TPMS and RFID
With TPMS due to be included on every new European vehicle later this year, well-known TPMS tool manufacturer Bartec offers six steps it says will support TPMS success. Indeed, the company says that order to offer a professional TPMS service to your customers, you need the following:
While Rema Tip Top has a significant Tyre Pressure Monitoring heritage, it might be said that the TPMS part of their offering has been flown somewhat under the radar – in the UK at least. Now however, the company’s management is sharing details of its broad offering in what is quickly becoming an important part of the professional tyre retail business.
The proliferation of electronic driver assistance systems is making the average vehicle more dependent on computing power than ever before. The latest trends see cars becoming more connected to their user’s personal computing systems and the Internet than ever as well. The combination of the two raises security questions, but are they valid and how does all this related to the tyre/TPMS business?
The European tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) market could be worth 531.7 million euros by 2020, according to a report published on 23 January by Research and Markets. The European TPMS market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.4 per cent.
Autogem is offering a TPMS training courses in order to help specialist get the most out of their equipment investments. With garage supplier Autogem reporting the widespread take up of its i-sensor solution (launched almost one year ago), there are now said to be hundreds of TPMS installations across the country. According to the company, i-sensors are being fitted at single owner operator sites, regional multi sites and also at some of the national chains. Some sites are said to be having “tremendous success” in selling i-sensors with a couple of sites crossing the 25 replacement sensors a month mark.
Roughly 18 months ago as part of our 2012 TPMS feature, Tyres & Accessories asked if there was a long-term future for indirect TPMS. In conversation with one of the two biggest suppliers of this technology, Swedish firm NIRA Dynamics, we examined the case for so-called iTPMS. This year we flip things around and ahead of his forthcoming speaking engagement at Tire Technology Expo, in Cologne on 11 February, Bernd Schuchhardt, general director at Dunlop Tech GmbH (the other large indirect TPMS producer) presents the case for this technology.
As long as TPMS remains the third largest selling intelligent car component after ABS and ESC, the performance of this technology in key emerging markets will remain of significant interest to the wider industry. With this in mind, and as part of more detailed coverage in our February magazine’s TPMS feature, we have prepared this brief market overview:
The US mandated TPMS installation in new cars some time ago and we and we all know that the same will happen in Europe in November this year, but what about the emerging markets? Ask any market analyst and you will learn that China in particular is set to overtake the US and become the world’s largest economy in the next few years. Many sources suggest the People’s Republic is already there in terms of car production and – as a consequence – tyre manufacturing. So what about TPMS take-up and manufacturing infrastructure in this market in particular?
The TPMS market was worth 1.4 billion yuan in 2012, according to research published in 2013. According to Huidian Research, this number is expected to exceed 1.5 billion yuan in 2013. Although China’s TPMS market has maintained rapid growth in recent years in parallel with a booming automotive and following tyre sector, the market scale is still relatively small compared with other automotive electronics products (such as EMS, ABS, automotive audio, airbags and auto instruments) and this industry is still described as being “in the initial stage of development”.
With already high levels of OE TPMS fitment increasing as the 1 November 2013 fitment mandate approaches, Laser has launched a set of tool designed to assist in the aftermarket servicing of these products.
People in the UK tend to think they live in a heavily-regulated country, and when it comes to commercial transportation this is certainly the case. In addition to the safety laws that apply to all motorists, the professional driver and fleet operator must take a host of workplace health and safety and duty of care requirements into account – and on top of this come the regulations that apply to the vehicles themselves. Towards the end of October, Tyres & Accessories spoke with Tony Stapleton, commercial fleet sales manager for Continental Tyre Group, about the issues facing fleets and what the tyre maker can do to address this while minimising whole life tyre cost.
Since its launch earlier in 2013, the Enaikoon TMS has already been installed on vehicles at two UK quarries. At Hanson Aggregates’ Shap Beck Quarry near Penrith, a CAT775 haul truck was recently fitted with TMS external sensors and the Enaikoon TMS.
Historically, many fleets have taken a short-term view of their tyre policy and failed to plan ahead. This is particularly the case for fleets facing immediate pressures, as the temptation not to consider three years in the future is strong for operators who are uncertain if they’ll even remain in business that long. Yet short-term savings can prove costlier in the long run, and Michelin opines that fleet operators need to consider their tyre choice in a similar way to their vehicle choice – they need to ensure it is right for the application and vehicle.
Litchfield has released its latest ‘cloning’ Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) sensors, designed for GT-R owners needing to run multiple wheel-sets. Aimed at solving a problem for its GT-R driving clients, Litchfield says the sensors will be a useful addition to extra winter or track wheels, as drivers will not have to recode the sensors each time they are change.
The ‘REDI-Sensor’ tyre pressure monitoring system marketed under Continental’s VDO brand has been sold in North America for the last three years, and the automotive supplier claims the product has enjoyed great success there. Now, with EU Regulation 523/2012 coming into effect in little over one year from now, the company is rolling out REDI-Sensor here in Europe. The multi-application TPMS sensor will be introduced into the European market in summer 2014.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.