Comment: Labelling Chaos?
I don’t want to be overdramatic, but the first round of tyre label unveiling that took place during last month’s Reifen 2012 (see page 46 in the forthcoming July issue for complete coverage of this event) was certainly telling. What we saw was a wide range of different approaches to disseminating this information. What we heard was an even wider range of explanations for all of this. But in the end it was as much about what the various manufacturers didn’t say as it was about what they did say.
Continue ReadingPreaching to the choir
As this issue of Tyres & Accessories goes to press, most of the team are en route to Essen for what has become the world’s largest tyre exhibition (look out for full coverage in our July issue and online at Tyrepress.com). Now that restrictions related to tyre labelling have been lifted, it is likely that this is the subject that everyone will be talking about. The leading manufacturers have already started positioning their companies in relation to one another and we can only imagine how they will position their respective pre- and post-labelling products compared with the rest of their group brands. Again this is something we are keeping a close eye on here at T&A.
Continue ReadingComment: No teeth in UK implementation of tyre legislation
When it comes to legislation affecting the tyre industry it is a tug of war between “rules are rules” and “rules are made to be broken.” As readers of our Tyrepress.com e-Newsletter will already know, the events of recent weeks have provided us with some bizarre examples of this kind of contrary logic in action. When Carl Steele from Lincolnshire was found guilty of causing in excess of a quarter of million pounds worth of environmental damage during a two year tyre dumping stint, you could be forgiven for thinking the justice system would force him to pay his debt to society.
Continue ReadingA real winter warmer?
After two successive cold winters (2009 and 2010) a lot was hanging on a frosty conclusion to 2011. While only five years ago winter tyre sales barely registered at less than 1 per cent UK market share, by the end of the opening months of 2011 various sources were reporting that the market had swollen to around 450,000 units, doubling and even tripling some wholesalers’ stock forecasts.
Continue ReadingHappy New Year, Happy New MOT
As of the 1 January 2012, the MOT test we all know and love will change. No I am not talking about the government consultation exercise mooting a possible change to 4-2-2 frequencies, that would be opening another can of worms entirely. What I am referring to is the technological evolution of the test that will see our belovedly idiosyncratic MOT stretch itself to incorporate an MIL survey. That’s a Malfunction Indicator Lamp check to you and me.
Continue ReadingWho knows?
As I write David Cameron has just vetoed Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarkosy’s proposal for closer fiscal integration between European states. A day earlier Standard and Poor’s put the best part of Europe on credit watch, threatening to downgrade national credit ratings if nothing substantial happened to shore up the collective accounts. The day after the 10-hour long European fiscal integration talks concluded with all but three countries (UK, Sweden and Hungary) signing up to the treaty within a treaty, far from stabilising things, increased Italian bond rates actually made its governmental borrowing more expensive.
Continue ReadingTough times for tyre distributors?
As we look forward to 2012 there is no sign to economic pressures that blighted 2011 lifting any time soon. On the contrary, with the financial confusion surrounding the eurozone and with credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s threatening to downgrade any of the 17 countries associated with it, there are still many challenges ahead. That said it was apparently a good year for some.
Continue ReadingA minority purchase?
Reading the recent UK winter tyre usage survey commissioned by Manheim Auctions, anyone would think that the concept of fitting winter tyres was a) peculiar and b) a “minority purchase.” The reality is that all across Europe millions of winter tyres are fitted every season and that the numbers of motorist taking the winter option are at an all-time high and growing fast.
Continue ReadingOut of the woods?
...or are we about to witness a real dip in tyre markets? While the massive drops in OE demand of a few years ago appear to have turned a corner, and while tyre manufacturers the world over are steadily ramping up production to pre-recession levels, some are questioning whether or not replacement markets have really felt the full force of the recession. Could 2011 be shaping up to be worse than 2008/2009?
Continue ReadingSo long and thanks for all the tyre sales
After an eight-year long mutually beneficial relationship Maxxis International UK Ltd has decided to part company with its long-term distribution partner Grouptyre. The news came in the form of an announcement that the two companies have ended their exclusivity agreement, which implies that the firm will continue supplying Maxxis tyres for the time being. However, Tyres & Accessories understands that there is more to the story than that.
Continue ReadingOut of touch with [super] highway reality?
No I am not referring to the IT skills of the tyre business at large. To be fair, in recent years our industry has taken giant steps towards the optimization of its processes using computers and better use of the Internet to reach customers. Just look at the continuing proliferation of tyre information and retails sources online, not to mention the trade’s increasing presence on social networking sites and latterly the emergence of a number tyre price comparison sites. The, of course, there’s EDIWheel but that’s all another article (see October’s e-commerce feature for more on this). No, on this occasion I am talking about the UK government policy, metrocentricity and online tyre browsing – or rather the lack of it in Westminster.
Continue ReadingTaking the initiative
Recent months have seen a flurry of activity in the road safety and legislative lobbying arenas. During March and April this culminated in the surreal combination of blimping, debating, campaigning and contesting – all focusing in on improving road safety in general and tyre and wheel integrity in particular.
Continue ReadingMarch Editorial: Driving distribution forward
The last time Tyres & Accessories reported at length on EDIWheel the coverage provoked a welcome reaction. The healthy debate on the implementation of EDIWheel followed our publication of a report on the subject just over a year ago (January 2010), which featured a TIF hosted summit on the protocol. More than a year after the event, and after systems suppliers such as Tyreman made recent efforts to promote their EDIWheel compatible wares, Tyres & Accessories thought it was time for an update.
Continue ReadingTyre Shortage? Fujian Province Exported Over 32.85 million Tyres in 2010
While wholesalers importing Chinese tyre products into mature European markets such as the UK struggle to negotiate supply issues and brace themselves for another round of price increases, there are reports that tyre makers in one part of the People’s Republic are over-producing to the extent that they are actually stockpiling tyres. Southeast China's Fujian province exported 32.85 million between January and November 2010, signalling a 27.6 per cent year-on-year increase in shipments, according to a report from the province's customs officials. The total value of the tyres sold is said to have amounted to US$460 million, a jump in value of 34.8 per cent over the corresponding period of 2009. The export price averaged $13.9 per unit, up 5.7 per cent from 2009.
Continue ReadingTrading Places: How Tyre-Makers are Positioning Themselves in the World Economy
As Tyres & Accessories' November issue went to press President Barrack Obama and David Cameron were out banging the drum for American and British business in India and China respectively. 24 hours after Obama set foot in the subcontinent, the Sunday Telegraph's resident cartoonist was portraying the leaders of two of the richest countries in the western world as beggers seeking scraps from two so-called “emerging markets.”
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