Tyre News

New Look for First Stop
Michelin Training Instructor Returns from Zambia with Transaid
Shorttrack UK Adopts Maxxis as Control Tyre
Yokohama Pledges to Support UK Motorsport in 2009
Endorsement for Bridgestone Bike Tyres
MCN rates Maxxis Supermaxx Sport
European New Car Market Continues to Decline
Hankook Sets Sales Records in Fiscal 2008
Hi-Q Celebrates First National Franchise Conference
Manbat Powers into 2009
Lucky Winner Fast Fuelling ahead in 2009
Maxxis Scoops Runner up Spot in Magazine Test

New Look for First Stop

Bridgestone's First Stop network has completed an ambitious refurbishment programme which has seen 15 stores branded with new signage to help take the network into 2009. The programme saw 15 of First Stop outlets fitted with new signage as part of the ongoing development to strengthen the brand and its network of quality tyre dealerships throughout the UK.

The signage packages included complete First Stop branding for the exterior of the depots as well as the refurbishment of existing signage and exteriors. As well as the installation of new signage, the past year has seen the opening of the UK's first 'model stores', at Kingsway, Spalding and ETB, Stratford, and the refurbishment of a number of stores for the First Stop network.

Mark Fereday, retail development manager at First Stop, comments: "We are really pleased with the results of the new signage packages. Not only do they represent a significant step forward for the First Stop brand, but the refurbished stores also provide a more welcoming environment for customers.

"Completing the signage programme is just the start of what it is hoped will be an exciting year. As well as the on-going refurbishment of stores we will be kicking off new promotions and initiatives to help support the network, including the introduction of the Toyota IQ as the new courtesy car for dealers and a free fuel promotion in the spring."

Michelin Training Instructor Returns from Zambia with Transaid

Michelin Training Instructor Nigel Williams has returned from a life saving road safety trip training commercial vehicle driver instructors in Zambia for international development charity, Transaid. The 35-year-old from Uttoxeter travelled to Africa for a two week assignment that saw him assist Transaid conduct tyre related driver safety awareness and transport management training at the Industrial Training Centre Trust (ITCT) in the Zambian capital, Lusaka.

"After HIV/AIDS and malaria, the next biggest killer in Zambia are road deaths and the second leading cause of death for people aged between five and 20-years-old, with devastating impacts on families and communities," says Williams.

"Zambia is a landlocked country that is completely reliant on overland goods distribution but lacks a sustainable, efficient and accessible transport infrastructure, which in turn has a serious impact on basic trade and business. By sharing technical skills and knowledge from Michelin and Transaid we are helping Zambia's professional drivers tackle this by becoming safer.

Michelin is a founder member of Transaid, which enjoys the patronage of HRH The Princess Royal, and is committed to improving worldwide mobility and road safety.

"By teaching drivers advanced skills beyond vehicle manoeuvring knowledge, they have a greater understanding of risks and risk reduction which can make the roads of sub-Saharan Africa safer places to be," adds Williams, who used the experience he has gained over the last 11 years with Michelin to provide detailed tyre safety advice.

"No matter where you are in the world, daily tyre pressure checks and inspections are a vital part of road safety. Transaid asked me to spend quality time briefing the three full-time ITCT trainers and automotive engineering lecturers in Lusaka on detailed tyre management and best practices." The classroom and practical-based education programme saw specific modules on fleet auditing and truck tyre wear and damage identification, looking at tyres on vehicles to observe wear patterns and types of damage and seeing students taking tyre pressures and discussing their importance.

"The thing that shocked me the most is that there is no official Highway Code or well-policed tyre law in Zambia, with tyres removed only when they are smooth. I was told that it is also not unusual for drivers to give an eighth of their salary to a cousin of just 12 or 13 years of age who take over the driving of the 56 tonne vehicle when tired."

Williams adds: "While there I visited a transport company with a fleet of 100 vehicles, which has seen six drivers die in accidents last year alone." Since 2002, Transaid has been assisting within the only commercial driver training facility in Zambia by arranging secondments of experienced driver trainers from member companies to help develop internationally recognised professional driver training standards, with Transaid Zambia Programme Manager, Caroline Barber, on secondment from Wincanton, based at the ITCT until 2010.

Caroline Barber comments: "We're delighted to have the opportunity to draw upon Michelin's tyre expertise which marks the start of a series of vital training inputs to the centre. It is the first time Transaid member companies have come together as a consortium to really tackle the challenges facing commercial driving in Zambia.

"Tyre safety awareness is integral to road safety and through the Professional Driver Training Project, commercial driving standards within the region will improve, making drivers safer and more efficient. The aim is to reduce the number of crashes which have devastating consequences for poorer people and local communities. Other classroom-based and practical modules covered by Williams included truck tyre management, pre-driver checks and training to train.

"I was so impressed by the dedication of those who work abroad, full-time with charities such as Transaid. The reasons for their high level of motivation is apparent everyday - the hunger for knowledge amongst those receiving training was very significant.

"I have never been to this part of the world before and I thoroughly enjoyed working in a very different environment, but with the same message - an exciting challenge," concludes Williams. Transaid seeks to reduce poverty and change lives in Africa and across the developing world by building local transport and logistics skills and knowledge to make transport cheaper, safer, cleaner and more effective.

Shorttrack UK Adopts Maxxis as Control Tyre

In 2009 Shorttrack UK is following the lead of other top motorcycle racing series such as Moto GP and World Superbikes by adopting a one-make tyre arrangement and has chosen Maxxis. Maxxis tyre distributor Triple A Racing has agreed with the promoter of the British Short Track Championship that competitors in the main Short Track class will use the 19 inch Maxxis DTR-1 flat track tyre - which will be made available in both soft and medium compounds.

The move to a control tyre will ensure no advantage is gained by riders using different tyres for different conditions, resulting in closer, more spectacular action, and is also designed to keep costs down. Maxxis began its association with the British Short Track Championship in 2006, when Triple A Racing supplied tyres to a number of competitors and in 2007 champions Marco Belli and Peter Boast both used Maxxis tyres to great effect. Last season Triple A Racing donated funds to the Championship in return for every pair of Maxxis DTR-1s purchased by competitors.

"Shorttrack UK offers competitors excellent value for money and is a big crowd pleaser because it lures top stars from other motorcycle racing disciplines too, so we are delighted that Maxxis has been selected as the control tyre for the 2009 series," says Maxxis International UK managing director Derek McMartin. For 2009 riders will use the Maxxis DTR-1 tyre throughout the eight-round series, which opens in Kings Lynn on May 3.

Yokohama Pledges to Support UK Motorsport in 2009

Following an exceptionally successful year of motorsport in 2008, Yokohama HPT Ltd, the UK distributor for the Japanese brand of high performance and motorsport tyres has pledged its support for motorsport in 2009. With the current economic conditions already having a significant effect on global motorsport, Yokohama has adopted a strategy of doing all it can to ensure that grass level motorsport has the best chance to flourish in the UK.

The 2008 season was full of success for Yokohama at all levels of motorsport. The FIA World Touring Car Championship, using Yokohama ADVAN control tyres, saw exceptional racing all around the world and the fight for the drivers' title went down to the wire at the last round.

The Formula Master support series, also using ADVAN control tyres was also deemed a great success, with exceptional action throughout the grid. Yokohama was also successful in endurance racing, with the factory Aston Martin team winning its class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, one of the calendar's most arduous events. Once again, the brand claimed overall honours in the sidecar class of the Isle of Man TT Races, motorcycling's most important motorsport event.

While success on the racetrack is a familiar feeling for Yokohama, another area where the brand came to the fore was in rallying. The brand's circuit technology has always worked well with asphalt rallying and again, this was the case when Paul MacKinnon won the iconic Isle of Mull rally outright. However, the marque made leaps forward with its gravel tyre, with Tristan Pye winning the Production Cup of the BTRDA rally series, using the latest version of the company's forest tyre, developed in 2007 in the FIA World Rally Championship by Team ADVAN driver, Fumio Nutahara.

Yokohama's season was completed with even more success. The youngest driver ever to compete on the UK round of the WRC, Tom Cave, used Yokohama tyres to great effect on the WRC season-closer, Wales Rally GB, finishing 30th overall and winning his class by almost 15 minutes. For 2009, Yokohama HPT will be encouraging British motorsport, by continuing its support of race series in the UK that use Yokohama as control tyres.

These will include series that Yokohama already has a long-term relationship with, including several of the 750 Motor Club's classes, Sports 2000 and Lotus On-Track. In addition to the Lotus On Track series, Yokohama will also support the Lotus Cup Europe, featuring the Exige 260 model, which leaves the factory fitted with Yokohama tyres. The purpose-built track day car is road legal but with the addition of a roll cage for safety, will be eligible for the new race series, which takes in circuits in the UK and around Europe.

Endorsement for Bridgestone Bike Tyres

Bridgestone UK ended the year on a high with exceptional performances in recent tests carried out by RiDE and Bike magazines, which put a range of motorbike tyres through their paces. RiDE magazine's RiDER Power survey, the largest consumer survey of riders on all aspects of biking, from top dealers to the bikes themselves, assessed the tyres on a range of criteria from grip to longevity. Bridgestone came top in several categories including tyre life and wet and dry grip.

Trial Wings and Battle Wings tyres dominated the top ten in the tyre life category scooping the top spots in the front and rear categories respectively with the BT-045 and BT-057 also making the top twenty. The BT-090 topped the tables for dry grip and a number of other tyres in the range also rated highly in the wet and dry grip categories.

In a second success, Bridgestone's BT-020/21 also won Bike magazine's regular 'tyre test' for Adventure Sports Bikes gaining the maximum five stars. For the test Bridgestone recommended a BT-020/BT-021 front and rear combination which were scored highly for feel, stability, comfort and warm-up.

MCN rates Maxxis Supermaxx Sport

Motorcycle News Magazine is seriously impressed with the top of the range Maxxis sports radial, which it is currently putting through its paces on a 172mph Yamaha R6. Journalist Chris Newbigging has been testing the Maxxis Supermaxx Sport - improved for 2009 with a multi-section construction - since October and his verdict is that the tyres are 'stable and grippy on wintry B-roads'.

Sports tyres are known to offer limited performance in cold weather, but Maxxis scores well in this respect because of the Supermaxx Sport's high silica compound. So, while the track-biased Dunlop Qualifier RRs that were previously fitted on the bike 'couldn't cope' with gritted roads, the Supermaxx Sports really came into their own as Chris enthused: '… their lower operating temperature means they hook up and take the worry out of wet riding - bloody impressive.'

This very positive feedback follows equally glowing reviews in Fast Bikes magazine, which has tested the Supermaxx Sport on Triumph Street Triple and Suzuki Bandit SF 1250 machines and, most recently, a Ducati Hypermotard.

European New Car Market Continues to Decline

JATO Dynamics, the automotive data and intelligence provider, has reported that the European new car market fell by 7.8% (1,227,941 units) during 2008, recording a steady decline since May. Though the market maintained a strong growth at the start of 2008, in the fifth month of the year the global economic crisis began to take its toll. The picture is yet more bleak when comparing figures over the second half (July - December) of 2008 to the same period in 2007, as the market recorded a 14.5% drop. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in December alone the European new car market fell by 17.8% (196,337 units), when compared to the same month in 2007. However, whilst this signals the market performing poorly, it is less of a reduction in sales than the previous month. Total new car sales throughout Europe during 2008 stand at 14,459,714.

"Whilst on paper, 7.8% may not appear to be a significant drop for the new car market during 2008, it's important to consider it remained fairly buoyant up until May, so the figure we see is largely down to the last six months of the year. Not only that, but that percentage represents in excess of a million new cars - the output of more than one manufacturing plant," says David Di Girolamo, Business Manager for JATO Consult.

Hankook Sets Sales Records in Fiscal 2008

Hankook Tire has announced global sales records of KRW 4.07 trillion (US$ 3.7 billion, € 2.5 billion ) in 2008. Amidst the current economic turmoil, Hankook Tire continued to show an increase in the company's global sales, where a 5.1% increase in sales, compared to their target record of KRW 3.9 trillion in 2008 was achieved.

In particular, various regions showed significant growth rate in sales, Russia saw an increase of 98%, followed by a 50% increase in Central and South America. With continuing growth through various channels worldwide, and recent involvements with new automobile companies, as well as an increasing number of sales in ultra-high performance (UHP) tires, Hankook Tire has sustained the company's growth in sales in 2008.

Sales of Hankook Tire's ultra-high performance (UHP) tires in 2008 experienced positive results with a 35% increase in sales. In the Europe region alone, a sales increase of 48% was achieved, followed by sales results increases in Latin America and Asia-Middle East regions (27%), United States (21%), along with a 42% increase in original equipment (OE) sales.

On UHP sales, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Seung Hwa Suh said, "Our continuous efforts for new partnerships with various automobile institutions and the tailoring of our products to the current environmental sustainability standards has allowed us to deliver quality products to our consumers by leveraging our Kontrol Technology in the development of our UHP products."

Hankook Tire remains positive about growth prospects for 2009. The company is aggressively targeting global sales approaching approximately KRW 4.33 trillion. This target reflects the continuous efforts of Hankook Tire's maintenance of investments in technology, brand reputation, and on-going support of the consumers' needs amidst the forecasts of the 2009 economic year.

Mr. Suh said, "I am pleased with our results this year, and look forward to the year ahead. Despite the current economic climate, I believe that Hankook Tire will be able to move forward by continuing to take our utmost efforts in tailoring to the needs of each and every market worldwide through on-going research and development for innovative products. We hope to increase distribution, and strengthen our brand value by providing quality products and growing as a strategically strong company that carries effective corporate management and manpower with in Hankook Tire, world wide."

Hi-Q Celebrates First National Franchise Conference

Bosses at HiQ are celebrating after the company staged its first National Franchise Conference. The fast fit retailer organised a franchise networking event at the impressive Crewe Hall venue in Cheshire, where the company's new managing director Juergen Titz outlined HiQ's vision to grow in the fast-fit and vehicle servicing market. The event gave HiQ the opportunity to have an open dialogue with its franchisees and let them know about the range of different services that they should be making the most of, including online ordering technology, marketing support and new corporate identity graphics.

And despite trading in an unprecedented economic downturn, the company was extremely upbeat about its future, thanks in the main to its National Franchise Programme. HiQ's franchise structure is the only one of its kind in the fast fit industry, with 130 sites now run by 41 franchisees. By the end of February, this figure will rise to 138 sites and by the end of 2009, it is hoped that 170 centres will be franchised. Franchise manager Peter Tye underlined HiQ's ambitious plans for the long term as well, declaring that by 2013, there will be 275 locations dotted around Britain.

HiQ's parent company, Goodyear Dunlop managing director Mark Brickhill told franchisees that recession must not be accepted, and declared that a partnership led structure will be fruitful in the long term. He also said that because less people are buying new cars because of the credit crunch, there will be more business opportunities for every HiQ centre. "We all know how tough times are, but so many of our franchisees are boasting some fantastic trading results. HiQ hopes to stage many more franchise conferences in the future following the success of its inaugural event.

Manbat Powers into 2009

Manbat, the UK's leading battery distributor has raced into the New Year, by exhibiting at two major exhibitions; Autosport International for the automotive industry and the Motorcycle Trade Expo for the motorcycle sector.

Exhibiting in The Aftermarket Show at Autosport International for the third year in succession, Manbat increased the size of its floor area and built a stand around its championship winning Honda 400 racing machine. Appearing in dual Manbat and Numax livery, the stunning machine wowed the public and trade alike.

Trade professionals had the opportunity to see the wide-ranging power storageproducts that make up Manbat's varied product portfolio. So, alongside Numax,VARTA, Odyssey and Optima batteries, were Numax 'connect and forget' batterychargers, the 'connect and protect' Battery Brain, and the UK trade debut of the Numax 'connect and convert' range of 'Pure Sine Wave' and 'Modified' inverters.

Lucky Winner Fast Fuelling ahead in 2009

Bangor Tyre Service, part of Bridgestone's First Stop network of tyre dealerships, has given away a year's worth of fuel to one lucky customer after she popped in for new tyres. Virginia Thomas, who is a regular Bangor Tyre Service customer, won the vouchers to the value of a year's worth of free fuel after she bought Bridgestone tyres for her Vauxhall Astra van and was entered into the prize draw.

Originally only purchasing three tyres, she bought the fourth to be in with a chance of winning the free fuel, commenting at the time how unlucky she usually is when it comes to competitions. Once Virginia had collected her prize, she went straight to the pump to fill up, before driving all the way to Ireland!

Adam Harris from Bangor Tyre Service, comments: "It's great that one of our regular customers won, what is a fantastic prize. Winning free fuel for the year will mean Virginia certainly has one less thing to worry about in 2009."

Maxxis Scoops Runner up Spot in Magazine Test

A Maxxis high performance tyre has scooped second overall in a comprehensive group test conducted by leading Australian consumer motoring magazine Motor, which set out late last year to establish the best performance road tyres and semi slicks on offer in the Australian marketplace.

To assure itself of a strong field, Motor avoided what it termed "the cheap-and-nasty 'no name' tyres", choosing to put the Maxxis Victra i-Pro through its paces alongside top offerings from Bridgestone, Goodyear, Pirelli, Continental, Dunlop, Hankook and Federal.

Using a Renault Sport Clio 197, professional racing driver Warren Luff put the high performance tyres through five key exercises - in both wet and dry conditions - over two days at Sydney's Oran Park Raceway. In the lateral G dry test, which examined how much lateral load each tyre could bear before it lost grip, the Maxxis i-Pro beat all comers before going on to take the runner up spot in the dry braking test, just 1.4m behind the Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE001. Completing the dry slalom in 13.3 seconds - 0.2 seconds behind the Bridgestone tyre - the i-Pro finished in equal third with the Pirelli P Zero Nero, significantly ahead of Goodyear, Continental, Hankook and Federal.

The Maxxis tyre also performed well in the apex speed exercise, finishing in second spot - just 0.1 km/h down on the Pirelli P Zero Nero and 0.6 km/h clear of the third-placed Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin. After a flying lap of Oran Park's 900m North Circuit, the Maxxis was only 0.2 seconds off taking top spot In arriving at its conclusions Motor determined that the Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE001 was 'pushed quite hard by the Maxxis Victra i-Pro, which was quite an achievement considering the Maxxis is $324 cheaper for a full set of four.'