Research carried out by the US Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) shows that consumers rate product quality and trust above price when selecting a vehicle service provider. According to the Tire Review report, researchers discovered that the cost of service ranked seventh in the study. The report entitled “The Aftermarket Consumer: DIY or DIFM” looked into the factors affecting consumer decision making.
Through its participation in the 2006 World Cup, Continental AG is aiming to further enhance its reputation and awareness of the Continental brand. This huge sporting event is said to be the ideal scenario in which to ‘emotionalise’ spectators. The World Cup offers another advantage, according to Lars Fahrenbach, marketing director at Continental’s passenger car division and responsible for the European replacement market: “Everybody else is in motorsports.”
The All India Tyre Dealers’ Federation has urged the Indian finance ministry to rationalise excise duty on automotive tyres, supporting the introduction of radial tyres. In its pre-budget memorandum, the federation requested the government to fix excise duty on radial tyres at the rate of 16 per cent on heavy vehicles and at 8 per cent for tractors to boost the sales of radial tyres. The federation has also been pressuring the authorities to lower import duty on tyres.
Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK has announced that it has appointed the RLA Group as its trade marketing agency. The agency will be responsible for developing and coordinating a trade marketing programme covering all group activities. RLA will represent the Goodyear, Dunlop and Fulda tyre brands and the Hi-Q retail vehicle and tyre service network.
Goodyear Dunlop’s pan-European internet-based tyre management system, FleetOnlineSolutions which was launched to truck and bus fleet operators late last year, has been expanded. The improvements that have been made include major functionality upgrades, web-based interactive reporting and intensive training, says the tyre manufacturer. There are now more than 3,500 contracted vehicles on the system, based in three countries. FleetOnlineSolutions utilises the internet and is accessible to the customer, contracted tyre service providers and Goodyear Dunlop. All details of a customer’s tyre contract are available via the secure FleetOnlineSolutions website which also handles all reporting, invoicing and stock ordering, related to contracts. This means that whenever a customer needs tyre-related work to be carried out, it is done exactly to the specification agreed in the contract. In other words, the service-provider works precisely to each customer’s individual tyre policy and pricing structure as originally agreed with Goodyear Dunlop.
The leading network of independent tyre dealers in Europe is set to grow. The Hungarian point S organisation has recently added seven new Service Centers so that the overall coverage in Hungary is nation-wide now with 37 of these centres, according to a statement released by point S International. The company says that a further growth of the number of service stations is very likely. 1,500 service centres in nine European countries are part of the point S International organisation. Countries represented include Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Hungary.
The subject of how to sell truck tyres is certainly a contentious issue. All parties involved feel strongly about their respective positions. If you ask a tyre dealer what they think about this question, the chances are they wont be happy with the status quo. But, as far as the large manufacturers are concerned, selling direct to fleets and supplying the associated services is the only way to give customers what they demand. However not everybody agrees. Other brands support the supply chain, ‘the way it has always been’. Tyres & Accessories invited readers and industry members to comment on our website’s ‘question of the month’: Are Truck Tyre Dealers Being Relegated to Service Providers?
One reader’s comment sums up the argument from the independent dealer’s point of view: “Manufacturers have enough influence through OEM if they sell direct to fleets they will force out independent retailers who are the lifeblood of the Industry and we are liable to get a “committee” of “big brother” manufacturers deciding who, what, where and when, which is not in the interests of the fleets or independent Retailers.
Some companies take an arguably more ‘pro-dealer’ stance. “Cutting out the middle man is not an advantage,“ says Westlake Tyres UK and Europe business manager, Rob Henderson “As far as Eskay Tyres is concerned, we would rather support wholesalers. There is a system, a chain and that’s the way it should be done.” Philippe Verneuil, chief operating officer, Michelin truck tyres Europe agrees. Speaking to an IAA press conference in Hanover he affirmed, “we have to ensure that we continue to serve loyally and effectively.”
A reader from the UK added his opinion: “This is a question of meeting customer needs – the industry would much prefer the status quo, but today the customer asks for something else, which can only be delivered by a multi-national organisation, but this does not necessarily threaten the tyre retailer – it gives him another opportunity.”
The fact is, no simple answer exists. According to another T&A reader, the problem is: “The modern fleet user depends upon time sensitive data being made available to him at the click of a mouse. Many dealers are well on the way to being able to handle the most complex of end-user business but, like any ‘chain’ it is only as strong as the weakest link so, until all dealers are equally well equipped, we must expect the manufacturers to take the lead in this market place. They, in the main, can handle the processing of data.”
The last word goes to a reader who thinks there is a much simpler solution. “There should be cooperation between retailers and the industry.” While some parties would argue that is already happening, like the subject in general, it is unlikely that everyone will agree.
Michelin has appointed Kings Road Tyres as the sole supplier of its Taurus agricultural tyres to the UK.
The manufacturer describes KRT as having a “long-standing relationship with Michelin’s Taurus brand,” and accredits the company’s nationwide distribution network as the reason for its choice. The UK wholesaler is already the sole supplier of the Stomil-Olsztyn / Kormoran range of products, another Michelin Group brand.
Stapletons has reshuffled its sales team in a move designed to deliver an improved customer service.
The majority of Tyres & Accessories readers who responded to the current question of the month are opposed to the direct sale of truck tyres to haulage companies. This update follows the news that half of those who responded are against direct sales. The progress of the question of the month suggests that a number of truck tyre dealers are less than satisfied with the current situation. T&A would like to hear from you. To read the current question of the month and to add your own views, click here
Within a couple of weeks of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Polish government abandoned its centrally planned economy and replaced it with a liberalised system based on free market thinking.
Today, 14 years after those first steps towards a western economic system, Poland and most of its business sectors are dominated by change. This progression is true of the tyre business too. In early June, the members of the new Polish tyre retail association, Auto-Kompleks, met in Bogumilow in order to discuss its plans for the future and to correct the mistakes of the past.
Since its foundation in 1999, the 40 or so members of Auto-Kompleks have met once a year in south-west Poland. After five years in existence, the association is still searching for a fundamental direction. Although Auto-Kompleks calls itself an “association” it is not entirely clear whether the title means the same as it would in the UK.
For example, one legacy from the organisation’s foundation period is that two members from the same town are prohibited from joining. This kind of territory protection, which is usually bestowed upon retailers or wholesalers by the industry, suggests that Auto-Kompleks was initially formed in order to act as a retail co-operative that could strengthen the individual members’ buying power. Indeed the initiator and founder of Auto-Kompleks, Kazimierz Mazurkiewicz, who was elected as the group’s president in June, told Tyres & Accessories that the foundation was formed as a reaction against the attempts of Polish wholesalers to sell directly to the end-consumer.
Auto-Kompleks was perceived to be the smaller and less powerful retailers’ best defence against the price dictating power of the tyre industry. Although the organisation was originally conceived to represent the interests of independent tyre dealers in Poland Mr Mazurkiewicz has to admit that Auto-Kompleks’ efforts have only been halfway successful. We are learning through experience, the new vice president Ryszard Maguder added. Although still “in discussion”, explains the tyre dealer from Kruszyn; a change of Auto-Kompleks’ admission policy is just a matter of time.
Goodyear Dunlop Europe has been selected to supply replacement tyres for Volvo’s European truck tyre business through its chain of close to 1,000 truck dealers and workshops. According to Henry Johnson, managing director of Goodyear Dunlop’s European truck tyre business, Volvo customers will have the option to benefit from the one-stop shopping approach.
Runflats are becoming more and more common and not only for high sophisticated models such as the Ferrari 612 Scaglietta, which uses Bridgestone RE 050 RFT – but also for middle class models. However because it is necessary to use a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) when using runflats, these systems are becoming more popular from a lot of companies outside the tyre industry. In the next issue Tyres & Accessories will give an overview of why tyre dealers have to be involved in such a growing market segment.
The Tire Industry Association (TIA) has announced that it is accepting nominations for the 2004 ‘Hall of Fame’. The nominations are due 1 September and are open to individuals in the tyre industry, including manufacturers, inventors, publishers, equipment suppliers, tyre dealers, and retreaders.
Bridgestone UK has appointed Andrew Whitehead as business development manager in a move designed to strengthen the company’s Truck Point network of independent truck tyre dealers.
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