Winter Tyres
Sweden’s government has decided that from the start of 2013, trucks operating within the country must have tyres with at least 5 mm pattern depth and winter tyres on their drive axles between 1 December and 31 March, whenever winter conditions occur. This new requirement has been applauded by Nokian Tyres, which says it “can be expected to substantially increase road safety during the winter season.”
With temperatures already dropping and forecasts for a colder-than-average winter, Allianz Global Assistance, the Pan-European roadside assistance company, urges UK motorists to get ahead of the game.
These days, companies that specialise in the sale of new or retreaded truck tyres must always offer their customers a comprehensive product portfolio plus a regrooving service. Through professional regrooving, a tyre’s mileage can be increased by a further 25 per cent, simultaneously reducing the pence per mile cost. Speaking with Tyres & Accessories, Marc Jürgens, product manager Tyre Repair Tools and Chemicals at Rema Tip Top, explained why regrooving is important, how it can help retain customers and what must be taken into consideration in the workshop.
Demand for winter tyres at Kwik Fit has quadrupled over the last four years, and the company anticipates a continued rise in orders. However the fast-fit network concedes that only a small number of UK motorists are purchasing season specific tyres and it says research shows that 68 per cent of drivers are uninformed about the differences between cold and warm weather tyres, while 23 per cent haven’t even heard of winter tyres.
It seems fair to say, on the basis of recently published Encircle Marketing research (see the forthcoming December 2012 Tyres & Accessories), that tyre labelling had a slow start at point of sale in its first month. Encircle made 4,700 sales calls in November 2012, and only 6.1 per cent of the retailers contacted mentioned the new tool that was designed to help overhaul the way tyres are sold in the European Union.
TyreSafe’s 2012 tyre safety month “reached new levels of…participation”, according to the industry body. A record amount of printed point-of-sale material, including 200,000 leaflets and posters, were distributed to those in the tyre industry, particularly to participating tyre retailers and workshops offering free tyre safety checks to car owners.
During an interview with an Indian publication, Apollo Tyres’ chief of India operations commented on plans to establish a Greenfield plant in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region in the near future, while a factory in Eastern Europe may follow a couple of years later. Speaking with the Financial Chronicle, Satish Sharma said a favourable volume outlook was a key motivating factor behind the company’s plans in Asia.
Dr Hongwei Li, general manager and chief engineer of the Tire Technology Alliance, has a history of working with premium brand tyres, and the labels displayed on her relatively young company's tyres at Reifen China seem to suggest an advanced level of tyre technology. Dr Li was promoting two relatively new brands belonging to Qingdao-based TTA; Primmax and Arcron at the show, alongside two "world premieres" for the company.
Nokian Tyres withdrew its self-produced “winter grip label” on 21 November following pressure from European tyre manufacturer’s organisation ETRMA and some competitors. The company reports that the label had not been and was not planned to be distributed outside Nordic countries. The news is set against the backdrop of the introduction of mandatory tyre labelling on 1 November 2012.
Audi centres are offering a range of winter tyre and wheel options, including winter wheel and tyre sets priced from £799 to £3,659 for all current Audi models. Tyre-only sets also available priced from £540 to £1,300 and previous generation models can also benefit from a set of winter tyres from £325.
Of course, white road markings are only effective if you can see them and, in a comment issued before the RSMA report came out, Matthew Mycock, MD of Autoglass, referred to forthcoming DfT statistics that are predicted to show that over 1,000 more road accidents are reported in November compared to the average month, with November 19th being the worst day.
Ellisons Travel is fitting Michelin cold weather tyres to its entire fleet this winter. While the company has fitted winter tyres from a variety of manufacturers for more than 20 years, this is the first time it has selected Michelin cold weather tyres exclusively for its fleet of 42 cars and 25 luxury coaches and people carriers.
The Vianor tyre retail and car service chain opened its 1,000th sales outlet in Germany. The new outlet is situated in Friedrichshafenin southern Germany. Vianor is owned by Finnish manufacturer Nokian Tyres and currently operates in 24 countries. In addition to tyre services, the sales outlets also provide comprehensive car maintenance services.
As part of its corporate social responsibility program (CSR) in Hungary, Hankook has donated over 1300 winter tyres to three organisations – National Ambulance Service, National Disaster Relief and Hungarian Red Cross – to support their invaluable services to the community. This is the largest tyre donation ever in Hungary.
In 2012, Hankook launched an overarching CSR strategy in Hungary, where the company's European production facilities are located. The "Hankook Value Creation Program" is based on three pillars: Environment, Health & Education and Social Campaigning.
The ETRMA has called for action against one its own members after Nokian Tyres took the initiative of producing its own ice and snow label. The association is specifically asking authorities in Finland, Norway and Sweden to put an immediate end to the initiative. Nokian tyres, which specialises in winter tyres, appears to have devised its own additional labelling system in response to the fact that the new EU tyre label that became mandatory on 1 November 2012 doesn’t include snow and ice performance information. Furthermore, due to the fact that the EU label requires tests to be conducted at relatively high ambient temperatures, winter tyres in general have shown a tendency to appear to perform poorly on the EU label.
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