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What links tread depth awareness, tyre pressure awareness and the furore surrounding the four-year MOTs? Data.
What links tread depth awareness, tyre pressure awareness and the furore surrounding the four-year MOTs? Data.
Experienced MOT testers across the UK say that delaying the first test from year 3 to year 4, adds to the risk a vehicle or parts will become worn out or defective. With some figures suggesting that one in five vehicles fail the MOT in the first 3 years, adding another year will not only exacerbate the problem, but also mean that many vehicles will no longer be covered by most vehicle manufactures 3 year warranties.
Following the launch of the WheelRright’s free drive-over pressure check initiative at Keele services M6 south in March, the company has released details of the programme’s first findings.
Two products in what Triangle Tyre calls its ‘new generation’ of passenger car tyres have been officially launched in the European market, and Triangle says the new lines – the Protract and Sportex – represent the start of its strategy of filling existing gaps in the Triangle portfolio and ensuring its range is completely up to date.
As of this month a new Firestone web presence is covering 18 European markets and providing product and brand information in 14 languages. Bridgestone Europe has rolled out the new site to support its ‘revival’ of the Firestone brand within the region, a drive that has seen it introduce a new tyre line-up and a marketing campaign aimed at “young-at-heart drivers” who aspire to the “freedom to drive”.
A new sales and marketing director has been appointed to look after Giti Tire’s passenger car and light truck activities in the ‘D-A-CH’ markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As sales and marketing director – PCR, Tobias Stöckmann will work closely with long-term regional partner Reifen Gundlach and other distributors to significantly increase market share for the GT Radial brand, while identifying new sales strategies and customers for Primewell and Runway. Stöckmann and his team are also tasked with maintaining robust market intelligence programmes, further developing retail, promotional and media strategies, and they will also monitor and input into the company’s rolling five-year product development plan.
The European Commission has approved regional investment of almost €117million for the passenger car tyre factory Nexen Tire intends to build in the Czech Republic. The Commission found the aid that government trade agency CzechInvest offered Nexen for the facility in Žatec is compatible with EU state aid rules, and deemed it will promote regional development without unduly distorting competition in the internal market.
Two members of the Bridgestone Corporation board are swapping positions. As of 1 August, Kazuhisa Nishigai will take on the role of chief technology officer at Bridgestone Corporation, and with it responsibility for technology within the company. He takes over this role from Narumi Zaitsu. Leadership of Bridgestone’s Japan Tire Business and responsibility for tyre production within Japan will be handed over from Nishigai to Zaitsu at the same time.
Fledgling tyre dealership Twitch Hill Tyres has reported significant benefits after signing up as a Landsail Tyres key dealer. Though only established in 2013, the centre has set its sights on becoming “the number one fast fit centre in the area.” Its ambitious plans commenced with a move from Ossett to Horbury in West Yorkshire.
TyreSafe’s annual industry briefing this month made it clear that illegal tread depth remains a problem in the UK. In its survey of Britain, TyreSafe found that 27.1 per cent of tyres inspected had less than the legal limit, 1.6mm of tread, while another 39.0 per cent were close to the limit (between 1.6 and 2.0mm. Given this context, the presence of a new, technologically advanced tread depth measurement system, present in a handheld device called the TreadReader, and in drive-over products manufactured by Hunter and distributed in the UK by Pro-Align, is significant. Sue Pryce, marketing director of the British firm behind the technology, Sigmavision, provides an additional perspective on the “unsettling” tread depth statistics.
Following on from the publication of European tyre sales figures relating to car, truck and agricultural products sold in the first half of 2015, European tyre association ETRMA has also release two-wheel tyre demand data. In short, the performance of the two-wheel sector appears to be somewhere between the relative success of car and truck tyres, but not as bad as the declining agricultural tyre figures of the first report.
On 22 July 2015 Apollo Tyres Apollo Amazer 4G Life, especially for the Indian market. Its unique selling points? The tyre has been developed jointly by the company’s global R&D centres in Chennai, India and the Netherlands and offer customers the promise of 100,000kms of wear and beyond.
Point S International business development manager, Adrian Smiechowski, attended the first Indian Tyre & Rubber Industry Leadership Acknowledgement (TRiLA) Awards in Chennai. The TRiLA 2015 event took place on the sidelines of Tyrexpo India 2015.
Dunlop has launched a series of videos themed on the brand’s technical partnership with AMG. The release of the first short videos is timed to coincide with Dunlop’s first anniversary as the AMG Driving Academy’s official tyre partner, which extended its four-year technical partnership with AMG Customer Sports. Each of the five videos offers behind-the-scenes access to Dunlop’s technical team, which designs, develops and tests tyres to meet Mercedes-AMG’s highest standards. The first two episodes in the series are available to watch in the main body of this article.
Folding metal racking for tyres producer Arcom has introduced its new AR37 display trolley, designed for use at shows or in stores. The new trolley, which has four wheels for manoeuvrability, is available in any colour, incorporating panels for company logos. It is designed for passenger car and van tyres.
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