GSF Car Parts proudly shares that its Heathrow branch is going the extra mile to keep Ukrainian troops and support vehicles moving through a loyal customer, A and B Motors. Ukrainian military authorities have acknowledged these efforts.
The war in Ukraine and the cost of energy plus general price inflation have replaced covid-19 as the principal threats to growth in trailer demand. Inflation rose to 10 per cent but is now moderating. Interest rates however are still relatively high but not increasing. That’s the view of analysts at Clear International who have published their first report on the Western Europe heavy trailer market since May 2022.
LKQ Euro Car Parts is continuing its support for Ukraine and this time has been able to hand over the donation in person as Sisters from the Congregation of St Joseph in Ukraine visited its headquarters in Tamworth. The company has been supporting Ukraine since the start of the conflict last February. To date it has raised enough money to buy and deliver seven ambulances to the Congregation, who have then sent these to hospitals across the country.
Drawing upon information from two anonymous sources, Russian newspaper Kommersant has named Moscow-based holding company S8 Capital as a potential purchaser of Continental’s assets in Russia, including its tyre plant in Kaluga. Kommersant shares that S8 Capital, owned by entrepreneur Armen Sargsyan, has already acquired a lift manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg from Otis Worldwide Corporation.
ATS Euromaster is supplying tyres to charity Nadiya and community group Help Ukraine BAMK UK that are taking a medical convoy providing urgently required medics to Ukraine. The charity approached ATS Euromaster for 20 tyres to outfit four vehicles on a tight timeframe of seven days from request to convoy departure.
Pirelli & C. Spa has reported a strong set of first quarter 2022 results which show revenues and pre-tax profits (adjusted EBIT) were up 22.2 per cent and 35.4 per cent respectively despite considerable turmoil related to the war in Ukraine and the resultant sanctions against Russia, where Pirelli runs two tyre factories. However, the tyre manufacturer has also revised down full-year estimates due to the same “geopolitical tensions”.
Following the withdrawal of its 2022 guidance on 28 February, Nokian Tyres has commented that it expects net sales and segments operating profit in 2022 to “decrease significantly compared to 2021.” The tyre manufacturer is the most acutely affected by the Ukraine-Russia war, as analysis previously published on Tyrepress shows.
Together with its employees, VMI has raised 160,00 euros through a fundraising action and has donated this to Giro 555, the Dutch part of the global Emergency Appeals Alliance. The donation will be used to provide practical support to the Ukrainian people and those affected by the conflict.
At the start of the year this column predicted a positive 2022 for the tyre business on the basis that we are better prepared for the unknown because of the adaptions made during the last few pandemic years. I still believe that. But my thesis is being tested by the implications of the now month-long war in Ukraine. All our expectations are being tested. For example, never before have I received an email which switches from normal editorial matters to “our country has been invaded” from one line to the next.
The first month of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already revealed several consequences for mobility and the global tyre industry, as Tyrepress’s continuing coverage of the situation has shown. The resultant sanctions imposed on Russia by an international alliance and the response of multinational companies, at least 450 of which had scaled back their business in the country as of the publication of this article, will send reverberations around global economies. The tyre industry faces impacts on several fronts – higher fuel prices and further interruption to logistics chains and materials supply will have knock-on consequences for tyre sales that will unfold over the coming months. At nearly a month after the conflict began, tyre business analyst Astutus Research examines the immediate consequences for tyre manufacturing in Russia, as well as its neighbours Ukraine and Belarus. This analysis looks at the impact of events on the global manufacturers whose plants were collectively responsible for around 70 per cent of Russia’s passenger car and light truck (PCLT) output. For more Astutus Research analysis and forecasts for the global tyre business, see the report series ‘Beyond Covid-19’ in Tyrepress’s Report Shop.
Tyre recycling and product recovery specialists Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) is has noted “a sharp increase of interest in purchasing the carbon black and oil that Enviro recovers from end-of-life tyres” since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Interest has been observed “among old and new customers”, but the company has not commented on what this means in terms of specific orders.
Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) announced it will temporarily pause its Helly Hansen operations in Russia, which include its retail stores, eCommerce site and product shipments in a 4 March 2022 statement, which said: “The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is tragic and deeply concerning and CTC’s priority will continue to be protecting the safety and well-being of its employees. During this temporary pause in operations, store employees will continue to be paid and supported and the company will continue to honour its commercial obligations.”
The crisis in Ukraine has impacted upon Nokian Tyres’ business in multiple ways, and the company has now activated contingency plans to “mitigate the financial and operational impacts” upon business. At the same time, it has donated 100,000 euros to UNICEF to help children in the war zone.
As part of our ongoing coverage of the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, Tyres & Accessories asked one of the world’s leading tyremakers, Bridgestone, a series of questions about its operations in Russia and the Ukraine.
Tyres and poor vehicle maintenance could be contributing to the stalling Russian military effort north of Kyiv. The UK defence ministry has reported that Russia’s 40-mile military convoy in northern Ukraine has made no significant progress for several days, stalled on the roads leading into the Ukranian capital, Kyiv, and hampered by equipment malfunctions and improvised roadblocks. So why does the Russian military not simply forge off-road routes to aid progress? According to military history blogger and retired US Department of Defense civil servant Trent Telenko, the combination of Ukraine’s mud season, or “Rasputitsa” and the poor state of Russian military vehicles’ tyres make such moves extremely difficult to make.
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LKQ Euro Car Parts
ATS Euromaster
Pirelli
Nokian Tyres
Nokian Tyres
Enviro
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