UK News
Yokohama and TCR UK head to Castle Combe
TCR UK will make its debut at Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire on 14-15 July as it enters rounds seven and eight. The race weekend marks the halfway point in the first ever Yokohama-backed series.
GKN Wheels names new sales director, Americas
GKN Wheels and Structures has appointed Ron Peta to the position of Sales Director, Americas where he will take responsibility for the company’s sales activities across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Having joined GKN Wheels in 1998, Peta has reportedly undertaken a number of roles in design, engineering, business development and sales.
Semi-finals, motorways and World Cup coincidences
As fans cheer on the England squad’s bid for World Cup semi-final glory this evening, the country’s busiest roads will be much quieter than the normally would be midweek at 7pm. Highways England says a brief analysis of traffic on each of the England match days to date, comparing an hour before kick-off to two hours after, shows that during the games demand reduced by up to 33 per cent.
CAM commits to mentoring UniSerV users
CAM is embarking on a mentoring programme for its UniSerV users over the next six months, consolidating its major investment in both the platform and to the UniSerV User Group forum over the past five years.
Robust motorcycle sales in June
“Following a turbulent few months, it is encouraging to see that the motorcycle market bounced back in June with registrations up 7.8 per cent”, said Stephen Latham, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK, commenting on figures published by the Motor Cycle Industry Association.
Klarius increases UK manufacturing capacity
Recent investment has provided Klarius with increased manufacturing capacity for automotive OEM and aftermarket emission control products including exhausts, CATs and DPFs. “Demand is being driven by both the UK market and export growth” states Paul Hannah, Business Development Director. “The aftermarket is changing rapidly and while quality is still very important, once the required standards and certifications have been met, the focus is all on range and availability.
The Parts Alliance’s Garage Essentials summer offers
The Parts Alliance’s Summer Garage Essentials has arrived mid heat-wave with some incredible offers that are guaranteed to keep things hot. The glossy 68 page A4 publication is available on request from all branches of The Parts Alliance members Allparts, Bromsgrove Motor Factors, Car Parts & Accessories, CES, GMF, SAS Autoparts, SC Motor Factors, Waterloo, GSF Car Parts – and now Dingbro too.
The increasing connection between new tyres, retreads and technology
When news of Chinese truck tyre import tariffs breaking around us, Tyres & Accessories wanted to gauge the response of a leading premium tyremaker and retreader. With Goodyear having been amongst the few to officially comment on the matter since the announcement of tariffs at the start of May, we asked Gregory Boucharlat, director Fleet and Retread Commercial EU to bring us to speed on this as well as wider ongoing retreading trends.
Two PRCA Dare Awards for Protyre tyre safety campaign
Last year’s Tyre Safety Month campaign from Protyre picked up two PRCA Dare Awards at the PRCA Midlands Awards Ceremony in Birmingham last Wednesday. Together with public relations agency WAA Chosen, Protyre was honoured by PRCA in the Digital & Social Media Campaign of The Year and Integrated Campaign of The Year awards categories.
Bridgestone lifts Bulldog production, invests in UK retreading as duties drive demand
It’s now more than two months since the European Union applied anti-dumping duties on a range of truck and bus tyres manufactured in China, and during this time Bridgestone has observed a “strong uplift in demand” within the UK retreading industry. With the market “showing signs of a significant upturn in fortunes,” the company behind the Bandag retreading brand believes a “continued investment in its range of products is beginning to reap dividends.”
Vredestein launches Wintrac Pro in Cologne
Vredestein launched the Wintrac Pro at The Tire Cologne, with arguably the best-attended press conference in the exhibition halls and no small amount of fanfare.
Maxxis launches premium tier/OE-orientated Victra Sport 5 at Tire Cologne
Maxxis hosted a large, professional stand with plenty of information about different products at Tire Cologne. However, the headline news was the launch of the Victra Sport 5 at a well-attended press conference during the course of show week.
Kwik Fit: WLTP will influence wheel and tyre choice
The method of determining company car tax in the UK will change in April 2020 when the government switches over to the World Light-duty Test Procedure (WLTP) for measuring CO2 emissions, and Kwik-Fit suggests that the adoption of the WLTP could lead to larger diameter rim and tyre sizes falling out of favour.
Brake partners with Continental on the road to Vision Zero
Road safety charity Brake is supporting tyre manufacturer Continental’s aim of making road crashes a thing of the past by partnering with the Vision Zero initiative. Continental will work with Brake over the coming months to engage road users at live experiential events.
TyreWatch system combines TPMS, connectivity, AI to prevent 95% tyre breakdowns
Tructyre chief executive officer Glenn Sherwood has announced the launch of Tyrewatch, a predictive tyre management system the company states can “prevent 95 per cent of tyre related breakdowns”, from The Satellite Applications Catapult in Harlow, near Oxford, an organisation which has assisted the project in implementing satellite communications connectivity. The new system for fleets, three-plus years in development for its initial phase, combines tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) with increased and continuous cellular and satellite connectivity and artificial intelligence to provide automated analysis of fleets’ tyres. The system works by connecting sensors continuously monitoring tyre pressure, temperature, vehicle speed and GPS location to TyreWatch’s servers, which in turn alerts drivers, fleet managers, and tyre servicing providers where action should be taken. All of this results in a trio of potential benefits: economic, safety, and a step towards autonomy for logistics vehicles.