Group Tyre Gains Exclusive Marangoni Distributorship

Group Tyre (UK) Ltd is to exclusively distribute Marangoni passenger car and light truck tyres in the UK mainland. “The move will allow Group Tyre to offer the independent sector a European manufactured product with premium brand quality but offering better value for money,” the wholesale operation said in an official statement.

“The addition of the Marangoni brand to our portfolio illustrates our commitment to offer our customers a full range of quality brands. We believe that we can develop Marangoni in the UK market to emulate the success it has achieved in the rest of Europe, and that Marangoni will contribute to our continued success in the independent sector,” commented Group Tyre chairman, John Church.

The new strategic partnership between the two companies will also see them embark on a “highly visible advertising campaign” utilising the ‘intelligent tyre’ concept which has been synonymous with the Marangoni brand in Europe for many years. This Marangoni message will be communicated in both the trade and retail sectors with a “high impact” campaign, commencing at the end of 2005 and continuing throughout 2006.

In addition, a key dealer network of ‘Intelligence Centres’ will be provided with a comprehensive trade marketing support package including PoS, Branded Clothing, giveaways and sales promotions at trade and consumer levels.

“This is an extremely exciting time for the Marangoni brand. The UK market is a key element in Marangoni’s global strategy, and is an area where we will be placing significant focus. Based on Group Tyre’s incredible performance with the Stunner brand, we believe that their distribution network and ability to fully support their tyre brands and customers makes Group Tyre a perfect partner for the Marangoni brand,” said Marangoni global sales and marketing director, Derek Carruthers.

When Mr Carruthers speaks of the range of options available to the Italian manufacturer in the past, he is of course referring to another influential wholesaler, Stapletons.

Stapletons said it is “constantly reviewing the range of products on offer, ensuring customers receive the best choice and value in the marketplace.” As part of its on-going review, the company has recently been focusing on the mid-range sector, estimated to account for around 20 per cent of sales in the UK.

The company’s official position is that it has taken the decision not to stock or distribute Marangoni. The company also said it would start reducing stocks from now until the end of the year.

“Our ongoing product range review is designed to give our customers an extensive choice of products with the best value alongside our reputation for outstanding customer service. We are very excited about this new range and I look forward to telling the trade more about it in the New Year,” said Andrew Long, Stapletons’ head of marketing.

Marangoni has unveiled three new products in the last year: the Mythos – a UHP pattern aimed at prestige performance cars with 17 to 19 inch wheels; Maxo – a versatile SUV tyre for this rapidly growing market which requires comfort at high speed on road and confident levels of grip off-road; Meteo HP – a High Performance tyre developed for cold weather conditions, using revolutionary SPE technology to deliver consistent performance on all types of road surface in a wide range of temperatures.