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NTDA and RAC Foundation Warn of Tyre Ageing Dangers

According to the RAC Foundation, up to 3 million UK motorists could be at risk by not checking the age and condition of their tyres. The motoring organisation made a point of publicising this on 31 July to coincide with the launch of the eight-week tyre safety campaign it is running in conjunction with the NTDA, urging drivers of low-mileage vehicles to have their tyres inspected. The coordinated awareness-raising campaign includes national and local radio and press coverage, coupled with free safety checks at 2700 NTDA member sites.

When the NTDA announced it was planning this summer’s tyre ageing campaign back in April, it came as a surprise to many. However, in an interview with association chairman Peter Gaster, Tyres & Accessories learnt that initial plans for the awareness raising effort actually began more than four years ago.

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Cooper and Avon Boast Expansive Winter Range

Cooper Tyre and its subsidiary, the UK-based Avon Tyres, are both gearing up for the winter rounds with a wide range of options for seasonal drivers. Both brands are represented particularly strongly in the 4×4 sector with the Avon Ranger Ice and the Cooper Discoverer M+S and M+S Sport, while Avon alone caters for the winter needs of performance cars with the Ice Touring ST, both companies have small-to-medium passenger car options (the Ice Touring and the Weather-Master Snow H & V), while Avon leaves its parental brand to cater to the Van market (Van-Master M+S).

There has been an increasing demand for dedicated light truck and 4×4 winter tyres in recent years and Cooper Tire has responded to this requirement with the development of dedicated winter 4×4 tyre ranges alongside Avon’s own offering, the Ranger Ice.

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New Business Development Manager at Vacu-Lug

Vacu-Lug has appointed Matt Ball, 31, to the position of Business Development Manager for Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres Limited. Covering an area from Cheshire through to the Midlands, Wales and the South West, Matt will be responsible for further increasing and developing Vacu-Lug’s penetration within the region’s major fleets.

Ball began his career with a Modern Apprenticeship at alloy wheel and performance tyre manufacturer Rimstock, with whom he later progressed into sales. Thereafter, he spent five years working in light and heavy commercial vehicle sales with Volkswagen and Renault respectively before moving to Ravenstock MSG, a container hire operation, from where he joined Vacu-Lug.

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Bafin Approves Schaeffler’s Bid for Continental

The German federal financial supervisory authority (BaFin) has given the go-ahead for Schaeffler Group’s 70.12 euro per share cash bid to take over Continental AG. According to an official statement on the subject, the acceptance period for the offer begins today and ends at midnight on 27 August 2008.

Dr Juergen Geissinger, Schaeffler Group president and CEO, made it clear that Schaeffler wants to wrap up proceedings as soon as possible, pointing to recent comments made by vehicle manufacturers including Volkswagen, GM and Porsche: “Public statements of customers of both companies from the automotive industry show that they view a possible alliance between Schaeffler and Continental as positive…We remain determined to come to a rapid agreement with Continental AG’s management that is in the interests of all parties involved. Regardless of the previous rejection of our offer, we can see a great opportunity for this, because we remain prepared to continue Continental AG’s existing strategy, which we explicitly support, together with the management.”

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Car Makers Back Schaeffer’s Conti Bid

This week Porsche and GM executives have added their names to the list of car makers calling for a swift conclusion to merger talks between Continental AG and takeover bidder, Schaeffler Group.

Porsche AG chief financial officer Holger Haerter was the first to come out and join Volkswagen in favour the deal, telling Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung he would back Schaeffler Group’s takeover bid. Haerter said the product portfolio of both companies complement each other and set out to allay fears that employees of Continental would face jobs risks as a result of the deal.

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Continental Sime Achieves Quality Management Certification

Malaysia’s Continental Sime Tyre PJ Sdn. Bhd has recently been granted ISO/TS 16949 certification. The international quality management system for the automotive industry is primarily applicable for dealings with OE customers, however the company adds it is also important for future business opportunities, as the fulfilment of ISO/TS 16949 requirements confirms that the certified company delivers a high level of quality and that the quality control system in place is working effectively.

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VW Supports Schaeffler Takeover

Volkswagen AG chief executive Martin Winterkorn says he backs Schaeffler Group’s takeover bid for Continental AG. Speaking to Germany news agency DPA, he described the proposed merger as “altogether positive” and warned that a protracted takeover battle would distract the two companies from their respective businesses. VW is a key customer for both Schaeffler and Continental.

Earlier German news sources had reported that VW was angry with Schaeffler Group for not tipping it off on its Continental takeover plans. Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (HAZ) cited “company sources” as saying that Volkswagen expected to be let in on the plans. The HAZ story reported that Schaeffler chief executive, Juergen Geissinger, has since apologised to VW.

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Marangoni Adds 8 Sizes to Summer Performance Tyre Range

Marangoni has added eight new sizes to its 2008 UHP range, four in the Verso line-up and four in the Mythos line. The new offerings in this segment confirm, states the Italian manufacturer, its increasing specialisation in high and ultra-high performance tyres.

The Verso line has been extended with four new sizes for premium mid and larger-sized vehicles such as the Audi A4, Alfa Romeo 159, Mercedes C Class and Saab 9-3, as well as for MPVs such as the Fiat Ulysse and the Renault Espace. The new sizes are, 205/60 and 215/60 for 16-inch rims and 215/50 and 225/50 for 17-inch rims. The Verso 2008 range now includes the following sizes:

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Motaquip: Poor Quality Wheel Bearings ‘Threaten UK Aftermarket’

Low cost and counterfeit wheel bearings are pouring into the UK market, posing a direct threat to motorists, Motaquip has warned. Motaquip, one of the UK’s leading aftermarket suppliers, singled out Far Eastern suppliers of low cost wheel bearing kits for criticism saying: they fail to meet Original Equipment (OE) or matching quality specification.

The non-OE wheel bearings issue surrounds Far Eastern wheel bearing kit imports which feature ball bearings rather than the newer taper roller technology. Increasingly complex modern vehicles require that safety critical parts such as wheel bearing kits meet Original Equipment (OE) or matching quality specification. In order to reduce costs, parts sourced from the Far East often use fewer balls than the OE part, which leaves them vulnerable to breakage, disintegration, collapse or locking when in use – with potentially devastating consequences.

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Mini the Top Movie Car Ever, Says Uniroyal

The three Mini Coopers from the 1969 box office hit ‘The Italian Job’ have been named the top movie cars of all time in a survey conducted by Uniroyal tyres. The popular Mk1 Austin Mini Cooper S’s in British blue, white and red beat off over twenty other nominees to take the number one spot in a poll of over 2,000 movie fans.

KITT, David Hasselhoff’s automotive sidekick in the early 80s television series ‘Knight Rider’, came in at number two, followed closely by James Bond’s glacier-friendly Aston Martin Vanquish from ‘Die Another Day’. The Volkswagen Beetle Herbie, also known as the Love Bug, crept into fourth place, while Dr Emmett Brown’s ever so slightly modified De Lorean DMC-12 from ‘Back to the Future’, took fifth.

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Golf GTI Pirelli Returns to the UK

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It’s almost a year since we first reported the return of the Volkswagen Golf GTI Pirelli (see our previous stories here and here), yet these past months the hot hatch – the first to bear the Pirelli name in a quarter century – has been the exclusive domain of our friends on the continent. But all this is about to change with its upcoming UK release.

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New Wheel From JE Design

JE Design, the tuning specialist for vehicles from the Volkswagen group, believes that it has spotted a gap in the market – according to the company, more and more new cars are being supplied in a white finish, so why not offer a wheel to match?
Hence the creation of the “Multispoke” wheel, with its “WFP” (white front polished) finish, which means that the pearl-white finish of the rim well and spoke sides is complemented by a mirror-finish, silver-coloured front (spoke back and rim edge), which gives the 16-spoke wheel a stylish and sporty look.

The new wheel is available in size 8×19″.

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Conti Releasing 60 New 4×4 Sizes in 2008

Continental’s 4×4 tyre range has been further expanded this season, with no fewer than six summer tyre models now available in this segment. The German manufacturer is releasing 60 new sizes for 4×4, SUV and crossover vehicles this year, and continues to supply OE for numerous manufacturers, including Audi, BMW, Land Rover, Mercedes, Porsche and Volkswagen.

The ContiCrossContact UHP is designed for particularly powerful 4×4 vehicles. Its performance characteristics – including short braking distances and enhanced cornering stability – are geared specifically to the requirements of vehicles like the Porsche Cayenne or BMW X5. To satisfy specific tyre fitment requirements the ContiCrossContact UHP is also available in 23- and 24-inch sizes. The range thus covers the lion’s share of retrofitting and tuning requirements for V, W, Y and Z speed ratings (for speeds in excess of 210 km/h to more than 300 km/h). The ContiCrossContact UHP has already managed 330 km/h under controlled conditions in a high-speed event at Italy’s Nardo Ring.

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New Sizes Increase Conti’s Summer PCR Range

Newly announced sizes have broadened Continental’s summer passenger car tyre range for 2008. The company’s top ContiSportContact 3 model is now available in a total of 138 sizes and 111 size options are included in the ContiPremiumContact 2 range for medium and larger sized vehicles.

The ContiSportContact 3 was developed with the manufacturers and drivers of sporty cars in mind, and Conti thus emphasised braking distances, handling and wet road performance as the tyre’s key strengths. The range features an additional tread pattern variant for powerful rear-wheel-drive sports cars and yet another tread version for tuning requirements. The Conti sports tyre has received original equipment releases from numerous leading carmakers: Volkswagen has recently started equipping its Passat CC with the self-sealing variant based on ContiSeal technology. Other vehicle manufacturers offer SSR-run-flat variants as standard tyres on wide sections of their model lines.

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New UK OE Fitments for Yokohama

The UK distributor for Yokohama tyres, Yokohama HPT Ltd, has announced several key new original equipment fitments in the Japanese manufacturer’s range for the UK market. The latest brand to select Yokohama as the tyre of choice is Volkswagen, for its new Touareg model. The choice follows Porsche, which recently adopted the Advan Sport model on its high-performance SUV, the Cayenne. The new Volkswagen model leaves the factory with both 19 and 20-inch wheel options fitted with Yokohama’s Advan Sport, sized 275/45R19 and 275/40R20 respectively.

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