Tyres & Accessories July 2013

July 2013 The magazine for the tyre and wheel industries

Tyres & A

ccessories July 2013w

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WWW.TYREPRESS.COM 3TYRES & ACCESSORIES 7/2013

EDITORIALEDITORIAL

TO SAYTHAT JUNE WAS AN INTERESTING MONTH

for the tyre industry is something of an understate-ment. It was explosive - and in at least one caseliterally so. But the drama of it all offers consumersa challenging life lesson.

Of course Apollo Tyres’ agreement to purchaseCooper Tire & Rubber for US$2.6 billion is one ofthe biggest changes at the top of the global tyremarket for more than a decade, with the smallerIndian manufacturer acquiring the larger and longerestablished US firm. In the process a companyrank ing 7th in the world is expected to be formedin a move that will have global repercussions forsome time (turn to page 38 for exclusive coverageand in-depth analysis of this news). At the sametime, and closer to home, certain directorialappointments in the UK wholesale business markboth the end of one era and the beginning of an -other, with the balance of national wholesalepower shifting. But neither development are whatwe are focusing on here.

Then there was the literally explosive Britishgrand prix with its five or six complete tyre failures(team sources report that even more were on theverge of going), most of which seem to have co -incided with turn four of the Silverstone course.However while the negative headlines associatedwith Silverstone must have some at Pirelli prayer-fully repeating the “all publicity is good publicity”mantra while the latest Formula One tyre stormblows over (see page 64 for T&A first hand report -ing of all the action from Silverstone), is there ahidden message for the tyre business at large?

For the tyre industry as a whole we can takethe optimistic view that the striking image of a dis-integrating race tyre or two raises the profile oftyre awareness in general and the need for tyres that are fit for purpose in general. Whateverwent wrong at Silverstone, Pirelli remains a highperform ance tyre specialist with its factories rout-inely producing millions of tyres for some of thehighest performing road vehicles in the world with-out any trouble at all. Remember it wasn’t so longago that Michelin experienced similarly and argu-ably worse negative publicity at the ill-fated 2005

US grand prix. Eight yearslater no-one is suggestingthat incident had anymaterial long-term negati-ve effect to the company’sglobal performance or onits product or OE reputati-on.

What this incidentdoes point to is the pre -cise importance of havingthe right tyres for the job.If indeed the Silverstonepunctures were produced by a sharper thanexpected one-inch concrete lip at turn four as hasbeen suggested, it is not like Pirelli is unable toproduce tyres that can deal with ad verse conditi-ons. Just think of the hundreds of thousands ofpremium 4x4 tyres the company churns out at thefirm’s Dalton Road, Carlisle plant each year desti-ned for Land Rover. And with many top range 4x4snever riding on anything other than tarmac it’s nota question of speed either. No it’s just that F1 tyresare expected to take corners like turn four faster(220+ km/h) than the landing speed of a jet planand slide sideways across a raise lip, while at thesame time gripping, offering interstellar g-forcesupport and providing entertaining racing for allinvolved.

My general point is nothing to do with F1 inparticular and everything to do with the importan-ce of quality and application in general. Seeingtyres explode as they did during the grand prixweekend is good for the British public because itforces them to recognise that even some of thehighest technology products available are far fromindestructible. Factor that down to those consu-mers who are buying part worn tyres with no dis-cernible compliance or provenance and low-costproducts that barely attain labelling standards andhopefully such graphic images will make themthink twice about what they fit to their car.

Explosive action – a life lessonfor tyre buying consumers?

apollotyres.com TM

Aspire 4G Alnac 4G

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“Good on dry roads, in fuel consumption and in wear” TCS:

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WWW.TYREPRESS.COM6 TYRES & ACCESSORIES 7/2013

NEWS IN BRIEF

Westlake, Vacu-Lug host first UK Partners Day

Hangzhou Zhongce flagship brandWestlake Tyres has held its first UKPartners Day with authorised UK distri-butor for TBR tyres, Vacu-Lug at the LandRover Experience Centre, RockinghamCastle, Leicestershire. The brand and itsdistributor combined the presentation ofWestlake’s TBR tyre line-up with some“serious off-roading.” Tim Hercock, fromVacu-Lug said: “Since our distribution ofthe Westlake brand began earlier in2013, demand for Westlake TBR pro-ducts has grown steadily… now ourfocus is to drive this success throughoutour network of Independent truckdealers.” KK Singh, European TBR salesmanager for Al Dobowi added: “It wasgreat to receive such a positive reactionto the Westlake product range from allparticipants. With the support of the AlDobowi Group and Vacu-Lug, we lookforward to further expanding Westlake inthe UK commercial vehicle market.” akb

Trax wins £1m Jaguar Land Rover balance weight contract

UK manufacturer of balance weights,Trax JH Ltd has won a £1m per year con-tract to supply adhesive and clip-on pro-ducts to Jaguar Land Rover. Managingdirector John Hallé says that the busi-ness was won on design and qualitycompetence. The company worked withJLR engineering to develop weights tomeet the tough conditions and widevariety of large wheels typically found onJLR vehicles. JLR’s business has experi-enced recent growth of up to 20 percent, and Trax said it was pleased to bethe chosen supplier for the prestigiousUK business, referencing particularly thesuccess of the Range Rover Evoque,built at Halewood, Liverpool. Based inNewtown, mid-Wales, Trax says it is looking forward to building on this suc-cess in the UK and European aftermar-kets. Over 70 per cent of Trax sales areexported, mostly to continental Europe.

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BRIDGESTONE HAS LAUNCHED its latestonline marketing campaign, utilising anew website, beeneverywhere.eu, socialmedia and video in its effort to positionthe brand as “innovative and interactive”.Revolving around exploring the world, thevideo is set to a soundtrack based onJohnny Cash’s ‘I’ve been everywhere’.Jake Rønsholt, general manager, corpora-te and brand communications atBridgestone Europe explained: “Part ofthe beauty of the campaign is that visit-ors to the main site can do exactly that,on just about any device.

“By letting people create their ownversion of the road trip using photos from

their Facebook page, Bridgestone putsfans behind the wheel of their own jour-ney, letting them create and share theirown experiences. The built-in interactivemovie editor puts the driver in control, inthe same way as Bridgestone tyres do.”

The ‘We’ve Been Everywhere’ cam-paign has been designed for interactivityand “share-ability”, Bridgestone says,with strong links to social media. Thecampaign will be launched via a compre-hensive range of marketing initiativesincluding special offers, games, competi-tions and events. akb

On the Saturday, two Michelin-shodmountain bike riders overcame difficultweather conditions to finish first andsecond in a field of 400 riders: Alex Cure,riding for the Urge Bike Product EnduroTeam, and Barel, for the Canyon FactoryEnduro Team. Out of four special stageson the Sunday Barel also claimed two.

Michelin says that the prototype tyresare the result of two and a half years ofresearch and development together withBarel. Alex Cure’s 26” front tyre was alsoa prototype Enduro, while he decided touse a 26x2.35 Michelin Wild Grip R2Advanced Reinforced tyre on the rear.

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Fabien Barel claimed a world first in winning the first event of the EnduroWorld Series championship with 27.5” Michelin prototype mountain biketyres. The world’s best riders competed in Punta Ala, Italy on Saturday, 18May and Sunday, 19 May for the first race in the championship. Barelfinish ed the event with a 12.5-second lead over the second-place finisher.

Bridgestone launches ‘I’ve BeenEverywhere’ social media campaign

Barel wins first Enduro WorldSeries race on 27.5” Michelin tyre


NEWS IN BRIEF

Petlas introduces new website

Turkish tyre manufacturer Petlas has anew website. The customer focusedsite allows dealers and drivers to searchproducts by size, segment or productname, with increased product informa-tion and more logical organisation.Oguz Ay, director of international mar-keting and sales at Petlas said the com-pany had “spent the past year listeningand talking to the users of www.pet-las.com”, and that the new site tries tomake users’ experience “more straight-forward and user friendly” as a result."The new site is a one-stop-resource,for customers,” Oguz explained. akb

Armagh biker to meet Rossi following Bridgestone promotion

Armagh motorcyc-list David Hoy will meet nine-timeMotoGP champion Valentino Rossi afterhe became the winner of Bridgestone’sEuropean ‘Mission Rossi’ competition.The 46 year-old will fly out to theNetherlands for the Assen round of theMotoGP championship, where he willreceive VIP passes, accommodation,and a private meet and greet with theItalian legend. Hoy visited GM Tyres toget his Honda VFR800 fitted with newtyres ahead of a biking weekend in theIsle of Skye. Centre manager PhilipHeadley recommended theBridgestone T30 tyres to him: “Philipsaid the T30s were better in the wet aswell as the dry, so I decided to getthem fitted. I was also told I could wina prize to meet Rossi, but I didn’t thinkI’d have a chance!”

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JJust Tyres has opened a new centre inNewbury, Berkshire on the site formerlyrun by A&B Tyres. The independent gara-ge reportedly invested more than£500,000 in the new centre, creating sixnew jobs in the process. This investment,including extensive renovation work andnew state-of-the-art machinery, is beingbacked by Bridgestone, which is offeringa series of sales incentives to coincidewith discount offers on its range at thestore.

Just Tyres’ managing director IanGrant said: “We are thrilled to boast apresence in Newbury and we are confi-dent that motorists in the area will cometo value us as an indispensable offering. Ibelieve in giving customers the best ser-vice in the industry and that’s why wehave always had happy and loyal cust-omers.”

Grant’s strategy for his Newbury busi-ness includes four promises designed toseparate his tyre offering to competitors.Just Tyres promises: transparent pricing,a maximum 20 minute wait, with dis-

counts available for customers waitinglonger, a wider variety of stock, andexpert staff conducting all work manually.This latter promise includes a policy ofnot using air guns, instead tighteningwheel nuts by hand and a torque wrenchto ensure the exact tightness.

Bridgestone’s training developmentmanager Mark Fereday said: “Just Tyresappear to have a compelling presence inNewbury and have done a huge amountof work to create a fantastic retail offer-ing… We are delighted to be boasting aBridgestone presence through the creati-on of this Just Tyres centre and will beworking with the team closely in theweeks and months to come.” akb

Just Tyres opens £500kNewbury centre

Bridgestone inflatable stands 'increasing footfall'As a manufacturer of inflatable products, it could be considered rather aptthat the world’s largest tyre-maker should use compressed air to its advan-tage in its promotional activities. Two new eight metre radius displays, uti-lised so far at Donington Circuit, the Yorkshire Show, Props and Pistonsand the CLA Game Fair, are helping Bridgestone to increase its impact atoutdoor events in 2013.

BRIDGESTONE SAYS THE PAIR OF INFLAT-ABLE UNITS have the twin benefits ofbeing easy to construct and, more impor-tantly, separating Bridgestone from otherexhibitors. Communications managerAndy Dingley said that the investmentwas already yielding results for thebrand, with footfall figures increasinglike-on-like for popular shows whereBridgestone exhibit annually.

“The feedback we have had from the‘domes’ has been really encouraging. We

have been in need of an adaptable, flexi-ble and eye-catching stand for sometime, in order to do our products justice.

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GM Tyres managerPhilip Headley(left) with Armagh winner David Hoy

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Wheelwright has been appointed officialdistributor for premium Italian wheelmanufacturer MAK in the UK. The wheelsupplier says MAK is at the forefront ofcutting edge design with a range thatcovers almost every market, fitment andtype of vehicle. MAK’s commercial rangeincludes both five and six-stud fitmentsand load indexing to cover the heaviestand toughest applications. Wheelwrightmanaging director Kevin Greer pronoun-ced the company “delighted” to haveadded the “peerless” MAK brand to itsportfolio.

In addition to its contemporary designfeatures and wide model coverage, theMAK collection includes certain fitmentswith an OEM style EH2 run-flat hump,while all designs feature a three year war-ranty and full TÜV approval.

Greer commented: “We are naturallydelighted to add this superb range to ouralready impressive line-up. The quality ofMAK wheels is peerless and the designlanguage is simply stunning. Logistically,we’re also very proud that our consider-able stockholding will allow most designsto go out in the UK the very next day,with special orders from Italy taking onlyas little as 2 or 3 days to deliver. Backedwith such high quality approval and war-ranty backing, I think, alongside our otherbrands, they’ll become a very popularchoice on cherished cars this year.” akb

ATS Euromaster awarded RoSPAaccreditation

Wheelwright appointed UK MAKwheels distributor

MAK’s Gothenburg Silver on a Volvo V40

ATS EUROMASTER has been awarded asafety accreditation by the Royal Societyfor the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) inits 2013 Safety Awards. ATS-E reduced thenumber of lost time accidents, recordingan unprecedented 25 per cent reduction in2012 compared with the previous year.This is particularly notable, ATS-E says,since it had already reduced its lost timeaccidents by 58 per cent between 2007and 2011. The RoSPA Safety Awards recog-nise health and safety success and offerorganisations a prime opportunity to proveon-going commitment to raising healthand safety standards.

Stan Rudowski, group head of health,safety and technical services at ATS-E,says: “We were the first national tyre specialist to be accredited by bothSAFEContractor and the ContractorsHealth & Safety Scheme (CHAS), so ourcommitment to promoting a culture of‘safety first’ within ATS Euromaster is rein-forced further with this latest RoSPAaward.

“With the largest fleet of mobile tech-nicians in the UK, all of ATS Euromaster’sstaff are expertly trained to work safelyand competently in a range of challengingenvironments, from airfields to quarries.Staff follow our ‘Safe by Choice’ program-me, which promotes safety as a personalchoice. This programme has gone fromstrength to strength and is a key factor inthe continued reduction in the number oflost time accidents we’ve experienced.”

As part of the Safe by Choice program-me ATS-E organises enhanced service,maintenance and repair training for itsteam of more than 1,900 technicians.Now in its 57th year, a RoSPA SafetyAward is one of the most sought afteraccreditations in the sector. All entrantsmust demonstrate a commitment toimplementing a range of health and safetypractices, which are judged by some ofthe leading bodies in the industry. akb

Stories from the past 20 years of T&A

July 1993Getting in before the rush: Pirelli sign-ed an agreement to build a new tyrefactory in Southern China, at Haikou,Hainan Island.

Goodyear restructured its Europeanregional organisation "in order tostrengthen its position in the Euro-pean marketplace."

July 1998Kumho opened its new EuropeanTechnical Centre, situated in theUK, close to Birmingham.

Titan International Inc. acquired 81per cent of Uruguayan tyre manu-facturer Fabrica Uruguaya deNeumáticos.

July 2003Reports in Indian media suggestedthat Michelin was carrying out a tyremarket analysis in order to deter-mine the viability of investing in amanufacturing facility in the sub-con-tinent.

German insurance group Allianzreduced its holding in Continentalfrom 7.7 per cent to 4.97 per cent.

July 2008Cooper revealed plans to investUS$ 31 million in a tyre manufactu-ring joint venture in Guadalajara,Mexico.

Michelin increased its stake inHankook to 9.98 per cent, sparkingoff speculation about a possibletakeover bid.

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* 2012 Winners

Tyre Manufacturer of the YearApollo Vredestein (UK) LtdBridgestone UK LtdContinental Tyre Group Ltd* Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK LtdMichelin Tyre Plc

Wholesaler of the YearBITS* Bond InternationalGroup Tyre (UK) Ltd Micheldever Tyre Services Ltd Stapleton’s (Tyre Services) Ltd

Tyre & Aftermarket Equipment Supplier of the YearApaseal LtdAuto4 LtdAutogem Motor Concepts LLPHarvie Tyres LtdRema Tip Top Automotive UK Ltd

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A N N U A L D I N N E R

DATE & VENUE:Wednesday 16th October 2013The Hilton Metropole at the NEC Birmingham is justly rated as one of the best hotels in the Midlands and its purpose built banquet suite provides the perfect backdrop

EVERYONE IS WELCOME:The most prestigious event of the year and the key social event for the UK Tyre Industry. All are welcome, so join the Association members and all the ‘movers and shakers’ from the UK Tyre Industry to celebrate our 84th Annual Dinner.

THE ENTERTAINMENT: Hal Cruttenden is one of the top comedians working in the UK today, as well as being a highly acclaimed writer and actor. He has toured the UK and regularly appears at top UK comedy clubs, as well as at the Edinburgh Festival.

TICKETS:Members: £95 or £90 each for group bookings of 10 or moreNon-Members: £110 or £105 each for group bookings of 10 or more(All prices ex VAT)

To book tickets or for further details please contact us on email: [email protected] or 08449 670707

ACCOMMODATION:We have a limited number of rooms available at a discounted rate. To book online go to:http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/B/BHXMETW-GTYRE-20131016/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG or phone 0121 780 4242 and quote GTYRE

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2013 TAFF Awardsin partnership with

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UK TYRE MARKET

IFYOU OFFER A PREMIUM“PREMIUM PRODUCT” thenyou need to be offering a “premium service” – notjust before and during the sales experience, butafter it as well. That’s the philosophy held byContinental, a mindset that is increasingly result-ing in upgraded processes and procedures andfurther use of technology to support customersand consumers after they have made their purcha-ses. Along with the aim of offering a premium levelof aftersales service to match what the companybelieves are the highest premium levels of its pro-ducts. Several steps forward have already beenmade and several more are set to follow; they areall part of the company’s goal to lead the industryin this respect. And with aftersales performanceamongst tyre manufacturers in general being varia-ble, the company sees this as a particularly keyway of demonstrating its overall value.

In practice this means offering some of the fastest response times to both customers and thetrade alike should they need to contact Conti-

nental aftersales. FurthermoreContinental hopes to furtherdifferentiate itself from theother leading brands by offeringsome of the most transparentaftersales procedures yet. Andthen there’s rebranding of thispart of the business along withthe increased use of technolo-gy – both designed to increasethe accessibility of informationand pre and post-sales supportservice. With this in mind Tyres& Accessories met up withContinental Tyre Group’s techni-cal general manager, Steve

Howat, at the company’s Rugby national distributi-on operation at the end of May.

While Continental’s latest raft of aftersales ser-vice developments are clearly about more than justpresentation, the fact that the company has deci-ded on the “branding up” of its arguably imperso-nal sounding “technical services” department intothe considerably more people-friendly “what wedo” is a clear example of the outworking of thefirm’s decision to upgrade its customer facingtechnical services policy. And all this falls under thebanner of Continental’s ServicePlus initiative.

There are a number of strings to Continental’spremium service bow, but perhaps the clearestexample of the enhancement of the tyre manu-facturer’s service offering is new shorter resolutiontimes. Continental reports that it can now turnclaims around in as little as 12 days in the UK – 49days quicker than the worst offender recorded. Allthis comes with a 24 hour engagement time and48 hour reply commitment while cases and claimsare being submitted and assessed.

The last stage of this process sees claimsbacked by a fair decision guarantee, which basical-ly means that in borderline cases the firm operatesa policy of erring on the side of the customer. Thisin turn is backed by Continental’s steps to becomethe first tyre manufacturer to provide photographicevidence with each rejected claim. According toHowat, this policy is something that has beenadopted in response to customer demand for bet-ter communication and transparency between thesupplier and its customers.

Furthermore, as well as existing technical support to trade and consumer customers, Conti-nental is developing a suite of additional aftersalesservices, including: an online database, a free tech-

Premium products need premium aftersales service

Tyres & Accessories talks technical with Continental TyreGroup’s Steve Howat

The technical operationhas be rebranded underthe ServicePlus moniker

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UK TYRE MARKET

nical helpline, technical training and retailtraining (for branch owners and manag-ers) – covering financial fundamentalsand retail simulation tasks amongst otherthings.

Apps and online services designed to support this

Another particular example of this is therecent development of the Continentalapp, which is already available foriPhones and iPads, with an Android versi-on on its way too. Other related technolo-gical developments include the digitisati-on and indeed app-ification (if that’s thecorrect term) of Conti’s databook. Theobvious benefits of an electronic data-book are the manoeuvrability (in order tomake it accessible on a pocket-sizedsmartphone); updateability (paper bookssuffer from going out of date the day theyare printed, whereas virtual databookscan update themselves as and when isnecessary); searchability (filter andsearch technology should make thumb-

ing through pages and pages of datatables a thing of the past. Continental’sapp is said to be particularly helpful fortruck tyre customers as it also offer tyrepressure data. The next step forContinental is to develop this kind oftechnology into a traffic light recommend-ation tool that can be used by end-usersthemselves or by retail sales staff as away of communicating product benefits.

At the same time as this is beingdeveloped, Continental representativesreport that they are continuing to uploadlabel data for their complete range ofapplicable products, which can found onthe firms website. This is supported bythe company’s dedicated technical andregulation library, which according tocompany representatives, has becomesomething of a reference point for vehi-cle manufacturers, government agenciesand police forces alike.

So-called online tyre diagnostics pro-vide another first. As part of theServicePlus suite of support, Continentalis offering the facility of using high defini-

tion webcam technology in order to linkup with the company’s engineers. Theidea is that a branch could connect to therelevant Conti service/technical office andget expert guidance on tricky tyre issues– all via the Internet and therefore withinminutes.

Meanwhile on 18 June, Continental’sHanover, Germany head office alsopublished an online PDF-version of itslatest tyre pressure advice. In order toensure motorists maintain tyres at thecorrect pressure with the minimum offuss, Continental produced an air pressu-re table that covers some 700 currentvehicle models from 42 manufacturers.The table provides unladen and ladenvalues and includes each model’s varioustyre options. Continental recommendsthat air pressure is checked every 14days, and at a minimum every time a caris refuelled. Tyres should be checkedwhen cold to ensure an accurate reading.

[email protected]

Continental Tyre Group’s technicalgeneral manager, Steve Howat

Continental is offering the facility of using high definition webcam technology in order tolink up with the company’s engineers right from the customer’s garage

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UK TYRE MARKET

Smith views the project as challengingand exciting: “Throughout EuropeNankang has a high presence and brandrecognition as a good quality mid-sectortyre. But in the UK it has not always beenperceived in the position within the mar-ket that it deserves. It hasn’t been signifi-cantly marketed in the UK before and wewill be addressing this in the future. Wesee Nankang as being positioned in thePremium Economy sector, which, givenits vast size range, performance and quality, is exactly where it should be. Thepotential is enormous.”

Nankang Tyre UK’s new 75,000sqftware-house in West Bromwich holds bet-ween 80-90 per cent of the entireNankang range – currently totalling over320 stock lines and expanding daily. Thedistributor says it will increase staffing toprovide greater depth of service, while italso says that there has never been agreater level of stock available, with sto-cked sizes ranging between 195/65R15and 295/35R21. The operation is designedto allow retailers and wholesalers tocover a wider array of requirements,Nankang UK says, servicing both tyre andalloy wheel specialists.

Raising Nankang’s profile

One of the ways in which Nankang plansto increase its visibility is through appea-ranc-es at major motorsport and perfor-mance events – a tactic employed suc-cessfully in the UK particularly by Maxxisfor example. Nankang participated in TopGear Live in 2012 and AutosportInternational 2013 highlighting thebrand’s performance cre-dentials.

Nankang also plans to up its presenceon the social networks with dedicatedFace-book and Twitter pages. The brandcontin-ues to grow in the motorsportarena, with a current focus on Drifting. Itsays further profile-building involvementis now under consideration.

Smith comments: “There are hugeopportunities for Nankang in motorsport,particularly in the track day tyre market.Here we are looking to make a hugeimpact, moving up a gear with an all-round track day tyre to meet the needs ofan increasingly price-competitive market.We now have an incredible value-for-money track day tyre, the NS-2R, whichwill be available in both Track and Streetcompounds in a wide size range.”

Nankang Performance CentresNankang Tyre UK wholesale and retail

outlets will be branded as Nankang Per-formance Centres. A more user-friendlywebsite is on its way too, with better Fa-cebook and Twitter integration.Nankang says dealer branding supportprogrammes, point-of-sale material, mer-chandising and work wear are all in deve-

lopment, each of which will be tailored to an individual outlet’s requirements.Typical examples could include specialistpromotion for the ECO-2 tyre and thenew performance range NS-20.

Nankang Tyre UK has also put intoplace a 24-hour “delivery promise”, eitherthrough the West Bromwich deliveryfleet or by express courier. It’s locationnear the inter-section of the M5 and M6at the heart of the motorway networkmakes this possible, according to thecompany.

Smith concludes: “We are setting outto change perceptions, through providingexceptional service which begins here atour head office, right through to our deliv-ery support and our expanding salesforce out in the field. We are absolutelydeter-mined to go the extra mile for ourcustom-ers and enhance the growingreputation of the Nankang brand. We aregearing up to allow a greater proportionof the tyre retail market to have theopportunity to experience the value formoney and unique versatility of our mas-sive tyre size range.” akb

Nankang pursues UK growth as Westlands becomes Nankang UK

With a product offering encompassing a good range of high and ultra high performance fitments at aneconomical price-point, Taiwanese manufacturer Nankang’s potential in the UK market has alwaysbeen clear. However, the brand’s UK representatives believe that its profile and perceived brand posi-tioning in the country could be raised in line with its European activities. Committing to achieve thesegoals, the brand’s distributor in the UK, Westlands Ltd, has taken up the new name Nankang Tyre UK,and joint managing directors Steve Smith and Scott Graham will head up the project.

F


UK TYRE MARKET

Treadsetters to distribute Falken TBR tyres

Falken says the decision to sign withTreadsetters is a strategic move designedto increase sales volumes of its commer-cial tyres dramatically. “Falken is lookingto expand its distribution of commercialvehicle tyres within the UK market,” saysMatt Smith, Falken’s UK and Irelanddirector; “We already work with PhilipWhite Tyres to provide truck and bustyres into the UK & Ireland; our additionalcommercial partnership with Treadsetterswill extend our distribution network tosupply even more of the customers with-in the commercial sector on the UK main-land.”

“We wished to expand our tyre port-folio and capitalise on an opening in themarket for mid-range commercial tyres,”says Geoff Priest, UK wholesale managerat Treadsetters. “Falken’s strong reputati-on in the industry for supplying qualityconsumer tyres, bolstered by its brandheritage, derived in part from motorsport,makes them the perfect choice to fill thegap in the market.

“Unlike other brands, Falken manu-factures its tyres in its home country ofJapan. As such Falken can offer high quality tyres, with features such as four belt casing, at cost-effective prices.Combining competitive pricing with soliddurability and quality, is an attractive pro-position to truck and bus companies.”

Falken TBR “expanding” in UK &Ireland – Philip White Tyres

Philip White Tyres has been a principaldealer of Falken tyres for over 20 years,and the distributor will continue to supply

the brand to customers in the region. Thepartnership with Falken formed in theearly 1990s has seen the development ofthe Falken brand receive key recognitionamong the UK and Irish commercial truck& bus market.

The distributor says the SumitomoRubber Corporation brand has expandedin the territory during the last year on the competing pricing, performance and service benefits it offers, backed by PhilipWhite.

“We have been working very hard onthis project over this last year since weexhibited at Brityrex in 2012 and cur-rently have a number of key dealersset up throughout England, Scot-land and Wales” says BrendanRafferty, sales & export managerat Philip White Tyres.

Full Torque range atAutopromotec

In other TBR segment activ-ity, Treadsetters displayed itsTorque branded TBR tyre andwheel ranges at Autopromo-tec 2013. Its TBR range includ-es an “anti-abrasive tread forincreased mileage,” the whole-saler states, adding that thetyres are especially suited to“mid to long distance journeyson both regional and urbanroads.” Torque steel wheelsmeanwhile are available in sizes between 17.5 and 24.5 inches.

In passenger tyres, Torque has: a PCRrange consisting of 36 sizes between 50and 80 series; 24 winter tyre sizes bet-ween 45 and 70 series; nine UHP sizesfrom 35 to 55 series; two van patterns in11 sizes and eight winter sizes; and final-ly two 4x4/SUV patterns across 26 sizes.

akb

Falken’sB867 isamong the

company’scommercial

tyre range,which

Treadsetters willnow distribute into

the UK market

TYRE WHOLESALER, Treadsetters has signed a new distribution partnership with Falken. Thebrand, which is seeking ways of expanding its commercial tyre activity in the UK, willsupply truck and bus tyres to the Telford-based distributor, while continuing to work withPhilip White Tyres in the UK and Ireland. Treadsetters recently exhibited its PCR, UHP,4x4/SUV and TBR Torque tyre ranges, in addition to its Torque-branded steel truck wheels,at Autopromotec 2013.

EVENT TYRES now available offering quality tyres at an affordable price. If you are looking for a 4x4, passenger, van or comfort tyre, we’ve got an affordable choice for you.

StapletonsTyre Services

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A


TAFF AWARDS

The last time the TAFFawards were inBirmingham was 2011

TAFF Awards 2013 final line-upTHE VOTING PROCESS for the 2013 NTDA Tyre & Fast Fit Awards has alreadybegun and ends on 27th September. The big difference this year is thatvoting is only via the NTDA website (ntda.co.uk/TAFF) and not by post, as inprevious years. For the second year running, the TAFF Awards are sponsoredby speciality chemicals company Lanxess.

Apart from that, the format is broadly similar tobefore, with NTDA members nominating suppliersin a number of categories. The five most popular ineach category make up the short lists and it is onthese that the tyre industry votes. Voting is open toNTDA members and non-members alike. As wellas these categories, companies can nominate oneof their products or services for the “InnovationAward“ – entries are whittled down to a short listand a panel of industry pundits makes the finalchoice.

A recent addition (now in its third year) is theTyre Centre of the Year award, in which retailerscan nominate one centre (or one centre per NTDAregion for national companies) as an example ofretail excellence. The winner is chosen after a pro-gramme of mystery shopping and the process isconducted by Market Research specialists EncircleMarketing and overseen by the NTDA’sAftermarket Supplier’s Group. All this comes to ahead at the NTDA’s Annual Dinner on Wednesday16th October, which this year is being held at theHilton Metropole Hotel, at the NEC, Birmingham.To help you make up your minds, here are briefdescriptions of each of the finalists and we wishthem all good luck.

Tyre Manufacturer of the Year

Four of this year’s nominees are regulars in thiscategory’s shortlist and they are joined by a first-time nominee in Apollo Vredestein – a companythat has been prominent in the news recently, withits purchase of Cooper Tire. Will we see a newname on the honours board?

Apollo Vredestein (UK) Ltd

Apollo Vredestein continues to introduce excitingand innovative products across its range. For pas-senger car tyres, the latest to be launched is theWintrac xtreme S, a high-performance (Y-speedrated) winter tyre - the most recent product to bedesigned in conjunction with Italian style houseGiugiaro – a partnership that goes back 16 yearsand was responsible for such tyres as the awardwinning Ultrac Sessanta and the Ultrac Vorti. Thislatter, along with Vredestein’s Sportrac 5, scoredconsistently well in a series of tyre tests run bymotoring publications earlier this year.

Although Apollo Vredestein has developed anumber of stylish-looking high performance cartyres, there is much more to the company’s pro-duct offering, with an extensive range of tyres forbicycles; tyres designed for all sorts of applicati-ons, among which are racing, touring and the uni-quely styled ‘all season’ product.

Apollo Vredestein also has an enviable reputa-tion in the field of agricultural tyres and last yearmade a substantial investment in its factory atEnschede, in order to increase production by 50per cent, mostly of radial implement tyres, lowprofile high performance tractor tyres and the newto market ‘GreenTrax’ lawn-care range.

Enschede was also chosen as the site ofApollo Vredestein’s Global R&D Centre, openedearlier this year, which will serve as the hub fordevelopment and testing of all car and van tyresacross the Apollo Vredestein group. In April thisyear, Apollo Vredestein UK took up residence intheir new, individually styled, UK head office; con-


UK TYRE MARKET

firming their commitment to the longterm position and devel opment of thegroup brands.

Bridgestone UK Ltd

Referring to Bridgestone’s nomination,John McNaught, managing director,Bridgestone Europe, North Region, says:“From our off-the-road products rightthrough to our advanced range of passen-ger car tyres, Bridgestone prides itself onbeing a true premium player with a diver-se portfolio to match. We are delighted tobe nominated as a finalist in the TyreManufacturer of the Year category of theTAFF Awards, which goes a long way invalidating our enduring company philoso-phy.

“To quote the Bridgestone missionstatement delivered by our founderShojiro Ishibashi, we aim to ‘serve socie-ty with superior quality’. It is uplifting toknow that this motto is just as relevantand appropriate today, as we celebratebeing shortlisted for an award that wehold in great regard. Bridgestone pridesitself on creating innovative products thatrespond to customer needs, while at thesame time using true industry observati-ons to produce superior solutions formotorists.

“We really do pride ourselves on lea-ding the way in quality, technologicallyinnovative goods and services, using ourindustry respected brand to go fromstrength to strength. If the TAFF Awardsclimax with some recognition of ourproducts and services, then youwon’t find a prouder man in the roomthan me. To everyone involved in thisyear’s awards, we hope the evening isa memorable one!“

Continental Tyre Group

Whether developing innovative pro-ducts or offering unique business sup-port to customers, Continental strives tolead the way in the industry. From wor-king to improve wet gripon the road to wet gripon the sole of your adi-das shoe, Continental is

constantly challenging the boundaries ofresearch and development to push tech-nology forward.

Continental aims to lead the way withwinter products, making further advance-ments in winter tyre technology with theContiWinterContact TS850. This isbacked by consistently high performancein leading independent tests. Continentalcurrently has a broad range of accoladesfrom leading motoring publications, suchas ‘Best Winter Tyre’ in the 2013 AutoExpress product awards and Best Buyaccolades with Which? magazine for thelatest ContiPremiumContact 5 in 205/55R16W, and for the ContiEcoContact 5 intyre size 165/70 R14T.

This same high quality tyre develop-ment is true across all business unitswith the innovative CSEasy industrialsolid tyre, which can be fitted in minuteswithout the need for a mounting press, tothe latest introduction of Generation 3tyres specifically designed for buses andcoaches combining highest safety levelswith class-leading fuel efficiency.

Continental is one of the leadingmanufacturers of passenger and lighttruck tyres in Europe, and the world’sfourth largest passenger tyre manufactu-rer. Its Commercial Vehicle tyre businessis one of the largest manufacturers oftruck, bus and industrial tyres worldwide.The product development focus of theContinental brand is to optimise allsafety-relevant cha-

racteristics, while simultaneously minimi-sing rolling resistance.

Continental also prides itself on itssupply chain performance and workingclosely with retailers to understand andhelp improve processes.

Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK

Goodyear Dunlop has had quite a year sofar – in this year’s published summer tyretests across Europe, its tyres received 39recommendations, and out of 37 of thesetests by the most respected automotivemagazines, Goodyear Dunlop tyres havewon 24 of them.

The Dunlop Sport BluResponse had aphenomenal start to the year – winning5/5 of its first tyre tests. Goodyear follow -ed this up with the EfficientGripPerformance and Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2being awarded Which? Best Buys and theEfficientGrip winning the AutoExpressSummer Tyre Award. In the AutoBild fuelsaving tyre test, the GoodyearEfficientGrip Performance and theDunlop Sport BluResponse shared thetop spot.

As well as winning awards, GoodyearDunlop’s new products have performedwell against the EU Tyre Label criteria – inits Ultra-High performance summer tyresegment, 25 per cent of the sizes arerated a B in rolling resistance and A inwet grip. Across its current summer tyreportfolio, two thirds of Europe passen-ger car summer tyre sizes are coveredwith tyres labelled CC or above.

Away from its products, the manu-facturer has also been recognised witha Top Employers Europe award by theCRF Institute for exemplary HumanResources practices and policies, andwas rated top in its annual Tyre DealerSatisfaction Survey against its com-petitors.

Michelin Tyre Plc

With more than 113,000 employe-es, sales organisations in morethan 170 countries and an annualR&D budget of 600 million euros,

Michelin is a world wide leader in

Michelin is nominated inboth the industry adverti-sing and Tyre Manufactureof the Year categorie


TAFF AWARDS

tyre development and manufacture.New products launched in the past year include six new

motorcycle tyres catering for a range of bikes from commutersto round-the-world adventure bikes. The Michelin EnergySaver+ car tyre and Agilis+ van tyre deliver an optimal combi-nation of safety, longevity and fuel efficiency. In the truck tyresector Michelin’s new X-Line Energy offering consists of arange of tyres incorporating Michelin Durable Technologies,which offer long-distance operators excellent performance in allareas including tyre life, rolling resistance and safety.

A major innovation in 2012 was the launch of Michelin’s ‘tal-king tyres’, which took place in a Stagecoach bus depot inLondon and showcased Michelin’s RFID-equipped tyres to jour-nalists from around Europe.

Michelin’s commitment to offering products which providethe best overall performance was reinforced by the announce-ment of its ‘Michelin Total Performance’ approach to tyredesign. With any Michelin tyre, drivers can be confident theywill get high levels of grip and handling, as well as excellentenvironmental performance, while not sacrificing safety.

Environmental performance, workplace ergonomics andefficiency were at the forefront of developments at Michelin’sBallymena and Stoke-on-Trent plants. Two new wind turbineswere installed at the Northern Ireland facility while two comple-tely new production lines were installed in Stoke to enable theoperation to run at optimum efficiency and remanufacture thelatest generation of Michelin truck tyres.

On the motorsport front Michelin again took all three placeson the podium in the premier LMP1 class at the 24 hours of LeMans, one of the few international race series open to compe-tition between rival tyre manufacturers and an extreme labora-tory to develop the next generation of high performance cartyres.

This link between the track and the road will be highlightedby Michelin’s involvement in the Goodwood Festival of Speedwhere, in addition to having a main stand, the Company willagain sponsor the Supercar Paddock and Supercar Run.

Tyre Wholesaler of the Year

Last year’s finalists have all made itthrough to this year’s shortlist andwe are anticipating the usual, fierce-ly-contested battle that has charac-terised this category in the past. Ithas been a year of ups and downsfor some in the wholesale business,so who will come out on top thisyear?

B.I.T.S.

B.I.T.S. has built its reputation as aprovider of tyres nationwide on a

daily delivery basis, efficiently and at attractive prices. This isachieved through a network of wholesale centres at key locati-ons across the country and a fleet of dedicated delivery vehi-cles.

All types of tyres are stocked, including car, van and4x4/SUV tyres and a vast range of brands, from premium pro-ducts, through mid range and budget tyres, so whatever yourcustomers may require, B.I.T.S. has a tyre to fit the bill at a priceto suit all budgets.

The company has a number of exclusive UK agencies forbrands such as Vee Rubber and Roadstone and has investedconsiderable time and effort in establishing these brandsamong UK motorists.

In addition to offering a wide range of products, B.I.T.S.recognises that customers are demanding a high quality of ser-vice, with reliability of supply taken for granted.

Bond International

Bond International has specialised in wholesale tyres for over45 years. Pocklington near York is the location of the HQ andfirst distribution centre, with three other tyre distribution cen-tres located in Stevenage, Redditch and Chepstow. Bond hasgrown and maintained its position as one of the UK’s leadingtyre wholesalers. Last year the company supplied nearly 2.5million tyres to the trade, serviced by its own fleet of more than90 delivery vehicles.

As well as stocking the full range of premium brands suchas Goodyear, Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli, Continental etc BondInternational is the sole UK supplier of several mid-range andbudget brands.

Since 1990 Bond has been the exclusive supplier of Marshaltyres the leading mid-range tyre. The company’s budget andvalue ranges includes, Sailun, Infinity, Jinyu, Rotalla and Admiraland there are key dealer programmes for Marshal and Infinity,offering a range of superb rewards for members.

Bond International has an online ordering system, calledFastrac, which gives customers the option to instantly genera-te printable tyre labels to meet the recently-introduced EU

legislation in this area.

Grouptyre (UK) Ltd

Grouptyre are once againdelighted to have been nominatedin the category of Tyre Wholesalerof the Year.

Grouptyre has been at theforefront of tyre wholesaling inthe UK since its inception in 1995,when the group of like-mindedregional wholesalers came to -gether to form a national pre-sence, offer ing excellent levels of


TAFF AWARDS

service and support to tyre retailersthroughout the UK. Whilst Grouptyre hasevolved over the last few years – it nowconsists of 10 strong regional wholesa-lers - the values of supporting the busi-nesses of retailers still hold true, offeringlevels of service that only a local suppliercan, but with the additional benefits ofbeing part of a large national organisation.

The figures speak for themselves:over one million tyres held in stock at anyone time, 37 strategically located whole-sale locations, 19 customer contact cen-tres and more than 400 delivery vehicleson the road, offering a same day, multipleand rapid response delivery service. Thislevel of service, combined with a highlyskilled team of Business DevelopmentManagers on the ground, offering awealth of experience in the tyre industry,means that tyre retailers can be sure ofexceptional levels of support to helpthem grow their business and competein their local market. Its stable of depen-dable brands covers everything from pre-mium high performance to margin-boost -ing exclusive lines, such as Evergreen,Federal, Goodride and Landsail.

With the tyre industry having experi-enced some difficult trading conditionsover the last couple of years, Grouptyrehas demonstrated commitment and dedi-cation to its customer base, by stayingtrue to its values and providing exceptio-nal levels of service and support.Grouptyre believe that a customer’s suc-cess is crucial to their own and that iswhy they are committed to continuallygiving customers healthy margins basedon quality tyres, plus the proven back upand service of the UK’s leading wholesa-ler.

Micheldever Tyre Services

Micheldever has established a nationalwholesale distribution network of 15locations around the UK, supplying morethan 4,500 independent tyre retailers.This, coupled with the 225-strong fleet ofwholesale delivery vehicles, ensuressuperb product availability, with deliverieson a next day or same day basis.

The Micheldever offering is about

much more than just products - althougha comprehensive range of tyres is availa-ble, from premium brands, through valueand budget tyres – as the company offersits customers support programmesdesigned to enhance business prospectsby generating increased footfall at theirdepots. Micheldever also has a numberof exclusive tyre brands in its portfolio,offering its customers a great opportunityto build their relationships with their cus-tomers.

Micheldever has always workedclose ly with the independent sector andits programmes are designed to supportindependent retailers in an increasingly-competitive marketplace.

Stapleton’s (Tyre Services) Ltd

For many years now, Stapleton’s has pur-sued its ‘working for the customer’ philo-sophy, which has been the driving forcebehind countless innovations and agenuine partnership ethos that permea-tes every facet of an operation constant-ly modified to provide retail customerswith what they’ve asked for. That includesthe ever-evolving ProfitLink online orde-ring system, which has recently beenreinvented to give retailers even moreflex ibility and control over their buyingstrategies. Combined with an augmentedfleet of over 300, delivering up to threetimes daily from 14 locations nationwidefrom a total stock of more than a milliontyres, Stapleton’s has a solid platformfrom which to support, and work in part-nership with, all tyre retailers.

Nevertheless, the company will conti-nue to work tirelessly on further refine-ment: “We’ve been revisiting our ‘work -ing for the customer’ philosophy over thelast year and asking our retailers whatmore we can do to help them competeand succeed. As a result we’re workingharder than ever on their behalf to deve-lop service improvements that benefitevery level of their business from initialorder to sell out. Of course, that sense ofpartnership is its own reward – neverthe-less, we’re very proud indeed to havebeen nominated again for a TAFF award“,says Stapleton’s Managing Director

Yutaka Kimbara. “I’d like to express ourgratitude on behalf of everyone acrossthe Stapleton’s nationwide network forthis nomination. It really is an inspirationto us all.“

Industry Advertising Campaign

As in previous years, this category issponsored by Tyres & Accessories andthe five finalists’ entries have upheld thehigh level of advertising that we haveseen in previous years. Whether trying toappeal to the public or to tyre retailers, atyre is not the most glamorous or excitingproduct, but these five campaigns havecertainly brought out the best in theiradvertising agencies. Added spice forGoodyear Dunlop is that the company’stwo main brands go head-to-head in thiscategory.

Dunlop - 125 Years of Race to RoadTechnology

The objectives of the campaign were tocement the connection betweenDunlop’s motorsport credentials and roadtyres, to leverage Dunlop’s 125 year his-tory and commitment to innovation andto bring the future to life throughDunlop’s latest creations on the track androad. It was a multi-media campaign,encompassing consumer automotive tit-les, tyre trade media, social media andchannel websites.

The campaign took advantage ofDunlop’s enviable track record in motor-sport. In the past 12 months drivers andriders on its tyres have won at champion-ships including the Isle of Man TT, Moto2,Moto3, European Le Mans Series andthe Nurburgring 24 Hour. Its Race toRoad message is at the heart of thebrand and its product development – har-nessing the technology needed to givemotorsport competitors the confidenceto shave tenths of a second from a laptime - to create high and ultra high perfor-mance road tyres.

However it has also shown its future-fit credentials – developing tyres specifi-cally for the first hydrogen fuel cell racecar – GreenGT. Commenting, Andy

We've been supplying tyres to the trade since 1966 and remain the only truly Independent UK Tyre Wholesaler. The constant improvements we make are focused on providing a better service to you. Our experience and unrivalled purchasing power allow us to offer you the most competitive prices on all brands.

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TAFF_advert_T&A_2013_Layout 1 04/07/2013 11:11 Page 1


TAFF AWARDS

Marfleet, Dunlop brand manager says:“Celebrating 125 years at the forefront ofproduct innovation is an incredibleachieve ment, but this year for us is allabout showing we’re just as committedto retaining that position for the next 125.Our new products like the award winningSport BluResponse are showing that wecan deliver more environmentally friendlyproducts that don’t compromise on per-formance.“

Goodyear - Award Wins and EU TyreLabel Success

The campaign maximise awareness ofGoodyear’s triumphs in the Auto ExpressSummer Tyre Awards and Which? BestBuys and to continue to educate custo-mers about the EU Tyre Label and 3-15-50message, leveraging product perfor-mance against EU Label criteria and morecomprehensive independent tests.

Media used in the campaign includedkey industry tyre trade titles (print andonline), consumer and consumer auto-motive (Which? and Auto Express), socialmedia channels and channel websites.

Goodyear made the most of its awardwins over the past year – winning theAuto Express Summer Tyre Award twoyears running with the Eagle F1Asymmetric 2 and EfficientGrip respecti-vely, and then launching the EfficientGripPerformance in March this year with a BAEU-tyre label rating in 21 of the 23 sizesavailable. The Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 andEfficientGrip Performance have also eachclinched a coveted Which? Best Buyaward over the past 12 months.

The brand spread the word throughboth consumer automotive and tyre trademedia and used the award wins tocement its 3-15-50 message around theEU Tyre Label. Commenting, Goodyearbrand manager Michelle Fisher said: “Wehave embraced the Tyre Label from dayone at Goodyear, but we have stayed trueto our performance criteria – stressingthat three attributes alone aren’t suffi-cient for a consumer to absolutely judgewhether a tyre is right for them or not.Magazine and independent tests look atup to 15 and we analyse against more

than 50 criteria when developing a tyre.“All round high performance remains

at the heart of what we do with no com-promise on safety. The GoodyearEfficientGrip Performance is a primaryexample of this commitment – with anexceptional EU label rating of BA, whilealso winning awards for its all round per-formance.“

Infinity Tyres – “Not All Tyres AreCreated Equal“

Infinity Tyres is fast becoming an establis-hed tyre name in the United Kingdom, inlarge part due to its extensive and innova-tive brand marketing. Unlike many othersin the growing ‘economy’ segment of thetyre business, Infinity is committed todeveloping recognition and communica-ting its brand benefits, especially to thediscerning tyre trade members.

In 2013, Infinity is launching a remar-kable 79 dimensions across 5 differentproduct groups and has evolved its brandmessage that ‘Not All Tyres are CreatedEqual’ by associating its superb newrange line-up with iconic images fromacross the continent. In the UK, the newInfinity Ecomax is transposed on theLondon Eye to offer a really eye-catchingvisual. Other markets use carefullyselected national symbols (e.g. L’Arc deTriomphe in France) to highlight thebrand’s commitment to the local tyredealer (rather than creating a campaignthat uses the same standard imageryacross several markets).

Such widespread tyre trade promoti-on is supported by Infinity’s commitmentto individual markets and local tyre asso-ciations and, in the last few months, thebrand has exhibited at Brityrex (UK), PneuExpo (Lyon), Motortec (Madrid) and mostrecently Autopromotec (Bologna). Infinitywas the only tyre brand supporting allthese national trade shows.

To further develop the brand’s identi-ty, a quarterly newsletter is widely distri-buted across the UK and Europe, high-lighting the developments and new part-nerships for Infinity Tyres. Infinity is nowa truly global concern, backed by the AlDobowi Group, with distribution in over

70 countries and this is an exciting way tofeature and enhance the brand’s pro-gress. In addition, a bi-annual ‘InfinityLifestyle’ magazine is also published tohighlight cutting-edge designs and latesttrends from across the globe, thus asso-ciating Infinity with a vibrant andchanging global landscape. Infinity hasnot forgotten more traditional marketingthemes – the successful ‘Infinity Club’run in association with Bond Internationalrewards UK Infinity dealers with a rangeof point of sale material and merchandi-se.

Finally, Infinity is also focussing itsbrand message towards end-usermarket ing through increasing brand asso-ciation within UK sport sponsorship - withmotorsport drifting events and majorhorse racing events currently heavily fea-tured. Timely consumer promotions, suchas the ‘Win a Bentley’ campaign are alsodesign ed to attract discerning drivers tothe Infinity brand and assist Infinitydealers in offering a complete package ofan impressive new range at attractive pri-cing with the backing of a completerange of carefully crafted marketingtools.

Michelin Tyre Plc – Michelin TotalPerformance

Michelin’s advertising in the UK in 2013focussed on the theme of ‘Michelin TotalPerformance’.

This included campaigns on outdoorbillboards, on the Internet and also sub-stantial trade and POS coverage.Distinctive computer animation and ima-ging continues to make the Michelin Manhighly visible and has greatly improvedrecall of Michelin’s messages.

All advertising campaigns highlightMichelin’s Total Performance approach totyre design and inform consumers howthe Company concentrates on innovati-ons that improve tyre longevity and fuelsaving without compromising on safety.

In addition there is an increased focuson showcasing the high performance cre-dentials of Michelin’s tyres through targe-ted media partnerships. These initiativesgo into depth about Michelin’s motor-


TAFF AWARDS

sport achievements at Le Mans and theWRC and highlight the company’s strongR&D approach and OE partnerships.

Furthermore Michelin is the headlinesponsor of the Supercar Paddock andSupercar Run at the Goodwood Festivalof Speed for the second year running.Advertorials with the Telegraph and vario-us automotive magazines have beenused to activate the sponsorship andoffer generous competition prizes.

Michelin’s advertising features strongand clear messages combined with eye-catching graphics. Backed-up with strate-gic media placement, this has resulted ingreater brand recognition with thebrand’s target audiences.

These themes are also evident inMichelin’s extensive social media pre-sence where Facebook and Twitter areused effectively to interact with B2B andB2C customers.

Pirelli Tyres UK – “Engineered toExcite“

Pirelli is the world’s fifth largest tyremanufacturer based on revenues. With apresence in over 160 countries, the com-pany now has 22 tyre manufacturing faci-lities on five continents. Pirelli is a lea-der in the high end and high technolo-gy segments of the tyre market.

For over a century Pirelli has deve-loped as a truly inspirational enterpri-se, deeply rooted in the diverse natio-nal markets. Its competitive strengthis founded on technological andresearch capabilities and the professio-nal skills of its human resources. Pirelliattributes significant priority to the

improvement of per-formance and minimi-sing environmentalimpact.

For several years,Pirelli has been theleading European pro-vider of premium ori-ginal equipment, withmarked tyres develo-ped in partnershipwith the most presti-gious car manufactu-

rers in the world. The Iris campaign withits promise “Engineered to Excite“ com-municates how car drivers benefit fromtyres which are specifically designed toenhance their vehicle’s performancethrough technological partnerships withthe world’s best car manufacturers. Theadvertisement will be rolled out bothonline and in print.

Tyre & Aftermarket EquipmentSupplier of the Year

There are some familiar names in thiscategory, many of whom are winnersfrom previous years. Who will get thebragging rights for 2013?

Apaseal

Apaseal has been supplying a wide varie-ty of tools, consumables and equipmentfor the tyre shop since the mid-1950s andis delighted and proud to be nominatedfor this award once again.

The company’s product portfolio isformidable, from such everyday productsas balance weights and tyre valvesthrough to a range of sophisticated work-shop machinery from Italian manufactu-

rer Corghi, providing the tyre technicianwith state of the art technology in thefields of tyre changing, wheel balancingand alignment.

As well as the staples for day-to-dayrunning of a tyre depot, Apaseal providesa number of products that allow the tyrespecialist to develop additional revenuestreams, such as servicing TPMS forexample.

In addition to a matchless range ofproducts, Apaseal prides itself on thequality of its service, with next day orsame day deliveries and a fleet of mobiletechnical sales representatives on theroad. An online ordering service is alsoavailable and orders can also be placed bytelephone.

The company offers a full training pro-gramme on a variety of topics and offerstechnical back-up to ensure that custo-mers’ businesses are kept runningsmoothly. Apaseal describes its attitudetowards its customers thus: “We have acommitment to develop our service, pro-ducts and technical support to provideeverything you need to promote yourbusiness, keeping it healthy and profitab-le.“ It is an attitude that has served thecompany - and its customers – well forsix decades.

Auto4 Ltd

Auto4 would like to thank the membersof the NTDA for their nomination for theTyre & Aftermarket Equipment Supplierof the Year, NTDA 2013 TAFF Awards.

Jonathan Formon, managing director,Auto4 Limited commented, “Auto4 isvery proud to be nominated. At Auto4 wefocus on getting the basics right and kee-ping them that way. For us it is about con-

sistency of service,quality and availability ofproducts and competiti-veness of pricing. It isabout being honest andopen with our custo-mers and always doingwhat we say we willdo.“

Auto4 has been sup-plying the tyre industry


TAFF AWARDS

for over thirty years, working with some of the largest andsome of the most respected tyre companies in the industry.Auto4 is a company that is easy to do business with, develo-ping flexible supply options including a national field salesteam, a telesales team, an ecommerce website and a be spokeB2B ordering and order management system which is usedand favoured by a number of large UK tyre retailers.

Auto4 supplies an extensive range of tyre related products,including tyre pressure monitoring systems, capital equipment,tyre consumables, tyre repair materials and workshop tools.Increasingly however Auto4 is also supplying more generalautomotive products including fasteners, janitorial items andhealth and safety products. Auto4 is truly becoming a one stopshop for many of its customers.

Over the last few years Auto4 has introduced many new ini-tiatives, including its reward programme, equipment buy backand part exchange schemes and the B2B order managementsystem, amongst many others. What hasn’t changed howeveris our desire to constantly improve our business and marketproposition and create lasting value for our customers. So ifyour organisation wants to benefit from the very real competi-tive advantage that comes from work ing with a dynamic part-ner then please get in touch with us.

The company thanked members of the NTDA for their nomi-nation, “but most importantly thank you to our customers fortheir ongoing loyalty and support and our dedicated Auto4 teamwho make it all possible.”

Autogem Motor Concepts LLP

“We are delighted to be nominated for this award for the thirdconsecutive year. 2013 has been an exciting year for Autogemwith the launch of i-sensor, our universal TPMS solution, ournew consumab-les catalogue anda heavily revisedwebsite witheven more TPMS videos and trainingmaterial. TPMS continues to be an area ofgrowth with many more tyre dealers nowrecognising the revenue opportunities & ourlatest developments in product, training and sup-port not only offer a cost effective, comprehensi-ve introduction to this area, but also offer an unri-valled after sales experience.

“Our wide range of workshop, tyre, exhaustconsumables and training programmes have penetra-ted deeper across various sectors of our industry and we haverecently added another vehicle manufacturer to our prestigiouscustomer stable. To support our increased efforts and moredemand for our products and services, we have added to ourenthusiastic team with key appointments including a new busi-ness manager and field sales manager.

“We would like to thank those who nominated us and can

assure we have many more innovative developments and pro-ducts in the pipeline for the remainder of the year,” companyrepresentatives said following news of the nomination. Theyalso invited readers to follow Autogem on twitter@Autogem_UK.

Harvie Tyres Ltd

The nomination awarded to Harvie Tyre for the NTDA - Tyre &Aftermarket Equipment Supplier of the Year award is beingreceived as “a great achievement” that represents a milestonein Harvie Tyre’s desire to become a regular contender amongstthe UK’s leading garage equipment and consumable suppliers.

Stuart John, UK sales director, stated, “Harvie are delightedto be nominated by the NTDA in this particular category for thepast five years. We acknowledge the nomination as an indicati-on that our commitment towards first class support and serviceto independent companies across the UK continues to berecognised by this important customer segment. We continueto work closely with customers, focusing on their needs anddeliver ing a diverse product range with a direct service tailoredto all of their requirements“. Stuart also expressed the compa-ny’s firm ambition to further expand market share of capitalequipment in the UK during the course of 2013, pointing to thefantastic impact already generated by introduction of theMondolfo Ferro range of workshop equipment.

“Harvie Tyre is working tirelessly to provide you with the bigbrands at quality prices. Its long-standing association withPrema also continues at the forefront of its range of tyre repairmaterials. The comprehensive range is supported by an excel-lent portfolio of premium and economy balance weights, valvesand valve hardware, lubricants, chemicals, tools, air-line acces-

sories and inflation systems, workshop tools and capi-tal equipment.

“Our friendly and efficient service opera-tes from our head office in Lytham St

Annes. The knowledgeable Harviesales team are ably supported byindustry experts who drive a fleet ofvans fully equipped with a range ofproducts to meet all of your service

requirements.”

Rema Tip Top Automotive UK Ltd

Rema Tip Top Automotive UK Limited were delightedto be among the nominees for the NTDA Tyre and Fast Fit

(TAFF) Awards 2013. The company has built on a successfulyear in 2012, which culminated in the Brityrex show inManchester.

“The innovations and product launches which formed a keyaspect and backdrop to the last twelve months have providedand forged many of the new business links and relationshipsthat continue to grow a year on.

Autogem hopes its i-sen-sor TPMS technology willwin it votes


TAFF AWARDS

“The inclusion of Rema Tip Top as a nominee for the TAFFawards demon strates what can be achieved by a team that iscommitted to provide an unparalleled service to its customerswhilst continuing to innovate and develop products that com-plement and enhance an impressive portfolio of workshopequipment and tyre maintenance consumables.

“In the early part of 2013 the New Rema Tip Top Automotivecatalogue was fresh off the press and immediately provided aclear illustration of where the company is heading in terms ofits diversity of product, environmental product design and strictquality standards.

“TPMS Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems represent justone area that takes elevated prominence. Rema Tip Top hasestablish ed itself at the forefront in the provision of this techno-logy with its ability to offer the most comprehensive, economi-cal and environmentally friendly solutions for its customers.One of the main components of this range includes the new‘Sensor Intelligent Technology’ TPMS program from Alligator.The new sens.it TPMS sensor provides a complete solution forthe replacement of OE TPMS sensors for both small and largetyre shop chains.

“Supported by the Profiler II diagnostic kit and a range ofOEM valves on request, Rema Tip Top really do have everyangle covered.”

Environment Award

There are three of last year’s finalists in the 2013 short list;Murfitts industries, Sapphire Energy Recovery and Vellco TyreControl. These are joined by retreader Kingpin and tyre manu-facturer Dunlop.

Dunlop

2013 is a very important year for Dunlop with an anniversarycelebrating 125 years of wins, innovations and records, butalso marking the beginnings of a reshaped future of motor-sport power. Dunlop is a GreenGT partner and is developingtyres for the GreenGT H2, the world’s first hydrogen fuel cellLe Mans prototype

The car, which features electric powertrain technology,completed its initial tests on racing tyres inspired by the latestDunlop Sport BluResponse tyres. Dunlop’s involvement withthe programme initiated the design of specific race tyres forenhancing the performance and handling of electric cars,enabling them to drive further with less energy consumedwhilst maximising the grip and performance.

Electric cars present challenges for tyre designers; to hand-le the extra weight of the vehicle, the load capacity of the tyreneeds to increase and the drive for energy efficiency means thetyre design includes two features to lower rolling resistance:

• A low heat generation bottom compound improvesmolecular cohesion to reduce heat build-up thanks to lessfriction.

• The optimised shape and construction of the tyre pro-vides ncreased longitudinal stiffness, limit the deformation ofthe tyre carcass and reduce tyre weight, which in turn impro-ves rolling resistance performance.

After the initial testing, a new generation of Dunlop SportBluResponse race tyres will be developed with a focus on thetorque vectoring properties and implications of electric power-train technology for cars such as the the GreenGT H2.

The hydrogen fuel cell holds potential in powering futuremotorsport and road cars. In order to maximise the grip andenergy efficiency of the car, Dunlop are working hand in handwith designers of the new generation vehicles to create newtyre products that work efficiently too. Rolling resistance,where the energy is lost when the tyre is rolling, is where atyre manufacturer can make a big difference to a project suchas GreenGT. The car designers can make huge improvementsto efficiency for the chassis and powertrain but all the energy istransmitted through the tyres so it is important that the tyrescontinue the energy efficient processes.

Vellco


TAFF AWARDS

Kingpin Tyres Ltd

With 40 years’ experience Kingpin Tyresis the only UK passenger tyre retreader.The company manufactures a compre-hensive range of high quality retreads;Car, Van, 4 x 4 and Commercial Van andhas recently introduced Run Flat tyresinto the product range. Kingpin alsooffers a used tyre collection service,along with the supply of EquestrianRubber and Rubber crumb, produced onsite through the company’s shreddingplant.

Kingpin understands the needs of thefast moving tyre market and has recentlyinvested in ‘state of the art’ machinery inits factory at Wem. The strength ofKingpin lies in environmental success,offering a 100 per cent recycling service,and of course, British made. Safety andquality are the priority and all Kingpin’sretreads are manufactured to a strictEuropean standard (ECE 108 for cars andECE 109 for Commercial vehicles) andundergo the same stringent drum testingregime as new tyres; in line with this thecompany works to ISO:9001.

Murfitts Industries Ltd

Murfitts Industries Limited is an innovati-ve British company leading the way in themanufacture of high quality rubber granu-les from post consumer tyres. The pro-ducts, which are exported globally, areused in a huge variety of applications ran-ging from sports surfaces to carpetunderlay. Murfitts Industries have achie-ved a 100 per cent recycling method forall the components in the tyres it usesand the company believes it is currentlythe only company in the world who canmake this claim.

The company was formed in late 2001as the intended implementation of theEC Landfill Directive and the End of LifeVehicle Directive meant that some450,000 tonnes of tyres a year needed tofind a home. Landfill was not an option.

The desire to give some form of envi-ronmental benefit coupled with thesenew legislative drivers opened up theopportunity for Murfitts Industries to

enter the tyre recycling field. Two years researching available tech-

nologies world wide resulted in a bespo-ke built plant, giving the versatility to pro-duce a range of products from all types oftyres. Murfitts Industries can now recycle100 per cent of all the elements whichform part of that tyre including the rub-ber, steel and fibre.

Murfitts Industries recycle 11 milliontyres a year and work with many compa-nies and sports associations around theworld. It is also trusted by its tyre supply-ing clients to process their industry by-product with the least impact possible tothe environment, so helping them fulfiltheir own Corporate SocialResponsibilities.

Sapphire Energy Recovery

Sapphire Energy Recovery is delighted tobe nominated once again in theEnvironment category of the TAFFAwards.

Sapphire’s waste disposal solutionsnot only give the producers of waste acost-effective answer to their waste dis-posal problem, but they are environmen-tally sustainable and allow the cementproduction industry to reduce its CO2emissions.

The company offers an alternative tolandfill and other disposal routes for theproducer of the waste and at the sametime provides cement producers with analternative fuel source – not only doesthe process facilitate the safe and effi-cient disposal of waste tyres, but, as analternative source of energy, it reducesthe industry’s dependence on, and con-sumption of, fossil fuels.

Vellco Tyre Control

Once again, Vellco Limited is absolutelydelighted to have been nominated (forthe ninth time), in the EnvironmentalCategory of the NTDA TAFF Awards.

Vellco has actually won this award onfour separate occasions, the last timebeing 2011 and it goes without sayingthat it is the hard work which is carriedout by the dedicated Vellco team from all

aspects of the Company’s activities,which lies at the heart of this success.

Over the last few years Vellco hasbeen very pro-active in promoting “car-bon-neutrality“ throughout all of the com-pany’s operations, and has actually achie-ved “negative“ carbon status for both2011 and 2012 years, with an expectationthat this will also be achieved in 2013.

Vellco is also very proud to have hadits Environmental Accreditation Standard14001 independently renewed, onceagain, at the beginning of 2013. This flag-ship environmental standard, along withFull Membership of the Tyre RecoveryAssociation (TRA), and its ResponsibleRecycler Scheme, further assures its cus-tomers of a completely transparent, audi-table, and environmental recycling pro-cess for all waste collections.

During 2013, Vellco has also beeninvesting in purchasing state-of-the-art“Euro 5“ specification articulated truckunits, as well as more than a dozen newspecification high cube trailers which areall currently utilised on several logisticscontract activities.

Tyres – from car to earthmover - areonly part of Vellco’s environmental pictu-re, as the Group manages AutomotiveWaste on behalf of many of its custo-mers including Oil, Oil Filters, Antifreeze,Metal Waste, Catalytic Converters,Confidential Paper and General Dry TradeWaste. These are some of the reasonswhich have helped Vellco win the TAFFAwards Environmental Category in thepast.

John Campbell, business develop-ment director for the Vellco Group com-mented, “I am very proud and pleasedthat we have been nominated once againfor this prestigious TAFF EnvironmentalAward. This nomination vindicates ourcontinuing persistence on maintainingprofessional, environmental and qualityprocesses with all our customers.“

[email protected]

Infinity Tyres.Bred to be better.There are tyres. Then there are Infinity tyres. Designed specificallyto meet the demands of your customer’s lives. Their unfailingsafety, dependability and performance ensures that they are the natural choice for every motoring situation.

www.infinity-tyres.com

Not all tyres arecreated equal.

Infintity tyres are available throughour authorised UK distributor,

Bond International

Please call 0844 8440112

A


MOTORSPORT

Anyone predicting that Formula One’styre supplier Pirelli could settle in for aquieter end to the 2013 season had arude awakening at the British grand prix.Three rear left tyre deflations in the first15 laps decidedly different in characterfrom the delaminations seen earlier in theseason led to a lengthy safety car period.During these laps race marshals rushedto clear debris from all around the track,while FIA race director Charlie Whitingwas reportedly on the verge of red-flag-ging the race on safety grounds. But therace continued to a highly compelling

conclusion for a passionate race daycrowd of 120,000 (the third-highest of alltime) after Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel roll-ed to a standstill on the home straight, anevent that lifted the spirits of a partisanhome crowd. They were denied a Britishvictory, though home favourite Merced-es’ Lewis Hamilton produced a season’s-best drive to claim fourth following hisearly tyre failure from first. Mark Webberalso pushed the victorious Nico Rosbergclose in the final stages, marking an aptlast British grand prix for the popular,perennial nearly-man. The fans surroun-

ding Tyres & Accessories near the homestraight, who had been more than mur-muring their discontent at Pirelli followingthe early tyre deflations, raised their voi-ces to a crescendo as Hamilton andWebber improvised a tyre strategy toallow them to work their way through thegrid.

The tyre deflations started by LewisHamilton’s Mercedes on lap eight alsoincluded Ferrari’s Felipe Massa on lap 10,Toro Rosso’s Jean-Éric Vergne on lap 14,McLaren’s Sergio Pérez on lap 46, all ofwhom lost their rear-left, and Sauber’s

Tyre failures return in dramatic Britishgrand prix

Following concerns for the safety of the drivers at Silverstone, couldPirelli get backing for its preferred solution to 2013 tyre difficulties?

The Wing, Silverstone’s hospitalityarea on the pit straight


MOTORSPORT

Esteban Gutiérrez on lap 49. It was alsoconfirmed that third-placed FernandoAlonso had deflation problems, and atleast two other cars pitted with tyres onthe verge of failure. Hembery said:“There have obviously been some issueswith rear-left tyre failures which we havenot seen before. We are taking the situa-tion very seriously and we are currentlyinvestigating all tyres to determine thecause as soon as possible, ahead of thenext grand prix in Germany.”

Pirelli’s investigation comes ahead ofa pre-planned FIA working group meetingon Wednesday. Suggested causes inclu-de kerbing at Silverstone’s turn four,which is placed just before the site ofsome of the tyre failures, but PirelliMotorsport director Paul Hembery resist-ed defining this as a contributing factor.The subject of the FIA meeting, just twodays before Formula One will meet againat the Nürburgring for the German grandprix, will now turn pronouncedly towardstyre safety, and what can be done to insu-re against a repeat of this weekend.

Hembery’s post-race statement cont-inued: “At the moment, we can’t reallysay much more until we have fully inves-tigated and analysed all of these inci-dents, which is our top priority. However,we can exclude that the new bondingprocess, which we introduced at thisrace, is at cause for the tyre failures wehave seen today. There might be someaspect to this circuit that impacts specifi-cally on the latest version of our 2013specification tyres but at this point we donot want to speculate but will now puttogether all the evidence to find out whathappened and then take appropriate nextsteps should these be required.”

Pirelli introduced the new bondingprocess in the manufacture of its P ZeroFormula One tyres for the British grandprix. This followed the abortive attempt toachieve consensus agreement amongstthe teams to alter the specification of therear tyres to replace 2013’s fully radialsteel belt with a Kevlar belt closer to the2012 part-cross ply specification P Zeros.As Hembery explained above, Pirelli hasruled out this new bonding process as acause of the Silverstone tyre failures –

indeed some commentators, such as theBBC’s chief F1 writer Andrew Benson,have suggested that the way the tyresfailed showed that this had worked, in asmuch as the tyre deflated rather than lostits tread.

Pending the outcome of Pirelli’s in-vestigations into what the causes were, itseems likely that the responsibility lies ina combination of: the low pressures initi-ally utilised by teams at Silverstone to tryto increase durability; the higher runningtemperatures of the steel-belt radial tyresover its 2012 counterparts; the internalshockwaves caused by drivers runningtheir rear-left tyres over rough concreteon some of Silverstone’s corners, such asthe exit of Becketts; and the sharp kerb atthe Aintree corner, which looks likely tohave come into contact with tyre side-walls immediately before their failure.

What now for Pirelli’s F1 tyres?While Pirelli will bear the brunt of cri-

ticism for the tyre problems during theBritish grand prix in theshort term, there is a sig-nificant opportunity nowfor the company to forgea new, clear path for F1tyre development, whilecontinuing to engage fol-lowers of the sport inexplaining the technologythat goes into its highestperforming products.

In the immediate futu-re, the exclusive tyre sup-plier appears to have amandate to end the will-they/won’t-they saga ofthe month and a halfsince the Spanish grandprix, as the three teamswho opposed changing the tyre specifica-tion – Ferrari, Lotus and Force India –have climbed down from their previousposition citing increased driver safetyconcerns. Red Bull has supported achange in the tyres since Barcelona, andits technical chief Adrian Newey sugges-ted to motorsport magazine Autosport’sJonathan Noble that some F1 teams hadbeen “short-sighted” in their opposition.The three teams were concerned that the

apparent advantage they had over otherteams in their ability to run the tyresmore reliably would be voided by alteredtyre specifications.

The roots of this are also found inPirelli’s macro-strategy for tyre specifica-tions this year: it wanted to provide softertyres to give the teams more optionsduring races in line with F1’s desire forthe spectacle of more overtaking.Arguably the most successful aspect ofPirelli’s tenure as F1’s exclusive tyre sup-plier has been its ability to move with theseries’ new focus on the spectators’experience while making tyre strategyaccessible and interesting to F1’s manyfollowers. Pirelli has had its critics overthe past two and a half seasons, but thecoverage it has received from the BBCand latterly Sky Sports in the UK hasbeen the envy of the industry. BBC chiefF1 analyst Eddie Jordan told Pirelli’sguests at Silverstone as much when hepraised what the tyre supplier had done

for the sport in the face of complaintsfrom drivers, whom he suggested werepushing their own agendas when theycriticised.

Having said this, it could be arguedthat Pirelli acted with similar hubris to thenay-saying teams when it came to thediscussions about changing the tyre specification post-Spain. The manufactu-rer was at pains to insist throughout thediscussions that any change to tyre spe-

Pirelli technicians prepare the original 2013 specification P ZeroF1 tyres at the start of the weekend for the final time


MOTORSPORT

cification was linked to delamination, andwas therefore not a safety issue. Due toFIA regulations, the only way to impose atyre change on F1 teams without theirconsent is on the grounds of safety. Interms of public relations, publically sayingthat its tyres were unsafe and needed tobe changed was clearly unattractive. Butthen, what manufacturer of a safety criti-cal product would ever want to do this inpublic? And wasn’t Pirelli’s position – thatdelaminating tyres didn’t pose a threat todrivers’ safety – factually accurate?

The extensive politicking apparentlynecessary for a tyre supplier to alter theconstruction of its tyres could indicatethat the FIA’s regulations governing tyrespecifications need some revision.Nobody wants to see teams’ hard workto make their cars work best with thetyres they have undermined. However, ifthe tyre supplier is under pressure toachieve finely balanced performance cha-racteristics with limited testing opportuni-ties, it only seems fair to allow more wig-gle room on both in-season testing andalterations.

Pirelli’s previous attempt to getaround the regulations was the Barcelonatest with Mercedes, for which both par-ties received an FIA rebuke following atribunal (see textbox).

Lewis Hamilton, who lost a goodchance to win his home grand prix, toldthe BBC after the race: “we had that tyretest to develop and improve the tyres andstop this from happening, and after thattyre test they didn’t do anything about it.”Of course, Hamilton has an axe to grind

too – with more durable tyres hisMercedes team would at least match theleading Red Bull team for pace on the evi-dence of qualifying performances.Without the regulations making in-sea-son testing – and in-season specificationchanges – more feasible, the tyre sup-plier will be forced into more compromi-ses by the plots and sub-plots of F1 poli-tics.

Ecclestone approves tyre tests, rubbishes possible driver boycott

Bernie Ecclestone has given Pirelli thego-ahead for two three-day tyre testsduring the 2013 season with a current F1car – little over a week since an internatio-nal tribunal reprimanded the tyre manu-facturer and the Mercedes team for theway in which they conducted a previous1,000km test. While the news followsthe number of deflations that occurred atthe British grand prix on the Sunday, theFormula One boss revealed the changeswere made as a result of a meeting heldon the Saturday between FIA presidentJean Todt, Pirelli Motorsport director PaulHembery and Ecclestone himself.Ecclestone also stated his opinion on talkof a driver boycott of the German grandprix if nothing is done to solve the tyreproblems at Silverstone: "I don't thinkthat will happen. I don't think it's some-thing we need to address," he told theBBC.

Speaking to Autosport, Hembery toldof the improved relationship between theFIA and Pirelli since the tribunal, at which

the tyre manufacturer had previouslyreserved the right to legal action againstthe motorsport governing body pendingits verdict. This included opening up thepossibilities for in-season tyre testingwith 2013 teams and cars, at least in theshort term, and discussing the possibili-ties for an end of season trial run for 2014development tyres in Brazil. The prioritywas to ensure no repeat of the scenes atSilverstone – an outcome the FIA waswilling to bend its tyre regulations toachieve.

On 2 July Pirelli announced that it willrevert to its 2012 construction P ZeroFormula One tyres in time for theHungarian grand prix. For the upcomingweekend’s German grand prix only it saidit would provide teams with rear tyresconstructed with Kevlar belts. Pirelli saidthe aim of this is to reduce the tyres’ sus-ceptibility to cuts, while Kevlar has theadvantage of reducing the working tem-perature of tyres by around 10 degreesCentigrade. The concern remains that thismay alter the competitiveness of someteams’ cars, but the concerns that redu-ced damage resistance and the steel beltconstruction tyres’ hotter running temper-atures were two of the factors leading tothe high profile tyre failures witnessed atSilverstone made the case for their intro-duction too difficult to resist.

In another major regulation change,the FIA announced it would allow F1teams’ current race drivers to participatein the young driver tests back atSilverstone on 17-19 July. They will beallowed only to work on tyre develop-ment, and will not be allowed to assesscar improvements, according to the FIA.In return for these regulation changes,the FIA sought assurances from Pirellithat there would be no repeat of thescenes at Silverstone. While these regu-lation changes are pending the WorldMotor Sport Council’s agreement tochange the rules at the time of going topress, it is thought that no issues will beraised with the FIA’s solution.

[email protected]

The Force India team backed downfrom its block on Pirelli’s proposedintroduction of different specificationtyres for 2013 following the action atSilverstone


MOTORSPORT

Nico Rosberg’s 2013 Mercedes wasused during the controversial Pirellityre test after the Spanish grand prix

Mercedes, Pirelli reprimanded over Spain tyre test

MERCEDES AND PIRELLI HAVE BEEN

REPRIMANDED for their roles in the con-troversial tyre test in Barcelona, whichfollowed the pit stop-heavy action of theSpanish grand prix. BBC chief F1 writerAndrew Benson reports that the FIAfound Mercedes to be in breach ofFormula One rules and subsequentlybanned the team from taking part in thisyear’s young driver test at Silverstoneon 17-19 July. The BBC, Autosport.comand other sources report that the FIA,Mercedes and Pirelli will share equallythe costs of the investigation.

The tribunal’s verdict that Mercedesacted outside article 22.4 of F1’s regula-tions by running an illegal in-season testwith a current car was mitigated byseveral factors. The FIA found that:Pirelli and Mercedes did not act in badfaith or intend to gain an “unfair sportingadvantage” during the test; the “essen-ce of what they intended to do in relati-on to the test” had been disclosed tothe FIA, while Mercedes “had no rea-son to believe that approval had notbeen given”; and FIA race directorCharlie Whiting’s indication toMercedes that testing with its 2013 carwas permissible had been “taken ingood faith”.

The young driver test ban makessense for several reasons, and Auto-

sport.com reports that Mercedes' legalrepresentative Paul Harris suggestedduring his statement that the reprimandand ban would be an appropriatepunishment in the event that Mercedeswas found guilty of contravening regula-tions. The young driver test gives F1teams full control over data gleanedfrom the event, therefore one can seethe logic in denying Mercedes that in-season access in 2013 given the tribu-nal’s verdict. It is also convenient, as itcomes under the FIA’s jurisdiction and isconsiderably less high profile than anygrand prix-based penalty for examplewould have been.

During the tribunal, Pirelli counselDominique Dumas contended that thetyre manufacturer could not be subjectto the FIA’s jurisdiction as it is a supplier,though the FIA responded that Pirelli’scontract binds the tyre supplier byFormula One regulations.

Meanwhile Mercedes, which as anF1 team certainly is subject to the FIA’sauthority, contended that it could nothave broken any rules since the testwas conducted by Pirelli. The test utili-sed the current 2013 Mercedes car andthe team’s two current drivers wearingunmarked helmets. It appears thatwhile the use of the car and drivers ispermitted by F1 regulations as long as

Pirelli conducted the test, the regulationallowing for this eventuality is also sub-ject to other teams being invited to par-ticipate.

During the hearing it was revealedthat two Mercedes representatives –team principal Ross Brawn and sportingdirector Ron Meadows – had asked FIArace director Charlie Whiting about thepermissibility of using the 2013 car on 2May before the test took place. FIAcounsel Mark Howard acknowledgedthat Whiting told Brawn that the FIAcould allow Pirelli to conduct a testusing Mercedes’ 2013 car on the provi-so that Pirelli could demonstrate that ithad invited all other teams to participa-te, adding that the FIA’s position wasnot binding. But he added that it was"very odd” that “Mercedes and Pirelliwent ahead without getting back to MrWhiting and making clear precisely ulti-mately what they were intending to do."

It is ultimately Howard’s contentionthat “Without the knowledge, consentand participation of other competitors,Mercedes and Pirelli may have engagedin activity that was prejudicial to thecompetition." akb


MOTORSPORTMOTORSPORT

The sun soaked 37¾ mile track hostedthe Superbike race, raced on Dunlop’sKR106 and KR108 slicks. The class hadchanges of lead, penalties for a pit lanespeed violation and a new outright laprecord. Following six laps the Dunloptyres showed their quality with a cleansweep of the podium places. The race,which was the 30th anniversary of JoeyDunlop¹s first win, also saw his nephew,Michael Dunlop start his domination ofthe week.

The newly-launched road legal DunlopD212 GP Pro tyres took to the track in theSupersport and Superstock classes andcontinued Dunlop tyres' winning streak,winning both races and taking five out ofthe six podium places available. MichaelDunlop took the tyres to the next level asthey helped him push corner after corner,straight after straight on his way to twovictories in one day and setting a classlap record with a heart racing speed of131.220mph.

Michael Dunlop’s achievements atthe 2013 TT comprised four race wins.Despite being one of the youngestever winners of the TT, he now hasseven TT wins behind him at only 24.

Mark Sears, Dunlop Motorcycleproduct support manager, said: “TheIsle of Man is one of the greatestspectacles in the motorcycle racingcalendar and we are proud to be theofficial tyre sponsor once again.Dunlop tyres have had a fantastic TTonce again taking our 26th win in thelast six years, a phenomenal record.

“This is the perfect place to comeand show what our tyres can do, thisis not circuit racing, there is no gravel

trap or run offs, you have houses andwalls surrounding you. This means thatthe tyres need to stick a rider to the roadand provide them with the confidence topush their bike and wits to the limit. Wewill now go back and continue to developour tyres for the 2014 TT and continue totransfer our race proven technology intoour road going tyres. This week has beenthe perfect celebration for our 125th anni-versary year and our addiction to thisadrenaline fuelled road racing capitalnever seems to fade.”

The climax of the 2013 Isle of Man TTon Friday brought more success after anexceptional event for Dunlop, but endedwith international concern for 10 specta-tors injured on the route after a rider crashed out. Dunlop says the latest newsfrom the organisers was that none of theinjuries was life threatening. The accident

took the shine off what was an historic20th win for John McGuinness when heclinched the Senior TT race. The Senior TThas been won consecutively by Dunloptyres since 2004.

Avon Tyres ‘sweeps’ Isle of Man TTsidecar races

The Isle of Man TT Sidecar events sawmore than 40 competitors using Avontyres, as Tim Reeves and Dan Sayle tookvictory in the first and Ben and TomBirchall claimed an emotional maiden TTwin in the second on the brand’s pro-ducts. Conrad Harrison and Mike Aylottfinished second in race one and third inrace two while pre-race favourite DaveMolyneux had a frustrating TT by his standards, unable to add to his 16 TTwins and finishing third and second

Dunlop-shod riders successful again at Isle of Man TTCompeting in its 125th anniversary year, Dunlop tyres had another successful week at the Isle ofMan TT. 14 out of 15 podium places used its tyres and three lap records were set in the Superbike,Supersport and Superstock classes respectively. Meanwhile Avon Tyres supported riders hadgreat success in the sidecar races, while Metzeler supported British Superbike competitor JoshBrookes’ maiden run at the event, and provided a fitting bookend to the week, sponsoring boththe Metzeler Ultimate Party and the Post TT Races.

Dave Molyneux and passenger PatrickFarrance finished third and second in thetwo sidecar class races


MOTORSPORT

respectively in the two races, with pas-senger Patrick Farrance.

Having taken their LCR outfit to glory,Ben Birchall said, “We could get used tothis feeling! What a team we had behindus and that includes Avon Tyres. To behonest the tyres were faultless anddespite the very hot conditions they wereas good on the last lap as on the first.

“We were close in the first race andwere leading, so you never know if you’reever going to win a TT but now we have.We just chipped away during the race andwe found it hard to be leading the race. Tobe honest, we would rather chase andpush than lead. We did have a few hairymoments on lap two, but I knew on thelast lap we had a good lead as we hadcaught up to Dave Molyneux, and wedidn’t need to pass him as we were wellup on time.”

Steve Smith, Motorcycle sales manager for Avon Tyres Motorsport, saidof the event: “It really capped a fantasticIsle of Man TT for us, which was blessedwith superb weather during race weekand the racing was excellent, too! Avon

Tyres wish to congratulate Tim, Dan, Benand Tom for their victories and to all thosethat finished the sidecar races.”

Avon has a long history in motorcycleracing on two and three wheels. Its firstmotorcycle tyre was manufactured in1911 and since then champions such asGeoff Duke, John Surtees, MikeHailwood and Barry Sheene have won on

Avon. More recently, Avon riders havewon 13 Supersport and four Productionclass championships, as well as Isle ofMan TT victories on both three and twowheels. 20-time winner JohnMcGuinness will fit Avons to his 500ccPaton machine in this year’s Classic TTevent in late August.

Metzeler-sponsored Brookes generates Superbike buzz

Following the buzz generated by BritishSuperbikes rider Josh Brookes’ involve-ment, setting the fastest lap(127.726mph) for a newcomer in theSuperbike TT, the Australian joinedMetzeler at the Villa Marina in Douglas,where the bike tyre manufacturer hostedmore than 1,000 TT fans during theMetzeler Ultimate Party. Three hundredfans also enjoyed high quality camping infully equipped tents and facilities at theMetzeler Village within the NationalSports Centre. Four top Metzeler racestars entertained the crowd beforerenowned AC/DC tribute act DC/AC tookover.

Brookes was joined on stage by GaryJohnson, James Hillier and DeanHarrison. Brookes summed up his wholeTT experience: “The first word thatcomes to mind is extreme; the track, thespeeds, the closeness of everything, thefans. If I’m honest the first few days ofpractice were more scary than rewardingbut then as I came to learn the course abit more it was so rewarding and I couldride in a more calculated way.

With the spectators so close you feelalmost like you are in a stadium than arace track, the fans also get to see yourlines and see what you’re doing with thebike much more, so they really feel theexperience. You can definitely feel thefans presence whilst you’re riding andthat’s something unique for both racerand the guys in the hedges.

The Metzeler party was great, I guessthere is a lot of fans who love rock musicat the TT and hopefully we mixed it upwith our racing stories also, so what agreat event!”

Metzeler UK marketing manager JimWorland commented; “What a fantasticway to celebrate our 150th anniversary,with what our riders have done on thetrack, the Metzeler Village and to cap it allof the Ultimate Party. What a fantasticatmosphere on track, in the tented villageand of course at the Villa Marina, all help-ed by the stunning weather. A big thanksto all the riders and fans who’ve madethis such a memorable experience.”

Rounding out Metzeler’s activitieswere the Post TT Races at the Billownroad course near Castletown, of whichthe brand was the title sponsor. Metzelersays its supported rider Dean Harrisonwas unlucky not to win two of the mainraces, in the Southern 100 organisedevent, which was devised originally bythe Steam Packet ferry company to stag-ger race fan departures. He was victorio-us in the mixed Supertwin/250/Singlesclass but had to pull out of the main eventSupersport 600 race whilst leading. akb

Metzeler supported rider Dean Harrison leads at theBillown road course

Josh Brookes greets fans during the MetzelerUltimate Party at Douglas’ Villa Marina

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According to figures published by EUROBAT, the Brussels-based association representing the European automotive andindustrial battery industry, the automotive battery market in theEU27 region amounted to 62.7 million units in 2012, some 3.8per cent less than during the prior year. Original equipment sup-ply accounted for 17.8 million units, and from the remaining44.9 million, 40.7 million were car and light commercial vehiclebatteries and 4.2 million heavy commercial vehicle batteries.EUROBAT projects that total volumes will increase to 66.9 mil-lion units by 2016, with original equipment sales accounting fora large portion of this additional growth.

In its 2012 annual report, EUROBAT noted that its membercompanies, whose operations stretch across the European,Middle East and African (EMEA) region, have “continued toexpand geographically, with increase sales of automotive andindustrial batteries outside of Europe helping to offset slower

growth in traditional markets.” It also reported that Europeanbattery manufacturers have sustained their investment into theoptimisation of advanced battery technologies for new marketareas, including electro-mobility.

Although OEM automotive battery sales have beenimpacted by lower new vehicle registrations, EUROBAT indica-tes that start-stop systems have nevertheless continued togrow in popularity amongst European OEMs. This trend hasalso been noted by Johnson Controls Power Solutions EMEA;it estimates that 70 per cent of all new vehicles produced in ourregion in 2015 will be fitted with start-stop technology. TheOEM supply of start-stop batteries, along with lithium-ion bat-teries, will steadily rise at the cost of conventional automotivebatteries.

Battery makers await EV commercialisation

While start-stop technology will dominate in the nextfew years, the market for electric vehicle batteries isalso growing steadily. During 2012, sales of electrichybrid and full electric hybrid vehicles rose in somemarkets, with Polk and GiPA figures (published byEUROBAT’s Automotive Battery Committee in June2013) putting the number of hybrid electric vehicles inoperation in Europe at 335,611 units and full electricvehicles at 18,652. By 2016, the number of hybrids onthe road is expected to grow to 579,509 and full elect-ric vehicles to 95,195 units. “While not yet the break-through moment hoped for, policy makers and indus-try representatives have continued to strengthen theregulatory framework that will facilitate their eventualdeep commercialisation,” commented EUROBAT in itsannual report.

The European Commission was active in thisregard last year. In July, it proposed a mandatory tar-get that would cut average emissions from new carsto 95 grammes of CO2 per kilometre in 2020, a 27 percent decrease on the 2015 mandatory target of 130grammes per kilometre and 30 per cent below the

Environmental targets offering battery manufacturersgrowth opportunities

European market estimated at 62.4M units in 2013The economic climate for traditional industry and the automotive sector remains uncertain within ourregion. Last year, demand for new cars in Europe reached the lowest level recorded since 1995, withnew vehicle registrations declining 8.2 per cent compared with 2011. Battery manufacturers are there-fore placing hope in two areas – expansion in new markets and in technologies that are being pushedto the forefront by European political commitments to reduce carbon emissions.

European emissions reduction policy is driving the uptake of new battery technology


2011 average level of 135.7 grammes per kilometre. This wasfollowed in September by a refocus of the EuropeanCommission’s e-Mobility Research and Innovation policy awayfrom “institutional silo thinking”; and most recently, in early2013, by the setting of minimum requirements for the numberof electric vehicle charging points to be installed in eachMember State by 2020. By this date, the EuropeanCommission anticipates sales of full electric and plug-in hybridelectric vehicles to account for around seven per cent of thetotal; to cope with this number of vehicles, the Commissionhas proposed a minimum of 8 million electric vehicle chargingpoints across Europe by 2020, including 800,000 public char-ging points. Proposed figures for the UK are 1.22 million char-

ging points, ten per cent of which should be public chargingpoints. Total Europe-wide investment cost has been estimatedto be €8 billion, and an investment of €1.2 billion will be neededto set up the UK charging point network outlined above.

Technology for electro-mobility

Battery technology for electric mobility has evolved tremen-dously over the last decade via the introduction of lithium-based batteries, which complement lead-based, nickel-basedand sodium-based technologies. These technologies are allexpected to continue to have a significant impact on electro-mobility as they may give cost and/or performance advantages

for specific applications, for example asstart-stop and hybrid solutions.

A broad range of different electrochemi-cal battery technologies exist, howeverthese four technologies are consideredthose that can effectively contribute to theefficient and sustainable use of electricalenergy storage: Lead based (Pb), a proventechnology that offers low production costand is suited to conventional vehicles, start-stop, micro-hybrid (hybrids that run on lessthan 60 volts) and mild hybrid electric vehi-cles. Lead sub types include Enhanced orImproved Flooded batteries and ValveRegulated Lead Acid batteries (AGM andGel batteries); Nickel based (Ni), a proven,long-life technology suited for hybrid electric

Plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle uptake forecasts for 2015 and 2020

Source: Graph based on selected plug-in vehicle uptake forecasts by Arup-Cenex,BCG, Berger, Cheuvreux, Deutsche Bank, Frost & Sullivan and McKinsey

Tyres & Accessories 7/2013

Around 7% of new vehicle sales in Europe and the UK are expected to be EV and PHEVs by 2020

European battery aftermarket 2013 – share per country

Source: EUROBAT Tyres & Accessories 7/2013

European battery market volumes 2012-2016 (m units)

Source: EUROBAT Tyres & Accessories 7/2013

With aftermarket sales approaching 4 million units, the UK market isthe fifth largest in Europe


BATTERIES

vehicle propulsion. The main nickel basedtechnologies are Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd)and Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH); Lithiumbased (Li), which offers high energy den-sity in a small, light battery and is suitab-le for hybrid electric vehicle (includingplug-in) and full electric vehicle propulsi-on; Sodium based, a high energy, lightsolution suited for the propulsion of plug-in hybrid and full electric vehicles.

In addition to the abovementionedbattery technologies, several other elect-ro-chemical systems are currently draw-ing considerable attention due to theirpotential to enable significantly higherenergy storage densities than Li-Ion bat-teries. In its February 2012 white paperon Battery Energy Storage Solutions forElectro-Mobility, EUROBAT explains thepotential merits of a Lithium-Sulphur sys-tem; it says this may be possible to reachspecific energy levels of up to 500Wh/kg. This electro-chemical system is

has not yet reached maturity, with themain challenge facing its introductionbeing its endurance in terms of capacityand lifespan.

Another technology that offers a highpotential to drastically improve the ener-gy data is a system based on air catho-des. Up to now, these systems have suf-fered from problems with recharging andlow efficiency. With alkaline Zn/air cellsspecific energy data up to 300 Wh/kghave already been demonstrated in thepast. However, EUROBAT sees thegreater potential for a future high energybattery with the employment a Li-Airbased system.

On 7 June EUROBAT held its 2013forum in Rome, Italy. More than 110 par-ticipants attended the event and weregiven updates on some of the current keyissues within the battery industry plusthe comparative merits of existing andfuture technologies. Amongst the future

technologies reviewed at the forum wasIBM’s ‘Battery 500’ Li-air (lithium-air)research project. IBM’s Erich Ruetschedelivered a presentation on the project,which began in 2009 and aims to developa technology that offers a range of 500miles on a single charge, five times hig-her energy density than today’s Lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion technology,opine Battery 500’s proponents, doesn’tand can’t offer sufficient energy density(the amount of energy stored per kilo-gramme of battery) to make an electric-powered family saloon feasible. Li-airtechnology can potentially offer ten timesthe energy density of lithium-ion batte-ries; while the batteries in the Tesla road-ster provide 150 W h/kg, it is hoped acomparable-sized Li-air battery will deli-ver 1,500 to 2,000 W h/kg.

[email protected]

Source: IBM Corporation Tyres & Accessories 7/2013

Battery 500

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Recently, the ten millionth start-stop starter motorproduced by Bosch rolled off the line at the comp-any’s Hildesheim plant in Germany. The automotivesupplier views the start-stop market as a stronggrowth area; it says every second car manufacturedin Western Europe is now fitted with start-stop tech-nology and estimates that by 2015, more than 30 mil-lion vehicles in Europe will be equipped with start-stop systems. Interest in start-stop technology is alsoon the rise in the US and China.

Examples from the Bosch ‘S’ range

Euro Car Parts, the UKs largest supplier of parts for all makesof car and light commercial vehicles, says it is the place to gofor virtually any vehicle battery and offers unbeatable pricesand availability for all super premium, original equipment andprice conscious applications – from brands such as Bosch andExide to the Lion brand and golf and mobility specialist Leoch.

“As well as any battery for any car or van, our batteriesrange is now so comprehensive we get a lot of business fromcaravanners, boat owners and even refrigeration engineers,”

commented Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia, managing director ofEuro Car Parts. “Thanks to our recent network expansion –we opened 40 new branches last year – there is always a EuroCar Parts within easy reach.”

Independent motor traders can receive same day deliveryon batteries from the company’s 500,000 sqft warehouse inTamworth via its 11 hubs and 132 branches. sg

ECP boasts wide availability

Bosch range covers start-stop, standard models

To what extent can a start-stop systemlower fuel consumption? In the NewEuropean Driving Cycle (NEDC), start-stopsystems are attributed as reducing fuelconsumption, and thus CO2 emissions,by up to five per cent. In the NEDC urbancycle the savings are up to eight per centwhile in heavy urban traffic, especiallyduring peak hours, potential savings areeven greater.

Bosch says that in conjunction with amodern petrol engine, a warm start usinga start-stop system only consumes asmuch fuel as is consumed in 0.7 secondsof idling. And its engineers are working tofurther extend engine shutdown times.This will initially apply to times when thevehicle is coasting to a stop, but by 2016it will also apply to periods of non-accele-ration when driving. “Depending on thetype of driving, the enhanced start-stopsystems will save up to an additional tenper cent of fuel,” shares Dr. UlrichKirschner, president of the Bosch StarterMotors and Generators division.

Obviously, vehicles equipped withstart-stop systems require batteries withmore power and greater deep-cycle resistance, and in Bosch’s case the batter-ies designed for the job are certain mem-bers of its premium ‘S’ car battery range, especially the S6 absorbent glass mattand S5 enhanced flooded batteries. TheS6 offers up to four times higher deep-cycle resistance in comparison to con-ventional starter batteries while the S5has double the cycling performancecomp-ared to conventional starter batter-ies. However, the S line-up also includesoptions for smaller and standard vehicles;the company recently introduced five newbatteries, and says these offer a ten percent better cold-starting performance.

Bosch S3 0092S30041: This batterywas specifically developed to provide higher cold-starting performance and, asmentioned above, offers ten per cent bet-ter performance in this regard. Bosch saysthe batter gives mobility user increasedcost benefit throughout the battery’s life.

Bosch S3 0092S30000 and Bosch S40092S40001: These batteries were deve-loped to provide solutions for small vehi-cles in the compact segment. The S4 bat-tery caters for new electronic comfort fea-tures on new smaller vehicles such asStart/Stop in the new MINI and Fiat 500,while the S3 battery has been introducedto provide better performance for oldercompact vehicles

Bosch S4 0092S40110 and Bosch S50092S50110: This pair features a new casesize that has been developed specificallyto create a greater market coverage forthe Bosch battery range. The high H7 casesize complements the low T7 case size,facilitating a 1:1 exchange of originalequipment batteries. Bosch says the S4and S5 are reliable, strong batteries thatare ideal for coping with high power re-quirements of all modern vehicles in allclasses. sg

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As far as the workshop was concerned,providing the battery was maintained pro-perly – topped up with de-ionised water,kept from excessive discharge and regu-larly charged – it would provide a reliablesource of power until it inevitably neededto be replaced. Replacement was a simp-le and straightforward process, whichwas only complicated by the fact that inmore recent years a current had to bemaintained in the system to ensure thepower to the ECU and related equipmentwasn’t lost.

However, the introduction of Start-Stop vehicles has driven a major changein battery technology. Start-Stop, or microhybrid engines have become the prefer-red route for most of the vehicle manu-facturers to follow in order for them toreduce the emissions and fuel consumpti-on of their vehicles and achieve theEuropean Union requirement for fleet ave-rage vehicle emissions. MylesPemberton, marketing/project manager at

Manbat UK, recently commented to Tyres& Accessories that while the market forStart-Stop batteries is currently still verysmall, it is expected to grow exponential-ly: “We’re expecting to see massivegrowth by 2015 to 2016.”

The traditional lead-acid ‘starter’ batte-ry is not suitable for Start-Stop enginesand therefore cannot be used. Instead itrequires a battery that can deliver the starting power of a traditional automotivebattery with the cyclic (charge, discharge,charge etc.) capacity of a specialist mobil-ity battery. The result is the absorbentglass mat (AGM) battery, which was firstdeveloped by Varta, for whom Manbat isthe UK’s largest supply partner.

Dealing with AGM batteries

With a Start-Stop vehicle fitted with anAGM battery, technicians cannot justreplace the battery in the way they didwith a traditional battery where, as men-

tioned earlier, the greatest challenge wassimply to ensure a supply feed was main-tained.

Instead, as the battery is intricately lin-ked to the vehicle’s on-board electronicsvia a battery management system (BMS)or intelligent battery sensor (IBS), it has tobe integrated into the system and pairedwith the BMS/IBS, which requires special-ist equipment. Without the equipment toassist the technician and introduce thebattery into the system, the vehicle will atbest illuminate error messages on thedash or fail to charge the battery, at worst,simply not start at all.

To prevent these error messages andother installation related problems, qualityStart-Stop batteries should be the firstthought when being replaced, as thesewill have the necessary 2D codes to ensu-re the battery is a ‘match’ for the vehicleand be ‘accepted’ by the BMS/ECU.

Training is particularly importantbecause the number of potential faults ina Start-Stop system is far greater than fora traditional electrical system. Becausethe engine is switched off as frequentlyas possible and only restarts when thevehicle needs to move off or when thestate of charge of the battery drops to apredetermined level, the BMS is extreme-ly complicated. Therefore the correct tes-ting procedure and fault diagnosis is vital.This is also complicated by the fitting chal-lenges mentioned above. Manbat provi-des full training on its products, such asthe Varta VSSP (Start-Stop ServiceProgram) tool, and it can also offer full,free eXponentia training through Varta.

As with every aspect of the trade, fit-ting the correct battery for the applicationis paramount. For entry-level or smallerStart-Stop vehicles for example, an AGM

Start-Stop a Manbat growth areaProper training, waste management importantFor many years the battery market remained relatively static when it came to the technology thatwas incorporated into the typical car battery. While the major manufacturers obviously invested inimproving the performance of their batteries, they were all generally lead-acid batteries designedto cater for large current discharge when starting the engine and subject to continuous chargingwhile the vehicle was in use.

Manbat provides full on-site trainingwith products such as VSSP


BATTERIES

battery might not be the appropriatereplacement as the original fitment couldbe an enhanced flooded battery (EFB).Although these batteries have similar cha-racteristics to AGM batteries, they are notthe same and the two should not be inter-changed. Likewise, just installing a largercapacity lead-acid battery is no solutionfor Start-Stop battery replacement.

“A like-for-like exchange really needsto be made,” Myles Pemberton added. “Ifa battery is not up to the task required,technology-wise, the car may not performas it should. In the old days, when I droveto work a battery just started the engineat the start of the journey. With a Start-Stop car – and in future the option to dis-able the Start-Stop function will be disab-led in new vehicles – a car may start up to30 or 40 times in the course of a singlejourney. The technology must be able tocope with this and therefore AGM batte-ries are gaining ground.”

Another complication comes becausethere is little guarantee that the battery ina Start-Stop vehicle will reside in the engi-ne bay. Therefore, technicians need tohave access to technical information suchas TecRMI, or similar workshop relatedtechnical data, to pinpoint the exact locati-on of the battery, be it in the boot floor or,as it is in at least one application, beneaththe front passenger seat!

“At present, garages don’t understandthe specific requirements of Start-Stop batteries and systems very well,”reflected the marketing/project manager.“One important message we’re trying toget over is that a battery fit is not a 15minute job any more, as it once was. Onsome vehicles, the Audi Q7 is a goodexample, fitting a new battery can be atwo to three hour job. Traditionally, fitting abattery has been done for free and cust-omers only paid for the battery itself. Butgarages are in the business of sellingtime, and if fitting a battery takes bet-ween one and three hours, a garage canmake really good money fitting batteries.”

Waste management

When it comes to responsible disposal,workshops have to understand their envir-

onmental responsibilities and ensure bat-teries are disposed of legally, but theyshould also be aware that they couldbenefit finically from responsible batterydisposal as batteries have a ‘scrap’ value.

Manbat is a member of the Ecobatgroup, which includes specialist wastebattery businesses and lead smelterEcobat Technologies, one of the world’sleading suppliers of lead. Annually, Ecobatconverts millions of tons of lead wasteinto high quality lead ingots, strip, wireand shot through its efficient smeltersacross the globe. Among its many cust-omers are a number of major batterymanufacturers and some of these brandsare subsequently distributed nationallythrough Manbat’s comprehensive branchnetwork.

“Batteries have a high scrap valuethese days, purely because of the price oflead,” Pemberton pointed out. “We’relucky – our parent company Ecobat is theworld’s largest lead recycler. We have aclosed loop supply in which covers everystage from initially selling a new battery toreturning end of life batteries to Ecobat.Over 98 per cent of the battery is recy-cled. Recycled lead is returned to the bat-tery manufacturers and goes back intonew batteries.”

The combination of new battery salesand distribution, together with waste bat-tery collection, recycling and the reintro-duction of lead into the manufacturingprocess, means that the Ecobat group,and therefore Manbat, is able to be excep-tionally environmentally aware and is cur-rently the only global company offering a closed recycling loop for lead-acid batteries.

Selling points

Manbat always recommends that work-shops choose a quality battery whenundertaking replacement, but this is evenmore important when working on Start-Stop vehicles for the reasons previouslydiscussed. Allied to this, Varta is the lar-gest original equipment battery supplierto Europe’s vehicle manufacturers andhas led the development of Start-Stopbattery technology. As a result, by fitting

Varta a like for like replacement is highlylikely, but whatever the original battery,the necessary quality is guaranteed.

Pemberton describes Start-Stop asthe best means we currently have forreducing fuel consumption through themotor and he observes that while three orfour new battery technologies are beingworked on at present, none of these willsupersede Start-Stop for a while as eachare difficult to recycle and can be dange-rous when the technology breaks down.He also believes that there will always bea demand for conventional lead-acid batte-ries, although over the next decade theywill become a niche rather than a breadand butter product, as hard rubber batte-ries today are.

For non Start-Stop applications,Manbat recommends the use of an appli-cation guide like its just-launched LucasBattery Catalogue, to ensure the correctspecification battery is selected. Onlywhen the vehicle has been fitted withadditional electrical equipment or whenthe vehicle has been modified to copewith extreme conditions, such as moun-tain rescue or other emergency vehicles,does it suggest the battery should beupgraded. In this instance the enhancedperformance of an AGM battery could bean advantage even though the vehicledoesn’t utilise a Start-Stop system.

Other opportunities

AGM batteries are also suitable for leisurepurposes where a deep discharge productis required, but leisure specific batterieslike Manbat’s Numax XV range dominatethis sector and provide a far more suitab-le solution for the majority of leisure bat-tery requirements.

However, with their obvious batteryknowledge, workshops as well as factorsand retailers are in the ideal position todevelop their battery sales beyond theautomotive ‘distress purchase’ bounda-ries and benefit from the ‘aspirational pur-chase’ opportunities the leisure, marineand golf sectors provide.

[email protected]

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The company was still attempting torestructure, despite lower sales in Q4 offiscal 2013 (the three-month periodending 31 March 2013) when, on 24 April2013, the California Department of ToxicSubstances Control (DTSC) ordered ope-rations at the company’s Vernon leadrecycling facility – one of five primary andsecondary plants it utilises in US – to besuspended. The DTSC alleged that theplant’s underground stormwater systemwas not in compliance with State ofCalifornia requirements and that furnaceemissions did not meet applicable DTSChealth risk standards.

With the suspension of operations inVernon and the closure of another leadrecycling plant impacting raw material pri-ces, the posting of a full-year 2013 netloss of $223.4 million and restructuringnot taking place quickly enough, on 10June Exide Technologies filed for Chapter11 bankruptcy protection in the US. In afiling submitted to the US BankruptcyCourt in Delaware, chief financial officerPhillip Damaska said “as a result of theVernon shutdown and the company’spoor financial performance in the fourthfiscal quarter of 2013, it became apparentthat a successful out-of-court restructu-ring was unlikely.”

“Our company has been burdened bya highly leveraged balance sheet whichhas limited our ability to competitively

invest in our businesses,” added Exidepresident and chief executive officerJames R. Bolch. “Recently, our profitabili-ty has been impacted by unprecedentedincreases in our product costs — drivenprimarily by the market price of scraplead in North America – as well as opera-tional challenges in the US and Europewhich we have been unable to fully off-set. After a great deal of consideration,we concluded a restructuring of ourbalance sheet and our operations wasthe best path forward for the company.

“Our restructuring,” he continued,“will allow us to strengthen our balancesheet and complete the operationalchanges that build upon the strategiesthat we have been pursuing. Over andabove these efforts, we intend to be-come even more aggressive in reducingcosts, taking actions with respect tounderperforming business segments andto focus on the most attractive areas forfuture growth.”

What does this mean for Exide in Europe?

Approximately 58 per cent of Exide’s netsales for fiscal 2013 were made in Europeand the rest of the world, with the signi-ficant majority generated in euros. TheMilton, Georgia-based firm thus lost notime reassuring its customers and part-

ners here that it would operate globallywithout interruption during the reorgani-sation. “Operations both in the US and inthe rest of the world will continue toserve customers in a timely manner withthe same quality products, and outstand-ing customer care as they did before thefiling,” Bolch continued. “All post-filingobligations to US suppliers will be paid ontime and within terms. We intend to payUS employees as usual and do notexpect any material changes to theirbenefits. Outside of the US, obligationsto employees and suppliers will not beimpacted by the filing.”

In a letter sent to Exide’s Europeancustomers, Michael Ostermann, EMEAregion president of France-headquarteredExide Technologies SAS, noted that “overthe past few years have seen ExideTechnologies across Europe grow year onyear and steadily build our market share.We have expanded into Russia/CIS andacross the Middle East and Africa, andwe are very proud that the past threeyears have seen us more than double ourbusiness in the new Micro Hybrid mar-ket. We have completed our investmentin a new AGM plant in Poznan, Polandand this means we now have three AGMplants serving customers across the regi-on with the latest generation of auto-motive batteries.”

Exide undergoing Chapter 11 restructuring in USBusiness as usual in EuropeIt doesn’t pay to become over-reliant on a single cus-tomer, as Exide Technologies has learned in the US toits cost. Prior to 2010, the company’s largest singlecustomer in the Americas was Wal-Mart; sales to theretail chain were estimated to have accounted forsome two-thirds of its total transportation segmentsales in the region. In February of that year, however,Wal-Mart Stores Inc. selected Johnson Controls as itssole battery supplier. In a filing with securities regu-lators at the time, the company stated that “Wal-Mart

purchases currently represent a significant portion”of the segment’s $238.8 million in sales the Americas,and therefore it was “actively pursuing other salesopportunities in an effort to minimise the impact ofthis decision on future revenues.” In its 2010 annualreport, Exide Technologies reported it was “contin-uing to undertake restructuring activities to addressexcess capacity created, in part, by worsening eco-nomic conditions and reduction in demand for someof the company’s products.”


BATTERIES

Ostermann added that the US restructu-ring would not include any of the compa-ny’s operations in Brazil, Mexico, Canadaand Asia Pacific. “That means that for ushere in Europe it is very much businessas usual in our operations albeit with theadded advantage of a strengthened andrefinanced US business.”

Financing agreement approved

On 11 June, Exide received US Courtapproval of a variety of motions that sup-port its operations as it proceeds with itsrestructuring, including interim approvalof its $500 million Debtor-in-Possession(DIP) financing agreement with JP Mor-gan Chase, designed to facilitate andensure the continued uninterrupted oper-ation of Exide’s global business. In additi-on to the financing, the company alsoreceived authorisation to continue itsemployee wages and benefits accordingto their existing plans, ensuring thatemployees will continue to be paid according to schedule. Exide also receiv-ed authorisation to honour certain prepe-tition obligations to customers and tocontinue other customer programmesincluding warranties, rebates, returns,refunds, exchanges, adjustments, pro-motions, credits and guarantees.

In order to help facilitate the comp-any’s financial restructuring, Exide’sBoard of Directors has named Robert M.Caruso as chief restructuring officer.Caruso is a noted financial restructuring

expert and a managingdirector of Alvarez and Marsal,a leading restructuring firm.Bolch stated: “As we move for-ward with Exide’s restructu-ring, the Board concluded thatwe needed to have personnelwith restructuring expertise on

our executive team in order toimplement critical objectives mosteffectively. We are very fortunate to havethe benefit of the expertise, experienceand demonstrated talent of Bob Carusoto take on the role of chief restructuringofficer of Exide at this important time. Heand the resources he brings from Alvarezand Marsal, will serve the company andall of its constituencies very well as weproceed with the job of restructuringExide for the future.”

Business as usual

As already mentioned, the restructuringefforts are restricted to the US. In ourmarket, Exide Technologies continues to have a significant presence, a factemphasised by the August 2012 appoint-ment of its Exide Transportation divisionas battery partner to the RAC. Under theterms of the three-year deal, Exide sup-plies the automotive services companywith more than 160,000 co-branded bat-teries a year, and in doing so says it hassignificantly increased its hold on the UKmarket. Batteries supplied include ‘partsof matching quality’ replacement batte-ries, as well as AGM and ECM batteriesfor micro-hybrid cars that use Start-Stopand regenerative breaking systems.

“Exide supplies original equipment tomanufacturers such as Ford and BMW,and our customers already have a strongaffinity to the brand,” said Mark Johnson,commercial development manager atRAC. “We wanted to bring our customers

the latest technology straight to the road-side, and Exide’s ‘parts of matching quali-ty’ and AGM batteries are more advancedthan anything else on the market.”

Exide and the RAC decided on a co-branded battery design to highlight thesense of partnership they have embra-ced. “RAC told us early on that they didn’tjust want a supplier – they wanted a part-ner that could bring the latest technologyand best value to their members,” saidAndrew Bevington, sales and marketingdirector at Exide. “We worked closelytogether to design co-branded batteriesthat are technically advanced, long lastingand affordable.”

In the commercial vehicle segment,Exide Technologies recently released anew range featuring HVR (high vibrationresistance) technology – and in doing sowas the first manufacturer to bring thismuch-anticipated technology to the after-market. The Exide CV range has been cutfrom four to three products in order tosimplify the portfolio and make more fea-tures available to everyone, and HVR isincorporated into the most powerful ofthe three new batteries, Expert HVR. Theother available fitments are ProfessionalPower and Professional; both Expert HVRand Professional Power are maintenancefree products, Exide notes.

Exide Technologies’ HVR battery lastslonger by insulating the core componentsfrom the effects of the end-of-chassisposition. The batteries are housed in areinforced container, and are designed toboth absorb vibrations and lock compo-nents in place. Exide HVR is the mostpowerful product in Exide Technologies’new commercial vehicle range, and thecompany said it will last longer and per-form better than any other battery whenused in AdBlue and non-AdBlue trucks.

sg

A co-branded Exide battery assupplied to the RAC

S


BATTERIES

Standard equipment levels on mostmodern cars now include air condition-ing, electric windows, heated seats,powerful car audio, heated windscreensand sat nav, and under the bonnet therevolution has continued with the arrivalof electric steering, water pumps and oilpumps. More significant than this how-ever, is the onset of emission relatedtechnology, none with a greater impactthan micro hybrid or Start-Stop technolo-gy. This alone has revolutionised batterytechnology and means that a standardlead-acid battery will simply not do thejob.

New technology & challenges

The battery is no longer just an ancillarycomponent with red and black lead con-nections: it is now an integral part of thevehicle’s ECU and engine managementsystem. Its location is also no longernecessarily easy to access at the front ofthe engine compartment and many vehi-cles have more than one battery fitted.Therefore, it is imperative that technici-ans have the correct training to allowthem to safely undertake battery replace-ment and do so on a cost-effective basisfor the consumer. Also, as the number ofpotential faults in a Start-Stop system isgreater than a traditional system, so with-out training they simply would not knowwhere to start.

From the perspective of the wholesa-ler, batteries are becoming a far moretechnical sale and those without anunderstanding of the new technologymay lose the opportunity to make thesale or worse still, specify an unsuitable

battery for the installation, with the unpa-latable consequences that can result. Forthe workshop, the matter is made worseby popular consumer perception thatsays that the garage is trying to rip themoff and charge them more for doing less.This is further complicated by the factthat of the little that the consumer knowsabout what’s under the bonnet, they‘know’ that to change a battery is a simp-le job!

Therefore, workshop managers needto have a full understanding of the issuesthemselves in order to clearly and coher-ently explain the reason why Start-Stopsystems were developed, the differentbattery types, the importance of fittingthe correct battery and general batteryinformation. With this information, all ofwhich is covered in the G-Xpert course‘Start-Stop plus Charging’, they are equip-ped to not only do the work, but alsoexplain the associated cost of the work.

The technology used in lead-acid andAGM batteries is very different and so aretheir performance characteristics. Lead-acid batteries can be very powerful over ashort burst, but don’t like to be dischar-ged to any great extent and doing so willhave a detrimental effect on their life-span. AGM batteries, however, are alto-gether more robust and do not sufferfrom deep discharge damage as they aredesigned to withstand considerablefluctuations in their state of charge.Integral to a Start-Stop system is the factthat the battery is only charged when itreally needs to be, which is one of thereasons it can deliver reductions in fuelconsumption and lower emissions.

Training and opportunities

To enable the independent workshop tokeep pace with the franchised dealer andundertake AGM battery service andrepair work, Groupauto has invested in itsG-Xpert technical training initiative toinclude a module that concentrates onStart-Stop systems and charging.Delivered by Frank Massey of ADS andSteve Carter of eXponentia, two of theindustry’s most respected trainers, itallows technicians to grasp the implicati-ons, responsibilities and requirements ofservicing these vehicles and gain theskills necessary to deliver high qualitytechnical work. With this level of compe-tence, technicians can handle AGM batte-ry work with confidence.

The lead-acid battery is certainly notdead yet, so there is still obviously a needfor batteries utilising traditional technolo-gy. This is good news for workshops thatneed a price sensitive product, however,if they wish to focus on price without anythought to developing technology and thenew generation of product – and theknowledge needed to sell it – they run aserious risk of losing the first opportunityin a long-time to return a sensible profiton a product that has long been traded asa commodity. Therefore, Groupauto saysit is important for workshops to pick astrategic battery partner, one that is futu-re proof in terms of technology andknowledge. After all, the market ischanging from being solely price driven toexpertise driven. sg

Start-Stop providing new opportunities to workshopsGroupauto, the UK’s largest trading group, is keen to highlight the fact that the market is changing andthe dominance of basic lead-acid battery technology will soon begin to decline. The automotive batteryis becoming a much more technical component and with the increasing amount of electrical equipmentfitted to even the most basic of vehicles, the demands placed on it are much greater than ever.


BATTERIES

Germany’s Robert Bosch GmbH and Japanese firms GS YuasaInternational Ltd and Mitsubishi Corporation have agreed towork together on the next generation of high-performance lithi-um-ion batteries, particularly in regard to their future role inmobility, including plug-in hybrid or all-electric vehicles. Thecompanies’ stated aim is to use advanced cell managementand progress in electrochemistry and materials to significantlyincrease energy content. This will reduce weight and spacerequirements, and increase the range of electric vehicles;according to one Japanese source, the aim is to double the dis-tance a car can travel on a single charge to around 400 kilome-tres. The partners have not disclosed the level of investmenteach will contribute to the joint venture.

The three companies intend to set up a joint venture forjoint research and development, and to support their parentcompanies in sales and marketing activities. Operations areplanned to start in the beginning of 2014 and will be headquar-tered in Bosch’s home town of Stuttgart, Germany. Bosch willhold a 50 per cent stake in the operation, with GS Yuasa andMitsubishi Corporation each holding 25 per cent. The partnerssay the composition of the board of management and supervi-sory board will reflect these shareholdings. The establishmentof the joint venture is subject to approval by the antitrust autho-rities.

Bosch will contribute its know-how in production processesand quality management relating to the large-scale series pro-duction of complex products. With its competence in the areaof battery packs and battery management systems, Bosch spe-

cialises in the monitoring and control of cells and complete bat-tery systems, as well as in integrating them into vehicles. Inaddition, Bosch will support these joint activities with its entireportfolio of components for electromobility.

GS Yuasa will contribute its many years of experience inmanufacturing lithium-ion cells whose high density makes for alonger range, as well as its expertise in materials systems andelectrochemistry. As an established manufacturer of automoti-ve and non-automotive lithium-ion battery cells, GS Yuasa has astrong engineering team and modern production lines with ahigh level of automation.

Mitsubishi Corporation will contribute its worldwide marke-ting network and expertise as a global integrated businessenterprise. Mitsubishi Corporation will apply its strengths inbuilding global value chains, covering natural resources, materi-als and sales, and take advantage of their synergy to advancethis business.

The 19 June-announced deal is Bosch’s second lithium-ionbattery joint venture agreement. In September 2008 the com-pany founded SB LiMotive together with Samsung SDI; almostexactly four years later, Bosch dissolved the 50/50 joint ventureand sold its share to Samsung SDI for US$95 million. Uponannouncing the end of its joint cooperation, Bosch said it was“redefining the focal points of its activities to develop and pro-duce batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles,” a decision it saidwould allow it to “make the best possible use of its own capa-bilities” in light of “changing market structures.” sg

Battery manufacturers collaborating on electromobility solutions

“I am very honoured to take the lead of the association,” com-mented Dempwolff following his appointment. “We notice gro-wing opportunities for the further advancement of automotiveand industrial batteries of all technologies in all sectors, inclu-ding lead, lithium, sodium and nickel. EUROBAT will continue towork with decision-makers on the importance of the batteryindustry to the growth of different manufacturing sectors of theEuropean economy.”

Prior to his appointment as president, Dempwolff was aboard member of the association for more than two years andhas served as chair of the automotive batteries committee forthe past ten years. EUROBAT works to promote the Europeanautomotive, industrial and special battery industries to EU insti-tutions, national governments, customers and the media.

Johann-Friedrich Dempwolff, a native of Hamburg,Germany,has been vice-president Industry and Governmental Relations

for Johnson Controls Power SolutionsEMEA - Europe, Middle East and Africasince May 2012. Dempwolff started hiscareer at Varta Autobatterie GmbH. Hewas employed in various sales and mar-keting positions in Canada, Spain andGermany. He has been a managementboard member since 2001 and wasresponsible for OEM Sales Europe atboard level up until 2012. Following thecompany’s acquisition by JohnsonControls in 2002 and during other acquisitions, Dempwolff wasinvolved in the strong expansion of the original equipmentmanufacturer business.

John Searle (Saft) and Andreas Bawart (Banner) will conti-nue as vice-presidents for another mandate. sg

Battery association names new presidentThe Association of European Automotive and Industrial Battery Manufacturers (EUROBAT) has elected Johann-Friedrich Dempwolff, general manager and vice-president of Industry and Governmental Relations for JohnsonControls Power Solutions EMEA, as its new president. The appointment took place during EUROBAT meetings inItaly. Dempwolff will serve as president for two years.

Johann-Friedrich Dempwolff


PRODUCT INFORMATION

IT’S BEEN, GIVE OR TAKE A YEAR, one decade since tyremakers first started testing the use of radio-frequency identifica-tion (RFID) transponders in tyres. Michelin was an early adopterof the technology, announcing RFID fleet trials at the start of2003. By the middle of the decade, Goodyear was using RFIDin its NASCAR tyres from cradle to grave, and within a few yearsmany companies were getting serious about the technology, aswas witnessed in the 2009 Memorandum of Understanding signed between Transense and Qingdao Mesnac, parent com-pany of the Sailun tyre brand. The use of RFID has remainedlimited, however, and largely restricted to commercial vehicles.Until now, that is – in June 2013, Kumho announced it will placeRFID tags every tyre product it manufactures. All 64 milliontyres per annum.

Kumho’s RFID programme is beingrolled out as part of the ‘u-IT NewTechnology Verification Project’ support-ed by Korean government agency theNational IT Industry Promotion Agency(NIPA) and a key aim of fitting RFID tagsis to increase workflow efficiency. FittingRFID-embedded tyres to all productlines is also expected to save KumhoTires KRW10.4 billion (£5.9 million) inannual logistics, production and qualitycontrol costs.

The RFID tag Kumho uses was co-developed with fellow Kumho Asiana Group compa-ny Asiana IDT and cdelivers information on productquality. The patch-type tag is implanted inside the tyre’s innerliner during the manufacturing process. Each RDIF tag-fitted tyreis given a unique identity which can be tracked by a databasesystem at Kumho Tires’ headquarters. The tag contains informa-tion on quality and performance and detailed records relating tothe production process, distribution and sales.

“Under the RFID system, the entire product lifecycle can bemanaged systematically by streamlining the whole processfrom product quality in the course of manufacturing to productrecord tracking to distribution channels to warehousing and toinventory management,” explains Kumho Tire in a statement. “Itcan also prevent possible distribution through illegal channels orselling of defect products, helping raise consumer confidenceand satisfaction.” The company also notes that several premiumcar manufacturers require LTS (Lot Tracking System) information– something the utilisation of RFID will facilitate.

Given Kumho’s current production capacity of around 60 mil-lion tyres a year, fitting RFID tags to all products is an ambitiousproject. The tyre maker got underway early this year and now

fits RFID tags on all truck andbus tyres manufactured in itsGwangju and Gokseong plantsin Korea and on original equip-ment passenger car tyres sup-plied to certain OEM customers.As of the second half of 2013,RFID units will be built into alldomestic market passenger cartyres, and from 2014 all manu-facturing sites in Korea and over-seas will adopt the RFID sys-tem.

“Kumho Tires has alwaysintroduced new innovative tech-nologies to the industry one

step ahead, raising quality control efficiency and consumer con-fidence at the same time,” said Bok-soo Park, chief technologyofficer of Kumho Tires. “We will remain committed to customersatisfaction and production innovation in the tyre market whilesystematically managing product information under the newsystem.” sg

Kumho has initially rolled out RFID fitment on TBRtyres produced in two plants and on BMW OEM tyres

GT Radial has added two new sizes to its GAR820 regional all-position pattern tyre, increasing its medium sized truck portfolio.Initially available in 215/75R17.5, the brand has added 205/75R17.5 and 225/75R17.5. Two more sizes, 235/75R17.5 and245/70R17.5, are currently in development and due for releaselater in the year.

The GAR820 has been designed to respond to the fast development of modern medium sized trucks and their increa-sed comfort, low noise, good wet grip and handling require-ments, in additional to better longevity. The tyre is M&S markedfor all-season traction.

Peter Foulkes, marketing director Europe - Commercial Tiresat Giti Tire, manufacturer of GT Radial, said: “The GAR820 hasbeen very well received in the marketplace and feedback from

operators has been nothing short of exceptional, with the tyre’sprice-per-kilometre coming in for particular praise.

“The new sizes have been in demand since the initial tyrewas commercially launched in the latter half of 2012, and weexpect the uptake to be quick and strong as we continue toestablish ourselves at the top of the mid-tier range tyre sector.”

GT Radial recently hosted a demonstration day for its com-mercial tyre dealers at UK testing facility Mira, which houses themanufacturer’s European Testing Centre. The company’s heavytruck and bus products are the result of the company’s testingand evaluation programme, with more than 1,000 tyres on fieldtest across Europe at any time. The casings of each are design-ed for retreading using both cold and hot processes. akb

Kumho to introduce RFID on all tyres

GT Radial extends regional truck portfolio


PRODUCT INFORMATION

TThe Discoverer CTS 4x4 tyre is orientedto road use, benefiting from “R-tech”,Cooper’s “Response-Technology con-struction”, which uses multiple designfeatures working together to pro-vide enhanced tyre performance.The tyre also has an innovativefive-rib tread design for betterstability, traction and tread wear.

Four “stepped” circumfer-ential grooves resist aqua-planing at higher speedsand provide grippingedges for increased tracti-on on soft surfaces. Thevariable depth scroll sipesof the CTS allow increasedcapillary action, removingwater from the tread area,resulting in reduced wet weat-her stopping distances and increasedgrip in challenging conditions.

Going back into the history of theCTS in Europe, Cooper’s represent-atives told T&A that they “believe

the CTS tyre previously available[in Europe] between 2009

and 2011,” though thetyre was subsequently“withdrawn as part of a streamlining ofCooper’s 4x4 range,ahead of the intro-duction of tyre label-ling legislation.”

This begs the question of whetherthe tyre coming to Europe varies fromthe version of the CTS that has beencontinuously available in the USA for

example. Tyre label-ling there looks like-ly to replace theEuropean pass-bynoise rating with a

durability score, though thedetails have yet to be finali-sed. Having said this,Cooper confirmed to T&Athat “[t]here are no diffe-rences between the CTStyre which will be avail-

able on the European mar-ket and the CTS tyres avail-

able on other markets,” inclu-ding the US. This could indicate

Cooper’s confidence in the product’sability to cope with the parameters ofboth labels; on the other hand, it couldalso show Cooper’s confidence in thecontinued delay of legislative action forUS labelling to come into practice. Inany case, the time is clearly ripe for thistype of tyre in European markets.

As there has been a well-documen-ted trend within the European SUVsector for higher performance road-going tyres, there is good reason for the timing of this reintroduction. Coopersaid that it “is now keen to expand its 4x4 range as it looks to furtherstrengthen its position as a 4x4 tyremanufacturer.” [email protected]

Cooper introduces new Discoverer sizes, relaunches CTSCooper Tire Europe has announced an extended 4x4 tyre offering withinEurope, reintroducing the Discoverer CTS, and adding new sizes tomany other products in the range. Europe MD Jeff Schumaker said thecompany is “delighted to offer Cooper’s complete range of 4x4 tyres inEurope, giving our customers the best possible choice, whatever theirpreference for off or on-road driving.” As well as the addition of the CTS,Cooper now offers a wider range of fitments in some of its most popu-lar 4x4 tyres, including the Discoverer A/T3, S/T, STT, H/T, S/T MAXX andS/T2 ranges.

New Cooper Tire 4x4 sizes available in Europe from summer 2013:

Discoverer A/T3215/70R16 100T225/75R16 104T235/70R16 106T235/70R17 111T XL235/75R15 109T XL245/65R17 107T245/70R16 107T245/70R17 110T245/75R16 111T255/65R17 110T255/70R16 111T265/65R17 112T265/70R16 112T265/70R17 115T265/70R18 116T265/75R16 116T215/70R16 100T225/75R16 104T235/70R16 106T235/70R17 111TLT215/85R16 115/112RLT235/85R16 120/116RLT245/75R17 121/118SLT265/75R16 123/120R

Discoverer CTS225/70R16 103T245/60R18 105H245/65R17 107T255/65R17 110T265/65R17 112T265/75R16 116T275/55R20 117T XL275/60R20 115T

Discoverer STT37X12.50R17LT 124P

Discoverer M+S215/85R16 LT 115/112Q235/85R16 LT 120/116Q245/65R17 107S245/75R16 LT 120/116Q255/70R16 111S265/75R16 116S

The Discoverer A/T3 has beengiven the largest number of newfitments in Europe, mostly in 16and 17 inch sizes

Cooper’s Discoverer CTSroad-going 4x4 tyre is beingrelaunched in Europe

Nankang UK notes the brand’s particularfocus on the ultra high performance seg-ment, served by the brand’s NS-2, morerecent NS-20 and track day NS-2R models.Steve Smith of Nankang Tyre UK believesbudgetary constraints have become asrelevant to the enthusiastic owner-driveras they are to fleet managers, with bothseeking consistent performance at afford-able prices, and this is where Nankang ispositioned.

Nankang says its NS-2 is engineered to offerincreased traction, grip and steering precision,with “only small sacrifices in ride comfort andfuel economy”. The tyre is available in a large sizerange, from 165/35R17 to 255/30R20 and bey-ond.

The NS-20 is evolved from the NS-2 to beslightly less aggressive; Nankang says the tyreaims to provide similar performance to the NS-2but with added ride comfort. Specifically, road

noise is reduced as a result of computer simula-tion. The tyre has four straight, wide grooves atthe tread’s centre, optimising drainage efficien-cy and manoeuvrability. These, combined withthe silica compound used, raise levels of grip inboth wet and dry conditions, while maintainingtrademark durability and fuel economy. Nankangsays the tyre’s characteristics and value formoney were noted by Auto Bild’s annual tyrereport.

The latest addition to the Nankang UHPrange is the NS-2R, targeting the sporting driverindulging in some track day activity. A set of fourNS-2Rs in size 225/40R18 will cost around £432.The tyre is engineered to perform long and hardon often aggressive race track surfaces,Nankang says.

The manufacturer has over half a century oftyre development underpinning its range. SteveSmith continues: “In the demanding UHPsector, we offer a massive range of tyre sizes atprices that genuinely suit every pocket – there issomething for every driver here.” akb

Nankang focuses on ultra high performancetyre range

Nankang’s NS-2R track day tyre

Avant 4The Avant 4 regional steer tyre’s treadhas three double ribs designed to balancepressure distribution. Sava says the tyre’sproperties include a low wear rate and aneven wear profile, with high density bla-ding providing good wet braking. The car-cass construction is designed to reduceheat build-up for better durability.

Other features and benefits of theAvant 4 include a high wearable rubbervolume for improved mileage, stiff shoul-der ribs for road handling and lateral sta-

bility, and a wide bladed zone for highmileage as well as improved traction andbraking. Its staggered tread blocks aretuned to reduce noise, while the tyre isalso equipped by stone penetration pro-tectors to increase durability.

Orjak 4

The Orjak 4 drive tyre has a pattern tunedfor improved traction and wet braking.This wide tread has an open tread designto promote traction and a high wearable

volume to improve mileage. The Orjak 4also has a carcass construction for redu-ced heat build-up and improved durability.

In addition, the five-rib connectedsolid tread blocks provide even wear,good resistance to chunking and damageplus rear axle stability for better handling,Sava says. Computer optimised blockshape gives low impact noise, even wearand good traction. Other benefits includelow noise and reduced rolling resistancein comparison with its predecessor theOrjak 3.

Sava launches new 17.5” truck tyre rangeGoodyear’s Sava Tyres brand has launched a new range of 17.5-inch truck tyres for regional andlocal delivery vehicles. The range comprises three tyres: the Avant 4 is for steer axles, the Orjak 4for drive axles and the Cargo 4 for trailers. The Slovenian brand says the new tyres are designedto meet the needs of the cost-conscious vehicle operator engaged predominately in regional hauland delivery operations. The tyres are suited for a wide range of vehicles including articulatedtrucks, rigids and a wide range of trailers.


PRODUCT INFORMATION


PRODUCT INFORMATION

Cargo 4The Cargo 4 is a trailer tyre with a wideapplication range for all types of trailer inclu-ding low platform versions. Sava says it hasan optimised tread pattern with groupedcentre ribs providing improved mileage, bet-ter vehicle stability and lower rolling resist-ance. The new carcass construction, as withthe other new Sava tyres, means less heatbuild-up for better durability.

Its mould cavity shape gives the benefitof even wear due to optimum contact pres-sure distribution. In addition to this, deeptread blades across the centre area reduceheel and toe wear and provide good wetperformance. Rib edge sipes further impro-ve the wear characteristics and the groovegeometry is designed to reduce stone holding for greater durability.

All the new Sava tyres are regroovableand retreadable.

15 years as a Goodyear Dunlop brand

As of 1 July, Sava has been a GoodyearDunlop brand for 15 years. The tyre makerpurchased the Slovenian firm in 1998 andsays that since that time it has grown intoone of the largest and most successful US-invested firms in the country. GoodyearDunlop Sava Tires, or GDST, now employssome 1,400 people and has received over200 million euros in investment from itsparent company, including 15.5 million eurosin 2012. The company says it has produced100 million tyres since 1998.

“The company’s operations in Sloveniaduring the last 15 years have been mark-ed by constant investment,” commented managing director Thierry Villard. “We haveinvestment more than 200 million euros andtoday can boast of world-class facilities andtyres, as well as satisfied customers andemployees.” In addition to producing theSava brand, the Kranj-based manufactureralso manufactures Fulda, Goodyear, Dunlopand Debica tyres.

Despite a difficult 2012, Villard describedGDST’s business as “solid and satisfactory”.The operation’s sales declined year-on-yearfrom 264.7 million euros in 2011 to 207.6 mil-lion euros in 2012, while production declinedfrom 7.36 million tyres in 2011 to 5.52 millionlast year. GDST says this reflects “reduceddemand for tyres in Europe compared withthe previous year.” Despite these results,investment in the company increased 50 percent year-on-year in 2012. akb/sg

Avant 4 sizes:205/75 R 17.5 124/122 M215/75 R 17.5 126/124 M225/75 R 17.5 129/127 M235/75 R 17.5 132/130 M

Orjak sizes:205/75 R 17.5 124/122 M215/75 R 17.5 126/124 M225/75 R 17.5 129/127 M235/75 R 17.5 132/130 M

Cargo 4 sizes:215/75 R 17.5 135/133 J235/75 R 17.5 143/141 J

The Sava plant in Kranj, Slovenia

Kumho debuts first S-UHPKumho has launched a new super ultra high performance, or S-UHP, tyre aimedat cars with a 500hp or higher output. The Ecsta PS91, which recently enjoyed itsglobal debut at the Shanghai International Circuit, is said to incorporate Kumho’smotorsport experience. This reportedly facilitated a marked improvement in high-speed driving safety and cornering. The Korean tyre maker states the Ecsta PS91delivers “enhanced grip, braking ability, high-speed durability and uniform ridequalities.”

The new range is available in eight sizes for 19 and 20-inch rim diameters.South Korean market prices for the Ecsta PS91 range between KRW 400,000 and500,000 (£225 and £282); a tuned for European conditions version will bereleased at a later date, however this will not be available for the 2013 summerseason. sg

Ecsta PS91


PRODUCT INFORMATION

NNZG, or Near Zero Growth, is a radialtechnology that uses aramid reinforcingcords to reduce casing growth due toinflation or centrifugal force, thereby con-siderably lengthening tyre lifespan. Thecord reduces casing growth (due to theeffects of inflation and centrifugal force attakeoff) to less than three per cent, com-pared with eight per cent for a nylon radi-al and 12 per cent for a standard cross-plytyre. Michelin claims its NZG radials aremore reliable, economical and environ-mentally friendly; the French tyre makerstates the technology enables up to 100per cent more landings and up to half asmany wheel changes, while 22 per centless raw material is used in a NZG radialin comparison with a standard cross-plyequivalent.

Commercial operators are being tar-geted with the Michelin AIR X for theAirbus A350-XWB range, a tyre availablein sizes 1050x395R16/28/245 and1400xx530R23/42/235. The tyre has beencertified for fitment on the new twinjetDreamliner rival, which is scheduled toenter service from 2014. Compared to an

equivalent radial nylon tyre, the new AIR X offers weightreduction of up to ten per cent,30 per cent more landings and30 per cent more FOD resist-ance.

Michelin’s latest offering forthe regional segment is theAIR X for the BombardierCSeries range. This is availablein sizes 27x8.5R12/16/225 andH42x15.0R21/26/225, andcompared with the equivalent cross-plytyre it gives up to 25 per cent weightreduction, 100 per cent more landingsand 50 per cent greater FOD resistance.Michelin has been selected as sole sup-plier for the new twinjet CSeries range,which is scheduled to enter service in2014.

The AIR X for general aviation cust-omers includes Michelin’s new tyre forthe Cessna Citation X, the world’s fastestbusiness jet. The new aircraft, which isscheduled to enter service late this year,has been certified for the AIR X in size26x6.6R14/14/210. Compared with a tra-

ditional cross-ply tyre, the AIR X offers aweight reduction of up to 40 per cent, 50per cent more landings and 50 per centmore FOD resistance.

Military customers have not been for-gotten; at the show Michelin presentedthe AIR X for the new Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II multirole fighter. Thistyre is produced in size 34x11.0R17/26/288 and gives a weight reduction ofup to 20 per cent compared with an equi-valent cross-ply tyre, plus 40 per centmore FOD resistance. Michelin suppliestyres to the new Lockheed Martin F-35ALightning II on a single source basis. sg

Michelin shows latest editions to aviation rangeMichelin unveiled a quartet of new aviation tyres at the 2013 Paris Air Show. Intended for thefour main segments of the aerospace market, the new radials feature NZG technology and areaimed at a broad range of aircraft manufacturers.

The four new fitments cover a broad range ofapplications

TO COINCIDE WITH the Paris Air Show 2013gets under way, Dunlop Aircraft Tyres announ-ced it will supply original equipment tyres to theAirbus Military A400M transport aircraft. Thefirst A400M is being delivered to the French AirForce, and the tyres fitted feature new foreignobject damage (FOD) resistance tyre technolo-gy that has been developed by Dunlop AircraftTyres. This sidewall technology for cross-plytyres increases their suitability for operationsfrom semi and unprepared airstrips, and thematerials used lend added protection to thetread area.

“Our new tyres for the A400M are an exam-ple of Dunlop continuing to push the boundariesin both civil and military tyre technology,” said

the company’s chairman,Ian Edmondson. “Theybuild on our experience inthe military sector and willhelp protect the aircraftwhen it operates to andfrom unprepared airstrips.”

More than 170 AirbusMilitary A400M transportaircraft have been orderedby Belgium, France,Germany, Luxembourg,Malaysia, Spain, Turkey and the UK; these willbe delivered on Dunlop Tyres. sg

A Dunlop-shod A400Mtaking to the air from itsfinal assembly locationin Spain

Dunlop OE for Airbus Military A400M

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CITEXPO PREVIEW

11th CITExpo to be largest show everALTHOUGH THERE ARE STILL SOME THREE MONTHS until the opening of the 11th ChinaInternational Tire Expo, the show’s organiser says the number of stands booked andfloorspace have already set a new record. According to Wilko Fong, managing directorof Reliable International Exhibition Services, he expects more than 320 exhibitors atCITExpo 2013 to occupy 24,000 square metres of exhibition space in the three halls ofthe Shanghai Everbright Convention and Exhibition Center.

Wilko Fong, managing director of CITExpoorganiser Reliable International ExhibitionServices, believes the show has the poten-tial to become one of the industry’s best-attended events

“It is encouraging that CITExpo has been growing every year forthe past ten years, since the first show launched in 2003, eventhough there has been a global economic crisis during this time,”commented Fong. “The show could become one of the mostattended shows in the global tyre industry, not only because it isheld in China, the largest tyre production and consumption mar-ket, but also because the highly internationalised buyers of thisshow are of a high quality and quantity that has exceeded exhi-bitors’ expectations.

Wilko Fong believes CITExpo 2013 will continue to provide anexcellent and highly important platform for global tyre industryprofessionals to meet and create business opportunities.Leading names from within the domestic and international tyre,wheel and equipment industry, including Cooper, Double Coin,Stamford, Techking, Triangle have signed up for the exhibition andwill showcase their latest products and services to buyers, whoare expected to attend from over 100 countries worldwide.

Building on 2012 success

At the close of last year’s CITExpo, Wilko Fong told Tyres &Accessories that the three-day show had been highly successful.He reported the attendance of 7,195 visitors, a slight improve-ment over 2011. Just over 42 per cent of these, 3,035 visitors tobe precise, came from outside of China. “Some say we have somany Chinese distributors but I say the show is very internatio-nal,” Fong observed. “International buyers are coming here tomeet new suppliers. They can see a lot of new, improved pro-ducts here.”

The majority of last year’s 305 exhibitors (up from 298 in2011) were Chinese-based companies, however Tyres &Accessories noted that a large number of these were gearedtowards international markets and some were exclusively export-oriented. While Europe remained an important destination formany CITExpo 2012 exhibitors, others commented that the regi-on’s economic problems and the introduction of new tyre-relatedlegislation have made Europe less attractive. A recurrent themewhen talking to exhibitors was the growing significance theMiddle East and African markets holds for Chinese manufactu-rers and distributors.

TYRES & ACCESSORIES 7/2013


CITEXPO PREVIEW

According to the organiser, pre-registration will save you time atthe admissions counter

More than 40% of CITExpo visitors came from outside of China

8th Automotive Testing Expo (China)

Those remaining in Shanghai following the close ofplay at CITExpo 2013 have the opportunity to attendthe local edition of a significant European automotiveindustry show.

During the week following CITExpo, the organiserwill once again host an event it describes as one ofthe most famous events in the automobile manufactu-ring industry – Automotive Testing Expo. AutomotiveTesting Expo China 2013 is set to capitalise on China’srapid growth in new car sales and the need for higherquality and safer vehicles by bringing together theworld’s leading test equipment manufacturers andtest service providers in an intense three-day extrava-ganza.

Visitors who pre-register online at www.citepxo.com.cn will enjoy free admission, fast registration line,a copy of the show catalogue and a limited editionsouvenir. sg


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Exhibitor Name Booth#QINGDAO WANLINING INTERNATIONAL TRADING CO.,LTD. 3428ACE ALLOY CO., LTD. 2806ACTIVETOOLS(SHANGHAI)CO.,LTD 3416ALORD MARKETING INC. 6119ANCHI ALUMINIUM WHEEL CO.,LTD. 2616ANHUI AUHER ALUMINUM TECHOLOGY CO.,LTD. 5012ANHUI FASTER AUTO PARTS CO.,LTD. 5700AUFINE GROUP CO., LIMITED 0300BARCINO TYRE COMPANY S.L.U. 2015BENTON TYRE & RUBBER CO. 1510BEST CHOICE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CO., LTD. 0315BESTYRE INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIAL LIMITED 2728BLUE OCEAN ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT LTD. 3010BSA MARKETING SDN BND 3018CANGZHOU FEICHI AUTO ACCESSORIES CO.,LTD. 6307CANTOP INTERNATIONAL ? QINGDAO) CO.,LTD. 5905CATHAY AVIATION INDUSTRIAL(XI`AN)LTD. 6212CHINA STONE BUSINESS LTD. 5728CHINA TYRES DISTRIBUTION LTD. 2822CHINA WHEEL CO.,LTD. 5520CHINA ZHONGLV ALLOY WHEEL CO.,LTD. 5930CHIPING XINFA ALUMINOUS PRODUCTION CO.,LTD. 2812CHONCHE AUTO DOUBLE HAPPINESS TYRE CO.,LTD 6122COOPER CHENGSHAN ? SHANDONG) TIRE CO.,LTD. 0506CROWN TYRE INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD. 0510D&Y ALLOY WHEEL MANUFACTURE LTD. 5103DACHENG AUTO PARTS 2800DONGYING FANG XING RUBBER CO., LTD. 0003DONGYING GUANQIU RUBBER CO .,LTD. 3108DONGYING ZHONGYI RUBBER CO., LTD. 2107DOUBLE COIN HOLDINGS LTD. 2008DOUBLESTAR DONGFENG TYRE CO.,LTD. 5908DURATTI RUBBER CORPORATION CO., LTD 2507EASTUP TYRES 3106EASY TEC LIMITED 3223ENERCELL CO.,LTD. 6006ENJOY TYRE CO.,LTD. 1512EVERGREEN GLOBAL PTE LTD 1515EVERGREEN TIRE 0518FAIRWAY (QINGDAO) TYRE CO.,LTD 5105FLAME RUBBER & TIRE CO., LTD. 3100FLY TIRE CO.,LTD 6128FOSHAN SANSHUI ANJIE ALUMINIUM WHEEL CO., LTD. 6228FREEMAN RACING WHEELS INC 2525FUJIAN SHENLIKA ALUMINUM INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT CO.,LTD. 2120FULLRUN TYRE CORP.,LTD. 0306FUTEX ALLOY (CHANGSHU) CO., LTD. 2828FUYANG FUCHUN TYRE CO.,LTD. 5926GEMSY FORGED ALUMINUM WHEEL CO.,LTD. 5710GENTEX 3406GLOBAL UNION INDUSTRY LIMITED 0126GOLDSTAR TYRE CO., LTD 3121GOODTIRE (ZHANGJIAGANG) RUBBER INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD. 0123GOR TRADING (UK)CO.,LTD 2607GRANDSTONE TYRE CORPORATION LIMITED 1228GREAT POWER INTERNATIONAL TRADING LIMITED 6508GUANGDONG GREATOO MOLDS INC. 2920

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GUANGYUAN ANYU ALUMINIUM WHEEL CO.,LTD. 5826GUANGZHOU LINHENG TRADE CO.,LTD 5617HANGZHOU SHUNYUAN TIRE MANUFACTURE CO., LTD. 5330HARVEST TYRE & WEEEL CO.,LIMITED 5806HEBEI PAN ASIAN WHEEL WEIGHTS CO., LTD 6308HEBEI TIANRUI RUBBER CO., LTD. 3323HENGTIAN TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT CO.,LTD. 5918HONGFENG RUBBRE CO., LTD. 5205HONGRUN TYRE IMP.? EXP. CO., LTD. 3228HUBEI ANGYUN ALLOY WHEEL CO.,LTD. 5717HUBEI XINJIE ALUMINUM ALLOY WHEEL CO., LTD. 6330HUNG TA INSTRUMENT CO.,LTD. 6202INFORGED INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD 5130INOVIT WHEELS CORP LTD. 1106JAPAN TOYOMOTO TIRE CORP. 1528JIANDECITY YANSHENG ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE CO., LTD. 6317JIANGSU GENERAL SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY CO.,LTD. 0515JIANGSU KAITE AUTOMOBILE PARTS CO.,LTD. 3212JIANGSU KC WHEEL CO., LTD. 5400JIANGSU RM WHEEL CO.,LTD 5715JIANGSU SANHE ALUMINUM WHEEL MANUFACTURING CO., LTD. 6115JIANGYIN CHUANGXIN TYRE VALVE CO.,LTD. 3206JIANGYIN KEQIANG INDUSTRY RUBBERIZED CO., LTD. 6005JIANGYIN PREMIER AUTOPARTS INDUSTRY CO.,LTD. 6219JIANGYIN TIANYI VALVE CORES CO., LTD. 6125

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rJIANXIN RUBBER (FUJIAN) CO.,LTD. 5912JIASHAN ZHENYANG AUTO PARTS CO.,LTD. 3127JIN CHENG ROAD-BROTHER CO.,LTD 6302JJWHEEL MANUFACTURING CO., LTD. 6106KARO TYRES CO.,LIMITED 0118KINFOREST TYRE CO., LTD. 1210KINGHWA TOPTRUE WHEEL CO., LTD. 3402KORYO TYRES INDUSTRIAL(CHINA) LTD. 0521KUNSHAN YAO TECK ELECTROME CHANICAL CO,.LTD 5506L2 FUTURISTIC WHEELS CO. LTD. 5915LANDMAX INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. 2906LIANYUNGANG ALLEN IRON STEEL CO.,LTD. 6117LIAONING PERMANENT TYRE CO.,LTD. 5705LUHAI HOLDING CORP. 3218M AND T SOURCING LIMITED 6002MASTER PACIFIC/TWG 2020MAXGUARD WHEEL ACCESSORIES 6018MAXIMPLE INTERATIONAL LIMITEDZ. 0800MAXON INT`L CO., LIMITED. 1118MEISHAN HUAKAI ALLOY WHEEL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. 5525MNL INTERNATIONAL LTD. 2916MORE TYRE AND SPARE PARTS CO., LTD. 6217MST TYRE LIMITED 3202NANJING DICASTAL HUASHUN WHEELS CO.LTD 2802NANNAR ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY? DONGGUAN? CO.,LTD. 6001NDI TIRE (QINGDAO) CO.,LTD. 3216NEUPRO TIRE 5519NINGBO ABLE RUBBER & AUTO PARTS CO.,LTD. 1508NINGBO BAODY AUTOPARTS CO.,LTD 0810NINGBO CROWN ALLOY WHEEL TECHNOLOGY CO.,LTD 5120NINGBO ELIDE MECHANICAL CO.,LTD. 3208NINGBO FORTUNE AUTO PARTS CO., LTD. 0928NINGBO JIALUN VEHICLE INDUSTRY CO.,LTD. 6325NINGBO LIZHAN IMPORT AND EXPORT CO.,LTD. 5517NINGBO OUYA DAOCHENG AUTOPARTS INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 1502NINGBO WAYWELL MACHINERY CO., LTD. 6319NINGBO XINGXING GAUGE FACTORY 6220NINGBO YINZHOU HUACHI AUTO PARTS CO., LTD. 6118NINGBO YINZHOU JINUO AUTO ACCESSORIES CO.,LTD. 2900NINGBO YINZHOU QIYAO AUTO PARTS FACTORY 5900NINGBO YONGQI ALUMINIUM WHEEL MFG CO., LTD. 5515NINGBO ZHONGDA VALVE WICK CO.,LTD. 2902NOBLE CO.,LTD. 2512NORD WHEEL CO.,LTD. 5110ORNATE RUBBER CORPORATION LIMITED 2725ORONES TYRES,S.L. 6318PANAN SHUANGXIONG AULMINIUM CO.,LTD. 5817PDW INTERNATIONAL. 2620PILOTDOER WHEEL CO.,LTD. 2816PINGDU ZIHAI RUBBER MANUFACTORY 6305POWERWAY TIRES CO.,LTD. 3322PROFIL SP.J. - POLAND 5726Q AND J INDUSTRIAL GROUP CO.,LTD. 2502QAN SEN 3000QINGDAO AONUO TYRE CO.,LTD. 0918QINGDAO AUSHINE TYRE CO.,LTD. 0323QINGDAO DITRIP TYRE CO., LTD. 0115QINGDAO EVERGREAT TYRE CO.,LTD. 3006QINGDAO FLEMING TYRE CO.,LTD. 2825


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QINGDAO FLORESCENCE RUBBER PRODUCTS CO.,LTD. 3123QINGDAO FREE TRADE ZONE HONG TYRE INDUSTRY & COMMERCE CO., LTD. 2118QINGDAO GENCO INDUSTRIAL GROUP CO.,LTD 2030QINGDAO GLORYRED INTERNATIONAL TRADE CO.,LTD. 3008QINGDAO HAISHILIN RUBBER CO.,LTD 2908QINGDAO HANS TYRE CO.,LTD 5008QINGDAO HENGDA TYRE CO.,LTD. 2820QINGDAO HISINCE GROUP CO.,LTD 1215QINGDAO HONGHUA TYRE FACTORY 2922QINGDAO JINGCHENG RUBBER PRODUCTS CO., LTD. 6327QINGDAO JUNJIE TIRE CO.,LTD. 3410QINGDAO KETER TYRE CO.,LIMITED 0012QINGDAO KOOWAI TYRE CO.,LTD. 5902QINGDAO LAKESEA TYRE CO.,LTD. 2925QINGDAO LAMPOLL RUBBER LIMITED. 2528QINGDAO MAXTOP INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 5706QINGDAO NAMA INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD. 1517QINGDAO ODYKING TYRE CO.,LTD. 0110QINGDAO POPLAR TIRE CO.,LTD. 2815QINGDAO QINGTAI IMP AND EXP CO.,LTD 5108QINGDAO QIZHOU RUBBER CO. LTD. 1206QINGDAO RHINO INT`L CO., LTD. 0310QINGDAO SUNLAND INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. 6306QINGDAO TAIHAO TIRE CO., LTD. 5708QINGDAO WANGYU RUBBER CO.,LTD. 1519QINGDAO WAYSTONE TIRE CO., LTD. 3412QINGDAO WEIHANG INDUSTRY AND TRADE CO.,LTD. 0925QINGDAO YONGDAO INTERNATIONAL TRADE CO., LTD. 2500QINGDAO ZHONGHAO XIANGSU CO., LTD. 6203QINHUANGDAO XINGLONG WHEELS CO., LTD. 5503ROAD SCENERY HOLDING (U.K.) LTD 1500RODEO INTERNATIONAL TRADING CO.,LTD. 5050RUIAN FACING SUN AUTOMOBILE WHEEL FACTORY 3415RUIAN FENGHUA RUBBER PRODUCTS CO.LTD. 6227RUIAN ZHENGTAI RUBBER CO., LTD. 3204SAFFIRO TIRES CO., LIMITED 0526SAGIRUN CORPORATION LIMITED 2912SCHRADER ENGINEERED PRODUCTS (KUNSHAN) CO.,LTD 6328SCLT GROUP LTD 5702SD INTERNATIONAL 0718SEYEN HEAVY INDUSTRIES? SHANGHAI) CO., LTD. 5906SHANDONG BETTER WHEEL CO. LTD. 5719SHANDONG DERUIBAO TIRE CO.,LTD. 1100SHANDONG DONGYING ZHENGYU WHEEL CO., LTD. 3304SHANDONG FENGLUN TYRE CO.,LTD. 2600SHANDONG GAOTIAN METAL MANUFACTURING CO.? LTD. 6225SHANDONG GUOFENG RUBBER PLASTICS CO., LTD. 5310SHANDONG HAOYU RUBBER CO., LTD. 5721SHANDONG HENGYU RUBBER CO.,LTD. 1110SHANDONG HOMERUN TIRES CO.,LTD. 0726SHANDONG HONGSHENG RUBBER CO.,LTD. 1521SHANDONG O`GREEN WHEELS CO.,LTD. 0001SHANDONG SHENGTAI WHEEL CO. LTD. 5203SHANDONG SHUANGWANG RUBBER CO.,LTD 2327SHANDONG TRANSTONE TYRE CO.,LTD. 2520SHANDONG WANLITONG TYRE CO., LTD. 3012SHANDONG WANSHINE TIRE CO.,LTD 5921SHANDONG WEIFANG GOLDSHIELD TYRE CO.,LTD. 2115SHANDONG WOSEN RUBBER CO.,LTD. 5305

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rSHANDONG XINGMIN WHEEL CO.LTD. 3226SHANDONG YINBAO TYRE GROUP CO.,LTD 2116SHANDONG YIXIANG RUBBER CO., LTD. 6003SHANDONG YONGTAI CHEMICAL GROUP CO.,LTD. 0815SHANDONG ZHENTAI TYRE CO.,LTD. 3220SHANGDONG ZHENGWANGKUN MACHINERY CO.,LTD 6321SHANGHAI ARUIS MOTOR CO., LTD. 5500SHANGHAI DOUBLE DYNASTY MFG CO., LTD. 2915SHANGHAI HAOHORSE TRADE CO., LTD 3431SHANGHAI JIHOO IMPORT&EXPORT CO.,LTD. 3200SHANGHAI MAIHUADA INDUSTRY LIMITED COMPANY 6017SHENGTAI RUBBER GROUP CO.,LID. 0906SHENYANG TRIPRO RUBBER CO.,LTD. 3326SHIFENG JUXING TIRE CO., LTD. 0318SINORIENT TYRE CO., LTD. 6102SINOTYRE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY LIMITED 6112SINOTYRE INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LTD 2928STAMFORD TYRES (GUANGZHOU) LIMITED 2103STAR TYRE GROUP SHANGHAI CO.,LTD. 5917SUMEC GROUP CORPORATION 2615SUNTOP TIRE (WUXI) CO.,LTD. 3310SYNERGY TIRES INC. 3023TANCO TIRE INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD. 2612TECHKING TIRES LIMITED 0500TED MOTORSPORT CO., LTD. 3016TIANJIN CENTURY RUBBER CO.LTD 1225TIANJIN JAL WHEEL CO., LTD. 6007TIREMART (QINGDAO) INC. 2515TIUMSUN RUBBER TIRE (WEIHAI) CO., LTD. 3015TONGDALIAN CO.,LTD. 1218TOP TYRE INDUSTRY CO., LIMITED 5603TOUCHDOWN INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. 2225TYREBOX GLOBAL LTD 6312TYREWAY LIMITED 3112UNIFORCE TIRES LIMITED 2609UNIRACING ? NINGBO? MANUFACTURING CO.,LTD. 5125VEE RUBBER CORPORATION LTD. 3222VENUS GLOBAL INVESTMENTS P.L.C. 5712VIZZONI INTERNATIONAL LIMITED 3027WEIFANG CAMRUN RUBBER CO.,LTD. 5030WEIFANG CITY JIHANG RUBBER CO.,LTD. 5910WEIFANG HUIXIN TYRE CO., LIMITED 6311WEIFANG LUTONG RUBBER CO., LTD. 3422WEIFANG YUELONG RUBBER CO.,LTD. 5115WEIHAI PING`AN TYRE CO.,LTD. 2028WEIHAI RUNTONG RUBBER CO.,LTD. 3020WENLING YAODING MACHINE CO.,LTD. 5805WINRUN TYRE CO., LTD. 2101WINSOON GROUP(SHANGHAI) LTD. 3408WUHU HUANGYAN INDUSTRIAL CORP 2320WUYI SUNRISE WHEEL MANUFACTURE CO., LTD. 5512WUYI XINFEIYA LEISURE PRODUCTS CO.,LTD 5530XIAMEN AUTOTOP TECHNOLOGY CORP. 6100XIAMEN DRAINKTET TECHNOLOGY CO.,LTD. 6310XIAMEN SUNRISE WHEEL GROUP CO., LTD. 0921XIAN COUNTY HUIJIEQUN AUTO PARTS FACTORY 6218XIANGYANG HENGDE AUTO PARTS CO.,LTD. 6108XIANXIAN YONGSHENG AUTO PARTS FACTORY 3302XINGYUAN TIRE GROUP CO.,LTD. 0806


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XUZHOU XUGONG TYRES CO.,LTD. 1126XUZHOU XUGONG TYRES CO.,LTD. 1126YANGZHOU HAINA MECHINERY CO.,LTD. 5802YINGKOU TONGGUANG AUTOMOTIVE MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT CO.,LTD. 1506YUYAO CITY HENGXING VEHICLE INDUSTRY CO.,LTD. 6326ZHANJIANG GLOBAL STEEL WHEEL MANUFACTURING CO.,LTD. 6000ZHAOQING JUNHONG TIRE CO.,LTD. 0100ZHEJIANG AUTOM ALUMINUM WHEEL CO.,LTD. 5118ZHEJIANG BAOKANG WHEEL MANUFACTURE CO.,LTD. 2516ZHEJIANG BUYANG AUTO WHEEL CO., LTD. 2109ZHEJIANG CHANGXING HONGCHENG RUBBER PRODUCTS CO., LTD. 5301ZHEJIANG CHUANGDA INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. 5320ZHEJIANG DICASTAL HONGXIN TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. 2509ZHEJIANG FENGCHI MECHANICAL CO., LTD 0120ZHEJIANG HENGZHENG AUTOPART LTD. 5619ZHEJIANG HONGSHENG INDUSTRY & TRADE CO., LTD. 6206ZHEJIANG HONGYUAN WHEEL CO.,LTD. 5510ZHEJIANG JINGU COMPANY LIMITED 1115ZHEJIANG JINQUAN MACHINERY CO.,LTD. 5101ZHEJIANG JUJIU HUB CO.,LTD. 5919ZHEJIANG MIRO INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL CO.,LTD. 6207ZHEJIANG QI CHENG AUTO WHEELS CO., LTD. 5317ZHEJIANG QINGDA RUBBER CO.,LTD. 6300ZHEJIANG TAILONG ALUMINIUM WHEEL CO.,LTD. 5010ZHEJIANG WANJI INDUSTRY & TRADE CO., LTD. 6323ZHEJIANG XINGHUI ALUMINIUM WHEEL CO., LTD. 6315ZHEJIANG XTRASEAL TIRE SUPPLY CO.LTD. 3420ZHEJIANG YONGYOU INDUSTRIAL & TRADING CO.,LTD 6110ZHEJIANG YUELING CO. LTD. 2112ZHEJIANG ZENT AUTO WHEEL CO., LTD. 2808ZHENGXING VEHICLE WHEEL CO., LTD. OF SHAOGUAN 2918ZHENGXING WHEEL GROUP CO.,LTD. 5625ZHUCHENG GUOXIN RUBBER CO., LTD. 5225ZUMBO WHEELS 2602

TYRES & ACCESSORIES 7/2013

YET ENVIRONMENTALISM – the key theme in the 2012 Beijing summit,covered in the May issue of T&A – took a back seat to globalisation thisyear, as Ding concluded his introductory remarks by mentioningTriangle’s intentions to “build an international talent pool, developingglobal strategy and cooperation and using regional resources.” This toowas the subject of the assistant mayor of Weihai Municipality ChenNing’s welcome address, who opined that in a global “economicslowdown… upstream-downstream communication” assumes greaterimportance, stressing the importance of promoting “global cooperati-on” and “international partnerships”.

The key example of this from the conference – and certainly themost important news to come out of the meeting this year from a UKtyre business point of view – was the announcement of Triangle’s pur-chase of a 10 per cent share in its UK distributor, Norfolk’s TYMInternational (see T&A June for more on this), as well as similar invest-ment’s in Australia (Consolidated Tyre Company) and Russia (SP-Tyre) inthe first phase of the manufacturer’s “capital strategic collaborationproject”.

This is one of the ways in which Triangle is demonstrating practicalways of implementing its globalisation approach, as recommended bythe conference’s first major guest speaker, economist Zhang Guoqing

Triangle’s 2013 globalsummit exemplifies

Chinese globalisationambitions

The theme of globalisation loomed large over Chinese tyremanufacturer Triangle’s latest Global Business Summit, heldin the China Hall of the older Grand Tower of Pudong,Shanghai’s Shangri-La Hotel. While the chairman of the boardDing Yuhua’s conference starting theme speech riffed on thetheme with regard to manufacturing processes, employeebase and international trends, the presence of delegates fromaround the world reinforced the message the world’s 16th lar-gest tyre manufacturer’s message – Triangle suppliers fromthree continents travelled with Tyres & Accessories to theShangri-La from Pudong International, to underline a point. Inthe coming year, Ding Yuhua said that Triangle is seeking to“speed up the transformation and upgrade [its] manufactu-ring to synchronise with the global economy,” while focusingon the environmental standards Triangle now characterises aspart of the “mainstream” in the post-REACH, post-labellinglandscape – in China as well as the rest of the world. This invol-ves greater investment in green production technology thathe says is yielding a “four per cent increase in energy efficien-cy yearly”.

96

Triangle’s Summit took place at the Shangri-La Hotel, one ofthe older parts of the famous Pudong skyline, which includesthe Oriental Pearl TV & Radio Tower


INTERNATIONAL TYRE MARKET

regional tyre wholesalers in each stateof Australia, and “actively supportsthem to gain market share. Most of ouroriginal distributors are still with usand several of them are here today.During the initial years, we recognised thatwe needed to distinguish the brand from its competitors, sowe began to focus on Triangle as a product that can competewith established tyre market leaders in quality, performance,value and reliability. We attended trade shows and advertised inindustry journals, always with an emphasis on the Trianglebrand name.

“This approach met accord with the market and enabled usmore effectively to promote the brand, including significantpenetration into the TBR and OEM market. Triangle quicklybecame one of the best known brands on the Australian tyremarket. The successful market penetration against establishedglobal brands in all market segments…

“Although our sales continue to grow, we recognise fiercecounter-attacking from the established brands, suggesting thatwe need to move to another level to further expand our marketshare. In particular the passenger car tyre market in Australia isvery competitive. The top three global brands occupy more thanhalf the market share through their comprehensive retail net-works. Other brands such as Hankook, Toyo, Maxxis andKumho successfully secured their market shares through localretail franchises. Therefore our next targetis to build Triangle retailand service networksto support the brand.

“We work closelywith Triangle marketresearch. With the latestdata published by theAustralian Bureau ofStatistics analysing vehi-cle registration and newcar sales data; attendingdomestic and internationaltrade shows; and reactingto product feedback fromour customers. The marketresearch is important to us to understand our competitors, andto provide data such as new fitment sizes to the factories.” TheConsolidated Tyre Company also exhibits Triangle at manyimportant Australian tyre shows, and advertises the brand in“the most professional” trade publication.

Similarly, SP-Tyre representative Mr Albert agreed displayedthe sort of closeness in relationship Triangle now has with itsRussian distributor, exemplifying the segments in whichTriangle may wish to grow in the country. Triangle, he told the400 visiting delegates, can now boast five per cent of theRussian OTR market, compared to the market leader Belshina’s49 per cent. Like Tampaline, he mentioned how other tyre

manufacturers had“implemented tyreservice centres suc-cessfully in Russia,”such as Michelin withTyreplus. He expres-sed his desire forTriangle to follow suit;to “disseminate its

message through servicecentres.”

Partnerships are not limited to regional distributors too, asanother speaker explained. Sophia Xing, country purchasingmanager, Caterpillar China said: “In 2005, Caterpillar startedbusiness [relations] with Triangle Tyre. In the eight years thathave passed, Triangle has already become a strategic partner ofCaterpillar… In the years to come we are expecting to see a[continuing] close collaboration with Triangle.”

We don’t want to sell, we want to marketWhile this investment in its global partners forms one part

of Triangle’s strategy – developing a closer relationship withexisting distributors – it is equally the case that the company isdeveloping its own globalised marketing strategy. One exampleof this has been the company’s operation in India, which beganin 2012. General manager of Triangle’s India office KC Pillai

spoke to delegates about how thecompany sees the Indian market spe-cifically, what Triangle can do thereand what it already has done there.

“India is a huge market for allcategories of tyres,” he said. “In2013, India has got a total commer-cial tyre market of around 16.5 mil-lion tyres, from which around 5.7million are radials – about 35 percent of the total market.” Thismarket is growing very fast, butthe expense of radialisation ismaking local producers reluctantto proceed, Pillai explained.However, Triangle has tested itstyres in the market with some

success, the general manager explained.“We don’t want to sell tyres in India; we want to market.”

Triangle is looking to make itself a more desirable brand in Indiathrough its marketing, and this is where its local India officecomes in. Pillai tells of how Triangle was already able todemonstrate to commercial tyre customers in India the additio-nal PPK value it offers over the market leader, yielding improveddemand in the marketplace. “Basically what I’m saying is thatwe want to market the tyres; we want to give the customerwhat they want,” he said. The company has a small staff on theground in India to create this additional demand, and to exploitthe growing market for products there. Pillai also exemplified

Art Villasol, director of customer enginee-ring at the Global Business and MarketDevelopment Center, demonstratesTriangle’s current global support reach

General manager of Triangle’s Indiaoffice KC Pillai



Last year, Voltyre-Prom held a 43 per cent market share inRussia’s agricultural tyre sector and 16 per cent in industrialtyres. The company produced around 1.35 million tyres duringthe year. According to RDIF, the consortium’s investment willallow Voltyre-Prom to update its operations, expand its producti-on of specialty tyres for international agricultural machinery andreduce imports by shifting production to Russia. The tyre makerwill also “begin to explore export opportunities,”

“Titan has plans to grow its tyre, wheel and track footprint inRussia and CIS countries,” commented Titan International chair-man and CEO Maurice Taylor. “John Deere, CNH, Agco andCaterpillar are just a few of Titan’s customers increasing their pre-sence in Russia and CIS, and Titan will be there to service themand end users of their equipment as this expansion occurs. It isTitan’s belief that the future growth of global farming and mininglies in Russia and CIS countries.”

“RDIF completed this deal alongside world class strategicpartners from both the global industrial and financial sectors,”said RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev. “The involvement of investors ofsuch scale underlines the growth prospects in the Russian agri-cultural sector. The expertise and knowledge of our partners willhelp shift the production of world-class tyres that currently takesplace overseas to Russia. This investment meets the fund’sobjectives and represents an exciting opportunity to get a foot-hold in this sector.”

“OEP and Titan welcome the opportunity to invest with RDIFto support the growth and development of Voltyre,” added DickCashin, managing partner of One Equity Partners. “RDIF hasbeen an exemplary partnerthroughout the transaction. Weare confident that we have theoptimal strategy in place toshare capabilities, maximisethe strength of Titan's brands,support Titan's demandinginternational customers, andwork with the very capablemanagement and workforce atVoltyre.”

Dmitry Sokov, CEO ofCordiant, commented: “Theagreement with the consorti-um will enable Cordiant to

focus on passenger and truck tyre markets. The deal also inclu-des a three-year distribution partnership program, with Cordiantselling Voltyre's passenger, truck and light truck tyres. Cordiantplans to invest almost US$550 million up to the end of 2018 toexpand its passenger and truck tyre business. This will increaseproduction capacity by up to 12 million tyres per year.”

Aftermarket effect a ‘bump in the road’

In June, Maurice Taylor also commented on the current marketsituation as Titan sees it through the first five months of 2013. “Ihave stated over and over that all the talk of tyre shortages hasbeen false. Well, in the past couple months, millions of dollars intyres have been dropped into the aftermarket from the OEM’s inthe farm and construction industries and also the mining comp -anies, who had built up inventories greater than a year and arenow releasing these tyres. This will affect every tyre manufactu-rer worldwide. The entire volume of tyres will have an aftermar-ket effect for a few months before things get back to normal. Wefeel that this is a bump in the road as we have experienced thisin the past. I think of all the overtime and weekend work to pro-duce tyres that go into building inventory and then when theysee the storage cost, they discount them into the aftermarket.The selling price of all our products is going down because ourmaterial cost has been dropping. The guidelines that I gave inDecember of 2012 will be adjusted downward, but I need to findout approximately how much the mining companies will belower ing their inventories.

“Titan sold 44 per cent of TitanAustralia to our Planet Group partnersso we could combine the companiesto get the best results and grow thebusiness. Bill Campbell took over theBryan tyre operation in April and hasbeen getting that facility back on track,and he feels the facility will continue toimprove through the year. We are stillmoving ahead on the acquisition trailand expect a number of these transac-tions to close before the end of thisyear. Overall, I still see this year as arecord year and one that will set thecourse for Titan’s growth.” sg

Titan managing partner in Cordiant deal2013 will set course for growth, says TaylorA consortium made up of US tyre maker Titan International, Russian government fund the Russian DirectInvestment Fund (RDIF), and private equity fund One Equity Partners (OEP) have reached an agreement in prin-ciple with Russian tyre holding Cordiant to invest in Russian agricultural and industrial tyre manufacturerVoltyre-Prom. The consortium will own a controlling stake in Voltyre-Prom, with Titan International becoming itsmanaging partner.

John Deere and several other Titan customers are increasingtheir presence in Russia, and Taylor says the tyre maker will betheir to service them and their end users



Toyo completes newMalaysian tyre plantToyo Tire & Rubber Co president Akira Nobuki has announced thecompletion of the company’s new tyre plant in Malaysia (TTM).Toyo is progressing towards a three-region global supply systemas outlined in the company’s 2011 mid-term business plan, withfactories in North America, Japan and Asia. Toyo’s Asia operationsare in a process of expanded motorisation where further growthof demand is expected. Toyo is positioning Asia as a vital strategicmarket that will provide a boost to its business foundation.

Toyo Tires chairman and representative director Kenji Nakakura remarked:“At TTM, we have implemented our proprietary ATOM tyre production sys-tem elemental technology. We will take full advantage of Japanese techno-logy in order to achieve Japanese quality here in Malaysia and supply world-class, high-performance, fuel-efficient tyres from this plant. I want us todeliver fantastic tyres made in Malaysia to our customers here and abroadand achieve the sentiment that the decision to choose Toyo Tires was theright one.”

TTM will be capable of producing 2.5 million tyres annually by the endof this year, and by 2015, the plant will aim to boost its annual supply capac -ity to five million tyres. While TTM will become a supply base for theSoutheast Asian market, Toyo plans to make it an export hub for the com-pany’s global tyre business. Toyo has built the plant with enough room onsite to double the existing output and has plans to expand further in thefuture. Currently though, TTM is a manufacturing and sales company thatproduces and sells tyres in Malaysia.

Toyo explained its TTM plant concept as having four major facets: ener-gy efficiency, high quality, high productivity and non-skill dependent.

Toyo says it has implemented tyre production technology to reduce theamount of energy used in the manufacturing process. The plant will usesolar power and LED lighting in the administrative offices, Toyo exemplifies.To ensure quality, TTM also implements equipment and systems alreadycurrently operating at other Toyo Tires plants in Japan and overseas. This willminimise variation in the finished goods and in the parts prior to tyre mould -ing.

ATOM, Toyo Tires’ proprietary tyre production system, has been adopt -ed at plants in Japan, the US, and China already. It enables more preciselycontrolled manufacturing while reducing lead time in the production pro-cess as well as the overall number of processes. In terms of operationalfriendliness not dependent upon specialised skill, Toyo has establishedoper ation processes and environments and adoption of automation and ITtechnology for the production process.

A local ceremony celebrating the opening of TTM was attended byaround 350 people. Guests included ambassador Shigeru Nakamura of theEmbassy of Japan in Malaysia, Dr. Rebecca Fatimasta Maria, secretarygeneral of Ministry of International Trade & Industry as a representativesfrom Malaysia’s national government and the state of Perak, the locality ofTaiping, and parties involved in the plant’s construction. akb

Nizhnekamskshinaaiming for 11.5Mtyres in 2013ON 14 JUNE, Russian tyre maker Nizhnek-amskshina held its annual general meeting inNizhnekamsk, Tatarstan. Shareholders were toldthat the company was developing and had “main-tained a stable position as one of the tyre indus-try leaders in 2012,” and that of the 41.85 milliontyres produced in the Russian Federation lastyear, 10.31 million, or 24.6 per cent, were manu-factured by Nizhnekamskshina. The productionplan for 2013 sets out a target output of 11.54 mil-lion tyres, a year-on-year increase of 11.9 per cent.

A stated priority for the Tatneft-owned tyremaker last year was the renewal of its productportfolio; Nizhnekamskshina reported that itbegan producing seven new tyre models during2012, and so-called ‘innovative’ products nowaccount for 20.8 per cent of total output.

“The past year can be characterised as a yearof further modernisation of the tyre production,”shared a Nizhnekamskshina account of the meet -ing. “Starting from the second quarter of 2012 thecompany has been implementing a project toincrease Kama Euro and Viatti tyre production by1,300,000 pieces, which will bring their producti-on to 4,500,000 tyres per year. In addition, majorinvestment projects were implemented, such asprocess equipment modernisation and the provi-sion of own domestic potable and process waterfor the JSC Tatneft petrochemical complex.” sg

Shafagat Takhautdinov, directorgeneral of parent company Tatneft,speaks at the AGM

S



Steve Evered, vice-president of govern-ment affairs for Michelin, serves as inau-gural chairman of the Tire Manufacturers’Council. The chair will rotate amongmember companies annually. “SouthCarolina will soon become the largesttyre manufacturing state in the countryand currently ranks first among states intyre exports. The establishment of theTire Manufacturers’ Council is an ack-nowledgement of the significant impactof the industry on the state’s economy,”said Evered.

Over the last 22 months, Michelin hascommitted to invest more than US$1.15billion in South Carolina expansions.During the same time, BridgestoneAmericas has committed to invest $1.2billion to expand its South Carolina capa-city. Continental Tire’s South Carolinainvestment totals more than $500 milli-on. Upon the completion of recentlyannounced expansions, these three tyremakers will employ more than 12,000employees in the state, making tyremanufacturing one of the largest industri-

al sector employers in South Carolina.“South Carolina is quickly becoming a

global manufacturing powerhouse, and itis vital that we keep our eye toward futu-re growth by committing to completingdredging at the Port of Charleston andinvesting in workforce development.These issues are important to all SouthCarolina businesses, but especially signi-ficant to the tyre manufacturing industry,”said Otis Rawl, president and CEO of theSouth Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

sg

Tyre makers join South Carolina manufacturers’ councilLATE LAST MONTH a new organisation was formed torepresent tyre makers in a region some refer to as the“tyre capital of North America”. The establishment of theTire Manufacturers’ Council was announced by theSouth Carolina Chamber of Commerce on 29 May; it

says the council’s aim is to “evaluate and propose poli-cies relating to the manufacture of tyres in SouthCarolina.” Foundation members include Michelin NorthAmerica, Bridgestone Americas and Continental Tirethe Americas.

Continental has confirmed it will invest around €100million increasing production capacity at its Puchovtruck and bus tyre factory in Slovakia, boosting capa-city from some 2.6 million tyres a year to over threemillion tyres. Puchov, Continental’s largest truck andbus tyre production facility within the EMEA (Europe,Middle East and Africa) region, will also receive“extensive upgrades” to machinery and infrastructurein order to achieve maximum production efficiency.

“Despite the currently challenging economic situation inEurope, we see a considerable increased demand for ourtruck and bus tyre business in the mid-term,” commented Dr.Andreas Esser, head of Continental’s Commercial VehicleTires business unit. “With the exploration especially of thegrowth markets in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa weforesee further potential in the years to come. In order toaccommodate this rising demand in the near future, we have toexpand and upgrade our largest production plant in EMEA furt-her.”

Thierry Wipff, Conti’s head of Manufacturing CommercialVehicle Tires, added that “Puchov will be the first plant to pro-duce our new Generation 3 bus tyres. By this investment, we

will increase our agility to follow the market demands.” He alsocommented that “in order to sustain a technology leader posi-tion and provide our customers with best-in-class products, weare constantly optimising our processes and production techni-ques.”

According to Continental, the exact timing of the stepwisecapacity increase and corresponding invest will “depend on themarket development and its influence on the customers’demand for truck and bus tyres.” sg

Conti’s Puchov site

Conti upgrading Puchov plant, boosting TBR capacity

Page 33.indd 1 10/06/2013 14:43

T


SMMT names Mike Hawes as chief executiveThe SMMT has announced that Michael Hawes will be joiningas its new chief executive in the early Autumn. According to theassociation, he will lead the executive team that will promotethe interests and successes of the UK motor industry and helpaddress the challenges of the current climate. He will alsoensure the SMMT delivers stronger representation and enga-gement with all its stakeholders and help accelerate growth ofthe two key subsidiary companies: SMMT Industry ForumLimited and Motor Codes Limited.

“I am very proud to be joining the SMMT as its new chiefexecutive”, said Mike Hawes. “The SMMT is a highly respectedand influential trade association, valued by all stakeholders. Myrole will be to build on this reputation and grow the value andrange of services provided to our members.”

Tim Abbott, SMMT President, said, “I couldn’t be morepleased to welcome Mike Hawes as SMMT’s new ChiefExecutive. Mike brings a tremendous amount of expertise,both in terms of automotive industry experience and the skillsnecessary for the job. I would also like to thank Mike Baunton

for his support as Interim ChiefExecutive of SMMT since theend of January,” continued Tim.“He has provided the leadershipthe organisation needed duringthis time and will continue hisengagement with SMMT asChairman and Non-ExecutiveDirector of SMMT IndustryForum.”

Mike Hawes has more than20 years’ experience in policyand public affairs, the majorityof which has been spent in the motor industry. He joins SMMTfrom Bentley Motors where he held a number of PR, corpora-te and public affairs roles. Having also worked for both Toyotaand, more recently, Bentley’s parent company, Volkswagen AG,he has the European and global knowledge needed for thischallenging role. cja

LEADERSHIP OF THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET DIVISIONAL BOARD was takenon by Dr. Uwe Thomas as of 1 July. The 56-year old, whose career at Bosch spanssome 24 years, has been chairman of the Divisional Board of Robert Bosch CarMultimedia GmbH since March 2006. After studying Business Studies and receivinghis doctorate at the University of Mannheim, he joined Bosch’s AutomotiveAftermarket division in 1989 as department manager for product management oftrade products. After holding several positions in the division in Paris and working asdirector of Exports, at the start of 2001 he joined the board of Robert Bosch AG,Vienna, where he was responsible for the retail sales division in Central and EasternEurope. In 2003, he was appointed sole director of the Austrian Bosch subsidiary, arole he held for approximately three years.

Under Robert Hanser's leadership, Bosch’s Automotive Aftermarket divisionunderwent a fundamental change in strategy from a pure trading company to a com-prehensive systems provider for the global workshop market. The diagnostics divisi-on was expanded and production sites were also set up worldwide to manufactureparts for the workshop market. Today, the Bosch division has a turnover of over 5 bil-lion euros and employs around 17,000 people at 150 locations worldwide. sg

After seven years as chairman of the Automotive Aftermarket Divisional Board at Robert BoschGmbH, Robert Hanser is stepping down on 30 June. The company says he is doing so due to hisage. From 1 July, Hanser will join the Bosch Management Support GmbH board of management,a body of senior experts who act in an advisory capacity for Bosch across the world.

Mike Hawes

Dr. Uwe Thomas

Bosch appoints new Automotive Aftermarket board chairman


“I’m dedicated to strengthen our existing relationships andexpand the business in the UK. We are developing our privatelabel which will give us great opportunities in the UK. The firsttyres are expected in September and I look forward to marketthem in the UK,” Lems said in response to his appointment.

In 2012 S&H Tyres invested and moved to a new locationwith a state of the art office and warehouse. The automatedmodern warehouse has four floors and a conveyor belt sys-tem, offering storage capacity of more than 300,000 tyres. Allthis makes S&H Tyres confident that it can maintain andstrengthen its position of being a well-respected and compe-titive player in the international tyre business.

The company slogan “business is people” underlines thedetermination to offer a personal service in tyre wholesaling.

Doing business based on mutual trust and pleasant coopera-tion, S&H Tyres reports that it aims to build long term relati-onships with both customers and suppliers.

S&H Tyres is an international wholesaler with years ofexperience in trading numerous brands. Founded by SimonKlapwijk and Henk van Dijk in 2002, the company is headquar-tered in The Netherlands and has offices in Eastern Europe,China, and Dubai.

The company reports that it is aware of its social positionin society and explains that as a team they understand thatwealth, health and happiness cannot be taken for granted.Therefore, the company is donating a substantial part of theachieved profit to different charity organisation every year. cja

HAVING MADE A CONSIDERABLE IMPRESSION in the UKsegment, Giti Tire has designs on increasing to 10 percent its share of the German truck and bus tyre market.The manufacturer has recently restructured its salesoperation in the country, making several new appoint-ments and seeking to strengthen the position of GTRadial. Richard Lyons, managing director - Europe, said:“While the truck and bus operation has performed wellin recent years there has been key senior staff appoint-ments in the German office, and it was felt the salesforce needed to be more closely aligned to their visionfor the business.

“To achieve this goal, and most importantly a 10 percent market share by 2015 for GT Radial through a direct salesoperation, we have secured a hugely experienced, professionalteam who will make a significant contribution in what is still avery tough economic climate.”

Andreas Fischer joined Giti Tire as area sales manager(south-east), Frank Richter as area sales manager (central),Henry Boehlke as area sales manager (north-east), MarkusKoebbe as area sales manager (north-west) and Frank Wirz asarea sales manager south-west and Switzerland.

In addition Michael Prause has been appointed as customerservice manager, and both Lyons and Peter Foulkes, marketingdirector Europe - Commercial Tires, will be based in Germany.

“I am delighted with the new structure and extremely posi-tive that we will succeed in our plans,” concluded Lyons.“Existing clients and potential customers will soon see whatGT Radial can offer as a leading mid-market tyre brand, andexactly how we can help improve their business efficiencies.”

akb

S&H Tyres targets UK with new sales repThe latest milestone in Dutch wholesaler S&H Tyres’ recent development sees the company target theUK market and appointment a sales representatives especially for British customers. Ronald Lemsrecently joined the company with a view to taking responsibility for the UK market.

Giti Tire targeting 10% of German TBR market with sales restructuring

Giti Tire’s German TBR sales team was restructured at the beginning of May with the aimof increasing its share in the market

S


New CMO at Johnson Controls

Johnson Controls, whose product portfolioincludes the Varta, Optima, LTH and Heliabattery brands, has appointed Kim Metcalf-Kupres to the newly-created position of vice-president and chief marketing officer (CMO).In this role she will report to vice-chairmanAlex Molinaroli.

"In her most recent role, Kim has playedan important part in growing our PowerSolutions business in both mature and emer-ging markets," said Stephen A. Roell,Johnson Controls’ chairman and chief execu-tive officer. "Kim's experience in developinghigh-impact marketing, sales and communi-cations programmes will help us expand theglobal reach and visibility of our company."

Metcalf-Kupres will lead the develop-ment of marketing and sales capabilities forthe company's businesses, with addedfocus on customer satisfaction and branddevelopment. She will also direct internaland external communications.

Since joining Johnson Controls in 1994,Metcalf-Kupres has held a series of leader-ship roles in marketing and sales within thecompany's Building Efficiency and PowerSolutions businesses. For the past fiveyears, she has served in Power Solutions asvice-president, Global Strategy, Sales andMarketing. sg

BKT USA names new presidentCarl Casalbore has been appointed presidentof BKT Tires USA, effective 6 May. He repla-ces Rami Bitran. He is based at the compa-ny’s US headquarters in Akron, Ohio andjoins BKT from Zafco/ZTI Tires, where he ser-ved as vice-president of sales. Casalbore hasworked in the tyre industry for more than 30years and also has sales executive postswith Armstrong Tire, Pirelli Tire NorthAmerica, Cooper Tire & Rubber andContinental Tire the Americas.

Upon making the announcement, ArvindPoddar, chairman and managing director ofparent company Balkrishna Industries Ltd.,said Casalbore’s appointment completes therestructuring of BKT Tires USA. Tire Review

Cable appoints ex-Ford boss as AutomotiveInvestment Organisation headBusiness secretary Vince Cable has appointed Joe Greenwell, the former chair-man of Ford, as head of the Automotive Investment Organisation (AIO). Fundedwith up to £3 million over the next two years, the AIO will spearhead the cam-paign to attract inward investment to the UK. Business Minister Michael Fallonannounced the appointment at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders(SMMT) International Automotive Summit on 13 June.

Continuing to attract investment from overseas into the UK is one of themain themes of the automotive industrial strategy to be published shortly. Theautomotive sector is one of 11 key areas that the government is working colla-boratively with industry on a long-term plan to deliver economic growth andprosperity. The Automotive Investment Organisation will be led by UK Trade &Investment (UKTI), and will take direction from the Automotive Council todevelop a strategy to repatriate the supply chain and build on the opportuni-ties identified in the UK.

A report published by the Council in 2012 found that there was an additional£3 billion of new business that could be won by UK suppliers and overseascompanies looking to set up or expand manufacturing facilities in the UK. VinceCable, who is also co-chair of the Automotive Council said: “On average only athird of the parts that go into cars manufactured here are sourced from the UK.We know that global manufacturers in the UK want to buy more from the UK.”

Greenwell said his “job will be to promote why the UK is a great supplychain investment opportunity, increase R&D investment and strengthen ourrelationships overseas with global manufacturers.” cja

Shelton promoted under BridgestoneAmericas realignmentBridgestone Americas Tire Operations has announced the real-ignment of three business areas, Technology, Manufacturing andProcurement. It says this realignment will create a “more integratedteam equipped to deliver on the company’s brand promise morefully.” The realignment of these three areas takes effect 1 July and willbe led by Steve Shelton, who will be promoted to senior vice-presi-dent, Technology, Manufacturing and Procurement, BridgestoneAmericas Tire Operations.

Shelton currently serves as that company’s vice-president, ProductDevelopment. In his new role, the manufacturing and procurement groups willreport to Shelton; he will continue to be responsible for Bridgestone Americas’tyre development group and the Akron facility, as well as the company’s racetyre manufacturing operation.

Shelton has been with Bridgestone Americas for two decades and has abroad base of experience across the company, experience which includesmanufacturing (with a stint at the company’s Wilson plant in North Carolina),process engineering development, and strategic marketing support to the con-sumer tyre business in the product/process areas. In this newly created positi-on, Shelton will be based in Nashville. sg

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11043

CAT SurLoc Jaw

for 11044

Model

Description

Length Width Height Weight

15305 For Mine support equipment such as lubrication trucks

15” 15.1” 11” 19 lbs

and heavy maintenance vehicles

(38.1 cm) (38.4 cm) (28 cm) (8.6 kg)

15310 For mine haul trucks with tire sizes up to 105” (266.7 cm).

17.7” 15.2” 10” 28 lbs

Diameter and load capacities up to 120 tons.

(45 cm) (38.7 cm) (25.4 cm) (12.7 kg)

15315 For mine haul trucks with tire sizes over 105” (266.7 cm) Diameter and load

capacities up to 400 tons (a minimum of 4 chocks must be used when chocking

haul trucks with load capacities from 240 tons up to 400 tons. Tall chock design.

15320 For mine haul trucks with tire sizes over 105” (266.7 cm). Diameter and load

capacities up to 240 tons. Chock design for normal haul road grades.

24.6” 14.5” 16” 42 lbs

(62.5cm) (36.9cm) (40.7cm) (19.1 kg)

21.9” 14.9” 10.6” 39 lbs

(55.7cm) (37.9cm) (27cm) (17.7 kg)

www.ameintl.net Phone

Toll Free 2324 Circuit Way

E-Mail Fax

352.799.1111 1.877.755.4263

Brooksville, FL 34604 [email protected] 352.799.1112

Tyre Press H Ad V1.indd 1 7/1/13 1:09 PM


WEB DIRECTORY

Exhibitions

Associations

E-Commerce

www.olivercorp.com

Abrasives

www.autopromotec.itwww.citexpo.com.cnwww.eci-international.comwww.maxima-expo.ruwww.rubbere.comwww.semashow.comwww.theaftermarketshow.com

www.etyres.co.ukwww.oddballtyres.co.uk

www.btmauk.comwww.etrma.orgwww.itdn.org.ukwww.itma-europe.comwww.ntda.co.ukwww.tireindustry.orgwww.tyrerecovery.org.ukwww.tyresafe.org

Exhausts/Silencerswww.cesuk.comwww.klarius.eu

Earthmover Wheelswww.kirkbytyres.co.uk

Materials/Accessorieswww.gogommasrl.it

Locking Wheel Nutswww.dynomec.co.uk

Miscellaneouswww.traxjh.com

Importers/Wholesalerswww.tym-international.com

Motorcycle Tyre Wholesalerswww.cambriantyres.co.ukwww.worldofbiketyres.com

Industrial Tyreswww.solideal.com

www.btrgroup.co.ukwww.mmhrecsys.comwww.systems4recycling.com

Recycling Machinery

Retreading/Recycling/Disposal

Fleet Management Systemswww.advancedidcorp.comwww.pneu-logic.co.uk

www.credenv.comwww.cmshredders.comwww.dmetyres.co.ukwww.environment-agency.gov.uk/tyrewatchwww.kraiburg-retreading.comretreading.marangoni.comwww.sapphirerecovery.co.ukwww.treadsdirect.comwww.watts-rubber.com

Breakdown Serviceswww.itdn.org.uk

Lifting Equipmentwww.jiglift.comwww.ecolift.cn

Softwarewww.mamsoft.co.uk/tyres


WEB DIRECTORY

To appear in thisWebsite Directory for 12 months – whichwill include hyperlinked entries on the Tyres & Accessorieswebsite – please contact: [email protected]

www.kenda.com.twwww.kingdavidtyres.co.ukwww.kirkbytyres.co.ukwww.kumho-euro.comwww.lassa-europe.comwww.lexanitire.comwww.lctyres.iewww.lytire.comwww.magnatyres.comwww.maitechtire.comwww.marangoni.comwww.mastercrafttyres.co.ukwww.matador.skwww.midlandmobiletyres.co.ukwww.micheldever.co.ukwww.mickeythompson.co.ukwww.mrftyres.comwww.nankang.com.twwww.nete.co.ukwww.nexentire.co.krwww.northwesttyres.comwww.pirelli.co.ukwww.sd-international.cnwww.sentaida-international.comwww.silverstone.com.mywww.sintontyres.co.ukwww.southam-tyres.co.ukwww.starco.comwww.stapletons-tyres.co.uk

Tyre Compoundswww.vipal.com.br

Tyre Distributors/Wholesalerswww.aeolus-tyres.euwww.bitsuk.co.ukwww.blackcircles.comwww.bridgestone.eu/truckpointwww.dalytyres.comwww.cooperbros.co.ukwww.deldo.comwww.deklokbanden.comwww.dessimpson.co.ukwww.euro-tyre.comwww.fieldens.co.ukwww.fulda.co.ukwww.glanworthtyres.comwww.gold-spark.comwww.goodyear.co.ukwww.gripenwheels.comwww.grouptyre.co.ukwww.gt-tires.comwww.haemmerling.dewww.herculesinternational.comwww.heuver.comwww.internationaltyres.comwww.inter-sprint.nl

Tyre Computer Softwarewww.teamsystems.co.uk

Truck Wheelswww.kirkbytyres.co.uk

www.bandvulc.co.uk

Truck Tyre Retreading

Testing Serviceswww.dunloptyretesting.co.uk

The fast and direct way to your homepage:Web Directory in Tyre & Accessories & the Link section in www.tyrepress.com


WEB DIRECTORY

Vintage Tyreswww.grouptyre.co.ukwww.longstonetyres.co.ukwww.northhantstyres.comwww.vintagetyres.comwww.vredestein.com

Wheelswww.afan-tyres.co.ukwww.elitedirect.comwww.imagewheels.co.ukwww.mswuk.comwww.overfinch.comwww.performancealloys.comwww.tsw-wheels.co.ukwww.trelleborg.com/wheelsystems-ukwww.wheelwright.co.uk

Wheel Balancers/Accessorieswww.dionys-hofmann.comwww.haweka.com

Workshop Equipmentwww.agequipment.co.ukwww.bateman-sellarc.co.ukwww.beissbarth.co.ukwww.butler.itwww.cosengautomotive.comwww.innotecworld.comwww.pro-align.co.ukwww.reinheimer-stitcher-roller.comwww.sunbornsolutions.comwww.supertracker.comwww.tip-top.co.ukwww.tsissg.comwww.tyre-equipment.co.ukwww.wheelalignmentuk.com

Tyre Mouldswww.jwinc.co.kr

Tyre Repair/Inflationwww.airbosstyre.comwww.harvieprema.co.ukwww.monaflex.comwww.schrader-valves.co.ukwww.smartronics.co.ukwww.punctureproof.comwww.uniflate.com

Tyre Manufacturers

www.bkt-tires.comwww.bridgestone.eu/truckpointwww.conti-online.co.ukwww.coopertire.comwww.dunloptyres.co.ukwww.eptyres.comwww.hankooktire.euwww.mitas-tyres.com

Tyre Exporters

www.china-tyre.com

www.techkingtires.comwww.toyo.co.ukwww.treadwayscorp.comwww.trelleborg.comwww.tribatyre.comwww.tyreandwheels.comwww.tyres-bernaerts.comwww.tyrespot.co.ukwww.uniroyaltruck.co.ukwww.viking.co.ukwww.vredestein.comwww.yokohama.co.uk


PREVIEW

In Our Next IssueA brief look forward at a few of the articles

appearing in next month‘s T&A.

First published in June 1946, T&A is distributed in the second week of every month by:

Tyre Industry Publications Ltd.Unit I, Magnolia CentreTelford Road, Clacton-on-SeaEssex CO 15 4LP, EnglandTelephone: +44 (0)1255 222233Editorial: +44 (0) 1782 214224Fax: +44 (0)1255 222234e-mail: [email protected]: www.tyrepress.comCorrespondence and advertising material should be sent to the above address.Publisher:Klaus Haddenbrock [email protected]:Christopher [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Editor:Peter [email protected] Manager:Alan [email protected] Sales:Scott [email protected] Manager:Julie [email protected] office:6A Salem Street, Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire, ST1 5PRTelephone: +44 (0) 1782 214224Fax: +44 (0) 1782 286589Contributors:[email protected]@[email protected]:Heike Schomaker-EymersGaby Hinck

2013 Subscription Rate: £65 (UK), £85 (Europe), £120 (R.O.W.) per year.Back issues: £5 per copy.Reg. No: 1023538 EnglandVAT No: 466 0254 53

Bank: National Westminster BankPLC, 10 Station Road, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex CO15 1TAAccount No: 70304440Sort Code: 60 05 33

Printed by:The Magazine Printing Company1082 Mollison AvenueBrimsdown, EnfieldMiddlessex EN3 7NTPrinted in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company,using only paper fro FSC/PEFC suppliers. www.mag-print.co.uk

Tyre Industry Publications Ltd. can accept no responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributors, manufacturers or advertisers

I Winter tyres IOver in North America, the all-season tyre reignssupreme. Yet the major European manufacturers –the same companies selling all-season tyres by thetruckload in the US – don’t tend to favour them intheir home region. So, the question begs: what roleto all-season tyres play in the European market?This is one of the topics that will be addressed innext month’s winter tyre feature.

I Brakes I It doesn’t matter whether you’re testing warp speed on the Autobahn or pootling along in a £100pound rustbucket, one thing is inevitable – sooneror later, you’re going to need to stop. And this is themoment when the brake – a car part worthy of moreattention and respect than it receives – comes intoplay. In August, Tyres & Accessories features thebrake business – so press the centre pedal andslow down to pick up your copy of next month’smagazine.

This is Kim.Kim manages To build over 80 high qualiTy car Tires per hour. on her own. Maxx, the best tire building technology we ever made.

130219_VMI_ads210*297_01.indd 2 19-02-13 14:08

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Tyres & Accessories July 2013

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