Demand for larger tyre sizes continues to increase, and Michelin intends to better equip its Dundee factory for their production through a project being implemented at a total cost of £16.5 million. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday that Michelin’s own investment will be supported by a £4.5 million Environmental Protection Grant from Scottish Enterprise.
Oscar Solberg has claimed victory on Pirelli tyres on his British Rally Championship debut. Driving a Ford Fiesta R2T, the 20-year-old Norwegian won the Junior BRC category on the opening round of the 2017 season, the Border Counties Rally in southern Scotland. Solberg is the son of World Rally Championship podium-finisher Henning and nephew of Petter, who used Pirelli tyres to become world champion in 2003 with Subaru. He is just the latest second-generation rally star to show his potential with Pirelli recently: Kalle Rovanpera, 16, last year became champion in Latvia, where Solberg’s own cousin Oliver is now also embarking on his rally career.
Motor Wheel Service Distribution (MWSD) is targeting improved delivery timescales in Scotland with a new logistics partnership. Drummond Distribution will offer the company’s Scottish customers next-day delivery on its most popular commercial vehicle wheel sizes. Covering Chevron Steel as well as Xlite and new Xbrite+ forged aluminium wheels, the service will cover over 90 per cent of orders received before 4pm. More uncommon sizes and specifications will be supplied via MWSD’s warehouse in Manchester with delivery within two-three days.
McGill’s Buses has signed a five-year extension to its Michelin solutions tyre management programme. The fleet operator said Michelin solutions’ “fantastic support” was a key factor in its decision to renew. The Effitires contract covers the operator’s 400-plus single and double-decker buses, and will see Michelin solutions supply, fit and service the operator’s Michelin tyres.
Scottish bus and coach operator Whitelaws Coaches has implemented a Continental tyres only policy on its fleet following tests against its previous tyre choice. George Whitelaw said, “We had been running other premium tyres for a great many years, but when we were offered the chance to trial Continental’s equivalent product on two of our hard-working bus fleet, we thought it would be good get some sort of measure on how well our policy had been serving us. We were very pleasantly surprised to discover Continental’s Urban HA3 M+S tyres significantly outperformed the tyres we had been using.”
While its latest US acquisition gives an indication of Conti’s future fleet strategy, the manufacturer has also been boosted by recent European endorsements. Scottish quarrying and supply company, Tillicoultry Quarries, implemented a Continental construction tyres only policy following several months of practical on-the-job testing. Speaking from its company’s Kincardine site in Fife, Craig Wilson, site & transport manager, said: “For a long time we had run a combination of remoulds and ‘budget’ tyres. We were experiencing significant downtime however, as well as the added costs of driver waiting, mechanic call outs and delayed deliveries, so we implemented a thorough review of our tyre policy. At about that time, our latest batch of Scanias came in with Continental construction tyres fitted, which allowed us to monitor those particularly closely.”
Michelin Corporate Foundation has been announced as a corporate founding partner in the development of the V&A Museum of Design Dundee. The V&A Museum will be the first in the UK outside of London, and is part of a wider £1 billion regeneration scheme for the city. Due for completion in 2018, the foundation will support both its initial and ongoing development with a significant investment. A gallery within V&A Dundee will take on the Michelin name for a term of 25 years. Michelin has strong ties to Dundee; its tyre plant on Baldovie Road is the city’s largest employer. The French manufacturer committed to an investment of £52 million to modernise the plant in 2015, and was recently visited by the Queen.
Inverness-based servicing and repair centre Servicesure Autocentre Anderson Clark Motor Repairs was named ‘Best Independent Garage of the Year’ in the 2016 Motor Trader Industry Awards.
Car parts distributor Euro Car Parts (ECP) has opened its 16th Scotland branch in Dumfries, taking on a staff of 20. The 8,600sqft (799sqm) unit, which has a trade and retail counter, along with an additional mezzanine floor, has been leased from a private investor for a term of ten years.
East Kilbride’s semi-professional footballer, Sean Winter, who also works within the independent aftermarket as a parts representative for Autoparts UK, faces one of the toughest decisions of his life: play Celtic in the Scottish Cup or fly to Australia on his dream, family holiday.
Joint recipient of the Tyre Industry Awards’ REACT Roadside Technician of the Year, ATS Euromaster’s Michael Vasey works at the network’s Aberdeen centre predominantly as a mobile technician in one of ATS Euromaster’s more than 820 service vans. The 29-year-old holds City and Guilds qualifications in every aspect of tyre fitting and roadside breakdown, from car and van to heavy industrial vehicles, including experience working airside at Aberdeen International Airport.
Noting the growing popularity of the sport in the UK, Autoparts UK will sponsor two Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) teams – Braehead Clan and Dundee Stars – in the upcoming 2015/16 season. The EIHL is the only league outside the USA with affiliation to the NHL, and Glasgow’s Braehead Clan plays in front of 3500 fans. The club’s attendance figures have risen 242 per cent in the past five years, proving an increasingly attractive option for sport sponsorship.
Four Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship drivers have supported Road Safety Scotland’s ‘Race on the Track, Stay Safe on the Road’ initiative, crossing the Forth Road Bridge ahead of this weekend’s event at Knockhill.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has reacted with disappointment to the big increase in fatalities on Scotland’s roads as announced this morning by Transport Scotland, stating it made the Scottish government’s mid-term review of its Road Safety Plan all the more urgent.
Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles has supplied a new fleet of 34 Sprinter vans to Scotland’s largest independent garage chain, Ayr-based McConechy’s Tyre Service Ltd. The vans are now working across McConechy’s network of 50 branches throughout Scotland and the North of England.
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