Prius on the Tour.
Today the axe fell on UK state spending, with some of the largest cuts in public service budgets in decades. But how will the small, medium and large scale business of the tyre industry be affected? The validity of concerns that some public service fleets are considering altering tyre fitment policies to incorporate changes at 1.6mm rather than 3mmt tread depths have yet to be confirmed. One might think that – quite apart from the clear safety benefits and the cost implications that road traffic injuries bring to public coffers – that the revenues MOT fees bring in may lead the government to reconsider recent talk of doubling the length between MOTs and therefore halving the test fee income. There has been no confirmation of that yet either, but there is some good news when it comes to the taxes businesses have to pay.
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA), which provides a life saving emergency service to the five million people across the county, has today received a cheque at their base at Leeds Bradford Airport worth £1000 from Deborah Horton of North Eastern Tyre and Autocare (NETA). The cheque was handed over following a string of fundraising efforts undertaken by the vehicle care specialists.
Deborah Horton is area retail manager for NETA, which has seven retail centres, 15 HiQ Fast Fit centres operated under franchise, as well as five wholesale depots across the North East and Yorkshire. She explains why the charity is so close to NETA’s heart: “The YAA works across the entire region covering rural landscape, major cities as well as motorways and thanks to its rapid response to emergencies it is responsible for rescuing hundreds of lives, many of which are the result of road accidents.”
Pirelli has commenced the second phase of its 2010 Pirelli Performance Centre (PPC) technical auditing process in the UK and Ireland, with the highest scoring depots set to be nominated for the prestigious title of Pirelli Performance Centre of the Year 2010. Pirelli developed the performance centre accreditation scheme to provide a network of dealers with the highest technical standards and commitment to customer service in order to instil confidence into Pirelli’s end users.
The recent NTDA annual dinner held in Manchester saw Infinity Tyres donate two return air tickets from London to Dubai (home of the Al Dobowi Group– owners of the Infinity brand). The tickets were auctioned by Peter Gaster, former NTDA chairman and raised £1600 for the BEN charity, which is reportedly a record for the event.
Nokian Tyres’ Vianor retail network is already active in 19 countries, with a total of 623 outlets in operation. In several Scandinavian markets the company has now extended Vianor concept to heavy vehicle tyres. Vianor, together with the Nokian Heavy Tyres division, has developed Vianor Industrial, through which companies and contractors operating heavy vehicles are offered a “professional solution utilising the latest innovations and operating models in the field of tyre manufacturing.” The Finnish tyre maker states it intends to add further Vianor Industrial outlets and expand the concept globally.
When the HiQ network promised to go pink during October, it wasn’t disclosing plans to see the popular singer in concert. No, it meant that during the month of October, the fast-fitter’s 150 centres are going all out to help hit the £100,000 target for its chosen charity, Breast Cancer Care, with every outlet challenged to raise £275 for the cause.
Over the coming 12 months motorists visiting any of garages utilised by Blackcircles.com will gain the added assurance provided by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders subsidiary Motor Codes. The online tyre retailer is taking steps to ensure each of the more than a thousand garages and fast fit outlets it uses subscribe to the Motor Codes ‘Service and Repair Code’, a decision it says will ensure greater peace of mind for motorists.
The latest addition to the HiQ network is a newly opened automotive centre in Aylesbury. The purpose-built centre, opened by local businessman Oliver Pearson with a £100,000 investment, is described by HiQ as catering “for every motorists' needs, offering state-of-the-art vehicle diagnostic equipment and a dedicated MOT testing bay.” The fast-fit network is already heralding the new Aylesbury centre as a ‘flagship’ site amongst HiQ's network of 150 centres up and down the UK.
Tyre Safety Month launched today with national backing from Motor Codes and its nationwide network of 6,500 garages along vehicle main dealers of the four Fiat Group brands. Fiat Group Automobiles UK announced that Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Fiat and Fiat Professional will promote the importance of correct tyre care and maintenance across their 328-strong, UK retail and service networks. The Fiat Group’s support will begin by offering drivers free tyre safety checks at its dealerships during tyre safety month.
Apollo Tyres has taken a further step with its retail business within India. The company already operates 15 Apollo Zones in a number of major cities, and now the tyre maker reports opening its first Apollo Super Zone centre. Located in Kolkata, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, this 16th Apollo Zone outlet is the largest opened by the company to-date and has a showroom space of 5,000 square feet. The new Apollo Super Zone was inaugurated by Apollo Tyres' chairman, Onkar S Kanwar.
Leading tyre wholesale operation Micheldever Tyres Services reports that it has increased unit sales despite the difficulties of selling in a market beset with recessionary pressures. This year the company expects sales of 6 million tyres – equivalent to just under 20 per cent of the total UK market – with an annual turnover of over £300 million. Not bad for a company that was bought from its founder Tony Todd in a reported £85 million deal just four years ago. When Tyres & Accessories spoke to wholesale director Alan Baldwin he revealed that these unit sales are set to include 1.2 million Kumho tyres. So does this figure reflect a market move to the mid-range as other sources suggest?
One of the most distinctive trends observed by leading tyre wholesalers during the course of the last year is the increasing size of the mid-range and budget segments. The predictions that a recessionary economy would support a so-called “de-segmentisation” process appear to have been right, with some of the largest distributors reporting that their retail customers are increasingly opting for budget and mid-range tyre purchases having decided to trade-down from the more expensive premium and OE products they may have had before.
The launch of Grouptyre’s goodtyreguide.com proves that the era of apps, widgets and plugins is upon us (see October's magazine for more on this). And while this column doesn’t normally single out individual companies for attention, the fact that we are running both e-Commerce and Wholesale features this month makes this story too apt to miss.
When Grouptyre announced it was seeking to bridge the wholesale/retail divide with a solution that not only ensures it has an online footprint, but also seeks to make the enterprise profitable for everyone involved, it certainly caught the market’s attention (see September’s magazine for details of the launch). That’s not to say that Grouptyre is unique amongst wholesalers in considering an online channel/B2B plugin approach. Far from it. Tyres & Accessories has it on good authority that all of the top three have looked into operating comparable systems. The difference is that Grouptyre is the first one to seize the initiative and take the plunge.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
