I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a friend who works in the tyre industry. As most of us know from 1st November 2012 there will be new regulations coming into force which mean all tyres will have to display a sticker like the one below which will contain information on fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise.
The efficiency and wet grip elements will be in the same format as stickers that have been displayed on white goods and showroom cars for some time. At a glance it will show you how the tyre performs with the idea being that you can directly compare one tyre with another.
I think this is a positive step because the selection of tyres has always been a little like a dark art. Generally independent fleets have a particular brand policy and will attempt to get as much fitment of that brand as possible. Usually the more fitment of your preferred brand the more rebate you receive.
However if you are with a contract hire company how do you know that they will work in your best interests? They may be more interested in their rebate and maintaining high fitment rates of their preferred brand rather than selecting the best brand for your companies vehicles. Perhaps its time for leasing companies to adjust their management information so that they can report on these new measures from 2012.
As for me, I would really like to see more of an average cost per mile because tyre usage is more about total cost of ownership just as it is with vehicles. It all very well buying a cheap product but if it only lasts half as long as a premium brand this could be false economy depending upon how often your drivers damage tyres.
Having said that any additional information which might help tyre selection is useful although I’m not sure if this initiative will have much influence with the public. Tyres are usually described as a distress purchase so it will normally be a case of what’s the cheapest you have in stock for your average motorist. It may take some time for the message to get through that cheap is not always best.
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