‘Huge opportunity’ for mid-range, quality tyres – Davanti sales director

Davanti Protoura Sport (Photo: Davanti)

Building on its 2015 foundation, the UK-owned Davanti Tyres brand has developed a comprehensive range of products for the car and light truck segments while increasing its penetration via distribution partners in international markets. With its products produced in East Asia and its sister distribution company Oak Tyres handling UK distribution, the brand can offer an informed perspective on current car tyre market trends. Tyres & Accessories talked to Davanti Tyres sales director for UK and Ireland, Sean Maddocks about tyre imports, car parc evolution, and the latest Davanti products.

Logistics headwinds affecting tyres imported from Asia receded considerably in the second half of 2022, while local European manufacturing has faced increasing costs. Acknowledging its tyres are manufactured in plants located in Southeast Asia, T&A asked Maddocks how these circumstances affected Davanti’s UK and European strategy. “The market is currently seeing the effects of the drop in shipping rates in the declining price of budget tyres. Though the dollar has weakened from its historical position and we’ve seen raw materials increase, the shipping rates are definitely reducing the price of entry level products,” Maddocks said.

“At Davanti we chose not to pass on anything like the increases we took to our dealer network. We felt at the time that the direction other brands were taking with their increases wasn’t sustainable, so we opted to hold our position to ensure we were the best priced mid-range option.”

Maddocks describes the strategy overall as taking steps to protect the network, which he says has resonated with independent tyre dealers. “We also chose to massively increase the levels of stock we hold in the UK. The unreliability of the global supply chain has led us to invest heavily in additional UK warehousing to increase our stock levels to a point where we rarely have stock gaps due to the depth of stock we hold across the UK. This has had huge benefits for us in terms of sales growth and our network of independent retailers can see that we are on their side when it comes to battling these headwinds. I think our message of aligning with independent retailers has really cut through to the market and those plans won’t change.”

New car sales and sub-premium tyre strategy

Sean Maddocks, Davanti sales director for UK and Ireland

T&A asked how predictions of car sales increases affect Davanti’s car tyre strategy and how the brand is preparing for long-term changes in the car parc, such as electrification. Maddocks pointed out that there would be a considerable lag in any effects arising from an increase in new car sales, and that supply issues have contributed to a rise in the average age of a UK car to more than eight years old, a historic high. He says that while the average age rises alongside the proportion of 17-22 inch rim sizes, “consumers are less likely to fit premium tyres and instead, look for more value for money options. This leaves the premium tyre sector facing a real challenge – but leaves mid-range quality tyres, such as Davanti, with a huge opportunity.”

He added that the rise in popularity of electric vehicles made it “important we ensure our range offers the right product for these vehicles too.” So far, these sizes have been incorporated into the existing product range and internal Davanti testing at its European Development Centre at IDIADA, Spain has been positive. Maddocks adds that the “DX440 van tyre is the specified tyre for London Electric Vehicle Company’s VN5 electric commercial vans on the road, which is testament to the performance of the tyre.”

Looking forward to 2023, Maddocks says the UK’s cost-of-living crisis increases interest in the cost-effectiveness of tyres: “With every penny counting for customers – and even more so with a distress purchase such as tyres – mid-range quality brands, such as Davanti, offer consumers competitive pricing, reliability, and performance for their new and used cars alike.”

Alltoura H/T 4-Seasons leads new Davanti product lineup

Davanti has started 2023 with a new product launch in the Alltoura H/T 4-Seasons. “It’s our first all-season tyre designed with SUVs in mind,” says Madocks, “and the latest addition to our impressive all-season range, which will see considerable growth in its size range through 2023.”

The brand is also expanding existing models. Davanti has expanded the UHP Protoura Sport range to cover new original equipment sizes. This has meant “many new fitments in 20-22 inch rim sizes,” Maddocks says. Additionally, the range is being adapted for extended mobility: “we’ve now started mass production on a run-flat variation of the Protoura Sport. These should hit UK shores in Q2 and come in a huge range from 17 to 21 inch rim sizes for all key fitments.”

Maddocks describes the Terratoura A/T as “another huge leap forward for us over recent years,” putting the brand into the 4×4 tyre market. “We’ve just announced to our network that the Terratoura range will be increased to include our new mud-terrain tyre, Terratoura M/T across all key UK fitments,” Maddocks adds. He concludes that further products are “in different stages of the pipeline” with the brand’s development team working to achieve the required performance improvements prior to launch.