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Bridgestone Launch Bandag Chain to Boost Japanese Retreads

The Bridgestone Corporation has announced that it is to promote its recycled tyre business through Bandag, a new retail chain based on their retreading business acquisition of last year: the US firm Bandag Tire Solutions. The chain will look to employ the technology of Bandag Tire Solutions to retread around 10,000 tyres every year. Bridgestone plan to open its first new Bandag depot by the end of the year, and to spread the presence of the chain to 20 over the next three to four years. Each one will be the subject of a 100 million yen investment.

20th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Gates Tyres Joins First Stop

Bridgestone’s First Stop network of tyre dealerships has signed up Gates Tyres in Cumbria, bringing the total number in the First Stop network to 155. The First Stop network has added an additional 23 dealerships since the start of the year.

Gates Tyres retails car, commercial and agricultural tyres and has more than 50 employees across its two sites in Workington and Carlisle. The dealership is celebrating joining the First Stop network by taking part in two shows this summer including hosting a F1 show, featuring Bridgestone’s F1 car and simulator, at the Cumberland Show on 19th July and a tyre safety event for local shoppers on 20 July.

19th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New Store Planned by MNA

Michelin North America’s hometown Michelin on Main retail store has apparently been a success, so much so that MNA is planning for another outlet in South Carolina. MNA will open a new ShopMichelin retail store in the Westgate Mall in Spartanburg, South Carolina, next month. Michelin on Main, located in downtown Greenville, and ShopMichelin, offer Michelin branded consumer products, such as wearables and promotional items.

The company also recently launched ShopMichelin.com, an online version of its retail store concept. (Tire Review/Akron)

18th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Unimax Deal Off, Tirecraft Back into Receivership

Tirecraft Group was placed in back into receivership after Pneus Unimax pulled its offer to buy the distributor and franchisor, which was supposed to close on May 30. News reports indicate that two investment companies – Omni Group of Companies and Stern Group – are in the process of bidding to take over the Sherwood Park, Alberta-based Tirecraft. Their bids were due on June 15, according to the Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench.

CIT Business Credit Canada Inc., Tirecraft’s largest creditor, put the firm back into receivership on June 10 after efforts to sell the company to any of the original bidders failed. Ernst and Young, the court appointed receiver, plans to operate the business day-to-day while it is in receivership, though miscommunication apparently caused some store managers to close their doors briefly last week. Last week, Ernst and Young fired Tirecraft president William Steeple.

18th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Australia Prices to Rise August 1

Price increases of up to 5 per cent have been announced by Bridgestone Australia Ltd. The new pricing will be implemented on August 1 and includes most Bridgestone tyres, tubes, retreads and services.

Mac Ohashi, Bridgestone Australia chairman and CEO, commented that the company had absorbed the effect of rising raw material costs for as long as possible. “We have seen very significant continued upward price pressure on raw materials such as oil, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, steel and carbon black in combination with increased energy and transportation costs.

17th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Malaysian Retreading Association Increases Prices

The Tyre Retreading Manufacturers’ Association of Malaysia has announced the second price rise this year for retreaded tyres. This latest round of increases takes effect on July 1 and will see prices go up by between 5 and 18 per cent.

According to a June 12 report in the country’s China Press newspaper, service charges at retail tyre outlets will also increase by 20 per cent. Quoting a spokesman for the retreading association, the daily reported that manufacturers are finding it hard to cope with current conditions. “Initially the association wanted to increase the price of tyres by 25 per cent. But fearing a backlash from consumers, we decided to raise it to between 5 per cent and 18 per cent.”

13th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

India Now 3rd Largest Market for Budget Chinese Tyres

Data released by India’s Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) adds weight to complaints from Indian tyre manufacturers about the quantities of budget tyres arriving from China. According to the ATMA, since 2002-03 India has jumped from being the 39th largest market for Chinese tyres to being the third, and the organisation predicts it will slip into top place in the near future.

India’s Business Standard newspaper reports that during April-February 2008 Indian imports from China, at 1.2 million units, had almost doubled compared with the same period a year earlier. Chinese tyres hold a 15 per cent of the RS 78 billion (£927 million) replacement tyre market for trucks.

9th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Offers First Stop Dealers Toyota Incentive

First Stop dealers around the UK are being rewarded for their performance with a courtesy car scheme. Bridgestone UK launched the scheme in December 2007 and has incentivised dealers by offering the Toyota Aygo Hatchback 1.0 VVT to garages which have surpassed performance expectations. To date nearly 20 dealers have received a Toyota Aygo, on a two year lease, which can be used by garages for employees to go to and from work, as a courtesy car or as a general garage run around for collecting parts.

Commenting on the scheme Mark Fereday, Retail Development Manager, at Bridgestone said: “Bridgestone supports outstanding performance and the courtesy car scheme is the latest in a range of measures to support the First Stop network and believe businesses will feel significant benefits from being involved. The success to date suggests that it will be up and running across the network very soon.”

5th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Devalued Rupee Leads to Opposing Opinions on Tyre Dumping Duty

Depreciation of India’s Rupee against the US dollar is leading to stronger voices being raised for and against the country’s dumping duty on imported tyres. At present the duty is applied to bias tyres, and the All India tyre Dealers’ Federation (AITDF) is calling for its abolition in face of prices that effectively have increased 10 per cent in the last two to three months.

“Over the last eight to ten weeks, the rupee has depreciated by 10 per cent vis-à-vis dollar,” commented AITDF head SP Singh. “This has resulted in an increase of Rs 2,100 in the prices of a pair of radial truck and bus tyres. Moreover, the existing anti-dumping duty on bias tyres has already hit imports. So, we want the import duty to be abolished to compensate for the impact of rupee depreciation on the import of latest technology radial tyres.”

2nd June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Custom Wheels Entering US Aftermarket Mainstream – SEMA

Custom wheels and performance tyres in the US are rapidly expanding beyond the hot rod and racing market and into the mainstream aftermarket population, reports the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). Retail sales of custom wheels increased from US$1.265 billion in 1991 to more than $4.5 billion last year, a rise of 257 per cent. The percentage of cars produced with custom wheels has grown from 40.3 per cent in 1996 to 66.5 per cent in 2006, and the number of light trucks so equipped has gone from 70.9 per cent to 72.2 per cent during the same period.

Specialty/performance tyres often follow the custom-wheel market, SEMA adds. When customers upgrade the wheels on a vehicle, there is an inclination to do the same for the tyres. The market for performance tyres is slightly larger than the custom-wheel market. Performance tyres generated $4.4 billion in retail sales in 2006.

2nd June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

A Little Bit Different: Vogue Follows Its Own Path in Industry

Founded in 1914, Vogue Tyre has always been a little different, a bit more upscale. Best known as “that Cadillac tyre,” Vogue catered to top-end cars and sold what was touted as the industry’s first whitewall, a stark contrast to the day’s solid black tyres. Later, it added its now trademark white/gold sidewall stripes.

A family-owned company then as it is now, Vogue has never aspired to be a major tyre player, but rather wants to be known as a quality company with quality people (180 of them) offering quality products. The Mt. Prospect, Illinois-based Vogue is also a quality customer, celebrating its 70th anniversary as a Goodyear customer – and as Goodyear’s oldest private brand account.

30th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Appoints Car Dealer Executive

Carl Williams has been appointed as car dealer executive within Bridgestone’s Consumer Sales department. Williams celebrated 10 years with the organisation at the start of the year having joined the firm in 1998 as area sales manager, before transferring to the role of business development manager with Bridgestone’s First Stop network in 2007. In his new role Carl will continue to be responsible for the south and Wales, working alongside Phil Livingston, car dealer executive for the northern region.

Commenting on his new role, Carl Williams said: “I have worked within the tyre industry for 28 years and although I have worked in various roles, it has always been in a retail environment. This new role provides the opportunity to use my experience in consumer sales to tackle new challenges.”

30th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

5500 Garages Intend to Join New Code of Practice

The new Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair was launched by Motor Codes Limited to the trade at the Office of Fair Trading in London on 29 May. Over 5,500 garages have reportedly signalled their intent to subscribe via a pre-launch commitment programme. Any UK garage can sign up to the voluntary code, which is currently progressing through the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) Consumer Codes Approval Scheme (CCAS). To comply with the code, a business will need to commit to meet the requirements for completing service and repair work whilst engaging with their customers.

The announcement follows threats of a so-called “super complaint” from consumer agencies, due to variable and sometimes poor service in the garage trade. The code aims to promote and safeguard the interests of consumers by helping them identify subscribing garages, and by “providing an easily accessible and robust dispute resolution mechanism when required.”

30th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Exec Discusses Success, Future Plans

After nearly a decade of decline, Continental Tire North America finally got into the black in 2007, success driven by a new focus on products, delivery and dealer relations. At its recent Gold Dealer meeting, held during a Caribbean cruise, Continental Tire North America outlined its expansion plans for the program. Andreas Gerstenberger, executive vice president of sales and marketing for CTNA’s consumer tyre group, sat down with Tire Review to discuss the company’s turnaround and future growth plans.

Since Continental bought out General in 1987, there have been numerous management changes. Now things seem to be clicking. What do you have in place now that you didn’t have before?

“The first thing that’s important, if you want to have stability in a team, is figuring out together what your strategy is in a given market. For a long time it wasn’t completely clear within the Continental group what the position of Continental Tire/General Tire should be in the US market.

29th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Opens First India CV Tyre Outlet

Apollo Tyres has opened its first full-service branded commercial vehicle tyre outlet in India. Located in Salem, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the new outlet is called Apollo Trust, and is the first of a number of outlets that will be established in large trucking halt points outside city limits and along India’s national highways. Apollo reports the Salem centre is equipped with the latest commercial vehicle wheel aligning, tyre balancing and nitrogen gas inflation equipment and staffed with highly trained employees. Therefore, the company adds, Apollo Trust is best positioned to cater to the unique and demanding needs of India’s commercial vehicle operators and drivers, who currently utilise both cross ply and radial tyres.

Plans are underway to gradually increase the Apollo Trust network to five locations in the next few months, offering tyres and tyre-related services, alongside the sale of retreaded tyres and retreading materials. Apollo Tyres states in a press release it felt the need to introduce such service-oriented outlets to “assist customers move up the value proposition, enabling them to chose the appropriate application for their vehicles and operational needs through informed decision making.”

29th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors