Tyres & Accessories has launched a new online service giving everyone in the tyre industry the chance to access the latest news and information wherever they are. Tyrepress.com/mobile gives readers access to our complete database of 20,000+ articles in a design that has been specially formatted for the small screen.
This year during tyre safety month TyreSafe says it will build on last year’s campaign by focusing on family audiences and highlighting the simplicity of checking tyre tread depth with a 20p coin. The organisation is now inviting any interested party, including garages, tyre retailers, fleets and other interested organisations to register their details in order to receive free point of sale materials for the October campaign by visiting the TyreSafe www.tyresafe.org website or by calling the campaign hotline on 0845 301 6852.
The much-anticipated BMW M5 (based on the company’s F10) is due to be unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt International Motor Show between 15 and 25 September, but eagle-eyed bloggers at the Bimmerpost.com website have already been able to post shots of the new model with minimal camouflage as it lay unattended in a German car park. Of particular interest to tyrepress.com readers were the sedan’s 265/40 ZR19 (102Y) tyres. Their manufacturer? Pirelli (click the additional picture for a close-up). Could this be an original equipment deal in the making?
As of the beginning of this week tyrepress.com has a new partner website delivering the latest tyre business news in Italian, PneusNews.it. Describing itself as “the new online magazine for information, documentation and analysis dedicated to the tyre and wheel in Italy”, PneusNews.it comes from the company internationally renowned for producing Neue Reifenzeitung and reifenpresse.de, a magazine and website dedicated to the German-speaking market, and Tyres & Accessories and your current website tyrepress.com for English-speakers across the world. All three products have market-leading e-Newsletters providing cutting-edge news updates.
We’re not sure about this one, however the BBC reports that a campaign soon to get underway in twelve regions throughout the UK will lead to used chewing gum seeing further life in tyres and other products. The broadcaster’s website for Hereford and Worcester states that the initiative being implemented in Hereford “aims to recycle chewing gum into car tyres, children toys and mobile phone covers.”
E-Commerce tyre seller etyres has released a YouTube instructional video for changing wheels on passenger cars with a difference: it is presented by a 10-year old. William Stepney shows viewers, in the words of etyres, that "you don’t need to be a qualified mechanic or have Vin Diesel’s biceps to fit the spare tyre."
Last week tyrepress.com, the tyre and wheel business’s most popular website, published its 20,000th story since going online in 1998. Starting with only occasional reports on major news stories, tyrepress.com now publishes between 10 and 15 stories every working day – a number so substantial that the site has at the time of writing published another 100 stories since the milestone was reached earlier in July. All stories published on the website can be found under the “News” tab on the current website, where readers can browse stories by category.
Bridgestone’s campaign to increase the safety consciousness of drivers in India has been reinforced with a new website. The site – www.thinkbeforeyoudrive.in – offers a simple Flash “Survivor Race” game, illustrating the gremlins lining India’s roads; a “Crash Test Garage”, which amusingly illustrates the dangers of driving without a seatbelt and other foolish mistakes; a section of “Safety Tips”, including downloads; and the ubiquitous link to join Bridgestone India on social networking websites Facebook and Twitter.
Tyre e-tail operation Tyre Shopper (www.tyre-shopper.co.uk), which is linked to National Tyres parent company Axle Group Holdings, has been recognised as one of the top 10 most popular websites in its category in the UK Online Performance Awards 2009. The UK Online Performance Awards from Experian Hitwise celebrate the most successful UK websites across 60 key industries, based on market share of UK visits received throughout 2009. Hitwise monitors the internet usage of over eight million online consumers in the UK to gather this information.
The Slot Mag was the first alloy wheel launched by Wolfrace when the company was established in 1971. Now, for the 40th anniversary of Wolfrace in the alloy wheel market the Slot Mag is making a return in 2011. Wolfrace is the UK's oldest wheel brand and over the past 40 years, Wolfrace have created many iconic alloy wheel styles that remain popular today such as Sonic, Costume, Voodoo and the Matrix which still remains at the forefront of the wheel market today.
Brityrex newcomer Profil Tyres is a Polish-based company that manufactures and wholesales a wide range of retreaded car tyres. When the company was founded in 1984, the company’s workshop produced 1000 tyres a month. By the turn of the millennium an up and until 2008 this figure had risen to 24,000 tyres a month. According to the company, this significant production growth followed a programme of investment aimed at upgrading production technologies so the company could attain “the strictest quality control.”
As far as machinery upgrades are concerned, this investment phase saw the company acquire retreading equipment manufactured by some of the best known names in the business including: Mateuzzi, CIMA, CISAP and AMF. As a result the company is now able to run a 24-hour system five days a week.
North Eastern Tyre and Autocare (NETA) says its customers can save time and money by taking advantage of its new online service. Purchasing tyres and booking a fitting appointment at a NETA branch through the www.nete.co.uk website is as easy as purchasing a book or downloading music from an online retailer, the North East and Yorkshire based company notes, and the online system comes complete with built in updates that gives customers a reminder about when service or other work is due.
The global tendency towards increased tyre prices could also be affecting product costs on the Russian tyre market. According to a poll conducted by Russian website topof.ru, manufacturers “unanimously speak about escalating costs of raw materials, produced both in Russia and abroad.” For companies that import their products from abroad increased transportation costs are said to be a problem. Besides the standard currency fluctuations, tariff rates are reportedly another important factor. The result: “an average delivery costs increase [of] 15 per cent.”
The UK R2RC (Right to Repair) strategy group has been disbanded, having decided it has achieved the goals it set when it was formed in February 2007. The decision was made at a recent Automotive Aftermarket Liaison Group (AALG) meeting, from which the UK element of the campaign was born, that R2RC end. The AALG accepted that recommendation.
Jim Mazza, the chairman of the campaign, said: “The motor vehicle specific regulations and guidelines introduced on 1 June 2010, which will run until 2023, are a fantastic outcome and far beyond my expectations. These coupled with other European legislation and directives provide strong protection for the independent automotive aftermarket and ensure an ongoing competitive environment from which the motorist will benefit. The UK Strategy Group is very satisfied with the outcome of the campaign.”
ECI International, the organiser of Brityrex, says a new-look venue will greet exhibitors and delegates at October’s show at Manchester Central (formerly known as the G-MEX. The venue has spent £30 million over the past two years completing a major redevelopment programme. The most striking result of the investment can be seen by the addition of the new Charter Foyer and the new and extended Central Foyer, which have added cohesion to the venue’s facilities and offer greater ease of access within the Manchester Central site. The new Central Foyer is much larger than its predecessor and has added additional event space.
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