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The Aftermarket Show 2005

The Aftermarket Show returns to the NEC from 13-16 January 2005. Organiser Haymarket Exhibitions says the event will give a high profile to suppliers from the tyre, wheel, accessory, consumables, parts, electrics and garage equipment sectors.

Last January’s inaugural show attracted more than 24,500 dedicated trade visitors, part of a combined total of 91,000 business and motorsport enthusiasts who visited the show and sister attraction Autosport International.

The Tyre Industry Council (TIC) will again sponsor the tyre sector of the show, which will aim to attract interest from a broad cross section of manufacturers, wholesalers, equipment and services suppliers. Dutch manufacturer Vredestein has already confirmed its return in 2005.

TIC secretary Peter Taylor said: “We are working with Haymarket to develop a number of innovative concepts that will appeal to specific sectors of the industry. The response to the first show in January was very encouraging, which makes 2005 a real opportunity to create an exhibition that delivers something new, exciting and valuable to the trade.”

The Aftermarket Show – Exhibitor Contacts: Tel: +44 (0)207 267 8300 www.theaftermarketshow.com

15th June 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Vredestein: Two years with Bert Stellinga at the helm in the UK

Product News, UK News

Bert Stellinga has now been installed at Vredestein’s Wellingborough UK headquarters for two years. In that time Vredestein have launched new high performance tyres and taken steps to develop the brand awareness in the enthusiasts market in the UK, whilst at the same time developing their share of the agricultural tyre market. It has very much been steady as she goes for the Dutch tyre manufacturer.

Bert Stellinga told T&A that the UK is a major market for Vredestein and that progress was being made in both the UK and the Irish markets. However, to get a better picture of the company it was important to understand the wider position of Vredestein as an organisation.

2003 saw Vredestein’s year on year sales on the increase and the company managed to record a profit, very close to that earned in 2002. During the year there was also a stock reduction exercise which released funds and made the whole business more profitable. “The fact that Vredestein is making a profit,” says Stellinga, “enables the company to invest in people and product, to develop new services. For instance, in some markets in the European Union we have our new Internet Ordering facility in place. This allows customers to access stock records, place orders and arrange delivery on line, at their convenience. The strength of being in profit also allows us to develop our marketing with advertising and of course attendance at events such as the Autosport International Exhibition.

“One of the biggest developments for the company last year was the return to private ownership. Having removed the obligation to the shareholders that put the company in a position where it could increase its flexibility and invest in research and development. At present we are in a transitional period but the move will have positive consequences in the future. This will be seen in the investment in new lines this year with a new winter tyre arriving later in 2004.”

One question that arises about Vredestein is its ability to stand alone. Other smaller manufacturers are working together with off-take agreements to fill capacity, or enable ranges to be extended. There is a deal of technology exchange and shared product development. As an independent, manufacturer can Vredestein continue to develop its own products as a stand alone business?

“Vredestein is very much a self contained operation and I don’t think that we would envisage such close co-operation with competitors. Our own R&D facility swallows a considerable element of the finance budget but we need to develop products that the market appreciates and wants. We produce niche products that appeal to specialised markets – Sportrac and Ultrac are the only designer tyres in the world and our cooperation with Giugiaro Design is proving to be very successful, for instance. We do not need vast volumes because we are selling premium quality products where we can maintain good prices for everyone in the chain. We do not deal with OE in passenger car tyres, so we can survive on our limited capacity. Our OE market is strictly agricultural and again, we offer a premium brand tyre to a specialised market,” says Bert Stellinga. “We are determined to go it alone and I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t.”

21st May 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

UK Agricultural Tyre market: a steady decline but still good business

The Agricultural tyre sector in the UK has had a tough year. It began with the aftermath of Foot and Mouth. There was an extremely wet start to the year. Then a prolonged dry period – the driest – if not the hottest – in 25 years.

Wet weather usually means more sales for the agricultural sector, but too much rain just stops the market in its tracks – no pun intended. That was the case early in the year. When the weather turned dry the public lapped up the sunshine and the long dry spell, but farmers anticipating the traditional UK summer were faced with their own dry weather difficulties.

However, tyres and traction were not amongst their troubles. Dry fields do not create traction problems and the agriculture sector stretched the mileage of existing tyres well beyond their expected lifespan. The result has been a drop in the overall market of something around 10 per cent.

The wider agricultural market is dominated by Michelin, Goodyear, Continental and Bridgestone in the UK – with the big players accounting for around 60 per cent of the market. Although just how big the market is no-one can say. That 60 per cent represents almost two thirds of the premium brand tyre market. It does not include the figures of the budget brand sector. As with the car and truck sectors there is no hard evidence to confirm the sales figures at the bottom end of the market. Asking tyre companies about market share results in a sum that is greater than the whole. But general consensus places Michelin group at the head of the market, followed by Goodyear Dunlop, then Continental and Bridgestone followed by Trelleborg/Pirelli and Vredestein.

In order to sell tyres it is, in every sector, important to know who, or what, the customer is and what is being sought. It might be a fair assumption to say that the farmer expects tyres to do the job they are asked to do. That, in itself, is open to interpretation. The contractor may be keeping an eye on the slip meter in the cab and be watching for the point of diminishing returns from a set of tyres; changing them at the point when they become inefficient for his purposes. Another farmer using the same tyres may take a different approach, saying that so long as they hold air they will stay on the tractor. Somewhere in-between there are those who only change tyres when they are damaged beyond repair – they may change the tractor at the same time as the tyres. In marketing tyres to the top end of the agricultural sector though, there must be an assumption made that the people prepared to pay the premium price for a leading brand tyre must have some concept of tyre management and an eye on productivity and efficiency.

28th January 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Vredestein signs up for Tyre ASI

Vredestein UK has signed up to exhibit at Tyre ASI, the UK exhibition being held at the NEC this January. It is an integral part of the Aftermarket Show and runs alongside Autosport International. The visitor profile was a major factor in Vredestein’s decision and the company’s stand will feature the Giugiaro Design Aston Martin 2020.

29th October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Vico Now Holds 96.8 Per Cent Of Vredestein Shares

The Vredestein Investment Consortium (Vico) has increased its shareholding in the Dutch company from 61.2 per cent to 96.8 per cent, following an offer tabled in August, to purchase Vredestein shares for 7.5 Euro. The tender period officially closed on 24th September, by which time Vico has purchased 3,035,594 shares, bringing its holding to 8,265,581 shares. Despite the ending of the tender period, Vico will still buy shares up to 15th October. The listing of Vredestein shares on the official market of Euronext N.V. will be terminated on 24th October.

1st October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Vredestein Tops In Auto Express Test

The Vredestein Hi-Trac came out tops in the annual tyre test conducted by motoring magazine Auto Express. Ten H-rated tyres were put through a demanding series of wet and dry handling tests and the Hi-Trac emerged in first place, narrowly ahead of the Continental ContiEcoContact3 and the third-placed Toyo Roadpro R610.

9th September 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Vredestein fire damage limited

A fire at Vredestein’s raw materials warehouse at Enschede on Friday 22nd August was quickly brought under control by local fire brigades and the company fire brigade and personnel. As a result both the Vredestein production shop and the warehouse were saved and deliveries will not be affected.

27th August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Creating a winter tyre market

When we contacted a number of tyre manufacturers to obtain information for this feature, we received a number of reactions along the lines of “Winter tyres? There’s not much call for them in the UK.” Some companies had to contact their mainland European offices for product details and the situation is neatly summed up by the fact that, if you want Michelin’s latest high speed winter tyre in the UK, it has to be ordered specially.

Perhaps this is not that surprising, as there is a shortage of winter tyres in mainland Europe, caused by the long winter which went on into March this year. One estimate is that winter tyre inventories are now around 15 per cent below normal, at six million units.
But the UK winter tyre market is minimal, mainly because we have light snowfalls over much of the country. However, you do not need snow for a winter tyre to be effective and to improve driver safety. The main supporter of this view is the head of Vredestein UK, Bert Stellinga. When he first came to the UK, he declared himself amazed at the tiny size of the UK winter tyre market and it is his ambition to see this grow.

If they are not designed for snow, then why fit winter tyres? The simple answer is that, when it is cold and wet – which, let’s face it, is more typical winter weather than snow – a winter tyre performs better than a summer version. Research showed that, in these conditions, braking distances were significantly shorter for winter-shod vehicles. The figure that you will see mentioned throughout the articles in this feature is +7ºC; below this, winter tyres outperform summer tyres.

Vredestein wanted to enhance winter tyre sales, so the company joined forces with a medium-sized car leasing company and the Euromaster chain of tyre retailers. The leasing company was looking at ways to differentiate itself from the herd and, after being convinced by a series of braking tests that stopping distances were indeed shorter on winter tyres (and by analysing accident statistics and finding that more happened in the winter) it came on board.

Says Bert Stellinga: “Back in 1995, winter tyres accounted for half of one per cent of Dutch tyre sales and, by the end of 2002, it was up to around seven per cent” he remembers. If we accept the rough figure of 25 million tyres in the UK replacement tyre market, then seven per cent equates to 1.75 million tyres, which is a figure that should be of interest to the manufacturers and to the tyre dealers too.

11th August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Profit For Vredestein

Vredestein has released preliminary annual figures for 2002, showing a net profit of 12.7 million Euros, although this figure includes extraordinary income of 1.6 million Euros and a one-off tax benefit of 1.5 million Euros. Group turnover was down slightly to 300 million Euros (2001: 305 m), but the operating profit of 14.7 million Euros marks a turnaround from 2001, when Vredestein recorded a 7.8 million Euros loss.

18th February 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Maloya Futura Sport W

Maloya, the Swiss subsidiary of Vredestein, has introduced a W-rated tyre, the Futura Sport W. The tyre comes in two 45-series sizes, for 17″ rims and has a directional tread and silica tread compound.

14th October 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Vredestein Ultrac

Vredestein and Giugiaro have teamed up for a second time to produce a stylish ultra high performance car tyre – the Ultrac. This follows the success of the Giugiaro designed Sportrac, which encouraged Vredestein to ask the Italian design studio to work with them on their first venture into the UHP segment.The result is a variation on a theme, the now familiar extended deep vee tread pattern has been touched by natural influences and now follows a sweeping pattern taken from nature, using the veining of a leaf as inspiration. Many will wonder whether a tread pattern designed by a stylist is as effective as a tread pattern designed by a tyre technician, but by adopting the rule that form follows function, the result is a tyre which appears to perform as well as any of its UHP competitors.The real innovation though is in the compound and the building of the tyres. The Silica Silane compound turned the mixing process into a chemical reaction which had to be time and temperature controlled. Further, the tyre building required an accuracy offered only by new tyre building lines. Vredestein invested some 50 million Euro in production facilities for the Ultrac. It is a venture which leads the Dutch manufacturer into the burgeoning UHP sector, however, MD Rob Oudshoorn told NRZ, “We don’t consider this as a growth market, we see it as another opportunity to sell tyres.”

18th March 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

New MD Announced For Vredestein UK

When Ian Wilson retires from his post of managing director of Vredestein UK at the end of March, he will be replaced by Bert Stellinga who has been with the company since 1994 and is currently the company’s export manager. Bert will take up the post on 1 April.

14th February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

New V-Rated Winter Tyre From Vredestein Carries The Load

Vredestein has introduced the Wintrac V XL, a V-rated winter tyre that has the same load capacity as W, Y and Z-rated summer tyres. With few, if any, winter tyres available at these higher speed ratings, drivers have previously had to fit V-rated winter tyres with lower load-carrying capabilities. The Wintrac V XL will be available for this year’s winter tyre season.

28th December 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

New Sizes for Vredestein

Dutch tyre manufacturer Vredestein is adding some new sizes to its existing product range, for example the dimension 350/60-16 12 PR TL to the “Flotation+” profile. With the new “Traxion+” sizes 420/70 R 28 and 520 R 38 it is also possible to choose “extra wide” tyres in the most popular horse power categories. Last but not least the “Flotation Pro” in 22.5 inches is now suitable for speeds up to 65 km/h. Additional sizes are also in preparation, such as 600/55 R 26.5, 700/50 R 26.5 and 800/40 R 26.5.

28th December 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Worse-Than-Expected Figures For Vredestein

Contrary to earlier forecasts, the Dutch Vredestein group has announced heavy losses for 2001. Sales and profitability on the German tyre market, which are very important factors in Vredestein’s results, are under pressure.

28th December 2001/by Tyrepress Editors