UK automotive industry charity BEN has extended its support for colleagues in the business. As the devastation caused as a result of the extraordinary series of weather storms in the UK continues, BEN said it recognises the likelihood that members of the automotive community are extremely likely to be amongst those being challenged by the experience.
Autoparts UK has produced a new Ultratec oil selection poster to assist garages and motorists with selecting the correct oil for a specific vehicle.
The use of incorrect engine oil can lead to problems and result in expensive repairs. Also, car manufacturers have clearly defined oil drain intervals for oils which meet their specifications and the use of a lower quality lubricant in, for example, a long oil drain schedule can result in reduced engine component life and poor fuel economy.
Kwik Fit is celebrating 21 consecutive years of award-winning success after being voted the UK’s number one fast-fit company for 21 years in succession in the annual BusinessCar Awards. The company is the only organisation to have walked off with first prize each year since the honours were launched. BusinessCar editor Paul Barker commented that “Kwik Fit’s success once more in the fast-fit category of the BusinessCar Awards illustrates that the corporate marketplace is enjoying the excellent improvements the company is making to its network.”
Gert Wendroth has been appointed president of Nynas AB, effective 1 March 2014. He will replace Staffan Lennström who is retiring. Gert Wendroth has a thorough background in the oil industry. His latest position was as CEO of H&R AG, a German listed company operating two base oil refineries in Germany and a number of blending and filling plants for specialty products around the world. Before that he has held various management positions in the Royal Dutch / Shell Group with a strong focus on B2B sales and marketing.
Autoparts UK has named TMD Friction as its supplier of the year 2013. The news was announced at Autoparts’ Burns Night celebrations, which also included fellow customers and suppliers in an event comprising Haggis ‘n’ Neeps, Robbie Burns poems and some professional boxing at the St. Andrews Boxing Club. Branch managers and staff from Autoparts’ 13-strong branch network were asked to vote for their supplier of the year against a criteria of parts availability, technical assistance, sales support and customer service.
During the first year of its zero per cent credit scheme, Michelin financed more than £600,000 of agricultural tyres and supplied more than a hundred UK farmers. The tyre maker reports the success of this initial finance offer and says it is now being extended to cover the full Kleber brand range of agricultural tyres. As before, the promotion also includes Michelin’s full range of agricultural drive and trailer tyres, as well as rims required for its Ultraflex technology range.
Eldan Recycling A/S has opened a UK office in response to “increasing demand in the UK”. Effective 1 January Peter Jones has been appointed as branch manager of the Eldan UK sales office based in Pulborough.
North Yorkshire Police confirm that a 51-year old man has been arrested as part of the investigation into the fire that began at Newgen Recycling in Sherburn-in-Elmet on 16 January. Police describe the man as ‘local’ and say he has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.
In order to consolidate its operations in the USA, UK, Slovakia and China into one single business unit, Mesnac has created a new global business, the Mesnac Tooling Division (MTD). This division will provide tooling support to Mesnac’s Tire Building machine divisions in China and Slovakia and to its subsidiary Beijing Jingyie. The division’s technology platform will be based on the established Wyko brand but will also control Mesnac’s other tooling brands, which are primarily sold in Asian markets.
Valeo Service UK has reached an agreement with GROUPAUTO to have a strong product presence in the group’s national distribution centre (NDC), used to supply the membership of motor factors nationwide. Initially, Valeo’s top 250 clutch references will go into GROUPAUTO’s NDC, based in Bradford.
“The motorcycle market fell 1.9 per cent in 2013 with 1,757 fewer units being sold than in 2012”, said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK.
“Overall, we anticipated the 125cc market to revive the sales, but after a positive start to the year, sales declined by 3.5 per cent. Other sectors including the 50cc and 651-1000cc machines also saw a fall in sales in 2013.”
A study across 10 major UK cities, quoted on the IAAF e-bulletin, revealed that some 10.1 per cent of vehicles checked in were found to have a failed headlight, sidelight, rear or brake-light; a proportion equating to some 2.6 million vehicles on UK roads right now.
The scale of the problem is also reflected in MOT failure rates with 1.16 million cars tested in 2012 falling short of required standards because of the condition of their lights.
Subaru UK is offering customers buying a new Subaru BRZ sports car some early festive cheer with a free set of alloy wheels and cold weather tyres, worth a combined £1095 including fitting.
With 26 days till the end of the year, the latest year-to-date new car registration figures collated by the SMMT show that that registrations have been strong across the UK, but especially in Wales. Every country in the union registered near double-digit growth, with the slowest growth (9.48 per cent) taking place in bar far the largest part of the market – England. Here registrations in the period totalled 1.781 million from 1.627 million last year.
Omni United reports that its flagship brand, Radar Tires, has been certified as carbon neutral. To achieve carbon neutral status the company worked with UK-headquartered professional services firm Ernst & Young to conduct a twelve-month assessment on Radar Tires’ total greenhouse gas emissions; these were monitored between April 2011 and March 2012. Certification involved an independent assessment of greenhouse gas emissions, coupled with an offset-inclusive emissions reduction programme.
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