Falken takes top Micheldever dealers to Nurburgring 2011
Falken Tyres recently took a group of top Micheldever tyre dealers to the world renowned Nurburgring 24 hour race, an event that is followed by hundreds of thousands around the world. Micheldever’s guests enjoyed VIP hospitality as they were entertained in the Mercedes Benz suite over the weekend by Falken.
Continue ReadingNew premises offer Manbat room for growth
After 13 years at its current headquarters in Shrewsbury, Manbat has moved to a substantially larger site. The shift to a new headquarters has seen the UK’s largest battery distributor move a full 500 yards along Lancaster Road; Manbat says the new side provides sufficient room for its ongoing expansion plans.
Continue ReadingNorth American casing shortage ‘severe’, says RTA
According to the Retread Tire Association, North America’s retreading industry is experiencing a severe shortage of retreadable truck tyre casings. Association managing director Harvey Brodsky comments that this shortage may have a negative impact on those who use retreads as retreaded tyres act as a “brake” on new tyre prices: “Whenever there is a shortage of retreads, new tyre manufacturers do not have any reason to hold back on raising their prices, and everyone who purchases truck tyres feels the pain in their chequebooks.”
Continue ReadingBritish Grand Prix a “second home race” for F1 supplier Pirelli
Pirelli returns to Formula One in the United Kingdom this week for what the company says is a second home Grand Prix this season, after the Italian Grand Prix, since the company employs around 50 at its logistics and distribution facility at Didcot, 45 minutes from Silverstone by car. The 12 engineers assigned to F1’s teams and the 19 tyre fitters whose job it is to put the tyres on the rims are based there too, alongside its 12 carbon black trucks: two service trucks, seven tyre transporters, and three trucks for the hospitality unit.
Continue ReadingEU funded ‘OpEneR’ project to increase electric vehicle efficiency
Two shortcomings of today’s crop of fully electric vehicles (FEV) are their limited driving range and long charging time – for the majority of motorists this pair of factors outweighs the host of environmental and cost benefits such vehicles offer. Key culprits behind these limitations are vehicle batteries, however improving battery technology alone is no panacea. To unlock the FEV market and reduce “range anxiety”, several leading automotive industry firms have partnered in a European Union co-funded project aimed at optimising how the power provided by existing battery technology is utilised.
Continue ReadingIndependent trial shows lower soil compaction for Michelin Ultraflex tyre
A trial conducted by an independent soil scientist has shown the benefits of Michelin’s Ultraflex technology in its CerexBib combine harvester tyre in terms of reducing soil compaction – a significant factor in plant root growth and yield potential. Philip J Wright of Wright Resolutions used a Claas Lexion APS Hybrid Combine at the manufacturer’s headquarters in Saxham to test the CerexBib against conventional agricultural tyres commonly fitted to combine harvesters, such as Michelin’s MegaXbib and MachXbib with standard fitments from two other tyre manufacturers.
Continue ReadingHiQ hits 50 automotive technician accreditations
HiQ’s promise that all of its 700 fast fit technicians would automotive technician accreditation by the end of 2012 has reached the first milestone on its way to fulfilment as HiQ Tamworth technician Craig Cowell became the network’s 50th to achieve the goal. The fast fit network believes the voluntary ATA accreditation is an “effective way of driving personal standards across the network,” with the external assessment making external the network’s internal training policy.
Continue ReadingRebranding establishes OTR as key part of global service group
Now an integral part of the Kal Tire Mining Tyre Group, OTR is close to completing the systematic ‘rebranding’ of its corporate image to the new global Kal Tire corporate brand. As part of this, the traditional green/black/white OTR identity is in the process of being replaced by the orange/blue/white of Kal Tire, and all new company trucks now hit the road branded in the Kal Tire ‘all white’ livery.
Continue ReadingNexen to introduce N’Blue eco-range in 3Q
Nexen has announced plans to introduce its new environmentally-friendly N’Blue ECO and HD tyre ranges into the European markets during the third quarter of 2011. According to the company, the name is comprised of `N`, for `Nexen` as well as the descriptive `Blue`, a colour symbolising refreshing coolness. `ECO` of course stands for `ecology` and `HD` for `handling`.
Continue ReadingBosal appoints new commercial team in UK
Bosal has created a UK commercial team, to be led by new sales and marketing director, Robin Evans. Evans, 42, officially joins Bosal UK on 1 August after a successful four years with K & N Filters as their UK sales and marketing manager. He has considerable experience of the aftermarket and distribution sectors, starting his career in 1993 with Valvoline and rising to become their EMEA business manager.
Continue ReadingInfinity Tyres exhibited at Ireland’s Charleville show
Infinity Tyres aimed to stand out at the recent Charleville Show, Ireland’s largest agricultrual show. Irish dealer, Daly Tyres, and the Infinity-backed rally car placed at the brand’s stand were said to have caught visitors’ attention. The car, an Infinity-branded Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 was available all day for photo shoots with the many budding young drivers and their parents queuing to get their children, who were wearing their own competition helmet and gloves, into the car. As Eamon Daly, owner of Daly Tyres, said: “The Infinity car gave pleasure to many people and hopefully, when they view the pictures, they will come back to buy Infinity products”.
Continue ReadingTitan appoints new sales VP
Titan International has named a successor to former vice-president of sales and marketing Jeff Vasichek, who left the company on May 31. Jim Allen has joined the Titan in the role of vice-president of sales and in this capacity will head up the company’s entire tyre and wheel sales group. Commenting on Allen’s appointment, Titan International CEO and chairman Maurice Taylor said “Jim has a background in the automotive industry. We believe his experience and quick learning skills will fit into our culture at Titan.”
Continue ReadingTyrexpo India 2011 debuts in Chennai
The inaugural staging of Tyrexpo India 2011 in Chennai reportedly got off to a strong start, according to the exhibition’s organisers. The show was opened by guest of honour Sudarsan Varadaraj, managing Director of Elgi Rubber Company. He welcomed the show to India saying that the timing was right for an event that showcased the best of India’s emerging tyre and equipment aftermarket. He also pointed to a changing mind-set among domestic buyers, away from a purely price-led approach to one that was increasingly sophisticated and recognised the importance of overall value and long-term benefit.
Continue ReadingWork starts on Mitas US plant conversion
On June 30 a groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the start of work to convert the former Winnebago Industries factory in the US state of Iowa into a production site for Mitas agricultural tyres. A number of civic representatives attended the ceremony in Charles City, which was hosted by project leader Vladimir Dusanek, vice-president of Mitas Tires North America.
Continue ReadingInspect tyres for a problem-free harvest, says CGS
‘Tis almost harvest time, and CGS Tyres UK has a few words of wisdom for the nation’s farmers. The distributor of the Continental and Mitas ranges points out that spending just a few minutes carefully checking the tyres on agricultural equipment before harvest could save farmers significant time, stress and expense at this critical time of the year.
Continue Reading
