In June, new commercial vehicle registrations dropped for the fifth consecutive month, falling by 5.8 per cent compared to June last year, as a total of 157,232 units were recorded in the EU. Italy (-29.8 per cent) and Spain (-28.7 per cent) faced a double-digit downturn, while France (-0.8 per cent) and the UK (+0.2 per cent) remained relatively stable. Germany was the only major market to post growth (+8.8 per cent).
128,871 new vans (up to 3.5 tonnes) were registered in the EU, or 6.5 per cent less than in the same month last year. Germany was the only significant market to post growth (+12.3 per cent), while all others contracted. The French shrank by 0.8 per cent, the British by 2.5 per cent, the Italian by 30.3 per cent and the Spanish by 30.9 per cent.
It’s sometimes said that good employees are worth their weight in gold, and at Continental this may well be literally the case. The German tyre maker and automotive component supplier encourages those working at its 126 global locations to submit ideas on how efficiency and cost effectiveness can be boosted, and last year some 310,000 of these employee-driven suggestions were implemented. These ideas, says Continental, saved the company almost 120 million euros.
Tests on the 17-inch tyres to be used in next year’s World Superbike Championship have yielded lap time improvements of up to 1.5 seconds. During yesterday’s joint Infront and Pirelli organised exercise, riders from eight teams tested the new, larger rubber at the Aragòn circuit in Spain; based on the feedback received, Pirelli will develop the new tyre in the standard SC1 compound and a range of further compounds. As of next year the tyres will also be marketed and made available to customers.
On 2 July Superbike teams and riders will be given their first opportunity to experience Pirelli’s new 17-inch Diablo Superbike tyres for themselves. The tyre maker has confirmed a test day will be held at the Aragòn circuit in Spain next Monday for riders to check out prototypes of the tyre size the Superbike World Championship will run on as of next year. As part of the day’s programme, riders will initially ride on the current 16.5-inch tyres for a few laps – the same tyres available for this weekend’s race – before moving on to the 17-inch tyres. Pirelli says four 17-inch front tyres and four rear tyres will be used; in order to make a direct comparison easier, both these and the 16.5-inch tyres will feature the same compound, SC1.
Richard Hayes, the incoming president of the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE), has certainly started his term with a bang by calling for HGVs to be banned from UK motorways on Sundays and has written to Roads Minister Mike Penning, asking for the Department of Transport to investigate the possibility.
Aldermore, the new British challenger bank, says UK haulage firms still need fuel price parity with other European countries if they are to successfully fight-off foreign competition.
Responding to the announcement that the government is to postpone its proposed 3p price increase in fuel duty until January 2013, Damon Walford, Managing Director of Aldermore Invoice Finance, said: "The UK haulage industry remains at a significant disadvantage against European competitors, who pay as little as 106p per litre for diesel in Spain, 111p in Austria and just 96p in Luxemburg (even in Germany and France, diesel prices are significantly lower at 115p and 118p respectively).
In May, ACEA figures show that new commercial vehicle registrations continued the downward trend commenced in January, facing the sharpest decrease since 2009 (-17.8 per cent , compared to May 2011). The UK was the only market to post growth in the month (+10.0 per cent ), while Germany (-13.6 per cent ), France (-22.1 per cent), Spain (-27.4 per cent ) and Italy (-42.4 per cent ) all recorded double-digit downturns. From January to May, the EU market shrank by 11.8 per cent, compared to the first five months of 2011.
Figures released by ACEA, the European association of automobile manufacturers, show that, in May, demand for new passenger cars in the EU was down (-8.7 per cent) for the eighth consecutive month. In total, 1,106,845 new cars were recorded in the region. May 2012 counted on average one working day less than May 2011.
In April, new CV registrations fell by 1.2 per cent in France, 1.6 per cent in Germany, 13.3 per cent in the UK, 28.9 per cent in Spain and 38.6 per cent in Italy. Four months into the year, downturn continued its course (-10.1 per cent) as all major markets shrank. France remained the largest market, despite a 4.7 per cent contraction, followed by Germany (-1.2 per cent) and the UK (-9.8 per cent). Spain (-24.1 per cent) and Italy (-36.7 per cent) recorded more severe drops. In total, 589,987 vehicles were registered throughout the period.
Autoglass technician Steve Marelli (31) has beaten thousands of applicants from across the world to be recognised as the world's best vehicle glass replacement technician at the prestigious Best of Belron competition.
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Research and Markets has published a report analysing key elements of the five leading tyre markets in Europe during the period 2011-2015; the UK, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. The report notes the “significant impact” of the 2008-2009 economic crisis, during which all countries experienced reduced sales in 2008 and 2009, which was followed by uniform recovery through 2010, based on essential replacements. Each country went on to experience various levels of sales downturn in 2011.
April 2012 passenger car registrations in the European Union hit ten-year lows according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. There was a decline overall in the Union of 6.9 per cent in comparison with April 2011, itself a decade-long low – a fair comparison, given that there were the same number of working days in each month. The UK and Germany bucked the trend, posting modest growth in April at 3.3 and 2.9 per cent respectively.
Apollo Vredestein has announced its involvement in research into sources of natural rubber as a partner in the EU-PEARLS project. The objective of the project is to find a European alternative to Hevea brasiliensis-derived natural rubber. The tyre maker notes that replacing natural rubber with a synthetic variant is not always a practical consideration for tyre makers, and with demand for natural rubber continuing to rise, other sources are becoming increasingly attractive. The threat to rubber trees posed by diseases such as South American Leaf Blight provides additional incentive to find an alternative.
Zafco has tested its new Zeetex ZT1000 pattern at the Idiada testing facility in Spain, assessing its strengths and areas for improvement against two other brands from Korea and Taiwan respectively. The tyre tested strongly in aquaplaning, braking distance, steering, comfort, noise and estimated tyre life, consistently performing as well as, or better than, at least one of the other tyres tested, the company says. Testing on a scale of 1-10, where 10 denotes “exceptional” performance, the tyre scored consistently between seven (“good”) and eight (“very good”). Raghavendra Sanga, business & technical insights manager at Zafco, commented that: “R&D at Zeetex will incorporate the results of this study in its future product developments.” He also revealed that Zeetex will showcase the ZT1000 “as an environment friendly tyre at Reifen 2012 in Essen, Germany."
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