Winter Tyres
With the nights closing in and winter well on its way, Mercedes-Benz Retailers are helping customers to prepare for the changing road conditions in the months ahead by stocking Cold Weather Tyres.
Mercedes-Benz points out that Cold Weather Tyres are effective as soon as the temperature falls below seven degrees Celsius, not just when there is snow on the ground.
Mercedes-Benz reports that its UK retailers now have stocks of cold weather tyres for the coming winter. Apart from the obvious benefits winter tyres offer – better grip and shorter braking distances at temperatures below seven degrees Celsius – the cold weather tyres supplied by Mercedes-Benz dealers are supplied with the ‘MO’ sidewall designation, confirming their approval an a Mercedes-Benz original equipment fitment.
A Canadian firm is setting up what it says will be North America’s largest tyre retreading plant. The CA$37 million facility in St. Mary’s, Ontario will open in February 2014 and operator Green Arc Tire Manufacturing Inc. stated in a press release that it will remould up to 3 million passenger, SUV and light truck radials a year at the facility.
With memories of Nokian’sill-fated alternative winter tyre label fresh in mind, I was interested to learn that Finnish tyre and vehicle test centre Testworld is making its own ice braking test result publically and freely available.
Let’s cast our minds back almost exactly a year. The new tyre labelling laws had just been introduced following six months of various manufacturers making certain data available.12 months on virtually all of that has died down and it is far from clear exactly how the market has received this concept, let alone consumers (see “Labelling compliance worse…”, “NTDA/Lanxess labelling report” and “Goodyear Dunlop: Labelling one year on” for more on this.
Financial analysts have described Nokian’s latest third quarter financial results as “better than expected”, however they also pointed out that any optimism will be have to be balanced against the details of a recent profit warning. The profit warning referred to forthcoming fourth quarter figures, which are expected to be “weak”, with pre-tax profits (EBIT) estimates projecting a -13 per cent decline.
Road safety charity the IAM is offering weekly motoring tips from Britain’s top advanced driver, Peter Rodger. This week (31st October), he advised motorists on preparing their cars for the cold season, saying: “Now is the time to give your car a once-over before winter conditions take hold. Bad weather can strike suddenly and more […]
Upon announcing its third quarter 2013 results, Nokian Tyres points out that although its group sales decreased 3.0 per cent year-on-year to €357.0 million in the three months to 30 September, the company’s profitability remained strong and it improved market share. Operating profit rose 11.9 per cent to €95.7 million and profit for the period amounted to €70.9 million. Earnings per share were up €0.08 to €0.53.
The Russian city of Kaluga is home to several European vehicle manufacturers, including Volkswagen, PSMA and Volvo Trucks, along with suppliers such as Magna, Faurecia, Benteller and Gestamp. The name Continental now joins this list following the official start of production at the company’s new tyre factory in Kaluga on 29 October.
Artic tyre and vehicle test centre Testworld has published a winter and studded tyre test database called safewintertyre.eu. The centre based in Ivalo, Finland has published the results of 128 tyres categories as studded, un-studded Nordic and un-studded mid-Europe. And while the first two categories are fairly specialised, the last contains one performance metric for 49 mainstream winter tyres. So far the tests are limited to what the firm calls “ice braking” metrics, which set the tyres against an as-yet unnamed standard reference tyre.
Bridgestone is supporting the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup as it launches this weekend with the women’s and men’s Giant Slalom in Sölden, Austria. The tyre manufacturer is now a major event sponsor at 39 World Cup Alpine Ski events, including this weekend’s opening races. This is Bridgestone’s third consecutive season of close association with the pinnacle of alpine sport, and the company will continue as a major sponsor of skiing until at least 2016, having signed a three year extension to its current deal.
Bridgestone has been rewarded for its winter tyre investment with some high finishers in some major German magazines’ winter tyre tests. Representing the pinnacle of Bridgestone’s expertise in tread and compound technology, the Blizzak LM-32 performed extremely well in the latest independent tests, earning the label of “highly recommended” from Autozeitung and ends 4th out of 50 tyres in AutoBild.
Goodyear has announced the shipment of its seven millionth UltraGrip 8 in Europe making the tyre one of its all-time leading winter products. The tyre, which launched in 2011, is the most recent in the UltraGrip branded range first launched in 1971.
The ‘REDI-Sensor’ tyre pressure monitoring system marketed under Continental’s VDO brand has been sold in North America for the last three years, and the automotive supplier claims the product has enjoyed great success there. Now, with EU Regulation 523/2012 coming into effect in little over one year from now, the company is rolling out REDI-Sensor here in Europe. The multi-application TPMS sensor will be introduced into the European market in summer 2014.
Nokian’s WR D3 winter tyre has been “especially recommended”, scoring the top “good” rating, in German automobile club ADAC and consumer protection organisation Stiftung Warentest’s 2013 winter tyre test. The tyre was equally recommended by German car magazine Auto Motor Sport. The Finnish manufacturer and winter tyre specialist also received plaudits for its new WR SUV 3 tyre in two German SUV specialist titles.
Pirelli has launched a new initiative based around the operating temperature of winter tyres. Customers who purchase the manufacturer’s winter products are being offered a 50 per cent refund should the average UK daily temperature remain higher than seven degrees Celsius for more than 30 days between 1 January 2014 and 28 February 2014.
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