At a meeting on 6 May, members of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority unanimously voted to support the tyre aging motion that has arisen from the campaign begun by Liverpool woman Frances Molloy following the 2012 death of her son in a coach crash. The motion, titled Coach Safety & Prevention of Road Traffic Accidents, calls for an age limit of six years to be placed on tyres fitted to coaches.
Manheim’s latest monthly UK Market Analysis in 2014 shows that part-exchange values have risen again for the second month in a row, with February witnessing an all-time high of £3,216, which is a £7 increase when compared with the previous month. On the whole, average selling prices have been on a positive trajectory over the past six months, with values rising by £587 over the period. In fact, the positivity goes even further back, as average values in February 2014 are £280 higher when compared with the same period last year.
Pirelli recently took its Formula One simulator, designed to replicate a Formula One driver’s grand prix experiences, to Bryn Gwalia County Primary School in Mold, North Wales. The exclusive tyre supplier to the series decided to give eight-year-old Lauryn Robinson, who has been diagnosed with leukaemia, the chance to try out the simulator after watching […]
A report in the Financial Times, which focussed on the expectations of German car producer companies, showed that younger people are shunning buying new vehicles. According to the report, the average age of a new car buyer in Germany rose to a record 52.2 years in 2013, three years older than the average a decade ago, reflecting a trend observed in other industrialised countries.
By the middle of this year, Hankook Tyre Australia will distribute its products directly to retailers throughout the country. The company previously used a number of state-based distributors to supply the Australian market but began consolidating these operations some years ago. Now all regions aside from Western Australia are supplied directly from Hankook, and between now and 31 May 2014 Hankook Tyre Australia will “work closely” with local distributor Koast Tyre in this remaining market towards “a seamless transition” to direct distribution.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is disappointed that each day, an average of 200 drivers were arrested for offences related to drink driving during the annual Christmas crackdown.
Figures released by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) show that, in relation to drink driving, 6,550 drivers gave positive breath tests or refused or failed to give a test, during the campaign, which ran from November 29 to January 1 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is around 8 per cent fewer than the previous year’s figure of 7,123. Of those arrested, 1,675 (26 per cent) were recorded as being under the age of 25.
There are now more than seven million drivers over the age of 65 on the UK’s roads, according to road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). The number of drivers over 65 reached 7,191,192 in November 2013.
As reported yesterday, Pirelli CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera, whose family holds the largest single stake in the company, plans a full departure from the company, first as CEO and then as shareholder. The only point we can now speculate on is the timeframe this will occur within; Tronchetti says he plans to take this step in 2017.
The question of how long it is before a tyre reaches its sell by date is a familiar subject. A few years ago this column covered the rising age of tyre company directors and raised the question of what this meant for individual succession plans in particular and the market in general. But there is one specific type of “tyre aging” that we (and to the best of my knowledge) no-one has ever touched – how the tyre trade pitches its products and services towards “older” consumers.
We have all heard that the average age of the population is getting older, but did you know that there are already 4 million over 70s on the roads currently? The statistics appear to show that this proportion is going up. According to the RAC Foundation, the number of people over 70 who hold valid driving licences passed four million for the first time in the last quarter.
Frances Molloy, who has campaigned for the introduction of tyre aging laws following the death of her teenage son in a coach crash caused by the failure of a 19-year old tyre, says she is determined to keep going despite the content of a letter received from Patrick McLoughlin. The Secretary of State for Transport reportedly stated he is” not persuaded” that legislation to restrict the age of tyres is “appropriate at this stage”.
Pirelli has held a number of tyre safety classes at the local Burton and South Derbyshire College. The initiative ran as part of the manufacturer’s support of TyreSafe’s Tyre Safety Month this October, and aimed to educate students on the importance of tyre safety and checking tyre pressures.
Bridgestone will launch a new motocross tyre and announce an exclusive partnership with a historic motocross organisation at the International Dirt Bike Show. The world’s biggest tyre manufacturer says the sport represents one of the fastest growing motorbike tyre sectors in the UK, as well as offering significant brand awareness and sales opportunities. An official announcement is being made at the hugely popular annual show at Stoneleigh Park, which takes place between 31 October and 3 November.
Motorcyclists are an ageing consumer group – according to some figures, more than 60 per cent of riders now over 40 years old, almost double the proportion of ten years ago. While motorcycle performance has improved with significant increases in horsepower and top speeds, many riders run older models, and according to a recent report from German publication Motorrad, the average two-wheeler age in now more than 14 years old, two years older than in 2007.
David Millward, transport editor of the Daily Telegraph, has been looking into the growing number of people who have difficulty in parking. He says: "Drivers who find that parking only seems to get harder may attribute it to their increasing age, or perhaps harbour suspicions that slots are getting smaller. However, the problem most likely lies in their car just being too big.
