Slashing tires! Who are the Masters?

They’re coming to get you...

Like a bad slasher movie, they keep coming back. I guess I get it. The tire business is pretty much ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’ and competing with your supplier is standard operating procedure, but man do the big boys have guts, just putting it right out there for the world to see. Maybe they’re thinking the dealers can’t do it right, so they have to step in. Here’s the grim news: SOME of the tire manufacturers (all of the big 3) have the means to bypass you and go straight to your customer via mobile tire installation. They can sell the tires on their own websites and then send a van directly to the consumer. They’ve been testing the waters with pilot programs over and over. Here are some of the headlines:

TBC Tests Mobile Tire Installation in Markets - Dallas and West Palm Beach

Michelin Testing Mobile Tire Installation Program (Raleigh-Durham area)

Goodyear Testing Mobile Tire Installation in California and North Carolina

Bridgestone Testing Mobile Tire Unit in Nashville

Hmmmm, key takeaway: Are these boys afraid of getting cold? Send me to West Palm to supervise this in February. Notice something else? No one in Tier 2 is trying this? Are they more afraid of losing dealer support? Just wondering, do you Tier 1 dealers voice your opinions on this to your reps? To see these articles on our Resource Page, click HERE .

There’s your basic o.e. and then there’s

Ohhh - Eeeh!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re original equipment on the Wagon Queen Family Truckster. Big whoop. Zzzzz. But check out this NEXEN company. Earlier this year they announced they’d be supplying Porsche with tires for their hot-selling Macan model. Seems that some Porsche engineers were traveling around Korea on a fact finding trip and one said “Let’s try to set up a meet with NEXEN...” The meeting and R&D tour went on for hours and at the end of the day the Germans were so impressed with what they learned they agreed to cooperate on tires.

That’s neat. Big name sports car company and all, but... - WE LOVE AMERICAN MUSCLE, right? The December cover of HOT ROD magazine features the new Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320. The number 1320? That’s how many feet are in a quarter of a mile of course. Yes, this is a new take on the classic factory drag car. 392 HEMI making 485 hp, Line Lock, TransBrake, and modern launch control are all on board. What’s putting the power to the pavement? Yep, NEXEN cooked up new drag radials called SUR4G Drag Spec. They even have knurled bead seats to minimize tire on rim slippage. These tires won’t lead an easy life. Their job is to launch this two-ton monster to 11.70s in the quarter mile. How did NEXEN get tipped for this gig? Hint: their Tire Tech Center in Richfield Ohio is only 170 miles from Detroit. You can bet there are some real gearheads there in addition to the folks that engineer tires for more run of the mill O.E. There is way more going on at NEXEN than most people think.... To see the article click HERE.

P.S.) If you are into burnouts... watch this video!

Double Dip

Cooper goes wild for the biggest month of the year. They’re paying Medallion dealers Double Bucks on the whole AT3 family, SRX, S/T MAXX, STT Pro, CS5 Grand and Ultra lines until the end of November.

Rebate Reminder

Cooper’s winter rebate kicks off November 15th and runs through December 31. If I was buying, I’d get on it right now. Snows are selling like it’s 1969 and all the cars are rear wheel drive as our Maker intended. Your customers can buy a set and get:

$70 on Discoverer True North

$70 on Discoverer ATW

$50 on Evolution Winter

$50 on Discoverer M+S

Who are the automotive marketing masters?

Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Falken? What? Strange trio right? Analytics firm, Shareable, who makes it their business to track such things, says those three companies are “Killing it on social media.” Mercedes is on the top of the list of automotive firms at 340 million social engagements in 2017. BMW posts once or twice per day but they have so many handles posting that it really adds up. They were second with 237 million engagements. Interesting fact. All BMW posts feature a photo while most other brands are only 85% photo-centric. Some interesting points: “Falken Tire is clearly focused on Instagram. Each post comes loaded with relevant handles and hashtags, which allows the message to spread beyond the 429k followers the firm has attracted.

Falken is a great example of the power of social media when it comes to automotive brands. In the age of ‘social’, the marketplace expects to have a relationship with brands. Social media has helped to level the playing field when it comes to huge brands and smaller companies like Falken.” Doesn’t it make you wonder why the other tire manufacturers barely seem to be even trying to engage? What’s in it for you? For starters, you could jump on board and associate your business with a very successful brand that has an incredible following. Wanna know how? Email me back. To read the whole article just click HERE .

Thank you for your continued support!

Jeff Short

VP of Sales

717.314.4949