ATS Euromaster has today announced an initial order for more than £10 million worth of cold weather tyre stocks for winter 2012/2013 – its largest winter tyre order to date.
It follows less than two years after the company became the first national tyre service provider to launch a fully-managed cold weather tyre service for UK fleets, and represents an increase of more than £4 million compared with orders placed in 2011.
The national tyre and fast-fit specialist says rising European demand coupled with limited manufacturing capacity means it is essential for both tyre distributors and fleets to secure UK stocks promptly.
Peter Fairlie, group sales director at ATS Euromaster, said: “Last year we assessed customer demand early in 2011 to ensure we ordered the exact sizes of cold weather tyres our fleet customers required.
“It’s a strategy which is particularly crucial for larger fleets, which may require anything from several hundred to several thousand cold weather fitments of a particular brand and size at the same time. You simply can’t cater for that level of demand without planning ahead.”
Despite a relatively mild winter in the UK compared with previous years, ATS Euromaster says cold weather tyre sales rose significantly – with the strongest demand from home-shopping retailers, blue light operators and utilities providers.
“These three sectors have been amongst the first to recognise the added benefits that cold weather tyres deliver when the temperature drops below 7° Celsius,” he said.
“It’s not just about guaranteeing mobility in the event of snow and ice – there’s a far wider road safety and duty of care issue at stake.”
Modern rubber compound technology and advances in tread pattern design mean that today’s cold weather tyres deliver considerably shorter stopping distances on both wet and dry roads at low temperatures, in addition to their impressive traction credentials on snow, slush and ice, says ATS.
Fairlie added: “Today’s announcement is geared towards securing initial stocks to meet forecasted customer demand. We’re not ruling out additional orders over the coming months, but these will be subject to available manufacturing capacity.”
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