HiQ is a nationwide British retailer of automobile tyres, and MoT car-servicing centres.
The company was created in July 1992 as HiQ Tyreservices by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. [1]
It was the main sponsor of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 2008, 2009 and 2014. It supplies the tyres exclusively for the British police.
The companies' outlets were improved in 2008.
It has around 100 service centres across the UK. [2] The company headquarters are at Trident Court on the 148-acre Birmingham Business Park, around a half-mile south-west of junction 4 of the M6, accessed from the A452. This is also the headquarters of Dunlop Tyres UK, which moved to the site in May 2017.
Technicians are trained at the HiQ Training Academy. The company would like all of its employees to have the Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) qualification. [3]
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer production of tyres for cars, motorcycles and bicycles. It is present in Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, North America, and the post-Soviet states, operating commercially in over 160 countries. It has 19 manufacturing sites, across 13 countries, and a network of around 14,600 distributors and retailers. In 2015, China National Chemical Corp. Ltd. (ChemChina) took controlling interest of Pirelli; with the Chinese state-owned company agreeing to maintain the tyre company's ownership structure until 2023.
A tire is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which the wheel travels. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, are pneumatically inflated structures, providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock as the tire rolls over rough features on the surface. Tires provide a footprint, called a contact patch, designed to match the vehicle's weight and the bearing on the surface that it rolls over by exerting a pressure that will avoid deforming the surface.
Michelin, in full Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin SCA, is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes région of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and larger than both Goodyear and Continental. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the Kléber tyres company, Uniroyal-Goodrich Tire Company, SASCAR, Bookatable and Camso brands. Michelin is also notable for its Red and Green travel guides, its roadmaps, the Michelin stars that the Red Guide awards to restaurants for their cooking, and for its company mascot Bibendum, colloquially known as the Michelin Man, who is a humanoid consisting of tyres.
Bridgestone Corporation is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi (石橋), meaning 'stone bridge' in Japanese. It primarily manufactures tires, as well as golf equipment.
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lane which runs parallel to the start/finish straightaway of the track and is connected to it at each end. Along this lane is a row of garages outside which the work is done in a pit box. Pit stop work is carried out by the pit crew of up to twenty mechanics, depending on the series regulations, while the driver often waits in the vehicle.
Continental AG, commonly known as Continental or colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company that specializes in tires, brake systems vehicle electronics, automotive safety, powertrain, chassis components, tachographs, and other parts for the automotive and transportation industries. Continental is structured into six divisions: Chassis and Safety, Powertrain, Interior, Tires, ContiTech, ADAS. It is headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony. Continental is the world's third-largest automotive supplier and the fourth-largest tire manufacturer.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is an American company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing, and sales of replacement automobile and truck tires, and has subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle, and racing tires. With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has 60 manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical, and design facilities within its worldwide family of subsidiary companies, including the UK-based Avon Tyres brand, which produces tires for motorcycles, road cars, and race cars.
Dunlop Tyres is a brand of tyres which is managed by different companies around the world. It was founded by pneumatic tyre pioneer John Boyd Dunlop in Belfast, Ireland, in 1888.
Halfords Group PLC is a UK retailer of motoring and cycling products and services. Through Halfords Autocentre, they provide vehicle servicing, MOT, maintenance and repairs in the United Kingdom.
Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd., also known simply as Hankook, is a South Korean tire company based in Seoul. It is the seventh largest tire company in the world. It is a part of Hankook & Company.
Nokian Tyres plc, headquartered in Nokia, Finland, produces tyres for cars, trucks, buses, and heavy-duty equipment. Known for its winter tyres, Nokian is the only tyre manufacturer in the world with its own permanent winter tyre testing facility. The company's Hakkapeliitta brand name is recognised in Finland as a trademark.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is a global tire and rubber company based in Japan. It is part of the Sumitomo Group. The company makes a wide range of rubber based products, including automobile tires, golf balls and tennis balls. Sumitomo tire brands include Dunlop, Falken and Ohtsu. Sumitomo also manufactures and sells the sport equipments under the Dunlop Sport brand.
Dunlop Ltd. was a British multinational company involved in the manufacture of various natural rubber goods. Its business was founded in 1889 by Harvey du Cros and he involved John Boyd Dunlop who had re-invented and developed the first pneumatic tyre. It was one of the first multinationals, and under du Cros and, after him, under Eric Geddes, grew to be one of the largest British industrial companies. J. B. Dunlop had dropped any ties to it well before his name was used for any part of the business. The business and manufactory was founded in Upper Stephen Street, Dublin. A plaque marks the site, which is now part of the head office of the Irish multinational departments store brand, Dunnes Stores.
Dunlop is a brand of tyre originally produced by the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company from the end of the 19th century, taking its name from John Boyd Dunlop. The brand is used for many other products made from rubber or with rubber components and some with a looser connection to rubber.
Halfords Autocentre is a car servicing and repair company in the United Kingdom, specialising in car servicing, MOT testing, brakes, tyres, Exhausts, and air conditioning services/repairs. As of 2018, there are 314 autocentres in the United Kingdom.
The Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) is a trade qualification for all facets of automotive repair in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary scheme similar to that for electricians run by the NICEIC and similarly, is not government-run.
Event Mobile Tyres was an online tyre retailer in the United Kingdom and the first mobile online tyre retailer to use chip and pin mobile devices in the UK. They were members of the National Tyre Distributors Association.
Giti Tire is a Singapore headquartered tire company, with eight manufacturing facilities, more than 32,000 global employees, and distribution to a market of more than 130 countries.
National Tyres and Autocare is a tyre and automotive parts retailer based in Stockport in Greater Manchester, England and owned by Halfords. They are commonly referred to as just 'National Tyres' although the limited company is still National Tyre Service Ltd.
Zenises is a multinational tyre company with headquarters in London and Dubai and four other offices in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia.