Road - Tyre Talk

The automotive after market has changed radically over the years. From scrap yards to vehicle dismantlers to autoparts specialist companies with wee (and some big) vans wheeling about the country delivering basic supplies to garages and private folk around the country.

This has also meant big changes in the logistics side of such operations. Gone are the local stock rooms and huge warehouses, it seems that everyone has adopted the ‘just in time’ approach to stock taking or get it supplied direct by delivery company from the factory.

However that doesn’t just happen, there is a lot of science behind the planning. For instance car dealers and component suppliers need to have some idea of what is likely to be needed, and when, by the great British public. They don’t stick a finger in the air to check which direction the winds of change are blowing, they keep a note of what is being sold on a regular or irregular basis and adjust their own stocking levels and delivery schedules to suit anticipated demand.

Which brings me to Kwik Fit, and here I must admit to a personal interest, but they have just published some details of their own ongoing logistics planning. As one of the nation’s biggest supplier of tyres they need to know which makes and sizes to stock or have readily available and in which areas of the country these are most likely to be needed ….

…. and which brings me to my Citroen Berlingo which is used as the weekly runabout (or skip!) but it would appear that this humble vehicle is second top of Kwik Fit’s list for most visits paid to their centres by a particular make of car.

Now while that in itself is not very interesting, guess which make of car tops this list and lies third behind the Berlingo? Apparently the Tesla Model 3 makes the most visits to their centres while the Tesla Model Y is third. Behind them is a Merc CLA, Volvo XC40, and a couple of BMWs, and not necessarily electric vehicles.

Which kind of suggests that Tesla cars are hard on their tyres and from which we might infer that electric cars are perhaps not as cheap to run as the manufacturers would have us believe with their cheap power supply, less need for servicing and requirement for fewer mechanical parts.

Given the price of tyres these days that surely is something which must be factored into future punters’ buying choice decisions?

Anyway, it’s not quite a lightbulb moment of automotive revelation, but I thought it was of interest, even though I don’t actually buy my tyres from Kwik Fit, although after a recent experience with a brand new replacement full exhaust system – I won’t be back! But that’s another story ….