Deldo exhibits new Tristar range at meeting-rich Reifen show

It’s no secret that trade exhibitions such as Reifen primarily serve as venues for maintaining business relationships and for meeting new customers or suppliers, and Deldo Autobanden used the show week to its full potential. When Tyres & Accessories dropped by the Antwerp-based wholesaler’s stand it was typically brimming with activity; during a quieter moment, marketing and communication management assistant Jente Vermeiren shared that Reifen had more than met Deldo’s expectations.

“All has gone well,” she commented. “We’re quite pleased about the turn up of clients – our sales representatives have participated in a lot of meetings. Many existing clients have come by and spoken with us on our stand, but we’ve also met with a lot of potential clients, including visitors from South America, from Algeria – we were at an exhibition there a couple of months ago and made some good initial contacts – and from the US.”

Vermeiren mentioned that Deldo is currently busy expanding into the US and Canada at present. “We have already found a large, exclusive client for Canada,” she added, without naming the company.

No show stand is complete without products, and Deldo brought an assortment of its private brands to Reifen 2014. The range of tyres on display included Deldo’s newest private brand, Tristar. “The Tristar range was introduced this year,” says Vermeiren. “Our Rockstone brand is being phased out as production of it is coming to an end, so Tristar replaces it on the same level.” Production of the Tristar range began in February with the first 47 sizes, a range that increased to 120 sizes by the middle of the year. Deldo is initially focusing on the winter segment for Tristar in 2014/15 before promoting its summer range for the coming season.

Deldo’s representatives were also keen to show visitors the Atlas line-up following the private brand’s strong performance in a recent tyre test conducted by Germany’s Auto Bild magazine. Auto Bild described the Atlas Sport Green as an “underdog” in its test of 50 size 225/50 R17 summer tyres and said it was “surprisingly good”. The Sport Green finished seventh place in the test and was praised for its performance in aquaplaning situations, dry braking performance and low drive-by noise. The Auto Bild testers also judged the Atlas tyre the best value for money.

The conclusion of Reifen 2014 on 30 May didn’t necessarily mean a well-earned rest for all of Deldo’s representatives. The following week Automechanika Dubai got underway and Deldo was present as an exhibitor. “Our new international market sales representative, Bart van Cauwenberge, is attending,” said Jente Vermeiren. “He began in his new role a couple of months ago and is excited to go and meet clients and potential clients.”