July 2012: NTDA and LANXESS Launch Campaign to Spread New EU Tyre Labelling Laws

NTDA and LANXESS jointly endeavour to educate the tyre industry in the UK about the imminent tyre labelling laws.

New EU legislation about tyre labelling will come into effect from November this year . This move will enable motorists all over Europe to take better and informed decisions regarding the tyres they purchase.

The Campaign

NTDA, National Tyre Distributors Association, has joined hands with LANXESS – a leading chemical group; and together they have launched a campaign to facilitate the understanding about the new tyre labelling laws among tyre retailers. The information campaign is aimed at helping retailers to better manage the far-reaching impacts of compulsory tyre labelling.

The Legislation

Come 1st November, the tyre labelling system will require each and every tyre seller to provide the following information pertaining to tyres at the time of sale:

· Fuel efficiency

· Wet grip distances

· External noise intensity

The Objective

Both the organisations, NTDA and LANXESS, recognise the importance of spreading adequate awareness, so that every tyre retailer in the UK would exactly know how to cope with future demands from buyers. The association between the two companies is aimed at delivering all the relevant information and designing advanced tools to aid the entire tyre industry embrace this new, significant development with open arms and at a great pace.

Mutual Effort

The information is published in the form of articles and resources for the UK tyre industry news, online videos elucidating the classification and role of new tyre labelling rules and necessary information for customers. The joint effort will also include the launch of an application developed for Androids and smart phones, which will enable garage owners and fitters to educate their customers about how much money various types of tyres can save them each year.

LANXESS’ View

LANXESS is a world leader in synthetic rubber production. Car and truck tyres across the globe run on tyres manufactured using this company’s produce. Their representative for UK, Kim O’Connor asserts that the new tyre labelling rules will revolutionise the tyre industry on a large scale and change it forever. It will enable customers to ask numerous questions before purchasing tyres and will give them the right to expect correct answers from the retailers.

A Growth Opportunity

He further pointed that all the suppliers lacking satisfactory explanations will find it difficult to survive in the market. It will be quite difficult for them to guide the buyers accurately about their choices. Also, such tyre sellers will most likely fail to garner necessary trust required to attract future business prospects. On the other hand, those who will go that extra mile to acquire necessary knowledge and make the most of the opportunity, by revealing their deep understanding of the laws introduced, will be the ones who can expect growth and development.

The ultimate aim of the campaign is to support purchase and use of safer tyres, and also lower the driving costs by enabling motorists to compare price benefits prior to purchase.