HiQ fast reports that Stockport entrepreneur Leslie Brady has become the latest franchisee to join its fast fit network. Brady has opened a HiQ forecourt venture, known as Fleet Care Maintenance, in the Conway Centre. The newly re-branded site offers MOT and servicing and in addition to selling and fitting tyres, the centre boasts new wheel diagnostic technology that HiQ says will help vehicles last the harsh and often expensive winter months.
14th December 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of Roald Amundsen reaching the South Pole, just ahead of Captain Robert Falcon Scott. To mark the occasion, Extreme World Races is staging the EWR Centenary Race to the South Pole, in what it describes as "the ultimate off-road test", with winds up to 80 mph and temperatures as low as -56ºC in the coldest, driest and highest desert on earth.
Two days ago Germany’s recently amended winter tyre regulations came into force, and the first driver (that Tyres & Accessories knows of) has been caught out – in circumstances he won’t forget in a hurry. The 32-year old driver of a car fitted with summer tyres (which in Germany are now illegal when used on hard-packed snow, slush, black ice and frost covered roads) lost control of his vehicle on an icy road in the city of Düsseldorf. He possibly would have avoided a fine and demerit points taken from his license had the incorrectly-equipped car not gone into a skid and rammed a parked police car.
Joining the list of vehicle manufacturers endorsing cold weather tyres in the UK is Ford, who is teaming up with Pirelli to help drivers nationwide “avoid any slip-ups” this winter. And the two companies seem certain that British motorists can benefit from winter tyres – Ford and Pirelli reckon more than 30 days with average temperatures sitting below seven degrees Celsius await us between January 1 and February 28, yet should their forecasting talents be found wanting the companies will refund half the tyres’ cost. Any customer buying four Pirelli cold weather tyres through a participating Ford dealer before December 31, 2010 is eligible to register his or her details and receive a 50 per cent refund on the tyres’ purchase price if the weather proves to be warmer.
Online tyres company etyres says that it is strengthening its nationwide coverage and continuing to grow at a rapid rate, despite the challenging economic climate. etyres has reported a steep rise in the number of new branches launching across the UK.
The intensified growth of the company has led to a strengthening of its nationwide coverage. The consolidation of its network is also enhancing the service provided to thousands of customers every week, says the company.
A peek out the window right now may be enough to silence even the most vocal winter tyre sceptic, and the weekend’s weather conditions provide a fitting backdrop for the latest vehicle manufacturer to announce a British cold weather tyre programme. Toyota has launched a trial winter weather tyre scheme in order to help motorists “be best prepared” and is targeting owners of its most popular models, the Auris, Avensis and Corolla, plus the Dyna and Hiace light commercials. Two Toyota centres are handling fitting: Currie Motors in West London and Ron Brooks Toyota in the East Midlands.
During the winter months many British motorists will engage in the practice of turning on their vehicles’ engines well before departure time in order to remove the morning frost without manual scraping. The obvious resulting problem is that leaving a running car unattended invites the attentions of the criminal classes; Sainsbury’s Bank has recently published figures suggesting 66,000 vehicles are stolen in this situation. Vehicle accessories company Armour Automotive believes it has found a solution, announcing the launch of its new range of engine remote starter systems, available through the company’s Clifford brand.
Goodyear has introduced its first dedicated winter tyre for the SUV and light truck segments in North America. Called the Ultra Grip Ice WRT, the new range is offered in 16 popular sizes – 10 passenger sizes in S speed rating and standard load rating, and six LT sizes in Q speed rating and E load rating.
On November 11 Continental Tyres launched its first in-app video advertising campaign, delivering content to iPhone users. The campaign, which promotes Continental’s winter tyre line-up, operates on the ‘Yoc Ad Plus’ rich media advertising platform and enables video to be viewed within the app without redirecting to third party sites.
Germany’s Delticom AG has once again shown online tyre retailing to be a lucrative business. The company behind numerous national portals, including mytyres.co.uk, reports that during the first nine months of 2010 its revenues increased 27.5 per cent to 257.0 million euros. In the third quarter Delticom generated revenues of 79.7 million euros, a year-on-year rise of 27.6 per cent. EBIT during the nine months to September 30 was 22.7 million euros, up 54.5 per cent, and in the third quarter amounted to 6.0 million euros. Delticom’s net income for the first nine months of the year was 15.2 million euros, 51.9 per cent higher than in the same period of 2009.
Even though 87 per cent of German motorists fitted winter tyres last year (according to figures from the motorists’ organisation ADAC), the absence of laws detailing the finer points of their usage has baffled some drivers. This ambiguity has now been addressed. “We are now introducing a concrete version (of winter tyre requirements) into legislative procedure and, with this, certainty of law for our roads,” commented Germany’s transport minister, Peter Ramsauer. “We are defining what will be deemed a winter tyre in the future.”
Marix UK, sole UK distributors of car, van & 4×4 Marix tyre products, has declared its experience of its first Brityrex show in Manchester to be “a very important part” of its five-year brand awareness programme. Marix exhibited its 4×4, summer and winter passenger and full truck ranges.
The Goodyear Dunlop Technical Support team, otherwise know as the ‘Tyre Doctors’, has recently moved from Wolverhampton to Birmingham to be part of the TyreFort operation. And this means a change in phone number for those dealers that want to ‘talk technical’. With immediate effect the number has changed to 0121 306 6890.
Continental reports the approval of its ContiCrossContact Winter as original equipment on the Land Rover Freelander and Range Rover Sport. The cold weather tyre has been approved in size 235/55R19 105H for the Land Rover Freelander and 275/40R20 106V for the Range Rover Sport.
Germany’s provincial transport ministers have decided upon the introduction of legislation making the use of winter tyres compulsory. The national transport minister, Peter Ramsauer, reports that appropriate changes to Germany’s Highway Code are expected to be implemented by in parliament “as soon as possible.”
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
