Uniroyal Launches RainMax 2 for MPVs
Uniroyal has launched a new tyre for MPVs and light vans - the RainMax 2. According to the company, the tread pattern on this new rain tyre has been completely re-developed to ensure “safe, economical performance on both wet and dry roads.” New design features centre on a 17 per cent shorter wet braking distance the than that of the previous model.
Continue ReadingBridgestone to End Australia, New Zealand Tyre Production
When Bridgestone Australia chairman and managing director Shawn Hara gave word in April that operations at the company’s Salisbury plant would cease between April 14 and 27, he reassured that Bridgestone is “committed to local tyre manufacturing and we are proud of providing quality Australian-made tyres to our customers.” He also stated no further closedowns were planned for 2009. Despite these soothing words, on October 23 Bridgestone Australia Ltd. announced the decision to close the plant near Adelaide, along with the company’s factory in Christchurch, New Zealand. When the closures take effect, tyre manufacture in Australasia, which commenced in 1903, will come to an end.
Continue ReadingNew Chief of North American Retail Business for Goodyear
(Tire Review) Goodyear has promoted John Peer to vice president and general manager of its North American retail operations. Peer had served as director of dealer sales and retail operations for Goodyear’s North American Tire unit. He replaces Scott Vogel who has left the company, according to Goodyear. Paul Wanstreet has been moved from vice president of Goodyear’s Wingfoot commercial centres to director of retail operations. He will report to Peer, who, in turn, will report to Steve McClellan, president of consumer tyres.
Continue ReadingContinental Changes Industrial Staff
(Tire Review) Continental Tire North America has made staff changes to its industrial tyre group. David Whitmore was named the unit’s new OE sales manager, while Paschal Dellavedova is the new south-central US region account executive for industrial tyres. Mark Madding is the new account executive for replacement industrial tire sales in the western US.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Closing US Retread Product Plant
(Tire Review) Goodyear is closing its retread materials plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the company announced yesterday. The plant will be closed by the end of 2009, according to the announcement, putting some 90 employees out of work. Some of the employees, the company said, will be offered jobs at other Goodyear plants. The Spartanburg facility produces tread stock and other retread materials for Goodyear retreaders and company-owned retreading facilities. That production, said Goodyear, will be absorbed into other Goodyear facilities across the country.
Continue ReadingGrouptyre/Pirelli promotion winners get close to rally action
“Brilliant, awesome, it was a trip you could never pay to organise for yourself,” was how Martin Thomas, owner of Halesworth Tyre and Exhaust in Halesworth, Suffolk, described a recent trip to the World Rally Championships. Thomas and his wife Lisa were VIP guests at the Rally of Spain (October 1-3) after winning the top prize in a national promotion organised by Grouptyre, the UK’s leading independent wholesaler, and premium tyre manufacturer Pirelli. The Grouptyre/Pirelli incentive ran from 1 May to 30 June. For every Pirelli car, van and 4x4 tyre that independent tyre retailers bought during the promotion period, they were credited with an entry into a draw, the top prize of which was the Spanish rally excursion.
Continue ReadingPirelli Travels to UK for Decisive World Rally Stage
Pirelli has brought its Scorpion-brand rally tyres to the gravel roads of the UK for the final decisive stage of the 2009 World Rally Championship, which begins tomorrow. The roads around Cardiff usually present a tough option when the WRC visits, with heavy rainfall, uneven roads, slippery land, mud and insidious special stages during the Rally GB, but this year, thanks to a change in the scheduling, there is a chance that dry, milder conditions may prevail. Therefore, Pirelli states that it will use soft compound Scorpion tyres as part of the key elements in the race to final victory.
Continue ReadingBlackcircles.com Adds Online Car Servicing
Blackcircles.com has gone the route of bricks and mortar retailers before it, by adding car servicing options to its online tyre portfolio. The move, made in conjunction with Unipart will allow motorists to book and pay for car servicing online to be carried out at its network of 1,200 independent garages. According to Blackcircles.com the service will be up to 60 per cent cheaper than franchised dealerships. Mike Welch, founder and managing director of Blackcircles.com, said: “We are moving into the vehicle servicing sector with the same innovative business model that has allowed Blackcircles.com to capture around £13 million of the UK tyre market.”
Continue ReadingSurvey Unearths Safety Sloppiness Amongst Company Car Drivers
A survey conducted by TyreSafe has again shone a spotlight onto the UK motoring public’s inability to regularly check tyre tread depth. The organisation probed a sample group of 1,552 company car drivers from across the UK and was astounded to find an alarming 25 per cent had never – ever – checked the depth of their vehicle’s tyre tread. A further 41 per cent had not deigned their own safety and that of others sufficient reason to kneel down and take a look under the wheel arches during the last six months. Yet, notes TyreSafe, responsibility for tyre safety on fleet vehicles is the responsibility of both companies and employees, and those not making the necessary checks face fines and other penalties. To simplify the task of checking tyre tread, companies are being encouraged to promote TyreSafe’s ‘lifesaver in your pocket’ initiative – which encourages simple monthly checks using a 20p coin – to their employees.
Continue Reading8 Year-Old Vans Now Qualify for Scrappage Deals
The terms of the Government’s revised scrappage scheme, which includes provision for replacing vans, comes into force today (22 October). In September it was announced that an extra £100 million was proposed for the Government’s scrappage scheme bringing the total budget to £400 million and covering up to 400,000 vehicles in total. The scheme will end in February 2010 or when the funding runs out, whichever is sooner. The key change to the policy is that van owners looking to trade in their vehicles will now be able to scrap their 8-year-old van instead of the previous 10-year requirement. Car owners must trade in vehicles registered on or before 29 Feb 2000 (V registration). Arguably sounding like the nation’s biggest second-hand car salesman, business secretary Lord Mandelson said: “Consumers and businesses looking for a new vehicle should make the most of the scrappage scheme now…but it has to end when the funding runs out.”
Continue ReadingGoodyear Pleased with “Fourth Auto Express Accolade in Five Years”
Having been named the winner of the Auto Express light SUV test, Goodyear was pleased to note that it was the fourth such award that the UK weekly magazine had sent its way in the past five years. The Goodyear Excellence tyre was declared outright winner, adding to the ‘recommended’ rating awarded to the Goodyear OptiGrip in the magazine’s test of family car tyres published in September. The Excellence follows Auto Express tyre test successes for the company’s HydraGrip, OptiGrip and Eagle F1 tyre in other vehicle test categories.
Continue ReadingVipal and Grumac Celebrate 5 Years of Partnership
In October of 2009 Vipal and Grumac completed five years of partnership. A UK-based company with more than 50 years of experience in the tyre and retreading business, Grumac has been the exclusive British repair material distributor Brazilian retreading material supplier Vipal since 2004. partnership."
Continue ReadingBarry Shaddick Tyres Marks 20 Years in the Business
Barry Shaddick Tyres is celebrating two decades of providing a tyre supply, fitting and repair service to commercial vehicle operators across the South of England and Wales. Since opening the doors on its Bristol premises in 1989 the company has developed into a network of eight depots, from which 48 service vans provide a highly responsive service, including 24/7 roadside assistance.
Continue ReadingOn-Road Tests Confirm Viability of Magnum SRI Compound, Manufacturer Reports
Road testing of tyres made from a compound containing a sizeable recycled content has reportedly shown them to “clearly equal the original control specimen.” Magnum D'Or Resources states its Magnum SRI custom compound light truck tyres were driven to the Malaysian Rubber Board's Rubber Research Institute, where further testing is to take place. The tyres contain a 14 per cent recycled content, which Magnum notes is nearly six hundred per cent more than the current amount of surface treated crumb used in tyres.
Continue ReadingEuropean Tyre Labelling: The Cost is Worth it, Says Conti
Continental AG says its welcomes the tyre labelling system agreed upon by various EU bodies. While the system must pass a final vote in the European Parliament before it is given the official green light, the German tyre manufacturer looks forward to its November 2012 introduction and holds the opinion that the extra costs manufacturers face through labelling will pay off in the long term.
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