The Department of Trade & Industry is to invest 15 million Pounds in the creation of an automotive industry academy, aimed at raising skill levels in the industry. There will be a central hub in the West Midlands and 12 satellite centres around the country.
In talks with Terry Bray of Smiths Wheels the subject of controls came up in the conversation. It was not the first time that controls have been discussed by wheel manufacturers. The lack of controls is at best, a serious irritation to the producers of quality products. It does seem strange that one of the key elements in the vehicle’s ability to remain in contact with the road surface can be changed from that specified by the manufacturer without the replacement component having to undergo testing procedures or meet any national standards. When consumers buy products they do so in the belief that they are buying goods which are inherently safe. To sell products which may not be safe is questionable.
Kumho Industrial, until recently the owner of Kumho Tire, has been trying to find a new investor for the tyre division. An investor that would allow the incumbent management and strategies to remain in place, albeit in an enhanced form. The new arrangement is such that the Tire Business Unit has been acquired, with a 50 per cent share being taken by the Military Mutual Aid Association, a military pension fund. Kumho retains a 30 per cent share, and the balance is made up from a number of smaller investors. This establishes a new joint venture with an initial value of 1.2 billion US Dollars. T&A visited J. M. Kim, managing director of Kumho UK, to get a first hand reaction to the new joint venture.
John McNaught joined Bridgestone UK in February last year as Managing Director, moving from Continental, where he had been responsible for the company’s commercial tyre business. Since his move to Bridgestone, he has kept something of a low profile as he got to grips with his new position, but a year later, he agreed to talk to T&A about his plans for Bridgestone. The chance to move to Bridgestone came after about a year working for Continental and it was too good to turn down, he said. It was something of a departure after a career spent mostly in sales and distribution and an eye-opener; “I used to think that manufacturers had an easy life,” he admits.
The Morgan Motor Company in the UK has chosen Yokohama A539 high performance tyres as OE fitment for its 4/4 and +8 sports cars. Tyre sizes are 195/60 R15 88H for the 4/4 and 205/60 R15 95V and 205/55 R16 93W for the +8. The design of the 4/4 has not been radically changed since its launch in 1936, featuring wooden frames, hand-made metal parts and a 1.8 litre engine. The +8 is a more powerful version, with a 3.9 litre engine.
This is an eventful time for the tyre industry when it comes to tyre disposal. The landfill bans are creeping ever nearer, the End of Life Vehicle Directive looms and retreading – for so long one of the main avenues of disposal – is far from buoyant. Then there is the row over the definition of waste, which is exercising the minds of many would-be recyclers and, they say, hampering their efforts to deal with scrap tyres effectively. On top of all this, in the UK the Government has asked the tyre industry to think again about producer responsibility after rejecting their original ideas. An eventful time indeed.
Exhausts are big business for fast-fits, but like tyres, the market is suffering from a proliferation of part numbers. T&A talks to a full line manufacturer, a short range manufacturer and a regional exhaust distributor to try and find out what is happening in the exhaust sector in the UK.
Lassa tyres have been on sale for a quarter of a century. The company first had to tell people who it was and get the brand name known. Since then, Lassa’s strategy has changed. Gündüz Akin, Lassa’s European Sales & Marketing Director, explains where the company has come from, and where it is going.
Early in April, the Environment Agency (EA) held a press briefing to discuss the latest developments in its Tyre Watch programme. But first some background on the scale of the problem; estimates for 2002 suggest that the UK produces 450,000 tonnes of waste tyres annually, of which 73 per cent are recovered or recycled. 70,000 tonnes are currently landfilled, with a further 30,000 tonnes used in landfill engineering. When the EU ban on tyres to landfill comes into force, alternative avenues of disposal will have to be found for this 70,000 tonnes.
The “Tyre World” exhibition, due to be held in London in November, has been postponed until further notice. Buzz Carter, managing director of organisers, IDEX Exhibitions Ltd., said that the decision was taken primarily due to the hesitation of certain UK companies in making a commitment to the show. However, he believes that an exhibition remains an excellent medium for doing business and said that the industry must decide what form of event it will support and, to this end, IDEX will establish a consultative group to work with the industry to shape the future of industry events.
In the UK, the Continental Tyre Group has appointed David Smith as Finance and IT Director. He joined the company in January from Hayter Limited, where he was Finance Director. He replaces Mike Potter, who is retiring after 31 years with Continental, the last 24 of which were as Finance Director.
Steve Manuel has joined Hankook UK as Technical Truck Manager, in which capacity he will be working alongside Barrie Horrocks. Steve’s career began over 20 years ago at ATS, then he moved to Central Tyre in Chester as a truck tyre fitter, becoming branch manager in due course. Later he was promoted into Pirelli as a field-based service engineer for the truck technical department.
Group Tyre has successfully negotiated with Deldo to become the exclusive UK distributor for the Sunny brand; a tyre for which Deldo has exclusive European rights. Sunny tyres are available in 17 sizes, for wheels up to 17″, with new sizes being added as the brand develops. It joins Group’s other exclusive offerings of Stunner, Trayal and Eurotour tyres. Deldo’s decision to choose Group Tyre underlines the latter’s performance as a national distributor, furthermore, one who has the strength and ability to establish the brand in the UK.
In our in-depth feature we talk to the major players about the current state of the UK exhaust market and how they see the future panning out. Is the market buoyant, stable or falling? And what about cats – has the much-talked-about boom in replacement cats materialised? We find out.
Group Tyre has successfully negotiated with Deldo to become the exclusive UK distributor for the Sunny brand, which will be available in seventeen sizes up to 17 inch, with new sizes being added as the brand develops. Deldo, who have exclusive European rights on Sunny, took the decision to partner with Group Tyre based on their proven credibility as a national distributor. The addition of Sunny to Group Tyres’ existing exclusive brands, Stunner, Trayal & Eurotour, is another positive step forward in their continued expansion programme and further enhances their reputation as one of the UK’s leading independent distributors to the fast fit industry.
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