On Friday 16 May 2025, the ID and password of one employee of Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. were wrongfully used by a third party, resulting in an unauthorized access to the company’s cloud storage system and leak of personal information belonging to 10,469 individuals.
In response, the company has implemented security enhancements, including stronger unauthorized login prevention for its cloud storage system.
Blackcircles.com has been one of the UK’s leading online tyre retailers for years, but now, the company is offering standalone MOT and servicing options irrespective of whether or not consumers buy tyres. The move has reportedly been prompted by customer demand: “We listened to our customers, and one thing became clear: sometimes you just want to book an MOT or service without having to search for new tyres”, company representatives said in an online statement.
Three quarters (75%) of motorists are unaware that some local councils offer MOT tests to the public, according to new research. The research commissioned by USwitch also found that only 11 per cent of car owners have had an MOT test carried out at a council-run centre. 113 UK councils offer MOT tests to the public, charging £49.36 on average. Back in the Conservative/Liberal Democratic coalition of the 2010s, these centres were pitched as a way councils could legitimately raise funds apart from wheel clamps and speed cameras. Nevertheless, the idea is that , since these centres don’t typically offer repairs, they have no financial incentive to recommend unnecessary work.
Hot on the heels of Apollo Tyres research showing that up to 45 per cent of consumers buy tyres without knowing their label data, a new survey suggests garages are not engaging consumers with label data.
In April 2024, the tariff policy of the Trump administration in the United States may completely changed the pattern of China’s tyre exports. Therefore, China’s export data in March may be the end of the era of China’s tyre export expansion. Next, the geopolitical changes led by the United States will determine the long-term and specific impact on China’s tyre exports in the future.
Data released by Chinese Customs show that China’s tyre export data for the first two months of 2025 is almost the same as last year’s period. Among them, the number of new pneumatic rubber tyres exported was 107 million, a year-on-year increase of 7.5 per cent; the export value was 23.82 billion yuan (about £2.54 billion; €3.03 billion), an increase of 5.2 per cent; the export weight was 1.32 million tons, an increase of 3.3 per cent. The growth values of the three comparative indicators are all below 10 per cent.
NIRA Dynamics, which is known for its indirect TPMS technology, and Vaisala Xweather have releases an integrated data set which connects road weather forecasts and computer vision observations with real-time connected car data.
The integration draws on NIRA Dynamics’ data from billions of data points gathered from connected vehicles, paired with Vaisala Xweather’s advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning-based (ML) road weather forecasting models. These, according to the companies, achieve accuracy levels 50 per cent higher than those of publicly available forecasts.
While cars and their tyres becoming increasingly “intelligent”, the majority of car owners don’t know their vehicle could be collecting data about their driving schedules (72%) and live location (44%), amongst other things. According to research commissioned by Uswitch, less than a third (28%) of car owners read the terms and conditions or data agreements around their car’s data collection capabilities.
Last week, the Coalition of Independent Service Providers (ISP) wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging her to prioritise the already-prepared proposal for a legislation on access to in-vehicle data as part of her first 100-day plan. As part of ISP, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) states that it “strongly agrees” on the importance of ensuring fair competition in the automotive and mobility services markets, emphasising the need for sector-specific regulation to complement the Data Act.
Effective July 2024, Hankook Tire & Technology is a full member of the Global Data Service Organisation for Tyres and Automotive Components (GDSO). The association welcomes the Korean tyre maker as a “strong partner that is committed to digitalisation and sustainability in the sector.
Continental reports that it is offering automated continuous tread depth measurements for commercial vehicle tyres for the first time. This is made possible by a new generation of sensors and AI-based algorithms that automate tread depth checks and provide up-to-date data on upcoming services and tyre changes.
The automotive industry is currently undergoing a huge transformation – electromobility, ADAS and connectivity are changing the way vehicles are developed and built. Repairing them is becoming increasingly complex. Advanced software-defined functions are making their way into the sector. These developments are creating new opportunities across the automotive aftermarket.
The latest daily domestic transport usage by mode, released by the Department of Transport data, which compares current transport usage to pre-COVID-19 levels, reveals a significant trend: car usage has not only returned to, but has surpassed, pre-pandemic levels, while public transport modes, including buses, National Rail, and the London Tube, continue to fall behind.
Unit sales of both all season and winter tyres grew in the UK, comparing the period April 2023 to March 2024 with the previous 12-month period. However the character of each segment is very different, as we can see from the latest data on this segment from market analysis firm GfK. The most recent generations of all season tyres from premium manufacturers, broadly dated from the introduction of the first Michelin CrossContact, and latterly from brands at lower price points, have helped to establish these tyres with wider temperature operating windows as a strong growth segment.
Delphi has continued to develop its tool for technicians to access vehicle data with the integration of Volvo into its security gateway solution. The integration has been pushed out with the BluTech diagnostic tool’s latest software update, meaning it can now automatically obtain Volvo authorisation tokens. This allows technicians unrestricted access to diagnostic functions.
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