Car tyre maker Vredestein has been put up for sale by its Russian owner.  

Director Rob Oudshoorn revealed that talks are under way with a number of candidates and the sale is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2009.

Russian company Amtel bought the independent Dutch tyre manufacturer in 2004 for €195m.  However, last month it applied for court protection from creditors.

Enschede-based Vredestein has a workforce of 1,500 and produces around five million tyres a year for passenger and delivery cars, bicycles, agricultural and industrial vehicles.

The Advertising Standards Authority have banned a series of advertisements by Continental after ruling that the German tyre manufacturer could not substantiate a claim that “nothing stops better than a Continental tyre”. The complaint was in part made by Goodyear who relied on independent tests that were carried out in 2007. These found that Goodyear HydraGrip tyres and Eagle F1 tyres had shorter stopping distances than all the others that were tested. These tests included tyres made by Continental and other leading manufacturers.

Tim Bailey, Continental’s advertising and sponsorship manager, defended the original claim by stating that the company commissioned their own tests in 2007. This study used specific sizes of car tyres and the results showed that on that occasion the Continental tyres did out-perform competitor brands in wet and dry grip braking performance.

However, after reviewing the Advertising Standards Authority findings Continental agreed to withdraw the claim from future advertising.

The seemingly never ending stream of economic reports into the UK tyres market reveals that motorists are trading down from main brands such as Michelin, Pirelli and Bridgestone onto mid-range and budget brands. The latest study, by leading market research agency GfK NOP also indicates a trend towards H speed rated tyres at the expense of faster, V rated ones.

The GfK NOP  “World of Tyres” report does not appear to make any comment about this latter trend but industry professionals support the etyres view that this is certainly false economy. Tyres of the correct speed rating should always be fitted.

The report goes on to state that the average price of a budget tyre is £40 compared with between £90 and £105 for premium brands. This relates to etyres own sales records which show an average tyre price for a premium brand car tyre is some 40% cheaper at £65. This supports the earlier Which? conclusion that on-line retailers of car tyres, such as etyres, are considerably cheaper than traditional tyre depots.

The GfK NOP analysis indicates that tyre depot sales in the 17 weeks to September fell by almost 10% as the economy slowed and the UK entered recession. Clearly some of this decrease was caused by lower mileage and reduced driving speed but also the trend to on-line buying of tyres appears to have had an effect as shrewd motorists looked to the Internet for savings.  

An industry report just published by financial analysts, Plimsoll Publishing, indicates that the UK market for car tyres grew by 3.3% during 2008. However this growth is confined only to the most efficient companies and the indications are that the bottom 16% are in serious risk of going out of business during 2009.

The Plimsoll research suggests that as businesses and consumers further seek to reduce costs the market for car tyres will come under increased pressure and upwards of 5000 jobs are likely to be lost. Of the businesses that survive only those companies offering low margin business models will actually thrive. This suggestion is supported by etyres year on year growth of almost 40%, which is sharply increasing as the recession deepens.

Plimsoll reports that the average sales per employee during 2008 were £161,700. and advises managers to seek a sales per employee target of at least £167,000.  etyres, with sales per employee of almost £1m., far exceeds this benchmark. This underlines the benefit of e-commerce which enables low-cost business models to deliver a high quality service to consumers at a fraction of the cost of traditional retailers. The UK tyres market is no exception.

Subaru have selected Dunlop SP Sport 01 235/45/17 94W as original equipment tyres for the latest Impreza model. The decision was based on this tyres ability to provide excellent handling and overall strength.

Subaru have frequently used Goodyear / Dunlop tyres in their involvement in rallying so their decision to choose the Japanese manufacturer again is no great surprise.

The SP Sport 01 tyre has an asymmetric tread pattern which is divided into three tread segments. These combine parallelogram shaped blocks with “hydro-paddles” and a “longitudinal-rail-system”. In non-tyre speak this design incorporates two wide central ribs that run all the way around the tyre. These ensure the efficient transmission of lateral forces. The design also provides good wet grip with responsive dry handling and a fairly quiet ride. The compound of this range of tyres includes silica which increases dry and wet grip and reduces rolling resistance. This reduces petrol consumption and tread wear but this is possibly not something that Impreza drivers will be too concerned with.

The sale of new cars in the UK is in drastic decline. New registrations are down by nearly 40% compared with a year ago. Perversely this trend is adding to demand for tyres for the replacement market, as manifested by the increase in the on-line sale of tyres by etyres.

The etyres low cost business model is delivering a sharp rise in turnover as drivers shun the high prices of tyres that are still being charged by leading tyre depots. The knock on effect of this growth is seen in the increased rate of new branch opening, with upwards of thirty are now planned for 2009. These will enable the company to sell cheaper tyres to an ever-widening customer base right across the UK.

This rapid expansion increases etyres requirement for new vans which is in sharp contrast to the national trend. The economic downturn has also caused a sharp decline in van registrations. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported that new van registrations have declined by almost the same percentage as new cars and now stands at just over 300,000 for the rolling year.

The winner of the Pirelli Star Driver Award was finally decided last week-end, after two days of competition in Cumbria. The winner was Adam Gould, a 21 year old rally driver from Bristol. In addition to their driving ability, Gould and seven other competitors were judged on their fitness, media skills and knowledge of their sport.

Gould’s reward for winning the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout is full funding for the 2009 British Rally Championship. “It’s a really amazing feeling to have won, and this is the biggest opportunity in my career so far,” said Gould, “I want to thank the organisers and Pirelli for giving me this chance, and I intend to repay their faith by making the most of it next year. It was a really tough competition, the standard of all the competitors was so high, but I really enjoyed it too”. “Being part of the MSA British Rally Elite scheme has been important in helping me to prepare for this kind of high-pressure competition,” he added, “and everything I’ve learnt throughout the year has contributed to my success.”

Last October Gould qualified for the pan-European Pirelli Star Driver Shootout, in Freistadt, Austria, where he finished in fifth place.

Pirelli has become the official tyre supplier to the world’s first zero-carbon race series. The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, which was launched last year, consists of a series of races for 30 factory prepared Jetta TDI’s, running on clean diesel. Competing drivers must be between the ages of 16 and 26, and must be relatively unknown.

Pirelli are pleased to be associated with such an eco-friendly competition. Rafael Navarro, director of motorsport and media communications, said, “Pirelli is very excited to be the exclusive tyre supplier to the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, the world’s only carbon-free racing series. This series is a very important part of our motorsport growth in North America as it provides a platform to introduce young developing talent to our brand while reducing the impact motorsport has on the environment”.

Driver selection for the series will be held at the beginning of February, and the first race takes place in Sonoma, California at the end of April.

One of London’s main bus companies has received delivery of its first hybrid, electric-drive bus. The vehicle utilizes BAE Systems’ HybriDrive technology, which is the leading hybrid system, used on over 1500 buses in the USA. The London bus is a double-decker, built by Alexander Dennis Ltd. This is the first of 17 hybrid units built by Dennis and BAE Systems that will be trialed in passenger service next year.

The bus uses a lithium-ion energy storage system that delivers increased battery life with lower vehicle weight. This improves fuel efficiency and reduces CO2 emissions. This investment by Transport for London and Metrobus is evidence of the determination of transport operators to run their fleet in a more environmentally friendly manner.   

Recent campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of properly inflated tyres seem to be being ignored by a large section of the motoring public. A recent survey by German tyre giant Continental has revealed that 46 percent of motorists under the age of 25 are unaware of their correct tyre pressure levels. The poll shows that the incidence of this group ignoring tyre pressure levels is double that of any other.

The Continental survey showed that 1 in 12 motorists had not checked their tyre pressure in the last month. This figure rose to one in five amongst younger drivers. Continental feels that the poll indicates that young motorists are unaware of the financial implications of driving on under-inflated tyres. They estimate that driving on incorrectly inflated tyres could cost a motorist £120 per year in fuel costs alone. Continental are also keen to highlight the environmental impact of poor tyre maintenance. Driving on under-inflated tyres could result in an increase of 250lbs of CO2 emissions.

Guy Frobisher, marketing director for Continental, highlighted the importance of the survey’s findings, “The tyres on our cars are arguably the most important part of the vehicle but are very often the most neglected. Not only are poorly inflated tyres potentially unsafe but they can cost the drivers a lot of money. There needs to be an increased awareness among younger drivers. It only takes a few minutes to check and correct tyre pressures and it could save hundreds of pounds in fuel bills. In addition, correctly inflated tyres will last longer so they might not need to change them so regularly therefore saving even more money”.