The Roof Box Company has been appointed UK distributor for AutoSock.

AutoSock - textile 'socks' with an elasticated edge which you place over the driving wheels on cars or light commercials. There's only one possible way to do this, so no practice is required. Friction does the rest.

AutoSock is the quick and easy solution to the problem of giving road tyres the grip they need on ice and snow.

AutoSock have been approved by TÜV Munich who have shown them to be more effective than winter tyres, and more effective than snow chains in many situations, particularly on ice.

They are already being supplied as Original Equipment to many leading car manufacturers including Audi, BMW, Citroën, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot and VW.

AutoSock are ideal for use in the UK, especially in hilly areas where ice is common but gritting is rare, although they also work well even in deep and / or wet snow. They'll get you down to the main road, or "Get you home", although there's no reason why they shouldn't be used for longer journeys. We tend to forget how unsuitable summer tyres are for winter driving, until it snows.

They're lightweight and very easy to store in the car, are silent and smooth in use, are reusable time and again, and are even machine washable. There's no need to turn off electronic traction and stability devices, e.g. ESP / ASC+T / ASR / ABS - which should not be used with snow chains.

The RRP is £59.95 for the four main sizes covering 13" to 16" wheels, with £74.95 for the new High Performance model (designed for vehicles with wider tyres and lower profiles). There's a tyre size chart on the web site.

AutoSock was developed in Norway. Worldwide sales have grown from 1,500 pairs in 2002 to 100,000 pairs in winter 2003/2004. A reasonable projection for sales this winter is 250,000 sets - demonstrating that customers are using the product and telling their friends!

How do they work? Dry snow and ice sticks to fabric - many people still put woolly socks over their shoes when walking on ice or snow. AutoSock's specially developed textile "wicks away" any water that's found between the ground and the tyre, (generated e.g. by the warmth of the sun, or wheel spin), improving the dry friction grip. The textile weave also maximises the friction contact with the ground; the fibres become hairier with use, and are arranged at right angles to the direction of travel to optimise grip.

For more information: Please visit www.autosock.co.uk where there's also a Press / Downloads section. Alternatively please e-mail media@autosock.co.uk or phone Martin Gray on 015396 21884. A CD of images and other media is available on request.