Multi-brand a focus for new VDB truck business

Shortly before Tyres & Accessories visited Van den Ban in late March, the Netherlands-based wholesaler announced plans to enter the truck tyre market. A truck specialist, Hans Bakker, has been appointed to assist Van den Ban in growing this business; Bakker, along with commercial manager Cyril Versteeg, discussed the wholesaler’s plans in relation to truck tyres.

“I started with Van den Ban as truck tyre sales manager on 18 March,” Bakker shares. “Developing Van den Ban’s truck business is a new challenge for me. The first priority is to build it up in the Benelux market, along with some business in the German and French markets. Further down the track we will look at expanding truck into the rest of Europe.” Cyril Versteeg adds that the strategy for the truck segment, as is case for Van den Ban’s passenger car tyre business, is to be multi-brand: “We are building up the programme. Hans knows the market, and this will help us in our multi-brand approach, and in knowing where in the market we can sell truck tyres.”

Hans Bakker has been involved in the truck tyre business for 15 years now; he began with Pirelli in 1998, taking on responsibility for the Dutch truck tyre business. He carried out this role until 2004, when he moved to car service chain Profile Tyrecenter, where was responsible for buying and making agreements with the industry. A year later Pirelli asked him to return and Bakker recommenced in his former position; in 2009 he was placed in charge of the truck business for the whole Benelux region, a role he carried out until beginning with Van den Ban.

“We need a specialist like Hans to make our entry into the truck business work,” Cyril Versteeg states. ”It’s a specialised business, much more than a matter of putting truck tyres in the warehouse and then selling them to customers.” Elaborating the strategy for building up the truck tyre business, Bakker says that often Van den Ban’s existing customer base and distribution channels will be used. “For the Benelux, there are separate truck dealers and we will develop micro distribution,” he says. “But for the rest of Europe most Van den Ban customers are multi-branded and distribute both pcr and truck tyres. Therefore we can use these existing networks. We should be able to use our purchase and sell-out contacts to develop a truck tyre line. I also have many contacts in the industry.”

Building a new business from scratch naturally takes time, but Versteeg and Bakker say that by the end of April the company will have stock and a greater clarity regarding brands, and will be prepared to enter the market.

JIT increasingly important for pcr supply

Even with the entry into the truck tyre sector, passenger car tyres will remain Van den Ban’s core business. This particular industry segment has been affected by the recent economic climate, and the Dutch wholesaler says many customers are reducing their own stock levels. Versteeg sees this as an opportunity for Van den Ban and says the company is responding to this ongoing trend by listening closely to customer needs and by keeping its own stock at a high level and further increase the quantity of patterns and sizes. In addition to its premium business, the company is expanding existing budget ranges, including Hifly, an important brand to Van den Ban that is soon to receive SUV fitments and a wider winter assortment. The commercial manager also comments that ‘quality’ brands, such as Hankook, Toyo and Kumho, are growing in importance. As for private brands, he shares that UHP sizes will be up graded by way of introducing a new pattern in the Novex range in the coming months and a whole new brand will soon be introduced; details will be released in the near future.

“As people are lowering their stocks, we need to constantly fine-tune our logistics,” adds Versteeg. “Just in Time delivery is becoming more important as people are less inclined to take risks and instead stock up just before the season. There we see a future role for Van den Ban; if we have the tyres at the right time, together with our good logistical solutions and JIT delivery, we should be successful.” The average amount of tyres sent in each shipment has significantly reduced, he adds, as the trend is towards more shipments of small quantities.

Throughout the rest of the year, Van den Ban plans to keep investing in its webshop and IT solutions, and place more time and effort in marketing support. “The focus is going to be even more on helping customers locally, to support them with their local businesses,” explains Versteeg. “We’ll do this with a good range of products in combination with a good logistical solution, IT support and marketing support. If we can help our customers to succeed locally, we will do this. It’s a way to help each other through this difficult market. In addition, we will continue to increase availability, to be your total tyre supplier!”