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Kwik-Fit Fleet Reports 20% More Tyre Safety Checks

Last year, Kwik-Fit Fleet carried out more than 220,000 vehicle inspections – up from 188,000 in 2006 – and this year the company expects its mobile technicians to undertake more than 250,000 tyre safety checks in company car parks or at a driver’s location of choice.

Initial tyre checks result in about 25 per cent of vehicles inspected requiring attention, usually tyres being replaced because they are illegal. Extrapolated across the UK’s three million-strong company car and approximately one million van parc it means that up to 800,000 vehicles could be running on at least one unsafe tyre.

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  1. Kwik-Fit Increases Mobile Fleet to Meet Growing Demand
  2. RAC Foundation to Lead NTDA Tyre Ageing Campaign
  3. NTDA: Part Worn Tyre Sales Increase
  4. Birmingham Trading Standards: 90% of Part Worn Tyres are Illegal

Sale of Conti’s Truck Tyre Division Still an Option

A comment made by the CFO of Continental AG during a conference call indicates the German manufacturer still considers the sale of its truck tyre division an option for the future. According to a report published by Forbes, Dr. Alan Hippe said, “should the division be unable to reach the targeted margin, we will have to consider a divestment.” However Dr. Hippe added he doesn’t foresee such a transaction occurring in the short-term.

According to results Conti released on April 29, the company’s Commercial Tire division attained sales of 328.4 million euros during the first quarter of 2008, a decrease of 4.7 per cent on the previous year. Upon releasing the quarter’s figures Executive Board chairman Manfred Wennemer commented, “In the Commercial Tires division, we implemented measures to again significantly improve the margin.” However the unit’s adjusted EBIT margin was 3.8 per cent for the quarter, well below Continental’s adjusted EBIT margin target of 10 per cent for all divisions by 2010.

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  1. Conti’s Hippe to Run Passenger & Light Truck Tyre Divisions
  2. US Consumer Confidence Rises, But Experts See Storm Ahead
  3. Conti to preview bumper truck/bus range at IAA
  4. Conti merges brakes & chassis divisions into vehicle dynamics unit

Alldata Celebrates 70,000 Customers, Sets Sights on Future Success

Alldata held a media day event at its headquarters in Elk Grove, California, on April 3, to celebrate its latest accomplishment — 70,000 customers — and to spotlight how the company is helping automotive service professionals boost their business success.

President Jeff Lagges and other company executives discussed how Alldata is reinventing itself for a changing market, and its commitment to providing OEM repair information and business solutions to help automotive service professionals increase their competitiveness, elevate productivity and profitability, and forge stronger relationships with customers.

Lagges pointed out that one of the major components in the company’s success, and its 90 per cent customer retention rate, has been to maintain direct contact with customers, primarily through a direct salesforce. “We measure our success by our customers’ satisfaction,” he said.

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Vianor Expands into New Hampshire

The Nokian-owned Vianor tyre retail chain has continued its international expansion following the opening of a new branch in Kazakhstan two weeks ago. This time the Finnish based company has taken steps to increase its presence in North America (specifically New Hampshire, USA). Nokian Tyres has made a partner agreement with Vianor-Concord operated by South East Ventures LLC and given them the right to use the Vianor brand. According to company representatives, Nokian Tyres does not officially own Concord, in contradiction with some local news reports. Instead, the agreement sees Concord Tire and Auto Service, an independent company for 27 years, effectively licensed and rebranded as a Vianor outlet. There are now 6 Vianor outlets in the US.

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  1. Nokian Tyres Opening First US Vianor Outlets
  2. Nokian Tyres North America President to Retire
  3. Nokian plant in Russia
  4. Nokian Tyres to Increase Presence in Ukraine

Summer Performance from Cooper

Summer is again upon us and there is arguably no better time of the year to appreciate vehicle handling and performance. At the top of Cooper Tire’s ultra high performance range is a summer tyre designed to do just that – provide strong cornering ability and steering response along with optimum wet and dry traction and high-speed capability.

The Cooper Zeon 2XS only comes in W and Y speed ratings, confirmation of the tyre’s serious performance intentions, and features a directional tread with a central rib for crisper steering response and angled channels for water evacuation from the tread contact area. Cooper reports the tyre offers unparalleled levels of predictability when approaching the limits of the tyre’s grip, providing drivers with ample warning that it is time to slow down and creating greater confidence in the capability of their tyres.

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  1. Kelly Navigator Touring Gold
  2. Cooper Adds Discoverer ATR to Line-Up
  3. Maxxis Introduces US All-Season UHP Line
  4. Sinton Tyres Stocking the Latest Cooper 4×4 Range

Excellence Award Acknowledges Bridgestone Firestone OTR in US

The quality of Bridgestone Firestone OTR tyres produced in the US, and the company’s delivery of such products, has been acknowledged by construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar. The company has awarded the Bridgestone Firestone Off Road Tire Company (BFOR), a division of Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, (BFNT), one of its annual supplier quality excellence awards – a distinction given to those suppliers deemed to meet the highest standards of quality for Caterpillar components.

The particular award given to BFOR was the 2007 “Supplier Quality Excellence” award. Shawn Rasey, vice president, BFOR, and Greg Halford, manager of the company’s Bloomington facility, accepted the award on behalf of BFOR during a recognition ceremony held on April 15, in Bloomington, Illinois.

Related news:

  1. Bridgestone Voted ‘Best Investor’ in Poland
  2. Bridgestone Firestone Employee Contract Extension Approved
  3. Bridgestone & Firestone Prices to Rise in North America
  4. Company Veteran First Bridgestone Firestone Research Fellow

Revolution Motorstore Launches Revolution247.com

Revolution Motorstore is unveiling a brand new website, www.revolution247.com, on 10 May 2008. The new site promises visitors a quicker, easier and more secure platform to buy the latest tuning and styling lines. “This is the start of an exciting new era for us,” explained Revolution M.D, Glenn Campbell, adding: “The old site was introduced back in 1999 and was always well received, but we still felt as if we could improve the experience for the customer. Making life easier and more secure for them, as well as being able to bring them exclusive special offers and product launches via the new mailing facility.”

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  2. Revolution Revised
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  4. ATC Claims Name Change
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Handle All Seasons Well With Avon

Of course the biggest news to-date this year for the Avon brand in the area of performance tyres is the release of the all-new ZV5 in March (featured in T&A April 2008), but the excitement surrounding the planned replacement for the ZV3 should not overshadow the other performance products in the Avon line-up – manufacturer Cooper Tire & Rubber produces Avon performance products for all conditions.

Avon ZV5

Designed to offer premium performance in a variety of conditions, the new Avon ZV5 was developed using advanced tyre technology at the company’s new UK technical centre. The tyre is available in a broad range of sizes to fit a wide range of vehicles, from small hatchbacks to large saloons, as well as MPVs and sports cars. Cooper reports that the ZV5 boasts significant improvements in handling, fuel efficiency and road noise, thanks to the use of the latest silica compounds and computer-aided design techniques.

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New Semperit Midi-Trailer Tyre

Semperit has introduced a new 385/55 R 22.5 tyre for midi-trailers, the “EuroTrailer”. This tyre is the first in the brands new Euro product range and offers the benefit of around 5 cubic meters more cargo volume – and reportedly better mileage – for heavy road freight. The new EuroTrailer is available now in the 385/55 R 22.5 size with 160/-K and 158/-L indices.

A conventional trailer, i.e. a trailer with standard 385/65 R 22.5 tyres, has an internal height of 2.70m. The 385/55 R 22.5 version of the new Semperit “EuroTrailer” allows an additional internal height of at least 10cm and therefore increases the possible cargo volume by up to 5m³.

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  1. “Transporting” Truck Tyre Test: Super Single vs Dual Tyres
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National Tyres Continues Support of Cancer Charity

Following National Tyres and Autocare’s initiative in the month of March to raise funds for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, representatives from the company pledged £25,000 to a Glasgow Maggie’s centre. The money was raised at National Tyres outlets; during the March initiative customers were asked if they would donate £1 when making a purchase. To date, National Tyres has raised over £200,000 to help cancer suffers over the years.

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  2. Food Transport Fleet Benefits from Regrooving
  3. Michelin to Open First US Retail Store
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Michelin Releases Q1 Sales Results

Michelin’s financial results for the first quarter, to March 31, 2008, show sales of 4.091 billion euros during the period, a decrease of 2.6 per cent year on year at current exchange rates. The company reports that sales results were limited by declines in its European and North American replacement tyre markets, where the Michelin Group has a large footprint. “Michelin’s trading environment was less supportive than initially anticipated,” said Michelin in a press statement. “Most of the mature countries’ tyre markets were down, except for Europe’s original truck tyre market which remained strong. This trend resulted from a weak trading environment that weighed on overall market morale.” This weak performance contrasted strongly with that in emerging markets.

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Conti ‘On Course’ for 2008 Targets

The first three months of the year have provided Continental AG with results that indicate the company is on course to achieve its 2008 sales and operating targets – this is the word from the company on April 29, following the public release of its quarter figures. “Despite the in part unsatisfactory trends on the tyre markets, we have clearly exceeded our expectations for the corporation on the whole. A help here was the satisfactory development of car production on the whole, particularly in Europe and Asia,” said Continental Executive Board chairman Manfred Wennemer. “Backed by the solid results for the first three months, we are confident that we will achieve our targets for the year. We will counter further rises in raw material prices with price increases, improvement in our product mix and further enhanced efficiency.”

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Stapleton’s Offers Increased Availability Following Expansion

Following the relocation of two of its regional distribution centres to larger premises and the creation of an additional warehouse facility, Stapleton’s is reporting “a significant increase” in its stock profile and availability. The newly relocated centres at Warrington and Avonmouth increased stock capacity by more than 50 per cent and combined with the additional facility at Biggleswade, increased stock levels by around 130,000 tyres.

Steve Parker, Stapleton’s trading director, commented: “Our aim with the new facilities was always to offer customers the same high levels of outstanding customer service and, thanks to the increased capacity, more choice combined with excellent availability.”

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Kwik-Fit Aims to Increase Fleet Share With ‘While U Wait’ Servicing

Kwik-Fit Fleet is officially launching a new “while u wait” servicing option at the UK’s first Fleet Business Show, at the Business Design Centre, London, (29-30 April). The service will be available a roughly half of quick fits 700+ depots.And the first company to sign up to use Kwik-Fit Fleet’s new ‘While U Wait’ manufacturers’ service initiative is Lex, which, with 278,000 vehicles on its fleet, is Britain’s largest contract hire and leasing company. Lex is making the service available to all of its drivers and is the first ‘While U Wait’ service that it has adopted. The service means customers will be able to book a service at a minimum 48 hours notice, significantly quicker than at franchise dealers where up to 14 days notice could be required.

Head of Kwik-Fit Fleet Mike Wise said: “Our new vehicle servicing offering will radically shake-up the entire fleet sector as an increasing number of vehicle owners look to reduce costs and speed up service scheduling by turning to Kwik-Fit.”

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  1. Fleets Warned to Take Fuel Saving Steps
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  3. Lex Uses Kwik-Fit ‘While U Wait’ Servicing
  4. Kwik-Fit overhauls fleet card offer

Michelin ‘Ready for Le Mans’

Michelin scored another win in the Le Mans Series at the weekend, with taking the Peugeot-Total-Michelin team the chequered flag in Monza. The cars, driven by, Stéphane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy, ended up winning after what company representatives described as “a real ding-dong battle with the No. 2 Audi [of] Mike Rockenfeller at the wheel.” The No. 17 Pescarolo (Tinseau / Primate) finished third.

For Michelin, the Monza race proved to be the perfect testing ground to validate tyres in preparation for the Le Mans 24 Hours. Matthieu Bonardel, Director of Four-wheel Competition commented: “Firstly, we want to wish a speedy recovery to Stéphane Ortelli from the Oreca team, who suffered an incredible “off” today and we hope to see him on the circuits again soon. With regards tyres, this race was by no means easy. The Monza circuit is highly specific and the evolution of the track today was quite strong. While there was a definite phenomenon of understeer in all categories during practice, it was not the case in the race…The only disappointment for us was because we failed to find a solution to double-stint and gain time. We tried both with medium and hard compounds, but we soon found that the mediums lost on performance over time, while the hards didn’t have the performance to start with.

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