Truck Tyres
Rupert Kohaupt, formerly Goodyear Dunlop’s director of commercial vehicle tyres in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, has been appointed the tyre maker’s commercial vehicle tyre sales director for emerging markets. In his new Brussels-based role, the 30-year company veteran will continue the expansion of the growing emerging markets.
Sales of non-ETRMA member produced tyres are now at record levels. That’s what the latest data published by the ETRMA in its 2012 Statistic Booklet clear shows, based on full year 2011 figures.
Continental Tyre South Africa (CTSA) has named Shaun Uys as general manager, sales. The move took effect on 1 October 2012 succeeding Eddie Jordaan who left the company in August.
Independent tyre wholesaler, RH Claydon may have built a name for itself as a distributor of larger agricultural and commercial vehicle tyres, with the longest authorised distributor deal for BKT in the UK, but the company also sees itself as a true “one-stop shop”, whether the customer needs consumer, off-highway or truck tyres. Business director, John Parker explains the company’s wide range of brands and fitments allows it to meet the requirements of the distributor/service provider and end user alike for the UK and Northern Ireland market place.
Michelin has launched a new range of long haul orientated truck tyres. As you would imagine, the French manufacturer's latest generation of commercial vehicle technology is said to lead the market and surpass the high standards of the previous range. The latest tyres even include a label beating grade A fuel efficiency trailer fitment. But what's arguably more interesting is that Michelin is promoting the whole life strengths of its new products and their “total performance” at a time when all eyes are on the three characteristics printed on a certain self adhesive sticker.
The TAFF Awards winners were announced last night during the NTDA's annual dinner at the Hilton Hotel, Deansgate, Manchester. Contested between the world's five largest manufacturers, Continental Tyre Group came out on top in the Tyre Manufacturer of the Year category. Michelin prevailed in two categories, winning the product innovation award for its new Energy + tyre, while its advertising campaign, "The right tyre changes everything" featuring the Primacy 3 tyre was given the Industry Advertising Campaign Award. B.I.T.S. was crowned Wholesaler of the Year, regaining its crown from Stapleton's. In the other awards, Pang UK is 2012's Tyre & Aftermarket Equipment Supplier of the Year, Sapphire Energy Recovery was given the Environmental Award and ATS Euromaster (Brighton West) won Tyre Centre of the Year.
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Today is the third and final day of this year’s Brityrex show. The past two days have seen good visitor numbers at the new EventCity venue and Tyres & Accessories has enjoyed the opportunity to catch up on the latest UK industry news.
The September issue of Tyres & Accessories is now available online in our e-paper format. This edition contains the latest tyre news and views as well as features on Truck Tyres and Winter Tyres, plus a complete preview of Brityrex 2012. Subscribers can read this online now. Simply click more below.
Sailun Tyres appointed Chr. Kapodistrias & Sons Limited as its sole distributor of passenger car and radial truck tyres in Cyprus earlier in the year. The company is the largest automotive parts company in Cyprus. Sailun says the companies will pursue a number of brand awareness and marketing communication initiatives to stimulate sales and growth for Sailun in Cyprus. These will include radio commercials; press advertisements; leaflet distribution; participation in a local automotive exhibition; an appearance on rally and racing cars and events; and an event evening in Nicosia with a joint presentation and cocktail party for key, existing and potential new customers.
Nokian has unveiled a new addition to its Noktop Hakkapeliitta line with a product it calls the market’s first winter tread for wide trailer tyres. The Noktop Hakkapeliitta F is designed particularly for commercial vehicles with low trailers in international operation especially in Nordic conditions. The tread is available for tyre casings in size 445/45R19.5.
The flagship European brand of GiTi Tire, GT Radial may have been selling truck tyres into European markets for less than half a decade, but it has come a very long way in a short space of time. In one of its major markets, the UK, the company believes it now holds third place in terms of market share, saying that it now outstrips big players Hankook and Continental with upwards of 13 per cent of the country’s one million truck tyre unit sales. It believes it holds the global number four spot in the TBR segment. The latest step forwards – unveiled first at the CV Show in Birmingham and then to a wider European audience at Reifen 2012 in Essen, Germany – has been the introduction of the company’s REE Tread development, a hot cure retreading programme, with the GTR990 regional trailer pattern in size 385/65R22.5 representing GT Radial’s first commercial vehicle retread tyre. Significantly, the tyre uses the Chinese brand’s own made-in-China casings and is manufactured by “a renowned retreader located in the south-west of England”, in the company’s words.
Visitors to September’s CITExpo show in Shanghai were able to spot Austyre Australia’s stand from afar, as a larger-than-life inflatable kangaroo greeted anyone who stopped by. But Austyre Australia had more on offer than just air-filled macropods – the Dandenong-based company is the firm behind the Austyre brand of passenger car, light truck, UHP, SUV and truck tyres.
This year was the first time Double Coin Holdings was present at CITExpo as an exhibitor, and vice-president Liu Xue Jun told Tyres & Accessories that the company had met with a good mix of end users, dealers and wholesalers during the show. The Shanghai exhibition was used as an opportunity to meet new customers and to show off the company’s new range Double Coin brand winter truck tyres. “Winter tyres are a new product for us,” commented Mr. Liu. “We’re going to promote these, along with our new 295/60 low profile tyres.”
The Aufine Group says it “enjoyed a very active and successful” CITExpo show this year, with a great deal of interest from visitors. Speaking with Tyres & Accessories at the Shanghai show, company general manager David Sun says that although he’d observed signs of the current global economic situation amongst people he’d met during the exhibition, the Aufine team nevertheless met new contacts and held meetings that offer a good chance for new business relationships.
Stapleton’s became the tyre distribution industry’s first to launch an online ordering system more than a decade ago. More recently the company upgraded this and now the recently revamped ProfitLink2 reportedly remains a leader in the field, putting the leading distributor’s nationwide 1,200,000 units of tyre stocks at its retail customers’ fingertips. The latest development relates to the tyre labelling legislation that will take effect shortly after this article is published in print at the back end of October.
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