Kent-based supply chain specialist, Solstor UK Ltd has reported a reduction of almost 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions since moving to a Vacu-Lug new and remould tyre policy for its tractor unit fleet and from a new-only policy to a Vacu-Lug remould policy on its trailer fleet last May.
Last May, Bridgestone celebrated the golden jubilee of its Bari passenger car tyre factory in Italy. There will be no diamond jubilee, however; on 4 March, Bridgestone Europe stated that the plant will be closed. Operations at the Bari facility are expected to cease within the first half of 2014, although the exact timing of the closure, along with terms and conditions, are yet to be discussed. Bridgestone says it is “immediately available to start the discussion to identify the best solution in order to minimise, as much as possible, the social impact of the decision on the approximately 950 employees involved, in line with the culture of the group.”
Formula One’s teams have completed the third and final testing session in Barcelona prior to the season opening Australian grand prix. While times set by Mercedes teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso showed improvements on 2013’s second test at the same location, the weather in Spain was once again colder than anticipated, meaning that Formula One will enter the opening stages of the season with a degree of uncertainty about how they will perform on the new Pirelli P Zero slicks especially. However, lengthy practice in wet conditions during the first two days of the four-day meeting allowed teams more time on the Cinturato Blue and Green – wet and intermediate respectively – tyres, which could provide valuable data for the season ahead. While it is always a mug’s game to make too many predictions following practice, especially given the unpredictability of the first half of the 2012 season, the pace of Mercedes could shake up the established top three manufacturers.
Demand for new heavy trucks (over 16 tonnes, excluding buses and coaches) declined the most sharply across segments in January (-18.4 per cent), totalling 15,510 vehicles. All major markets contracted, from -9.3 per cent in Italy to -11.1 per cent in Spain, -15.4 per cent in France and -22.0 per cent in Germany and the UK.
Figures released by ACEA show that new commercial vehicle registrations further declined in January (-10.6 per cent), pursuing a downward trend which prevailed throughout 2012.
The UK was the only major European market to buck January’s downward trend in new commercial vehicle registrations. According to the ACEA, total commercial vehicle registrations in the UK rose 5.4 per cent to 19,198; total European Union registrations declined 10.6 per cent to 126,110 during the month. The decline in France almost hit double figures, with new registrations decreasing by 9.8 per cent year-on-year to 33,584 units. Other major markets suffered an even stronger downturn; new commercial vehicle registrations in Germany and Spain sank 15.5 per cent year on year to 19,913 and 5,912 respectively, while Italian registrations, at 9,452, were 23.6 per cent lower than in January 2012.
According to Emmanuel Ladent, president of Michelin’s Agricultural Tyres global business unit, exhibitions like the Paris-based SIMA show give the tyre maker an opportunity to demonstrate its capacity for innovation. Speaking at SIMA, Ladent commented that “trade shows of this size serve as showcases that enable us to demonstrate the tangible solutions we develop for our customers, whether they are users, dealers or equipment manufacturers.”
At last September’s IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Germany, Hankook UK sales director Barrie Horrocks told Tyres & Accessories of plans to introduce a bead-to-bead retread range in 2013. He also shared that the UK would serve as a pilot market for the new truck tyre retread line, which will be marketed under the ‘Alphatread’ brand name. Hankook now reports it will unveil its first Alphatread products at the Birmingham-based Commercial Vehicle Show in April, ahead of their UK launch in the second quarter of 2013.
It isn’t just Formula One whose tyres have, in Pirelli’s words, undergone a “revolution”. In this, the tenth consecutive season of single tyre supply to the Superbike series – the longest single tyre supply agreement in the history of motorsport – the Italian firm is ready for the switch from 16.5-inch to 17-inch tyres.
Infinity Tyres and Westlake Tyres will exhibit at Madrid’s aftermarket automotive parts, equipment and services trade show Motortec Automechanika Ibérica. Infinity’s range will be displayed in conjunction with its authorised distributors in the region, Euro Tyre, while Eskay Tyres – Westlake distributor in the UK and certain other European markets – will take a stand to show the Hangzhou Zhongce brand’s passenger and truck and bus ranges.
ACEA – the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association – has revealed 2012 new car registrations declined by 8.2 per cent in the EU (excluding Malta), continuing the downward trend commenced fifteen months ago. Worse still was the 16.3 per cent reduction in December registrations versus December 2011 – the steepest decline recorded in December since 2008, though this decline can partially be blamed on having on average two fewer working days in the region than in the same month in 2011. The UK was the only major market to post growth in the month, which was also reflected across the whole year.
Nexen Tyre Europe GmbH has appointed Joo Ho Song as its new president. Song has reportedly already started carrying out “a comprehensive package of measures, focusing on Nexen’s ambitious goals in Europe and implementing relevant strategies quickly.” The measures include increasing personnel at the European headquarters in Eschborn.
A sharp decline in demand for tyres within the European Union is Bridgestone’s stated reason for cutbacks in Spain and France; travel to Hungary, however, and the picture looks entirely different. The tyre maker states it will treble production capacity of passenger car tyres at its Tatabánya plant in the coming years. One hundred per cent Bridgestone Europe-owned local subsidiary, Bridgestone Tatabánya Termelö Kft, will invest approximately 267 million euros to increase daily capacity from 6,000 tyres (as of June 2012) to 18,000 tyres. The expansion project is expected to be completed during the first half of 2017.
Representatives of Spanish trade unions Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) and Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) have organised a march today in protest of planned redundancies at Bridgestone factories in Spain. This action is just one of a number of measures planned; a two hour strike is scheduled at its Puente San Miguel plant tomorrow, and Bridgestone workers intend to protest the job cuts on 25 November.
An article in the Daily Telegraph by David Williams takes an in-depth look at car thefts in the UK. Despite a falling level of theft numbers (1991: 347,000, 2011: 95,681) the proportion of vehicles never returned to their owners is rising. Figures from RetainaGroup show that 41 per cent were returned last year, compared with 51 per cent in 2008 and 70 per cent in 2002. The insurer Swiftcover says that, last year, 65,000 UK-registered vehicles were stolen and never recovered, with a value of £300 million.
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