Private brands a continued Deldo focus

The growth Deldo reported when Tyres & Accessories visited the wholesaler’s headquarters in Antwerp earlier this year (as covered in our March 2012 issue) has continued throughout the first half of this year, Rutger Veerman related during Reifen 2012. And the international sales and marketing manager said its experiences at the show were equally positive. “We’ve had a good show,” Veerman shared. “We have seen a lot of existing customers, mostly customers from within Europe but also from outside, and we have had contact with a number of new customers. We’ve had interest from places as far away as Australia and New Zealand. We have had a lot of interest and now have plenty to do.”

Last year, Deldo sold some eight million tyres – half of those from Chinese manufacturers – and took in a turnover of more than 325 million euros. Veerman conceded, however, that 2012 has been a little tougher for Europe’s tyre industry than the past couple of years, and he commented that customers are being cautious at the moment, preferring to order small quantities of tyres rather than bulk loads. Despite this, sales at Deldo are still growing and are said to only be limited by physical capacity. This sales growth is in part being driven by interest in Deldo’s private brands. The wholesaler currently has six on the market, the most recent being Imperial. “We are looking for new distributors, especially for our newest brands.” Veerman commented. He added that Deldo will continue to add sizes to its private brand ranges.

Deldo’s interest in private brands is understandable. “Private brands add security,” the sales and marketing manager stated. “We control how it operates and there is no risk that the brand will suddenly be unavailable, something we experienced in the past. That is why our focus is now more on private labels. Next year a further private brand – Atlas – will be released. According to Veerman, this brand will be available in a “comprehensive range” of summer and winter passenger car and light truck tyres.