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TAFF Awards 2013 coverage – next week on Tyrepress.com

Over the next week, Tyrepress.com and the daily Tyrepress.com newsletter will present each of the five voting categories of the NTDA Tyre & Fast Fit Awards, featuring profiles of each company's bid for 2013 glory. The voting process for the TAFF Awards has already begun and ends on 27 September. The big difference this year is that voting is only via the NTDA website (www.ntda.co.uk/TAFF) and not by post, as in previous years. For the second year running, the TAFF Awards are sponsored by speciality chemicals company Lanxess.

27th June 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

High performance: ‘I know it when I see it’

Possibly the most famous phrase in the history of the United States Supreme Court occurred when Justice Potter Stewart attempted to explain why, in his opinion the 1958 European film festival award-winner Les Amants should not be censored as pornographic: “I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.” Two months later James Bond uttered the same seven-word phrase in the film Goldfinger – “it” referring to gold in this instance rather than questionable motion pictures – further popularising the phrase as a sort of shorthand for the application of common sense when attempts to define a field become tedious. Some of this attitude has certainly come through to Tyrepress.com this month, after the Question of the Month queried, “Are all tyres now ‘high performance’?”

26th June 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper's reintroduced SUV tyre 'no different' to US version

While Cooper's announcement on Monday that it is to "reintroduce" the Discoverer CTS 4×4 tyre to European markets as part of its product strategy makes sense given the recent development of this segment towards high performance tyres designed for 100 per cent road use. It also posed a few questions about the tyre's history, and whether European drivers should expect different characteristics from markets around the world in which the tyre has been continuously available. Tyrepress.com asked Cooper for a few more details on the newly reintroduced CTS.

21st June 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Reports: Michelin to build second tyre plant in Pirot, Serbia

Local officials are promoting Michelin's plans to build a second tyre production plant in Pirot, Serbia, according to two local news sources. Michelin already owns Tigar, a tyre factory in Pirot. The reports suggest the news factory would employ about 700 workers and cite local mayor Vladan Vasic as saying this is the greatest investment in the history of the city of Pirot.

18th June 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Autogem exhibits i-sensor TPMS system

Autogem displayed its new i-sensor TPMS system at the CV Show 2013. The programmable system allows workshops to configure and diagnose blank and programmed sensors through a contact-less scan with the i-sensor Tool. The i-sensor Blank is a universal sensor that can be programmed effectively to become any one of more than 90 per cent of current original equipment sensors by the tool. More details on the product are available on Tyrepress.com (see below) and in February's Tyres & Accessories magazine.

5th June 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Moreno Gioli joins Tyrepress.com’s sister site PneusNews.it

Nearly three years after our publishing group invested in the formation of an online publishing platform for the Italian tyre market, PneusNews.it has strengthen its editorial team with the appointment of Moreno Gioli, a journalist and photojournalist with extensive multi-media experience. Gioli will be based at Pneus News Srl’s headquarters in northern Italy (Belluno, Veneto) along with PneusNews.it editor Lucia Tonini.

5th June 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Mercedes test row hangs over Monaco grand prix

The continuing tyre debate in Formula One acquired a new facet over the long weekend, as details emerged of a 1,000km test Pirelli conducted in Barcelona after the Spanish grand prix. Red Bull and Ferrari have led official protests against the test, which is thought to have been conducted using the 2013 Mercedes car. This adds another layer of complexity to the ongoing debate over whether Pirelli will be allowed to change its 2013 specification rubber mid-season. Pirelli announced that it would make the changes to the rear tyres before the Canadian grand prix, but this intention is being held up by three teams – chiefly Force India, with Ferrari and Lotus joining the current impasse – who have refused to sign off on the replacement range. (You can follow the ongoing saga of Pirelli's 2013 F1 tyres in the links below this story.)

28th May 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Sticky questions: Labelling, retailing and the necessary systems

With levels of label-readiness varying significantly across the country and across Europe, the introduction of EU tyre labels that began a year ago remains in infancy. However, while some have gone on the record as saying it is a waste of space, labelling could also be seen as a developing field that – also like a small child – grows fastest in its early years. And with this debate in mind, Tyres & Accessories recently received an interesting addition to the debate, focusing on the nuts and bolts of retail labelling.

21st May 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli to enlarge warehousing at Carlisle facility

On 25 April, Pirelli Tyres Limited submitted an application with Carlisle City Council to extend the warehouse facility at its Carlisle factory plus make other improvements to the Dalston Road site. Pirelli will add a further 4,060 square metres or so of warehouse space. The extension, which will include four loading bays, will increase the warehouse facility’s total size by approximately a third.

3rd May 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

MWS, ATS Euromaster launch wheel safety training DVD

Motor Wheel Service Distribution managing director John Ellis has sustained a lengthy campaign for increased safety checks on commercial vehicle wheels over the past few years – a campaign that has seen him address the British and more recently European parliaments. The results of his most recent explanation to the European Parliament of the insufficiency or non-existence of regulations and guidelines governing inspection procedures within the commercial vehicle wheel supply chain and vehicle servicing sector remain to be seen; his MWS report will continue to be discussed at EU level as its Roadworthiness Package is drafted. (See Tyrepress.com/issues of Tyres & Accessories for regular updates regarding Ellis's proposals.)

17th April 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Wheelwright responding to tough passenger market with niche growth

Market conditions in Europe for the aftermarket sale of car, 4×4 and light commercial vehicle wheels have continued to provide an inhospitable environment to those active in the area. The ability to sell luxury, desire-driven items in a down economy has been a question to which UK distributor Wheelwright has continued to seek an answer since 2008. The company has taken many positive steps, having revamped its website and e-commerce services to address growing internet buying habits; introduced the private Calibre and Calibre Couture brands; and increased marketing to a more diverse range of applications, such as winter and van wheels. Wheelwright managing director, Kevin Greer told Tyres & Accessories that the company has found positives in certain niches having “acknowledged the reduced demand” of the UK car wheel market.

15th April 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli to review European supply/demand imbalance

In its most recent report on market trends, Pirelli’s figures showed car and light commercial vehicle volumes in Europe to be down 13 per cent year-to-date in the OE segment and 10 per cent in the replacement business. While separate information for premium tyres is not given, on 5 April Pirelli stated that in response to the economic crisis in Europe and its impact on demand for premium tyres, it is “carrying out a significant review of its commercial structures” in the European market. The Italian tyre maker says this review entails, among other things, more closely integrating its high-end tyre production capacity in Europe with those markets where demand for premium products in highest. These markets are presumably the US and rapidly developing markets – areas where Pirelli says demand is growing approximately three times faster than overall global demand for passenger car tyres.

10th April 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Furthering the Blue Dimension range a Trelleborg priority

In its latest annual report, Trelleborg Group CEO and president Peter Nilsson describes 2012 as being “a good year” for the company. “In a turbulent economic climate, we improved our geographic balance and portfolio of operations, and strengthened our market positions,” he says. “Net sales and earnings rose slightly despite an increasingly challenging market environment. The group has a strong financial base.”

25th March 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear adds ‘Performance’ variant to EfficientGrip range

Goodyear has revealed details of its latest efforts to take a lead in the post-labelling era of tyre development, refreshing its passenger car range with the launch of the Efficient Grip Performance. While the tyre is inched out of the highest possible European Tyre labelling score (AA), with the 205/55 R16 tyre scoring AB 68dB it is not far away at all.

20th March 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop comments on BluResponse testing success

Dunlop’s new Sport BluResponse tyre was launched in Dubai earlier this year (see Tyres & Accessories’ February edition), but it has already achieved some excellent results in European magazine tests. In full summer tyres tests conducted by Germany’s GTÜ organisation for ACE Magazine, Auto Bild and AutoZeitung, the tyre was awarded leading positions, while Britain’s Auto Express also lauded the new tyre’s performance characteristics within its product pages. Dunlop brand manager Andy Marfleet commented that the results “suggest that we have a real winner on our hands.”

11th March 2013/12,345 Comments/by Tyrepress Editors