Strength in numbers: 5 German tyre wholesalers announce cooperation

Regional European tyre wholesalers have faced several tough years, and perhaps none more so than those based in Germany. The level of transparency within this market, strong competition from online operators and low shipping costs have conspired against German tyre wholesalers and devoured turnover. We saw the country’s largest wholesaler, Reifen Ihle Baden Baden, snapped up by Michelin in 2014, and the following year the French tyre manufacturer also acquired another struggling independent wholesaler, Meyer Lissendorf. Business remains tough for independent players, and five regional wholesalers are now joining forces to take advantage of synergies and maximise their chances of survival.

With Frankfurt am Main-based entity TA Tyre Alliance GmbH, the five partners aim to create an “association of independent, mid-size, owner-operated companies” that “wish to remain economically independent.” Tyre Alliance operates as an equal partnership between Reifen Burkhardt GmbH + Co. KG (Bruchsal), Semex Reifengroßhandels GmbH (Furth im Wald), Reifen Specht Handels GmbH (Ransbach-Baumbach), Reifen Straub GmbH (Kirchberg an der Iller) and Reifen Tanski Manfred Tanski e. K. (Herten), and is led by managing director Reimund Wolfmüller who, together with former Pirelli man Michael Borchert and 26-year Continental veteran Norbert Busch, played a key role in establishing the association.

Speaking with our sister magazine Neue Reifenzeitung, Wolfmüller stated that integrating the five regional companies would give rise to “an efficient cooperation whose focus is upon nationwide service and close customer contact.” In particular, the Tyre Alliance is expected to provide support and increase its members’ competitiveness at the height of the summer/winter seasonal tyre changeover periods.

The Tyre Alliance represents a marketing potential of around three million tyres and its members have a combined warehouse capacity of 65,000 square metres, or 1.4 million tyres. Between them, the five members are active in all segments of the tyre market, from motorcycle, car and SUV through to van, truck, agricultural and industrial tyres. They also operate a total of 41 retail outlets.

According to Wolfmüller, a long-term Tyre Alliance goal is the “combining and further development of each member’s current core competencies.” The managing directors adds: “These synergy effects will in future guarantee exceptional marketing performance that in the first instance will benefit customers, commercial partners and suppliers.” He is keen to explore potential synergies that will better interlink the five wholesalers’ warehouses, and other areas of interest include joint IT projects and collaboration in the areas of logistics and marketing.