On-line tyre retailer mytyres.net has set up in Glasgow, UK, following in the footsteps of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden. The company behind mytyres.net is Hanover-based Delticom AG, which last year achieved on-line tyre sales of 21.7 million Euros. It promises next day guaranteed delivery on mainland Britain for orders placed before 12 noon and offers tyres from more than 40 manufacturers.
Arsonists have been blamed for a fire at Goodyear’s Wolverhampton UK factory, in which 4,000 truck tyres and three lorry trailers were destroyed. 120 firefighters took two hours to bring the 70 ft-high flames under control and residents were told to stay indoors with windows closed against the emissions. Although the fire has been put out, experts have warned that the tyres could continue to smoulder for up to two days.
Allied Wheels International, based in Rochester, Kent, has been bought by Fintrade. It is expected that existing staff will be retained and the company intends to develop a range of wheels for the aftermarket, while continuing with its current OE business.
MetaSystem UK has launched the UK’s first tyre pressure monitoring system for motorcycles. It features SmarTire technology. Lightweight wireless sensors are fitted to each rim inside the tyre and, when pressure loss occurs, the rider is alerted by a high visibility LED, which begins to flash if the problem becomes worse.
Greg Ward (38) has been appointed UK Sales Director (Commercial) for Bridgestone/Firestone UK, responsible for the commercial, agricultural, earthmover and industrial tyre sales teams as well as OE on commercial vehicles and earthmovers. He joined Firestone in 1982, moving to National tyre in 1988. His previous appointments include divisional manager, regional sales manager, regional sales director and operations director.
Cooper-Avon has appointed David Carson as European Brand Marketing Manager, responsible for both the Cooper and Avon brands. One of his key roles is to build on Cooper-Avon’s share of the high performance tyre sector. Before joining Cooper-Avon, David worked for Toyo Tyre UK.
Goodyear’s Eagle F1 high performance tyre came top in a test of eight premium brands, organised by UK specialist motoring magazine EVO. Drivers rated the tyres in a series of 11 tests over five days – all the tests were conducted “blind” – and the Eagle F1 attained the highest aggregate score as well as winning outright the wet and dry braking categories and coming joint first in the wet lateral test.
Sales of new cars in Europe during May fell by 8 per cent to 1.29 million vehicles; the largest drop for fifteen months. Of the five biggest markets, only the UK showed growth, while sales in Germany declined 14 per cent, Italy down 11 per cent and France down 8.6 per cent. The German figure was influenced by strikes at a number of car plants during May. Industry experts describe the west European car market as “being in the doldrums” and some predict that it will continue to fall until next year.
UK papers have carried news that the government has decided that the last owner of a vehicle will be liable for the disposal costs at the end of vehicle life, at least until 2007. This counters the concept in the Producer Responsibility document on waste tyres that the cost of disposal should lie with the source of the tyre – the manufacturer or the distributor – this to minimise the point of contact for accountability, and ensure that the correct route to disposal is accounted for. There are fears that placing the burden of disposal directly on the end user will lead to an increase in the number of dumped cars. Alternative financing systems are being considered for post 2007. The ELV statement comes from the Dti, which is also the source of the Producer Responsibility document on waste tyres.
British motorists continued to flock to the car showrooms in May, when 208,669 new cars were registered. This marked the 20th consecutive month of growth in the car market and easily beat the previous record of 199,258 new registrations set in 1989.
Ford Motor Company faces a 2 billion dollar write down on goodwill and intangible assets in the sale of its non-core business operations in the UK. The sale of Kwik-Fit, bought for 1.1 billion dollars in cash and 200 million dollars in loan notes in 1999, is likely to raise only 800 million dollars. Ford says it is now close to establishing a shortlist of final bidders, including UK private equity firms Cinven and CVC, and the London-based capital division of Deutsche Bank.
The UK, according to the Guardian, is at threat from mosquitoes imported in used tyre casings. In the past year an Asian breed of mosquito has been found breeding in Brittany, thought to have been imported with used tyre casings. Other species have been found in France, Belgium, Italy and Albania. These insects may not only spread malaria, but dengue fever, yellow fever, equine encephalitis and West Mile virus. There are calls to set up a register of tyre importers and to monitor for mosquitoes at their depots.
The long-awaited discussion paper on a possible producer responsibility model for used tyres has been published by the Department of Trade and Industry. This seeks comments on possible statutory Producer Responsibility requirements on used tyres as a consequence of the Council Directive 1993/31/EC on landfill of waste. Comments must be made in writing by the 12th July 2002, and sent to the relevant addresses given in the discussion document. Copies are available from:- Paul Hallett, DTi, Sustainable Development Directorate, Bay 426, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9SS, or can be downloaded from www.dti.gov.uk in PDF format. This document will affect everybody in the tyre business, ensure you have your say in its preparation by at least reading this document.
According to the Financial Times, Ford is admitting for the first time that it will face a substantial loss when it disposes of Kwik-Fit. The FT says it has seen documents from Ford’s auditors, warning that the proceeds from any disposal will not be in line with the book value. The UK parent of Kwik-Fit (and other companies such as Jaguar and Aston Martin) – Ford Automotive Holdings – recently filed its year 2000 accounts, which include the first year’s contributions from Kwik-Fit. These show pre-tax losses of 356 m GBP (580 m Euro) on a turnover of 9.42 bn GBP (15.35 bn Euro). 1999’s pre-tax loss was 175 m GBP (285 m Euro) on a turnover of 8.71 bn GBP (14.2 bn Euro).
Dr. Paolo Masera (60), who was MD for Pirelli in the UK for a short time and MD for Pirelli in Germany twice; the second time for only a few months, went to Brazil early in 2001. He now is back in Italy again to take over another leading position in Milan.
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