Goodyear Tells of Increased Market Share

Goodyear Dunlop UK and Ireland has released the claim that, despite challenging economic conditions, the company has managed to increase its car tyre market share by a margin of over 4 per cent in the last four months. Over the company’s four major brands, including European-developed Fulda and Sava in addition to the best-known Goodyear and Dunlop names, the manufacturer states that it reached a two year peak of 27.1 per cent of the market during the last third of a year.

Group managing director, Mark Brickhill said that the Birmingham-based company’s strong and diverse portfolio of brands has been the key to gaining market share in challenging conditions. While the rest of the market was declining by 0.6 per cent, Goodyear Dunlop’s December consumer sales were 6 per cent higher than in the same month in 2007. The company says that its share of Market has been growing steadily over the last four months, reaching its aforementioned peak in December.

Brickhill continued, “In December, more than one in four car tyres sold in the United Kingdom was from the Goodyear Dunlop brand portfolio. Our aggressive new product development strategy for our premium brands resulted in the launch of the acclaimed Dunlop Sport Maxx TT in the ultra high performance sector and the truly innovative Goodyear OptiGrip in the family car tyre market in 2008.

“The OptiGrip performs as new even after 18,000 miles – offering families and fleet customers unrivalled value performance as well as safety. During a downturn many tyre dealers are finding their consumers will buy premium Goodyear, rather than trading down to mid-tier and budget. Families with limited budgets know they cannot afford to buy products that don’t work over the long term. This means that we have not only the most modern products in the car tyre market but, crucially, tyres that deliver the relevant benefits that drivers, and the tyre trade, actually want.” stated Brickhill.

In addition to its premium brands, Goodyear Dunlop are also seeing strong growth from its associated brand portfolio, particularly Fulda and Sava, both developed and engineered in Europe.

Brickhill commented, “Fulda offers premium brand, German technology at a competitive price point and Sava has grown to establish a reputation for offering reliable, trusted performance in the value tyre sector. Both brands had a stronger sales performance in December 2008 than in the previous year. Our success is driven by having a diverse and comprehensive range of brands that exceed customer expectations, all available for delivery from our Birmingham National Distribution Centre, backed by the strength of our service, warranty and dealer support.

“It is undoubtedly a challenging time in the market, but a diverse portfolio gives us a greater strength than if we were focused on just one brand,” he concluded.