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CV SHOW
Hankook’s Alphatread is cosmetically indistinguishable from their new tyre offer. However, the company has not yet focused on fleet tyre dales and tyre management so this is still a product range that is testing the market for the Korean tyre manufacturer
ContiLifeCycle exemplifies how the manufacturer has embraced retreading as part of its whole life cycle approach to tyre management
Retreads at the CV Show
and we don’t really go out of our way to sell on whole life costs. “We do have retreads available and they are manufactured under contract by Bandvulc. They use our moulds and our compounds to make bead to bead retreads for us , which we sell under the Alphatread brand. “Bandvulc reckoned that the moulds we sent them were the best they had ever worked with, and the tyres that they produce look indistinguishable from a new Hankook. In fact, on our stand we have one of our new tyre lines represented by a retread. We decided there was no point in double displaying, so we used the retread instead of the new tyre as an example of what we can offer.”
Continental of course has moved into retreading in a positive way since they opened their new
supply retreads as part of our offer too.
“The Conti-Life-Cycle replacement tyre is a natural part of the package that we offer. It is really important to help us manage costs for our clients.
“In the UK, the market is already mature but we are still seeing a steady growth, in other markets we are also seeing conservative growth.”
Over at Bridgestone we bumped into Ross Medlyn, the long serving Bandag representative. Ross was naturally positive about Bandag’s role under the Bridgestone banner. “There are two different strategies that our Bandag franchises follow. There are those who go out and service their own clients, and there are those who are looking to the larger fleet markets. We of course try to support both types of
The CV Show at the UK’s NEC in Birmingham is a once a year event where the commercial vehicle trade gets to dress up and show its best. It is an ideal
across Europe. Laurent will offer a wide range of products for the whole commercial sector, so we are still developing a strategy that will ensure
opportunity for the tyre sector to support its most important client sector by displaying alongside the vehicle and accessory manufacturers.
Retreading Business visited the key players who attended and sought their views on retreading today.
At Michelin, retreading continues to be an important element of the whole life tyre concept. Chris Smith explained, the four life process is critical for Michelin. It is a policy that we have long held and we are perhaps one of the tyre manufacturers with the deepest involvement in retreading. “Pneu Laurent is due to replace Encore as our Michelin brand
Michelin and Michelin brands remain at the fore in retreading across Europe.”
From Michelin we next visited Hankook. The Korean manufacturer has come a long way in recent years and it is now competing for a place at the top table with the big five. In order to do this the company has to be prepared to compete. Dave Thorpe told Retreading Business, “We are still a small operation in terms of team size and we focus on selling tyres rather than a full service. People buy tyres from Hankook because they perform well and they are the right price. Our market is not the large fleets in particular so there is less of a draw on fleet tyre management
36 Retreading Business
retread plant in Germany. Tracey Hyem, explained, “Retreading is now an integral part of the Continental package, it is part of our overall strategy”
With no retread operation in the UK, How does Conti manage to addess the market? “Well, most of the business is fleet tyre management on a contract basis so when the tyres are due for retreading we have direct access to the casings. We ship them to Germany for retreading and ship them back to our customers in the UK. We also have an arrangement with Bandvulc to
franchisees and there is probably now a realisation that there is value in dealing with the fleets and for Bandag to be part of the Bridgestone Total Tyre Care package.
“One franchisee who is absolutely flying high just now is Gary Short at G&S Tyres, they took on the Bandag franchise about 12 years ago and now are running a very successful operation and are looking to expand.”