Trico highlights wiper blade sales opportunities
Original equipment (OE) manufacturer, Trico, is highlighting valuable sales opportunities for the workshops, despite the huge drop in the number of vehicles being MOT tested.
Original equipment (OE) manufacturer, Trico, is highlighting valuable sales opportunities for the workshops, despite the huge drop in the number of vehicles being MOT tested.
To undertake service or repair work on a vehicle’s braking system, technicians need to be sure they are fitting a brand they can trust, with the product quality that both they and their valued customers can depend on. First Line Ltd is a well-known aftermarket supplier and under its Borg & Beck brand offers a range of Becktec coated brake discs and double rubber shimmed brake pads that provides the ideal solution for the discerning professional.
Continuing our series investigating UK Police fleet tyre demand, we looked a little closer at the differences between the various regional forces tyre preferences. Despite the fact that, as we have seen, tyre purchasing is based on a national framework agreement, there was a surprising amount of variety in both tyre policy and what actually happened when the rubber hit the road, so to speak.
Hoppecke Industrial Batteries has appointed Stuart Browne as general manager. Having joined Hoppecke UK in 2015 as service director, Browne was promoted to operations director-sales and service in January last year. This specially created role was a significant move tied into the company’s decision to forge closer links between its sales and service divisions to enhance customer support.
Lay-off talks between Vredestein and employees at its Enschede factory in The Netherlands have not resulted in an agreement. The talks were prompted by the management’s announcement in early March that the firm is moving much of its production to Hungary. Since this will result in laying off around 750 of the 1,200 employees, a works council was developed in order to formulate an alternative proposal. However, according to various local news reports, the proposal was not received positively by the company management.
For the first time in the tyre manufacturer’s history, Turkish motorcycle specialists Anlas have entered the highly competitive hypersport market with their brand new Viento Sport, which is now available to UK dealer from exclusive importer Cambrian Tyres.
In widely reported remarks, Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta has reiterated the importance of UK-EU free trade to the future of its Sunderland manufacturing plant. The uncertainties connected with the Nissan Sunderland plant, in turn, serve as a reminder of the still-present Brexit risks.
Retreading material supplier Vipal is offering online training with its internal team as a way of making the most of the social distancing period.
Following the SMMT’s publication of new car registration figures for May 2020, Jonathan Moss, Head of Transport at global legal services business DWF, commented that the numbers are the worst since 1952. He said:
During recent weeks and months, the coronavirus lockdown has seen miles-driven figures fall through the floor. However, some fleets don’t stop moving. And, as anyone who has clapped for our carers will tell you, the blue-light services have been as busy as ever. Of course, the medics, police and firefighters rely on tyre technicians to keep them mobile. So, with this in mind, and as part our June magazine’s Fleet Tyre feature, we have been investigating what the blue light fleet’s tyre demand really looks like.
Following news that Exide Technologies entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 19 May 2020, Exide has been bought by long-term lenders who have injected cash, but remains up for sale until the end of July. Specifically, the new owners of Exide EMEA and Asia-Pacific are subject to conditions outlined in the transaction document to “maintain continued employment of the company’s workforce in these regions”. For example, as part of the agreement, the ad hoc lender group has provided additional liquidity of up to $75 million. The agreement also includes a “go-shop” period with a bid submission deadline and auction to be held in early July 2020.
On 19 May battery manufacturer Exide Technologies entered chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, announcing “a comprehensive strategy to best position its businesses in North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific to benefit its employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders across the globe.” In short, the strategy puts the Exide’s US business in chapter 11 and sells the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to the firm’s long-term lenders.
The UK government is searching for 4 million square feet of industrial space to house an electric vehicle Gigafactory. According to Property Week, the Department for International Trade (DIT) has made the request for “an electric vehicle research, development and manufacturing plant in the UK”. In addition, the 650-acre Gravity site in Somerset has been specifically linked as prospective location for the apparent Gigafactory project. And what’s more Property Week has linked Tesla to the search for the site. Taken together, the scale of the project, DIT’s confirmation that it is for vehicle research, development and manufacturing, and the suggestion that it is all for Tesla mean the project is a prospective Gigafactory.
At the same time that the coronavirus lockdown closed car showrooms, the UK new car market fell 89 per cent in May, with just over 20,000 vehicles delivered. However, the adoption of ‘click and collect’-style online ordering was one ray of light. Still, according to the SMMT data, in May 2020 the overall UK new car market was 163,477 units behind the same month last year. And therefore, the market is down more than 51 per cent in the first five months.
Prometeon Tyre Group has appointed Ali Yilmaz as marketing manager for the UK, Eire and Nordic countries. In this new position, he will report to Peter Fairlie, managing director, and will lead the company’s UK marketing team.
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