Andrew is an editor for WhatTyre, Tyrepress, and Tyres & Accessories magazine. He has more than a decade of experience in editing, writing, and journalism.
Toyo Tire Corporation’s 2021 to 2025 ‘Mid-term ’21 plan’ indicates the brand’s intentions for its new Serbian plant, due to commence production in April 2022. The Japanese brand says the facility will not merely offer “local production for local consumption.” It says the plant will play a major role in further international expansion, becoming by far its most cost-effective.
Following the government’s recent announcement of a roadmap out of lockdown, The Commercial Vehicle Show LLP has taken the decision to reschedule the 2021 Commercial Vehicle Show. The Show will be held on the new dates of Tuesday 31 August – Thursday 2 September 2021.
McGill’s Buses has extended its 19-year relationship with Michelin, signing a new Effitires contract with the Michelin Services and Solutions team to cover its entire fleet of single and double deck buses. At the end of last year McGill’s acquired Xplore Dundee from National Express, making it the UK’s largest independent bus operator – running 650 vehicles from depots across Scotland and employing 1,200 members of staff. Michelin has been supplying and managing the business’s tyres since 2002.
Giti Tire has launched its new mass-market European UHP tyre, the GT Radial SportActive 2. The second generation of the SportActive comes with a range of performance enhancements, particularly in wet conditions. The GT Radial SportActive 2 will initially be available in 14 sizes for rims from 16-20”, section widths from 205-275, series sizes from 35-55, and with speed indices of W or Y.
With the addition of the Cooper Tire business, Goodyear will return to the global number three ranking in passenger car and light truck (PCLT) tyre volumes in 2021. After previously holding the clear number three ranking behind the world’s largest tyre manufacturers, Bridgestone and Michelin, Goodyear was joint third with Continental in both 2017 and 2018. In 2019, Goodyear fell behind Continental to fourth position in 2019 and 2020. Working on a pro forma basis combining original equipment and replacement market tyres, Astutus Research data reveals some interesting facts about the nascent conjoined organisation, with reference to their largest tyre business segment in terms of volume.
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Triangle Tyre has climbed three places in the China Net Promoter Score (C-NPS). Triangle’s fourth place score of 24.6 was enough to see it rise above Continental (fifth) and Goodyear (sixth) in the table. It is the leading Chinese tyre brand according to the metric, with DoubleStar the next-best in seventh place. Michelin (32.0) retains its place at the top of the table, with Pirelli (29.3) and Bridgestone (25.3) rising two places to make up the rest of the podium.
Giti Tyre’s GitiSynergyH2 has been selected for a second original equipment fitment on the VW Caddy 5. The tyre, currently supplied to the OE segment, is the company’s first to achieve an AA rating on the EU tyre label. The 205/60R16 XL 96H GitiSynergyH2 joins 215/55R17 XL 98H as a second size option on the production line of one of the best-selling commercial vehicles in Europe.
Motorcycle and specialist tyre distributor Bickers will launch a new Click & Collect website on 10 March. The company said it has developed the site to help its motorcycle tyre customers gain online sales. It will promote Click & Collect to consumers as a way to drive footfall to dealers’ shops. Bickers wants to develop its Click & Collect Partner network with the new site too. It says the new site will help participating partners to increase profits, promote growth opportunities, to network and upsell additional items. Backing its new site, Bickers adds that Office for National Statistics data shows retail online purchases have increased by 42 per cent in 2020 over 2019. This big jump is an effect of national and regional lockdowns to combat the pandemic, but also follows the long-term retail trend towards online purchases.
Maxxis’s MaxxEnduro motorcycle tyre has been chosen as the OE fitment for the 2022 range of Beta RR Enduro and RR Racing Enduro motorcycles. The MaxxEnduro tyre features a nimble 90/90-21 front tyre, which offers the precise steering and reliable handling any enduro rider needs. The rear tyre is a grippy 140/80-18 tyre with chunky tread blocks providing a big contact patch for sheer surfaces such as rocks and hard-pack terrain. The sharp block edges cut into looser surfaces for consistently reliable grip across an entire enduro course.
Exmouth-based Adam Brice Tyres, which specialises in mobile tyre fitting services for car, truck, agriculture, earthmover and plant, has gone ‘live’ with e-jobsheet standalone to digitise its business, speeding up work-to-billing processes.
The Falken Azenis FK510 ultra high-performance tyre’s victory in the ADAC 2021 summer tyre test follows a “highly recommended” rating from both the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) and the Austrian Automobile Touring Club (ÖAMTC) in their 2021 summer tyre tests. The tyre achieved the result in the 225/50 R17 17 Y tyre dimension. This size is suitable for numerous medium-sized vehicles such as the Audi A4 or the Volkswagen Passat. The result marks the second win for a Falken pattern in an ADAC summer tyre test.
Summer tyre tests in 2021 have highlighted the sometimes dazzling qualities of the best performing tyre products. However, the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobilclub’s (ADAC) most recent test appears to have been particularly demanding. No tyre received ADAC’s top “very good” rating, and only five models were rated “good” over the two sizes tested – 205/55 R16 V and 225/50 R17 Y. There were some intriguing results at the top of the table. Falken confirmed its increasingly impressive performance of recent years by winning the 17” tyre test with its Azenis FK510 flagship UHP tyre. The Kumho Ecsta PS71 also achieved a “good” rating in the 17” test, while Continental group brand Semperit’s Speed-Life 3 achieved an overall result matching the Conti PremiumContact 6 in the 16” test. There was worse news for the 17” Firestone Roadhawk, which became the only tyre to receive an “inadequate” report.
Bridgestone has looked to the past, present and the future in developing its most comprehensive consumer tyre range to date, which is more simplified, sustainable and sportier than ever before. The tyre giant has achieved notable positive test results for its latest product range, which, in its words, has been simplified and revitalised in the past two years.
Common sense seems to dictate that when you tell the majority of the population to stay home, vehicle utilisation – and therefore tyre consumption – should be down across the board. And in a blunt sense the latest full-year panelmarket data from GfK, which tracks points of sale around the UK to indicate aftermarket tyre trends, does show that this happened. However, the latest infographic from the automotive market data analyst also reveals a few more subtle patterns to consumer behaviour in the difficult 12 months of 2020, compared with the previous period. This article is available in Tyres & Accessories’ February issue.
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MWheels, the European market supplier of Wheels India’s Xlite range of aluminium wheels, has rebranded as The Wheel Hub in the UK and Wheel HUB GmbH at its Cologne, Germany based European operation. The move follows a 12-month review, during which the commercial vehicle wheel distributor decided the name change more clearly identifies its approach to the respective regions. The Wheel Hub is positioning itself in the UK as “a better way to buy CV wheels.” Across the continent, the company’s strapline will be “the home of Xlite”, reflecting its synonymous position with the range of quality forged aluminium wheels. Available in 17.5, 19.5 and 22.5 inch sizes, Xlite and Xbrite+ wheels are designed to be five times stronger and 40 per cent lighter than standard steel equivalents.
Look out for Tyres & Accessories’ interview with Matt Mardle, chief executive officer for The Wheel Hub and Wheel HUB GmbH in our March issue, and next month on Tyrepress.com.
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