In the USA, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has issued notification to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it is recalling 1,983 Cooper CS5 Grand Touring and Mastercraft LSR Grand Touring tyres. The affected tyres are 225 55R17 products, with DOT codes 2920 through to 3220.
Falken Tyre Europe has launched a five-year guarantee on its tyres. The Sumitomo Rubber Industries global tyre brand will offer a percentage retail voucher based on the remaining tread depth down to 2mm within five years of purchase. Should the tyre have 90 per cent of its tread depth, Falken will provide a replacement Falken tyre. The guarantee applies to tyres sold by a Falken partner or original equipment tyres on new cars. The new guarantee backs Falken’s confidence in its development and manufacturing quality standards, the brand states.
Cooper Tire Europe has appointed Fintyre as the exclusive distributor of its light vehicle tyres to the Italian market. Under the deal, Cooper will supply passenger car, SUV (sport utility vehicle) and van tires through Fintyre. By joining forces with Fintyre, Cooper will enhance its supply chain in this key European market.
Cars are getting bigger, there’s no doubt about it, and it seems UK infrastructure can’t keep up with our ever-growing vehicles, leaving drivers in a spot of bother on the roads. To find out just how much cars are expanding, Zuto analysed 14 of the UK’s most popular cars to see the difference in size in comparison to the original versions.
Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) is celebrating 25 years of its partnership as the sole distributor of the General Tire products in the UK.
Upon launching in July 1995, the partnership set out to introduce General Tire’s world-renowned 4×4 tyres to the British market and as the working relationship developed and General Tire’s reputation in the UK grew, in 2009 the General Tire range of car and van tyres was also made available for UK customers.
The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown has made 2020 an annus horribilis for the UK car tyre market, with a near quarter-long lockdown slashing miles driven, original equipment sales due to prolonged factory closures, and reducing sales opportunities further with the government’s MOT exemption. However, tyre businesses have begun ramping up again in response to the reopening of business sectors, people returning to work, and the possibility that private car usage could become increasingly popular as commuters avoid public transport – though the trend for working from home could create more than a headwind for any growth in miles driven. Perhaps the greatest driver of UK car tyre sales growth in 2020 could be the projected spike in MOTs in the autumn, as the period of exemption expires for many pandemic affected motorists. Halfords Autocentres estimates that there could be an 85 per cent jump in demand for MOTs in October – click here for Tyrepress’s own analysis of the MOT situation. Why is this important in a feature about all-season and winter tyres? As we are about to see, the all-season tyre segment continued its impressive growth over April 2019 – March 2020.
Nokian Tyres has reported second quarter 2020 net sales of 270.7 million euros. In the comparative period 2019, this figure was 415.7 million euros. Therefore, the Finnish company’s second quarter net sales were 30 per cent lower than this time last year.
During the last few months Tyres & Accessories has analysed the tyre choices of the UK’s largest Police fleets. Having begun with an introductory investigation into Police tyre supply as part of the June 2020 magazine, our July edition took a closer look at which tyres the Metropolitan Police fleet chooses. Throughout the series we have found a number of consistent trends. Firstly, despite the tyre supply business being contracted to Goodyear and Michelin (via ATS Euromaster), the Police fleets are actually surprisingly open to competing tyre brands. And secondly, tyre consumption habits vary significantly between Police forces.
Bridgestone EMIA (Europe Middle East India and Africa) has announced a price increase of up to 4 per cent.
Michelin introduced the first CrossClimate tyre in 2015 in a move that saw the manufacturer shift from its long-held position of being broadly opposed to all-season tyres on the basis that best seasonal performance is achieved by either summer or winter tyres. However, arguing that the CrossClimate is a summer tyre with year-round capabilities, Michelin pioneered a new category of tyre. The initial CrossClimate was followed by the CrossClimate + and the CrossClimate SUV variants 2017 and now there is the news that a completely revised version – the CrossClimate 2 – is on its way.
Puncture proof tyres are said to be increasing demand – despite criticism from recycling associations of such products. In line with this trend, according to media reports Hankook is significantly expanding its self-sealing production capacity in China.
Together, the increased utilisation of independent contractors on the supply side and record online search figures on the demand side show that MOT testing is booming. Considering that MOTs were put on hold for roughly four-and-a-half months between March and August (let’s not even mention the Northern Ireland MOT crisis), this is good news. Word of a coming MOT spike will be warmly welcomed by the tyre and aftermarket associations that lobbied government for the end of the MOT extension on both road safety and economic grounds. But what exactly does the apparent boom look like? And why does it matter to the tyre trade?
UK new car registrations fell -34.9 per cent in June, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) as the market began a tentative restart after more than two months of lockdown. The drop was an improvement on May’s -89.0 per cent wipe-out but, with 145,377 new car registrations, this still represented a significant decline of 78,044 compared with June 2019, as dealerships in Wales and Scotland remained closed for much of the month.
Pyramids Tires, a new tyre manufacturer based in Port Said, northeast Egypt, saw its first tyres roll off the production line on 9 May 2020. The factory currently manufactures motorcycle, forklift and agricultural tyres as part of the first phase of the plant’s development. The second phase, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022, will see the company add passenger car, truck and OTR tyres to its portfolio.
Cooper
Cooper
Alexander Migl; Wikimedia CCAS 4.0
General Tire
Yokohama
Nokian Tyres
West MidlanSer Amantio di Nicolao; flickr
Bridgestone
Michelin
Hankook
Autotech
SMMT
Pyramid Tires