Coalition against unfair tyre imports requests tariff review
Ahead of the expiry of anti-dumping tariffs on China-produced truck tyres imported into the European Union, on 20 October the European Commission reported receiving a request to review these. The European industry observers our sister title Neue Refeinzeitung (NRZ) spoke to expect a preliminary decision at the beginning of the review. Meanwhile, Chinese market sources told Tyrepress China that the tyre makers at the centre of the case have generally responded “calmly”, having become accustomed to “trade barriers” from Europe. Whatever the current market reaction is, the investigation will be concluded “within 12 months and in any event no later than 15 months from the date of…publication” (20 October 2023), according to the Commission.
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Sunak’s EV U-turn is ULEZ-related smoke and mirrors
A week before we went to press, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the UK would no-longer be phasing out ICE vehicles by 2030. Rather, the deadline would be pushed back to 2035. Not only was that decision a u-turn, it was a policy decision explicitly designed to slow down sales of electric vehicles, as number 10’s official statement at the time testifies: “Under revised plans, the Government will move back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by five years, so all sales of new cars from 2035 will be zero emission. This will enable families to wait to take advantage of falling prices over the coming decade if they wish to.”
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Will European truck tyre market shares follow the UK experience?
15 years after our first market share survey of its kind, and almost 10 years after we identified that “the UK truck tyre market is a five-horse race”, this month we’ve taken another look at the figures and spoken to sources close to the leading players in order to provide an up-to-date snapshot of what is going on in the UK truck tyre replacement market (see pages 14 to 31 of the September magazine). This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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Cyber security and the tyre business
For many, security is all about cash-management, stock-handling and making sure the premises are locked at the end of the day. In addition, tyre businesses have had to get more savvy over the years to avoid fraudulent orders. Now, with everything from phones, tills and even tyres themselves transmitting and receiving data, cyber security is the order of the day. There are lots of different sides to cyber security, so let’s start with some of the most recent most relevant examples to the tyre business. This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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Turbulent times in tyre town
It has not been the best 12 months for Goodyear or its employees. 2023 might mark the company’s 125th anniversary, but the combination of already-announced global job cuts, European manufacturing restructuring and ongoing cost-cutting operations mean that for many individual workers it may be their last (see page 14 of the June print edition onwards of complete coverage). This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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Editorial: Dawn of a new era
As the June edition of Tyres & Accessories went to press, the UK celebrated the coronation of a new monarch. Tyres & Accessories marked the occasion too, as this special coronation edition demonstrates from its cover celebratory onwards. And, if NTDA HQ’s announcement about taking coronation day off to celebrate, paired with the association’s encouragement that tyre retailers from across the UK should do the same is anything to go by, we certainly werent the only ones.
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‘I’ll have a set of your finest…ditchfinders’ – Online tyre sales in a pre-sale research world
During my regular routine of social media maintenance, I came across the following post on the @Tyrepress Twitter feed from Fast Ford, Mini Magazine and Total BMW editor, Daniel Bevis: “I defy you to find a more wretched tyre than a 7-year-old Luckyland Happygalop.” Now, to make it clear, Bevis was very much stating his personal, subjective opinion both in relation to that particularly floridly-named brand’s quality and in his specific choice of adjectives. However, since he raised that especially vocal opinion, there are at least two broader points to be made. Firstly, consumers have never been more empowered to research their purchases pre-sale and then air their views relating to tyres. And secondly, the ongoing proliferation of brands in the market makes the ability to discern quality and understand each brand’s provenance as important as ever.
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Britishvolt, UK car manufacturing and OE tyres
In May-2020, we needed a lift. We’d all been through the first and arguably harshest lockdown and Prime Minister Boris Johnson modified the COVID-19 message from stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives to stay alert, control the virus, save lives. In other words, not knowing that further lockdowns would follow, the PM was working towards easing restrictions and reopening the economy. Within the automotive sector many tyre specialists, garages and fast-fits had closed along with OEM factories and car dealerships. One result of the latter was that car production figures fell to post-war lows. What better time to back a British electric vehicle battery manufacturing gigafactory? Several projects came to the fore. There was even talk of Elon Musk considering a Tesla gigafactory in the UK. But it was BritishVolt that Boris Johnson put his name to.
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What 2022’s most popular tyre industry stories tell us about the future
Those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The well-known saying might not be completely transferable to this column, but as we kick-start 2023 analysing the most popular stories on our Tyrepress.com website does help us understand what the major themes of last year were. And a closer look at those themes will reveal which issues are continuing into this year. January’s magazine focuses on the ever-resilient agricultural tyre sector (see Tyres & Accessories, January, page 36 onwards) as well as the latest developments in the TPMS and sensor technology segment (see page 20), but first let’s take a look at the biggest stories of 2022 as recorded online.
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Looking back, looking forward: 2022, tyres and the word ‘permacrisis’
This time last year we sought to sum up what can only be described as a tumultuous preceding 12 months by pointing to the Oxford English Dictionary word of 2021, which was “vax” – something that harked back to the heights of pandemic-related lockdowns. But for many it is still a current reality. The year before it the word of the year was “unprecedented”.
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Farewell Russia? The exit of global players offers long-term growth to domestic firms
Global tyre businesses have exited the Russian tyre business as a direct consequence of the Russian government’s decision to invade Ukraine. We all knew this was coming, following initial announcements from the likes of Michelin, Bridgestone and Nokian along those lines in the second quarter of 2022. However, the news that Nokian sold its much-lauded St. Petersburg operation to Tatneft at the end of October indicates that the exodus is underway. And that, in turn, means significant tyre production capacity within Russia has changed hands, something that has an inevitable impact on those departing, those remaining and the wider tyre business. In this column, we take a look at how Michelin, Bridgestone and Nokian have been negotiating their respective exits from Russia and ask what it might mean for the future.
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Changing tyre distribution landscapes
The suggestion that the UK tyre distribution space is ripe for consolidation is not new. But during the single week that we went to press with the latest edition at the start of October, three big tyre retail announcements were made. First Stop broke through the 150-branch barrier. Point S announced that its buying group of independent tyre retailers now numbers 300. And Halfords bought Lodge Tyres for just over £37 million.
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Rewarding success in the tyre business
In July, TyreSafe held its first post-lockdown in-person day conference and awards event. More recently the NTDA named the winners at its annual Tyre Industry Awards event. And our sister publication WhatTyre.com has also published names of the winners of its 2022 WhatTyre Tyre of the Year awards. What these three things have in common is that they all aim to give credit where credit is due. They all aim to reward success.
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Tyre manufacturers expanding in a down market
June and July saw a spate of factory investment and opening announcements. First there’s the news that Linglong manufactured its first tyre at its brand-new Serbia tyre production plant at the end of June. Of course, this project has been underway for some time, but the fact that it got going just before the end of the first half of 2022 is noteworthy for two reasons. Firstly, notwithstanding the inhibiting effect of general market headwinds associated with pandemic fall-out and war in Ukraine, the project is basically on-schedule. And secondly, it demonstrates that no enthusiasm for Western and specifically European tyre production has been lost since the nullification of European import tariffs against Chinese-produced truck tyres roughly a month ago.
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Can we Truss government to turn UK motorways into autobahns?
Following the headline-grabbing news that Liz Truss is open to the idea of turning the UK motorway network into an autobahn-style system, we took a closer look at the idea. Of course, we all know that both Truss and Sunak are electioneering at the moment, doing their best to tell tory members what they think they want to hear. But, however sincere the motivation turns out to be, dispatching with the speed limit will have an inevitable impact on both road safety and the tyre market. So, with that in mind, this month’s column is something of a thought experiment. What would happen if Liz Truss became prime minister and got her way when it comes to turning motorways into autobahns?
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