Dunlop to Sponsor John Cooper Challenge
Stapletons Sell Tyreserve to the AA
National Joins NTDA
ATS Euromaster with New Tyre Management System
Pirelli Adapts MIRS to Motorcycle Tyres
North Eastern Introduce DigiCheck
Bandag Purchases Stock
Renault Master Vans Drive ATS Euromaster's London Plan
Government Invests in Tyres Campaign
Goodyear Wins Evo Test
Michelin Joins Roadsafe
BF Goodrich Announce £2 million Marketing Campaign
Pirelli in Russian Co-operation
Ban on Lead Wheel Weights

Dunlop to Sponsor John Cooper Challenge

Dunlop has announced that it will be sponsoring the inaugural series of the John Cooper Challenge, a new event for MINIs. Throughout 2002 all competing cars in the event will run on Dunlop 175/65 R 15 standard sport 200 road tyres.

The John Cooper Challenge will involve seven multi-disciplined events consisting of races, sprints and hill climbs. It is aimed at "grass roots" racing enthusiasts and amateurs, with 25 competitors having built and registered their Club Sport specification cars for the series.

Stapletons Sell Tyreserve to the AA

Tyreserve, the fleet tyre management company, which manages the sales function on the Tyres-Online website has been sold to the AA by Stapletons Tyre Services for an undisclosed amount. The decision to sell the Coventry based business follows Stapleton's recent acquisition of WS Tyremasters, a move that has focussed strategic attention on its core wholesaling and dealership operations.

"Tyreserve is a successful company, which has achieved a great deal in the 13 months since it entered the fast-fit market", said Stapleton's managing director Ashley Croft. "These achievements were recognised by the calibre of companies that expressed an interest in buying it and in the final sale of the business to the AA, one of the motor industry's highest profile names".

The sale to the AA is effective from the beginning of June. Although Stapleton's will no longer have a commercial interest in Tyreserve, its retail division will remain as a member of the dealer network.

National Joins NTDA

The National Tyre Distributors Association has announced a major boost to its membership with the news that National Tyres has joined the tyre and fast-fit industry's leading trade body. The decision was confirmed by NTDA Chairman of Council Martin Rowlands, who said: "National is one of the largest and best known companies in the retail tyre business and we are delighted to welcome them into membership. This is a major coup, which adds valuable resource and influence to the association".

ATS Euromaster with New Tyre Management System

ATS Euromaster has announced the launch of Euromaster Inspector, a fully automated, totally paperless tyre management system for vehicle fleets, which uses electronic data capture to measure all aspects of tyres, including pressure and tread depth. This is then fed back to the customer almost instantaneously.

According to ATS Euromaster, once an inspection is complete, the data is collected through a sophisticated hand-held mini computer, which is forwarded by a satellite link to the ATS Customer Service Centre, within 40 seconds of the inspection being completed. A full report outlining all details of tyre maintenance levels then arrives with the customer via e-mail, avoiding the reams of paperwork usually associated with such detailed updates.

Steve Richardson, Sales Director at ATS Euromaster commented: "This product makes a 'just in time' approach to tyre management possible - resulting in true life tyre optimisation and reduced costs. This electronic method removes all human inputting, making the system totally transparent. It will enable our customers to see the value and location of their fleet at the press of a button".

Pirelli Adapts MIRS to Motorcycle Tyres

Pirelli SpA has announced that it has adapted its MIRS tyre building process to make motorcycle tyres. The company also claims to have made progress towards manufacturing truck tyres using the process.

North Eastern Introduce DigiCheck

North Eastern Tyre and Exhausts, who operate through outlets in York, Middlesbrough, Goole, Marske, Guisbrough and Brotton, claim to have become the first company outside of the large tyre manufacturers to introduce DigiCheck as part of their product offering.

Mitutoyo Automotive Technology's DigiCheck system enables North Eastern to provide customers with total accuracy when checking tyre treads and pressure. The service is currently being offered in North Eastern's York branch but is to be introduced to the company's other branches during 2002.

DigiCheck works on three levels, allowing the collection, display and then analysis of digital tread depth and tyre pressure. Whereas in the past, tyre specialists would work manually on gauging these results, DigiCheck transmits results using radio waves to a hand held computer or laptop. An in-built programme then converts the data in a report, which the customer can then take away with them or agree to have appropriate work carried out.

Bandag Purchases Stock

Bandag has announced that it to purchase over 1.5 million shares from Lucille A Carver, widow of the founder of Bandag and mother of CEO Martin Carver. The purchase price for the shares is $40, 183, 636. The transaction reduces the Carver family's voting power in Bandag from 78% to approximately 64%.

Renault Master Vans Drive ATS Euromaster's London Plan

Commercial vehicle drivers in the South-East of England can now count on a dedicated rapid response service from ATS Euromaster, which put its new 24 hour London assistance plan into action this month using a fleet of six specially converted Renault Master Vans.

The six dCi 90 long wheelbase, high roof Master Vans are kitted out as mobile service units for rapid replacement of tyres for LCVs and HGVs.

David Keen, Manager of ATS Euromaster's London Project commented "The vehicles are all fitted with GPS and networked to our Breakdown Control Centre in Aston. They'll be based at strategic points around the M25 and within London for the quickest possible response to call-outs. We aim to provide cover 24 hours a day and are anticipating over 1200 call-outs a month within the M25 area. After six months we hope to roll out a similar service to other parts of the UK".

Government Invests in Tyres Campaign

The Department of Trade and Industry has contributed £100,000 to the Environment Agency's Tyre Watch programme. The funding is being used by the Agency to purchase cover surveillance equipment. The CCTV systems have been deployed by the Agency's regional enforcement teams around the country to help identify those responsible for illegal dumping activities and to provide evidence for prosecutions.

Goodyear Wins Evo Test

The Goodyear Eagle F1 has been voted best high-performance car tyre in a tyre test published by Evo magazine. A total of eight premium branded tyres were put through their paces on a test track and country roads in the South of France using a Ford Focus ST170.

The Goodyear tyre achieved the highest aggregate score across 11 tests winning wet and dry braking tests outright and coming joint first in the wet lateral test.

Michelin Joins Roadsafe

Michelin has joined a number of leading motor industry manufacturers to support RoadSafe, the new road safety partnership launched in October 2001. Roadsafe, which has Steven Norris and Chairman and HRH Prince Michael of Kent as the patron, aims to support the Government's integrated road safety initiative by helping to reduce road accidents of all types.

BF Goodrich Announce £2 million Marketing Campaign

BF Goodrich have announced a three-strand £2 million package of Above the Line marketing activity as the company seeks to generate maximum brand awareness during 2002. The campaign incorporates a mix of TV advertising, sports programme sponsorship and perimeter board advertising at leading football matches targeting performance-seeking BC1C2 men aged 16 to 34 years.

Pirelli in Russian Co-operation

Pirelli has signed a contract worth about $10 million with Russian tyre manufacturer JSG Nizhnekamskshina, whereby will supply machinery and know-how as part of a $60 million project by Nizhnekamskshina to increase capacity at their plant in Tatarstan.

Ban on Lead Wheel Weights

The European parliament is to ban the use of lead wheel balance weights in all EC member countries. From 1st of July 2003 all new vehicles must have lead-free weights fitted. There is a temporary exemption for the replacement market and for certain vehicle types manufactured before this date. The exemption order expires in July 2005.