Tag: Internet
Nexen partners with Plug and Play
Nexen Tire has formed a strategic partnership with Plug and Play, the world's largest corporate innovation platform and startup accelerator. Plug and Play was an early investor in Silicon Valley's most renowned firms including PayPal, Lending Club, Dropbox and SoundHound. In doing so Nexen has highlighted its view of the importance of start-up thinking, future mobility, open-R&D and the Internet of Things (IoT) – all trends that the wider tyre industry is predicted to become increasingly involved in over time.
Vodafone and Continental introduce digital tyre monitoring platform
Continental and Vodafone are promoting a new digital tyre monitoring platform, ContiConnect. The companies are using the Internet of Things (IoT) to connect commercial vehicle fleets to the digital tyre monitoring platform to improve road safety and vehicle efficiencies. ContiConnect is currently deployed in US, Canada, Malaysia and Thailand with more markets in Europe and Asia to follow in 2018 and next year.
Tyre consumers increasingly choosing ‘click and fit’
Blackcircles.com, the UK’s leading online tyre retailer, reported a steep increase in sales from new customers during June. According to the company, this includes 80 per cent who have never previously bought tyres online. The metrics indicate that tyre retailing, which has traditionally lagged online adoption in other sectors like banking and travel, is going through something of a transformation.
Michelin website selling tyres directly to consumers in Europe
Michelin will begin selling tyres directly to consumers online for the first time during the first quarter of 2016. The news came in parallel with the launch of the new Michelin Pilot Sport 4, which will be the first tyre to be sold by the company via this method.
Goodyear steps up tyre retail involvement with new UK digital platform
Goodyear has launched its next generation website in the UK and Ireland. While not quite the pioneering retail strategy employed by the manufacturer’s US digital platform, the new site (www.goodyear.co.uk) has increased the company’s interaction with end-consumers – a reaction to the sustained growth in consumers researching their tyre purchase decision online. In an unusual move for tyre manufacturers’ own websites, Goodyear also provides a recommended sell-out price on its tyres, which indicates a step towards the retail activity of its American cousin, albeit without any sort of requirement of the retailer to honour that price.
Goodyear implements direct online sales in US
Last January at its annual dealer conference, Goodyear unveiled plans to launch direct-to-consumer online sales across the US through its Goodyear.com website. Since then, Michelin has bought into two large European e-tailers and Apollo has acquired another. Clearly 2015 has been the year that tyre majors have allowed their online retail strategies surface. And while approaches differ between manufacturers and markets, Goodyear’s US approach is by far the most direct. At the moment, this approach centres on North America, however what we learn from Goodyear’s case is valuable in any market. In mid-November Tire Review editor Jim Smith met with Goodyear’s Mike Dauberman, senior director of marketing and interactive, and Bill Friel, general manager of consumer dealer retail, and here gives Tyres per cent Accessories readers access to their conversation.
Car systems can be hacked, warns NCC Group
Some car infotainment systems are vulnerable to a hack attack that could put lives at risk. The vulnerability was exposed by NCC Group after it found a way to carry out attacks by sending data using digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio signals.
Kumho now affixing RFID tags to half-finished tyres
Two years ago, Kumho Tire announced a world first when it began attaching radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on its products. The tyre maker now reports another world first – since 16 June, it has begun using an Internet of Things (IoT) based production and distribution integrated management system to apply the RFID system to its ‘half-finished’ products.
IAAF to discuss legislation, internet parts and social media misuse
The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) has announced that its latest breakfast network meeting will address key legislation, internet parts and social media misuse for employers in the automotive aftermarket. Taking place at Valeo Service UK, Redditch, on Tuesday 21 April, the event will welcome a representative from Capita, a leading FTSE business and provider of business process management solutions.
Modern cars are more hackable than ever
Modern cars are in danger of being hacked by criminal gangs, motoring experts have warned once again. Possible motivations for hacking are said to include theft of information, extortion and even causing vehicles to crash. Security vulnerabilities in connected cars and in TPMS/RFID systems have been identified before (see "Automotive suppliers, smart cars, intelligent tyres and safety concerns" in last February's magazine and "Researchers Hack a Hole in TPMS" in the September 2010 issue of Tyres & Accessories), but now attention is turning to cars fitted with wireless networks and Internet. The fear is that these connections can be exploited by hackers with access and control a car's systems, including braking and acceleration potentially being overriding remotely, according to security consultants.
Faster than ever – online business is an increasing feature of the tyre sector
Super-fast broadband is now commonplace across the UK. According to the telecoms regulator Ofcom, the average speed in the UK is now 18.7mbps. Even in rural areas they are generally getting speeds of 13.6mbps. To put this in perspective, the UK average five years ago was 4.1mbps and at that time many places were not getting speeds as high. But what’s all this got to do with tyres? The specific answer is that this month we are covering the “Online Tyre Business” in some detail. But the more general answer is because it is increasingly prominent part of our culture and therefore tyre-buying consumer behaviour. But first another statistic.
Tyre Equipment Company now selling tyres online
The Tyre Equipment Company has added tyre sales to its on-line tyre products site. A range of tyre-related products were already available ‘off-the-shelf’ for commercial and domestic customers. Now, in response to market demand, a new range of tyres is soon to be added.
TecRMI cooperating with TEXA on CV data
TecRMI, the specialist repair and maintenance information arm of TecAlliance GmbH and TEXA S.p.A. have agreed to cooperate on the use of adjustment data for the commercial vehicle sector.
Launch UK’s X-431 PRO diagnostic tool
Launch UK has unveiled its latest generation of diagnostic tools. Centring on the X-431 PRO, the line is said to offer a full fault system diagnosis for American, Asian and European vehicle manufacturers. As one the first Android based diagnostic tools, X-431 provides greater speed, reliability and ease of use over other diagnostic tools.
Cyber security comes to the fore
Bentley has been unveiling what it calls the first hybrid electric super-luxury car at the Geneva Motor Show. Other manufacturers (like Porsche) may disagree with this assertion, but the launch marks something of a landmark for the industry with more and more emphasis being paid to the new generation of electric and hybrid vehicles. Indeed, during the company’s latest financial results, Pirelli’s Marco Tronchettic Provera even spoke about the digitisation of the company’s business as if it is normal – something that was followed by the launch of Pirelli’s Cyber Car in Geneva at the start of March. In short, the Cyber Car system offers an OEM solution to send data from the tyres to the car and from the car to the cloud for the benefit of that particular driver as well as road-users in general.
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