Growth continuing at NDI
Many within the UK tyre industry know the name NDI Tyre & Tube Supplies Ltd. This Derbyshire-based firm is just one part of a much larger operation, however. Parent company Nordisk Dæk Import AS, is well represented as a wholesaler, fast-fit operator, retreader and wheel manufacturer in Scandinavia and parts of Europe. The company is headquartered in Brørup, in the west of Denmark, and in addition to its facility there, where around 750,000 tyres are held in stock, Nordisk Dæk Import – NDI for short – operates 17 wholesale outlets, making it one of the largest wholesalers within the region.
In February, Tyres & Accessories spoke with NDI export manager Carsten Andersen. It’d been around a year and a half since the last time we’d sat down with company representatives, so we were interested to hear of the latest developments at NDI. Back in the summer of 2010, when the Danish company was celebrating its 40th anniversary, founder Benny Kristensen shared that NDI had “growth plans in the wings”, however the recent onset of the global recession had put these on hold and the company was watching the market before committing itself to go ahead. Now, in 2012, the picture is quite different. Andersen told T&A that “we’ve already begun to implement our growth plans. Last year, for example we opened two new depots in Finland, the first in March 2011 and the second in July.”
The growth plans also involve expanding NDI’s Nordexx private brand: “We are introducing more and more new sizes and are developing key accounts within Europe,” Andersen explains. “Our aim is to have an exclusive partner with sole distribution rights for the Nordexx range in every market.” In addition, the export manager touches on future plans to expand the Nordexx range, which was first introduced as a passenger car and van line in 2007, into other market segments. Currently the Nordexx range consists of the Comus standard tyre, Cirrus high performance and Stratus ultra high performance lines plus the Nivius Snow winter tyre and Tamaro van tyre. A large amount of fitments for 13 to 18-inch rim diameters are included under these five sub-brands; NDI intends to display the latest members of the Nordexx family, along with examples of its AP Dual Wheels, at June’s Reifen 2012 show in Germany.
The abovementioned AP Dual Wheels belong to the AP Wheels line-up, an agricultural range whose manufacture NDI took over in 2006. The company has manufactured dual wheels for tractors since 1975, however the business has taken off for NDI in recent years and is still growing. “We export our AP Wheels range to approximately 20 countries now,” Andersen shares. “Most of these are within Europe, however we also have a distributor in Japan and in January we appointed Armstrong Tyres our distributor in Australia. Very recently we also entered into an agreement with a distributor for New Zealand, and we will make an announcement regarding this soon. Right now our main focus is Eastern Europe; we are looking intensively towards Eastern Europe and Russia, as we see great potential for our products there.”
In addition to business growth, the company is also growing physically. Carsten Andersen shared that NDI has just laid the foundations for a new office building at its Brørup site. “The first stage of our expansion plans at the site will be finished in June, at which time our sales and administrative staff will move into their new offices,” he elaborates. “The second stage of our project, a whole new building, will be completed early next year.”
Summing up the current mood at NDI, Andersen reflected that it’s “good to be in the tyre business.” Expanding on this positive sentiment, he pointed out that 2011 was a good business year for the Danish company. “We had sufficient tyres in stock and we gained more market share in Denmark and Scandinavia. The winter tyre business was particularly strong last season, and it’s looking good this year even though the winter has been milder.”
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