Tyre dealer Delticom AG increased sales in the fourth quarter to 12 million Euros (4Q 2001: 7.7 m Euros). Earnings for the year were 34 million Euros (2001: 21.7 m Euros), half of which was through internet trading. Last year the company recorded 40 million accesses at its online tyre shops in eight countries. Months with highest revenues were October to December, when Delticom sdays orders were running at 1,000 per day.
Late – at least compared with other businesses – but not too late, the tyre industry and trade have realised the importance and the possibilities of e-commerce and for today’s business. But this late “discovery” is not really a surprise because automotive and related companies are naturally not so closely related to the topic as, for example, the electronics or the communications businesses. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that a study by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), carried out in co-operation with KPMG Consulting, reveals a lower interest among companies in the automotive sector – again only in comparison with other businesses – to expand their e-business activities, although in the meantime the internet is becoming more and more accepted in the tyre business. Two or three years ago there were only a few investing in this “new” media. But since last year, the number of tyre and wheel related online shops or portal sites is constantly growing. And even the tyre manufacturers themselves are investing more and more in internet facilities. Details can be found in NEUE REIFENZEITUNG’s e-commerce feature in January.
Dunlop Online has launched what it says is “the most sophisticated guide to motorcycle tyres on the net”. It gives surfers tyre fitment and pressure data for their motorcycles, along with the recommended Dunlop tyre for their machine. Details are on ww.dunloptyres.co.uk/motorcycle
During the annual shareholders meeting of Continental, the tyre manufacturer announced that it is going to build up an online tyre shop which will go live at the beginning of next year. At first he offer will contains passenger car tyres and service, and later complete wheels and car accessories will be included.
German tyre dealer Reifen Mayerosch (Wolfersheim-Berstadt) has been awarded a quality seal by “Trusted Shops” for his online shop offer “komplettradkauf.de”. Trusted Shops examines the quality and security measures of internet shop companies.
“Tomorrow already, today will be yesterday” – there is hardly anything else coming so close to this fact than the internet. Whereas two years ago in Germany, the percentage of people being connected to the internet was around 9 per cent, this figure went up to 16 per cent in the last quarter of 1999 and achieved more than 20 per cent, i.e. 13.4 million online users by the end of March 2000. And, relying on market researchers, the peak is still far away. It is supposed that in Germany another 10 million people will use the internet by the end of the year. Thus, probably the number of people with particular homepages will continue to rise very quickly. Meanwhile, this fact has also got about in the tyre business, which can be underlined by the variety of companies who presented their websites on the REIFEN 2000 in Essen. Would it now be possible – after books, software and music – to download tyres, too? Of course, tyre dealers still have an advantage: there must always be someone for mounting the tyres. For certain reasons tyre dealers do not really want to get to like being in this position, as they often feel to be “degraded to service operators”. In this case, however, they should realize the opportunities of the internet for being able to “distinguish themselves as service operators”, although there is hardly anyone today, who can foresee the development of the tyre dealers’ business over the next five or ten years. Find out more in the November issue of NEUE REIFENZEITUNG.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
