Across the Atlantic they are called tires, while over here we use a “Y” and say tyres. This tag provides the latest tyre business news emanating from the United States of America (USA), whichever way you spell it.
In the continuing aftermath of the fateful US Grand Prix, F1’s governing body has contested “Michelin’s version of events” of what happened at the race. The association made the comments by taking the unusual step of publishing its correspondence to the manufacturer. An FIA statement said it decided to do so because earlier correspondence had been “deliberately leaked to members of the press.”
In the coming months a whole raft of EU legislation affecting different aspects of the tyre business is set to come in place. First the Hazardous Waste regulation came into force on 16 April. Now the end of life vehicle directive (2000/53/EC) banning the use of lead balancing weights is upon us. Next up is the Waste Incineration Directive (due to be implemented from 28 December), which is sure to have a knock-on effect on the way tyres are disposed of and at what cost. The last regulation in the current run is the second part of the EU tyre landfill ban (1999/31/EC), which prevents chipped tyres from being disposed of at landfill sites in July 2006 – not to mention the working time directive.
Do you think there is too much red tape or do the regulations make life difficult in the tyre business?
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A combination of warmer weather and imported used tyres has led scientists to issue a warning about a possible threat from the Asian Tiger mosquito.
The mosquito, which as its name suggests is native to Asia, usually lays its eggs in small pools of water, such as banana leaves or coconut shells. However, any small pool will do and eggs have been found in the water in tyres being imported into France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. In fact, in France, all imported tyres are sprayed with insecticide as a matter of course. As little as a quarter of an inch of water is sufficient for the Tiger to lay its eggs.
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd is to “spin off” the Nitto brand division of Toyo Tire (USA) Corp, incorporating it as a separate company. The new business will be called Nitto Tire North America Incorporated, from 1 July 2005.
(Akron/Tire Review) By 7 June, natural rubber prices had risen to a 12-month high of $3.12 a pound on the Tokyo Commodities Exchange. Tyre output in China rose 27 per cent, to 239 million units last year, and the country’s tyre exports nearly doubled, to 34.8 million units.
At the same time global manufacturers continue to purchase more natural rubber as its synthetic counterpart becomes more costly, according to experts monitoring the data. Data reported by Bloomberg, for example, indicates that US Gulf spot prices for butadiene, the petrochemical used to make synthetic rubber, have risen 93 per cent, to 57 cents a pound over the past year.
The annual GEA golf day, held to raise funds for BEN, is returning to Staverton Park Golf Club, near Daventry, on Wednesday the 17th August. The competition is open to everyone and not just to GEA members. Anyone who would like to enter should contact Dave Garratt on 01327 3112616. “Everyone is very welcome to come along and join in with the golf day. If you haven’t got a team, don’t worry, we can create teams for you,” says Mr Garratt.
Kwik-Fit Fleet picked up a couple of new contracts recently.
The first of these is a three-year deal with HSBC Vehicle Finance, under which Kwik-Fit Fleet is named as preferred supplier of fast-fit services to its fleet of 90,000 vehicles.
Mike Wise, Kwik-Fit Fleet sales director, said: “More and more contract hire and leasing companies are looking to consolidate their purchasing power to keep costs down and cement service standards for drivers.” Peter Hollinshead, head of HSBC Vehicle Finance, agreed, saying: “We task ourselves with maximising our purchasing power, improving service levels and making efficiency savings, which we can pass on to our customers. This agreement with Kwik-Fit Fleet will help us achieve these objectives.”
A service to help garages, workshops and automotive centres deal with the disposal of hazardous waste in line with the new July waste regulations has been introduced by waste disposal specialists, the OSS Group.
The HazTech package provides a guaranteed scheduled collection for all hazardous wastes including oil, filters, batteries, solvents, brake fluid and aerosols. Under the service guarantee late collections will mean customers get the next collection free.
Costs are based on a set pick-up price after which customers are only charged for the actual number of waste containers emptied at the time of collection. Containers that comply with regulations for each waste type are supplied on a weekly rental basis and the frequency of the collections depends on individual customer needs.
First Stop dealership Wilson’s Tyres and Exhaust Centre has found a novel way to say thanks to its customers for their support through the year, with a golf day at a course in Cambridgeshire.
“This is the seventh year running we have held the golf day,” said Nigel Wilson, manager of the outlet in Eaton Socon, “and it’s getting more and more popular each year.”
“It’s always a fun and relaxing day, and a great way for us to get to know our regular customers better,” added Mr Wilson.
Kayaba UK has continued to strengthen its sales team with three new business managers. Each will be responsible for managing Kayaba’s existing accounts across the country.
Responsible for the Midlands and North West, Paul Tranter, joins Kayaba from motor industry suppliers Febi Bilstein.
Stephen Moore, who previously worked as an area sales manager at FAI Automotive, will cover Scotland and the North East.
Morris Gordon will be in charge of the South East and comes from LDV UK where he held the position of area sales manager.
Matt Robinson, sales manager says: “Our new business managers will each be responsible for their own region enabling Kayaba to develop its relationships with existing customers to ensure that we continue to fully understand their needs and meet their requirements.
“This is a very exciting year for Kayaba, with us also recently having improved our aftermarket operations in the UK by opening an additional warehouse facility, enabling high-speed delivery targets to be met.”
Having grown out of its current premises work has begun on Pro-Align’s new headquarters in Northamptonshire. The new site is located at ‘The Old Orchard’, Greens Norton and when completed, will offer bespoke offices, workshops, warehousing and an alignment bay.
Carl Potter, Pro-Align’s general manager commented: “Everyone at Pro-Align is really excited about the new site as we have literally out grown our current unit. We pride ourselves on our already high level of customer services, but the new building will mean we can expand our range and stock, offer further courses in the purpose built training facility and also provide a retail alignment centre for the surrounding area too. All in all the new premises will enable us to build a future for alignment”.
The company expects to move into its new premises at the end of the year.
Beru AG has now introduced the 3rd generation of its own TSS Tyre Safety System. Beru engineers have succeeded in further reducing the number of parts for a convenient, functionally safe tyre safety system.
The system that has now been introduced consists of a compact control unit with integrated aerial, plus four electronic wheel-mounted devices; in them, the sensor, transmitter and battery are built into one unit. This development highlights Beru’s on-going attempts to reduce the system price.
Andrew Blair, 22, from County Antrim, has scooped the UK’s only gold medal at the 2005 WorldSkills Competition in Helsinki, Finland. He won the medal in Autobody Repair, competing against 14 other countries including Japan, Korea, France, Germany and the US.
Mr Blair, who works for Mallusk Accident Repair Centre in Belfast, also achieved 7th place in the overall Competition (almost 700 competitors competed in total), which took place over four days at the end of May.
US tyre demand came in strong during May, Deutsche Bank analysts have reported. As a result the major manufacturers are reported to have averaged a 3.6 per cent year-over-year increase. However, although demand appears to have recovered from the 3.8 per cent drop it suffered in April, the analysts are cautious about reading too much in the figures.
UK Equipment Ltd has appointed David Speirs as area sales manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In this role Mr Speirs will be responsible for strengthening the company’s existing distributor base, whilst growing the brand through its OEM business and corporate dealers throughout the region.
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