Page 80 - TBN-2015-4

TYRE & RETREADING 轮胎与翻胎
Tyres and Fuel Management – The Race is On
All over the world premium tyre manufacturers are having to work increasingly hard to justify the cost of investing in their tyres, and nowhere is this more prevalent than in the highly de- veloped European market, where an increased focus on fuel manage- ment may well be a precursor of what to expect in truck and bus mar- kets across the globe. Latest estimates suggest that Chinese tyres may now make up as much as 30% of the UK market. It is largely the middle ground that is currently being squeezed by the up-and-coming brands from Asia, but it is clear that premium manufacturers are hav- ing to do more and more to prove and measure what they can save in fuel and other costs as well as provide improved service to show they still have an advantage in terms of price/performance relationship over their competitors. Premium tyre manufacturers are increasingly becoming cost management companies with “Total Cost of Owner- ship” or “TCO” being the key buzz-word.
Fuel management, of course, is an integral part of the TCO concept. It is becoming increasingly important, however, for manufacturers to be able to demonstrate and prove that they can really save money on fuel with- out it costing more in other areas. For example, the advent of labelling in Europe, although far from being viewed as a panacea, is generally con- sidered to be a good thing. However, with self-certification and a labelling system which covers only three performance parameters, it is very easy to say you have an “A” for rolling resistance. Manufacturers have long since realised that they will have to go the extra mile to demonstrate the value of their tyres.
We are still in the very early days of the development of integrated tyre/ fuel management concepts, but it is already becoming clear that a race is developing between the premium brands in this area.
Out in the lead by some distance at the moment is Michelin, whose Ef- fifuel programme broke the mould in that it approached the issue of tyre and fuel management from fuel saving first rather from the tyre first. Ef- fifuel was the first of Michelin’s segmented range to be launched but has now been developed into “Effitires” and more recently into “Effitires with Fuel Commitment”, which allows Michelin to offer a fuel saving commit- ment on their PPK (pence per kilometre) contracts for the first time.
轮胎及燃油管理—
比赛在进行中
全球所有的优质轮胎制造商都在越来越努 力地去证明他们在轮胎方面所做的投 资，特别是在高度发展的欧洲国家。愈 发被重视的燃油管理，或许就是预期全球卡车与 巴士市场会发生什么事的先兆。近期的估计是中 国轮胎将占英国市场的30%。目前，中间地带受到 积极进取的亚洲品牌的挤压，优质制造商必须更 加努力地去证明和评估他们在燃油和其他成本方面 的节省，以及提供改善的服务，来显示他们在价 格/性能关系上仍比他们的竞争者更具优势。越来 越多的优质轮胎制造业者以“总拥有成本”或简 称“TCO”的时髦术语，成为成本控制管理公司。
当然，燃油管理是TCO概念里的一个主要组成部 分。它变得越来越重要，然而对制造商来说，他 们必须能够证明他们能真正省油，使轮胎不比其 他的成本来得高。比如轮胎标签在欧洲的出现， 虽然该标签仍离被视为万灵丹很远，却被普遍认 为是件好事。然而，有了仅仅覆盖3大性能性能参 数的自我认证和标签系统，说你的轮胎拥有A等级 的滚动阻力是件非常容易的事。制造商早已知道 他们需要更加努力去证明他们的轮胎价值。
我们仍处于相当早期的一体化轮胎/燃油管理概念， 但明显的是优质品牌在这方面的比赛正在进行中。
米其林在此比赛中领先了一段距离，它的Effi- fuel计划打破了墨守成规，它以燃油节省来处理 轮胎和燃油管理的问题，而非先从轮胎方面来处 理。Effifuel是米其林将要推介的第一个细分系 列，不过现在却被发展成“Effitires”，而如今则 是“Effitires with Fuel Commitments”，使米其 林能够首次提供每公里便士的燃油节省承诺合约。
这是创新的，因为它真正地保障燃油节省，如果 没有做到该合约上的燃油节省，就会为车队提供 按比例的回扣。米其林说，它已经让与它签约的 车队每辆车每公里平均节省1.5升的柴油。
目前，米其林是唯一提供这类燃油节省承诺的新 轮胎制造商，但可以肯定的是其他的领先业者的 步伐都不会与它相差太远。
事实上，普利司通正在测试和验证一条轮胎和燃 油管理，据说将能证明普利司通轮胎的燃油经 济，同时从路线管理和驾驶行为(闲置、复原 等)问题，提供可测量的燃油经济改善 。该系统 被宣称已经准备好，并已在欧洲可信任的车队客 户上进行测试。
78 truck & bus news 2015/4