Business motorists are starting to take heed of advice recommending a switch of tyres for cold weather driving.

But Britain’s biggest tyre firm claims stocks of covers designed for use in winter look set to remain at low levels.

“Levels of awareness among drivers have risen over the need to match tyres to road conditions, but the orders we’re holding for cold weather tyres shows that in general, the fleet sector remains slow to respond.

“Currently, we have orders for more than 100,000 units from ATS and KwikFit, our major stockholders and this figure shows fleet managers are reluctant to action winter tyre policies during spring or summer.

“However, we think a lot of people are likely to be disappointed when attitudes make a sudden switch after the weather changes,” Michelin fleet sales manager David Crinson told Fleet News.

“In order to help raise awareness, we have staged a series of demonstrations that have resulted in increased support from the leasing industry, where customers fully appreciate that just one day off the road can often meet the average £1,000 extra it costs to equip a car with cold weather tyres.

“But we expected a lot more interest and time is now running out when it comes to placing orders for this year’s supplies. We should be able to cope with smaller orders, but we expect to have difficulty meeting bulk orders.”

Author: Maurice Glover