Winter Tyres
Road safety charity the Institute of Advanced Motorists has launched its winter driving campaign this week to help motorists prepare their cars and drive them safely this winter. The campaign includes a website, drivingadvice.org.uk, containing advice, traffic updates and weather forecasts. The IAM will also be publishing weekly news releases and driving tips in reaction to the winter weather as part of the campaign.
Have you been put off buying snow chains for your car because you cannot face the hassle of fitting them to the wheels? Thule, the global manufacturer of car accessories came up with a spectacular demonstration of just how easy it is to fit their snow chains – and grabbed themselves a Guinness World Record into the bargain. In early October, the Lecco Ice Sports Complex in Italy played host to the record-breaking demonstration, with 24 Citroen C4 Aircross cars positioned on the ice in three rows of eight. Thule Easy-fit snow chains were positioned one metre from each wheel and, on the starting signal from Guinness World Record judge Lorenzo Veltri, a team of 12 people tried to fit as many snow chains as possible in 60 seconds.
The TAFF Awards winners were announced last night during the NTDA's annual dinner at the Hilton Hotel, Deansgate, Manchester. Contested between the world's five largest manufacturers, Continental Tyre Group came out on top in the Tyre Manufacturer of the Year category. Michelin prevailed in two categories, winning the product innovation award for its new Energy + tyre, while its advertising campaign, "The right tyre changes everything" featuring the Primacy 3 tyre was given the Industry Advertising Campaign Award. B.I.T.S. was crowned Wholesaler of the Year, regaining its crown from Stapleton's. In the other awards, Pang UK is 2012's Tyre & Aftermarket Equipment Supplier of the Year, Sapphire Energy Recovery was given the Environmental Award and ATS Euromaster (Brighton West) won Tyre Centre of the Year.
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This month Bridgestone Europe is launching a new advertising campaign to support its winter tyre range; the integrated multimedia campaign will be shown in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden and is aimed at demonstrating how Bridgestone tyres keep “winter under control”.
Statistics shared at Continental’s recent European ContiWinterRoadshow indicate that a total of 73.8 million winter passenger car and 4×4 tyres were sold in Western Europe last year and a further 18.7 million in Central Europe. These figures are up 12.8 per cent and 10.7 per cent year-on-year respectively. Last year’s sale of 92.5 million units is viewed as a ‘peak’ for winter tyres; Continental says it expects sales to stabilise at around 90 million by 2015. This year, the German manufacturer anticipates that both the Western and Central European markets will experience a moderate decline; it estimates 65.8 million winter passenger car and 4×4 tyres will be sold in Western Europe and 17.7 million in Central Europe.
The September issue of Tyres & Accessories is now available online in our e-paper format. This edition contains the latest tyre news and views as well as features on Truck Tyres and Winter Tyres, plus a complete preview of Brityrex 2012. Subscribers can read this online now. Simply click more below.
Winter tyres are becoming increasingly popular for those who wish to keep moving during the dreary, icy and snowy months to come. Irritatingly, often the process of swapping over your summer tyres while keeping your original wheels is long-winded, time consuming and unnecessary, plus steels are a bit dull aren't they?
While some may have expected the mild 2011/12 winter to have put the mockers on UK winter tyre market growth (not to mention the complication of tyre labelling legislation – see Related News), ATS Euromaster was confident enough to place its biggest ever order of seasonal stock in March 2012. The reasoning behind its £10 million order rested to a large degree on fleet customers. Now the tyre service specialist has reported that fleet customers’ forward orders for cold weather tyres are already 80 per cent up for winter 2012/13 compared to last year. ATS-E has begun the switch to winter rubber for some of its customers in earnest from the beginning of this month, and is expecting its total cold weather tyre sales this year to increase by sixty per cent over 2011 volumes.
Everyone’s talking about the introduction of tyre labelling in November. But we should also be aware that at the same time that the so-called fridge labels are being mandatorily applied to tyres, another rule stipulating that all new cars must fit TPMS is being implemented. The law stipulates that all models homologated since July 2012 have to be manufactured with an appropriate Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). From 2014 it will be broadened to include all cars being sold into the market in order to cover any cars not yet mandated. What both dates mean is that there are going to be lots of TPMS equipped cars on the road very soon and tyre retailers need to be ready to service them professionally and take advantage of this business opportunities this provides. It also means that direct TPMS manufacturers are ramping up production in order to meet increased demand from both the OE and replacement markets.
Ask a leading tyre pressure monitoring system manufacturer what the future is for indirect TPMS and they will probably say there isn’t one. Tyres & Accessories asked this precise question of one of the biggest manufacturers in the business recently and the response was swift and somewhat in line with expectations. Of course direct TMPS makers have economic reasons not to like the solution offered by the competition, but is there more to it than that? As the European legislation mandating TPMS installation in every new vehicle comes into force, Tyres & Accessories engages with both sides of this debate.
Eastman Industries Limited was present at CITExpo with its ‘Addo India’ tyre and battery brand. The company, which is headquartered in Ludhiana, in India’s Punjab state, produces and supplies a wide range of passenger car, truck, industrial OTR and agricultural tyres.
As part of the launch of the Goodyear Ultragrip 8 Performance in September, Goodyear advised motorists – especially those driving performance vehicles – that fitting winter tyres is the best way to prepare for the forthcoming winter. According to the Met Office, 366.8mm of rain fell across the UK up to 29 August showed. And what’s more the latest figures follow a record breakingly wet April, and an April to June period that was also the wettest recorded in the UK.
This year was the first time Double Coin Holdings was present at CITExpo as an exhibitor, and vice-president Liu Xue Jun told Tyres & Accessories that the company had met with a good mix of end users, dealers and wholesalers during the show. The Shanghai exhibition was used as an opportunity to meet new customers and to show off the company’s new range Double Coin brand winter truck tyres. “Winter tyres are a new product for us,” commented Mr. Liu. “We’re going to promote these, along with our new 295/60 low profile tyres.”
One occasional criticism of the European tyre label is that, unlike the energy efficiency label, it provides more than just a single performance measurement. Delticom is avoiding such issues with its new Delticom Efficiency Class Index, or, DEX a measurement it will offer its customers in addition to the label.
With little over a month until the EU tyre labelling legislation becomes mandatory, independent DriveRight report an influx of enquiries from all over Europe for labelling information via their EC1222.com website. When the EC1222/2009 legislation was announced, DriveRight foresaw a need for an independent supplier of label information. The company, with its 12 years of experience in the tyre industry, obtained the data of 91 major manufacturers and launched EC1222.com as an independent entity.
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