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Asian ‘Tyrepac’ Retail Tyre Portal Officially Launched

February 19 marked the official launch of Asia’s first online retail tyre portal, Tyrepac Pte. Ltd. Backed by S$2 million (£906,000) in seed funds from various investors, Tyrepac plans to offer services throughout the region, commencing in its home territory of Singapore. The company will expand its services to Malaysia, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Thailand by the first half of this year.

Mr Ler Hwee Tiong, managing director and co-founder of Tyrepac, said, “There will always be a demand for tyres, since every motor vehicle, old or new, will need to have their tyres replaced depending on usage and driver requirements. In today’s competitive marketplace, we want to be able to provide motorists with a single platform that is convenient, has a comprehensive range of tyres, and offers transparent pricing for all products so that our customers can truly enjoy one-stop service that meets individual needs.”

23rd February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

CJ Bird Reports ‘Going the Extra Mile’ with Michelin

Welsh haulage firm CJ Bird Transport regularly clocks up 500,000 km on its Michelin drive axle tyres and 600,000 km on its Michelin trailer tyres thanks to an active programme of tyre husbandry carried out by independent tyre dealer Celtic Tyres. The Llantrisant-based company specifies Michelin as original equipment wherever possible, and the tyres’ longevity means many of the trucks it purchases never need to be fitted with a new replacement tyre during their life on the fleet.

17th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Wins 12-Month Contract

Bridgestone and Truck Point have been awarded a 12-month contract by A W Jenkinson Forest Products to supply replacement tyres and tyre services to the company’s haulage fleet, which comprises more than 250 vehicles and 280 trailers. A W Jenkinson handles over 2.2 million tonnes of wood fibre, paper products and recyclables and is the largest bark processor in the UK. The contract will see Bridgestone UK supplying new tyres and tyre servicing will be carried out by Truck Point service provider Harolds Tyres of Penrith.

11th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental AG in State Aid Negotiations

Continental AG and its controlling shareholder, Schaeffler Group, are reportedly seeking aid from two German state governments. According to a Bloomberg report, German federal government isn’t directly involved in the “advanced talks” with the Lower Saxony and Bavaria state authorities. On 27 January representatives of the IG Metall trade union told reports that any state aid should be used to help save jobs and “not the private wealth of company owners Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler and her son Georg.” The union, which represents a total of 2.3 million employees, said workers should also get a say in running the company.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, has lowered Continental AG’s creditworthiness two levels to ‘BB’ from ‘BBB-‘. According to an S&P statement the decision was made following an analysis of Continental’s revised business plan and the renegotiation of financial covenants. Continental AG is currently responsible for servicing an estimated 22 billion euros of debts.

27th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Opens New Canadian Distribution Warehouse

Pirelli Tire Inc has opened a second warehouse distribution centre. The new facility is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the company reports that it is “dedicated to servicing customers in western Canada.” Pirelli has appointed Schenker Distribution to manage the operations effective immediately. Despite widely publicised tribulations in the automotive sector, Pirelli’s continuing growth in Canada makes capacity expansion necessary at this time, Marco Zambianchi, vice-president & general manager of Pirelli Canada, explained: “As our brand continues to grow, this addition will ensure that our dealers can fully satisfy consumer demand in a timely fashion.” Pival International Inc. remains the company’s primary distribution centre in eastern Canada.

23rd January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

HiQ Celebrates First National Franchise Conference

HiQ bosses recently held the retail network’s first National Franchise Conference. The leading fast fit retailer organised a franchise networking event at the impressive Crewe Hall venue in Cheshire, where the company’s recently named new managing director, Juergen Titz, outlined HiQ’s vision to grow in the fast-fit and vehicle servicing market. The event gave HiQ the opportunity to have an open dialogue with its franchisees and inform them of the types of services open to them, such as online ordering technology, marketing support and new corporate identity graphics.

Despite trading in an unprecedented economic downturn, the company remained extremely upbeat about its future, mainly because of its National Franchise Programme. HiQ’s franchise structure is the only one of its kind in the fast fit industry, with 130 sites now run by 41 franchisees. By the end of February, this figure will rise to 138 sites and by the end of 2009, it is hoped that 170 centres will be franchised.

22nd January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

NTDA Urges Industry to Back Brityrex in September

The National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) has expressed its disappointment at the cancellation of April’s CV Show in a statement that also encouraged support for September’s Brityrex exhibition.

Association director Richard Edy said that members would be directly affected by this week’s decision: “The CV Show is always of great interest to many of our members involved in supplying and servicing commercial vehicle tyres. Of course it’s disappointing that a major opportunity to do business has been lost but we appreciate that these unprecedented economic times have hit the vehicle manufacturing sector extremely hard. We look forward to the show returning next year,” he said.

15th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Extended Fleet Replacement Cycles a Major Opportunity for Kwik Fit

One result of the recession is that fleet operators are prolonging the time they hold onto their vehicles. This is not such great news for used car dealers that previously snapped up the steady stream of three year old ex-fleet vehicles entering the market, but Kwik-Fit says lengthening fleet replacement cycles are providing it with a major business opportunity – tyre consumption rises and an increasing volume of MoTs and service and repair work is required as vehicles move into their fourth year of operation. Yet simultaneously, one of the biggest challenges facing Kwik-Fit Fleet and fleet decision-makers is cost management and the recent, unprecedented increases in the price of tyres.

13th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Motorists Facing ‘Trade or Upgrade’ Dilemma, Says Kwik-Fit

We’re all familiar with the ‘move or improve’ dilemma – where homeowners weigh up the cost benefits of moving home versus making home improvements. But new research from Kwik-Fit shows that, with money tight and new car sales down, more motorists are facing a similar conundrum in deciding whether to ‘trade or upgrade’ their car. The company’s research found that some 6.4 million motorists aim to make a number of upgrades to their existing vehicle over the next 12 months, in order to make it look and feel more like new.

27th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Universal Opens New Branches

Universal Tyres Autocentres Ltd has opened a new retail branch in Thurrock (680 London Road, West Thurrock, RM20 3LX) and redeveloped its Greenwich outlet on Blackwall Lane, Greenwich. The new Thurrock store is directly opposite West Thurrock’s famous QEII bridge and is a purpose built autocare facility, employing three fitters.

Store manager Kevin McGill, revealed the secret to the company’s success: “We are a small, but highly skilled team here at universal. Between us we have over 35 years experience in the automotive trade. We have built up an exhaustive knowledge of autocare and in addition we each have a number of specialist skills which means we can provide a fully comprehensive service to all our customers – whatever their requirements.”

23rd October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New Features Added to TireVigil System

Tyre pressure monitoring and asset management producer TireStamp Inc. has announced the addition of two new features to its TireVigil tyre pressure management solution for fleet customers, a system that detects tyre problems, alerts the fleet to them and makes recommendations to the service technician for corrective actions.

The number one issue with other electronic TPMS systems, says TireStamp, is that reprogramming tyres that are changed is difficult and time consuming. TireVigil now directly addresses this problem with a simple yet powerful system. TireVigil Servicing allows a service technician to view the state of a vehicle’s tyres at a glance on any internet enabled computer or hand-held wireless device. Clear images of the vehicle’s tyres are shown, displaying tyre position, tyre pressure and temperature, target tyre pressure, sensor and tyre ID. The tyre make, model and mileage can also be accessed. The tyre technician can enter tyre changes and rotations quickly and easily with a touch on the screen or a click of a mouse. Manual data entry is virtually eliminated, reports TireStamp.

21st October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Appointed MotoGP Tyre Supplier

The sole remaining major contender for the MotoGP tyre supply contract following Michelin’s decision not to bid has been officially named. On October 18 Bridgestone was officially appointed the sole tyre supplier for the MotoGP World Championship for a three-year period starting 2009. The Japanese tyre major was the only tyre manufacturer to submit a proposal to Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and Dorna following the September announcement from FIM that MotoGP would become a single tyre make series as of next year. The specific regulations pertaining to the single tyre contract will be confirmed by FIM in ‘due course’, reports Bridgestone.

20th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Price Reductions Make Motrio Batteries Even Better Value

Motrio, Renault-owned the all-makes parts specialist, has announced significant price reductions across its range of aftermarket batteries. The company believes this reductions positions the its products as one of the most competitive battery ranges in the market place.

Manufactured to matching OE standards and designed to conform with Norm E.N 60095 requirements, when selecting the Motrio battery range the independent garage trade can be certain they are fitting a premium product at a competitive price, says the company, and therefore be certain they are providing motorists with excellent value-for- money. A wide product range allows for product compatibility with the vast majority of applications across the UK car parc, and Motrio batteries come with a three-year unlimited mileage warranty.

17th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

ATD Acquires Gray’s Wholesale Tire Distributors

American Tire Distributors has acquired the assets of Remington Tire Distributors (dba “Gray’s Wholesale Tire Distributors”), further enhancing ATD’s service level to tyre retailers across the states of Texas and Oklahoma, according to the company. Gray’s operated two wholesale distribution centres in Texas, one in Houston and one in Fort Worth. These distribution centres service over 3,000 customers across Texas and Oklahoma.

“American Tire Distributors began servicing tyre retailers across Texas and Oklahoma in July of 2004,” said Richard Johnson, chairman and CEO of ATD. “Since that time, we have invested in our facilities, our people and our customers and, as a result, we have gained new customers and market share. The acquisition of Gray’s is another investment that will enable American Tire Distributors to better serve our customers in these two states.” (Tire Review/Akron)

9th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New Website for Those Who Can “Please the Ladies”

Sadly, some garages are still patronising in their treatment of the ‘fairer sex’, and greeting female customers with a leer before steering them towards an expensive and unnecessary purchase is not always just an occurrence from back in the bad old days. Businesses where this sort of behaviour is considered acceptable, however, won’t be recommended by one particular new website. The site, foxychoice.com, has been launched with the aim of helping motorists do their garage buying homework for MOT’s and car servicing, and in particular identifying the best female friendly garages and dealerships in the area. Answers to important everyday questions are answered within the site, and motorists looking for female friendly local garages can search to suit the work required then compare qualify features and facilities before making their final choice.

7th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors