US Retailer Boosts Brand Strategy with Conti, General

An ex-sales director at Continental Tire North America has expanded the brand profile of a tyre and service centre subsidiary of XL Tire. The Pineville Tire & Service Center of Charlotte, North Carolina has added Continental and General to its portfolio in order to enhance its brand strategy for retail tyre sales. Pineville Tire is run by Jim Seidel, the former Director of Sales for Continental Tire North America and owned by the Seidel family.

“We are growing our tyre sales business very rapidly and our customers are increasingly requesting tyres that they had on their new vehicles as original equipment. As the former director of sales at Continental I know first-hand the strength that the Continental brand enjoys at the OE level,” says Seidel, who is CEO and president of XL Tire. Pineville Tire began phasing in the Continental brand after XL Tire purchased its assets in October. The company is now rapidly adding the Continental and General marketing lines.

As a turn-around expert in sales, management and corporate restructuring, Seidel was instrumental in helping turn around its passenger & light truck division from a financial deficit to today’s record profits. “I travelled the world with Conti visiting customers, end users, auto manufacturers as well as initiating the first winter tyre sales program directly from Finland in the Arctic Circle. What I learned about Continental tire is that people believe in the brand all over the world. Adding Continental tires into Pineville Tire is a very special moment for my company and especially our Pineville Tire customers,” he states.

Pineville has also signed up as a Continental Gold dealer; a programme that closely aligns the local tyre retailer with Continental Tire. Seidel revitalised this very initiative himself in 2005 to inject greater sales support from the Continental sales organisation.