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‘We want to grow further with you,’ Nexen tells dealers

EXECUTIVES TALK DEALER SUPPORT, SUPPLY, OE STRATEGY AND MORE

By Mike Manges

“We want to grow further with you,” John Hagan, executive vice president of sales for Nexen Tire America Inc., told Nexen customers during the company’s recent dealer meeting in Banff, Alberta. “We want to be your number-one supplier. We want to be the best business to do business with — day in and day out.” Hagan — along with Brian Han, Nexen Tire America’s CEO, and Jason Yard, the company’s director of marketing — discussed several initiatives that Nexen is undertaking to support its growing dealer network.

Nexen is enhancing production at its plant in the Czech Republic in order to take some pressure off its production facility in South Korea. (The latter plant supplies all of Nexen’s tires that are sold in North America.)

“That was the benefit of the Czech plant at the beginning,” when it opened in 2019, according to Hagan. “Before Czech, (supply) was coming out of China and South Korea, for the most part.

“So when Czech opened up, it freed more capacity for South Korea to help the United States grow. We got a lot of benefit from that.”

Most of Nexen’s four plants worldwide are “at full capacity” and the company’s South Korea plant is operating at full throttle now, Han told MTD.

“We’re also improving machinery and production systems, so I think that will (result in) enhancement of production” and supply to North American tire dealers.

Tariffs enacted during 2021 “really didn’t have an impact” on Nexen’s ability to ship tires to the right customers at the right time, said Hagan.“We maintained our supply chain.

“And we maintained our pricing. We’d go up in price a little, but not the full magnitude.”

Nexen Tire America’s overall business in 2021 “was very good,” said Hagan. And this year has delivered more of the same.

“We’re definitely back to pre-pandemic levels,” he told MTD.

SELECTIVE OE STRATEGY

Hagan and Han also discussed Nexen’s original equipment fitment (OE) strategy. The company has more than 140 OE fitments globally.

Nexen’s most recent fitments — on the 2023 Kia Niro and 2023 Kia Niro EV, both for the U.S. market — were announced this past August.

The company’s OE fitments are generating good pull-through for its dealers, according to Hagan.

Nexen has been “targeted and selective” in working with vehicle manufacturers in the U.S., he said, adding that fitments need to “support where we’re trying to go.

“We’re going for the premium fitments – 18, 19 and 20 inches. And then we’re (expanding) on the electric vehicle (EV) side, from an OE standpoint.”

Hagan believes there is plenty of opportunity for Nexen in the EV arena.

“A lot of OE (vehicle) manufacturers – Ford, General Motors, Stellantis – have all made statements that they’re increasing their EV market share. We’re following closely.”

Explaining Nexen’s EV tire design approach, “we’re using current tread patterns and names, but are changing the specs (of the tire) at the size level to meet OE manufacturers’ performance requirements.

“We want to make sure our dealers have profitability and it’s sustainable,” says John Hagan, executive vice president of sales for Nexen Tire America Inc., right, with Brian Han, CEO of Nexen Tire America.

Photo: MTD

“Some manufacturers are creating whole different tread patterns and whole different names, which, in our opinion, creates complexity on the dealer side.”

Nexen also has been pleased with the growth of its Roadian light truck tire line.

This past June, the company launched its newest Roadian product, the Roadian ATX, an all-terrain tire.

Late last year, Nexen introduced the Roadian HTX2 highway-terrain tire.

Roadian has been “very important” to Nexen’s overall growth in the North American market, said Hagan.

“We’ve put out two great products — the Roadian HTX2 and the Roadian ATX — each with a more aggressive design. Everything has been positive.”

When asked about future products, Han told MTD that the company is developing “all-weather tires for the passenger and SUV category.”

NEXT LEVEL GROWTH

Nexen executives reported that the company’s Next Level associate dealer program continues to pick up members.

More than 4,000 dealers belong to the

group, whose o erings — including a robust sales incentive program — continue to expand. “I would like to say we’ve created something great” with the Nexen Next Level program, Hagan told MTD, “which I think we did.

“But it’s really the turnaround time a er we get done with the quarter on getting money to that Next Level dealer.

“If a quarter closes, 15 days later we’re cutting checks.”

Other gains have been the result of “increased distribution over the last two years, with pick-ups like U.S. AutoForce, the Tire Alliance Groupe and more retail, like Monro.” (Nexen also sells through TBC Corp., he revealed.)

“Overall, over the last two to three years, our distribution footprint has really grown. But we’re also taking care of our current distribution.”

When pitching Nexen to new dealers and distributors, the company focuses on “warranties, value — we don’t play the pricing game,” Hagan told MTD.

“We want to make sure our dealers have pro tability and it’s sustainable. Our message has been pretty steady over the years. And we don’t see changing that strategy because quite frankly, it works.”

MORE ENHANCEMENTS

Nexen moved its corporate sta and headquarters from California to Ohio last year. e move came with enhancements to the company’s dealer support infrastructure, including the addition of an East Coast call center; an expanded team that is “very young, energetic and focused;” and a new customer relationship management tool, which “has been huge for us.

“Anything that happens during the day, we’re getting it almost as it happens. And if not, we give (our salespeople) 24 hours to get it into our system and we can see all of the customer’s activity,” said Hagan.

“ e goal is to be faster to market.”

Nexen also is ramping up its marketing and advertising to generate more brand awareness among consumers. is includes continued live event activations, sports marketing partnerships, new tire launch kits, an enhanced social media presence and more, according to Yard.

“We have a ve-year plan to double down on consumer awareness,” he said.

Independent tire dealers will remain critical to Nexen’s ongoing growth, Hagan told MTD.

“We don’t have warehouses in every other state” to supply big box retailers. ( e company owns and operates three distribution centers — one in Ohio, one in Georgia and another in California.)

“We’ve done a very good job of maintaining our distribution channel. And our real focus going into 2023 is to make sure we are giving all of our customers what they need – not what (we) need only.

“We need to make sure we are reacting very quickly to our customers’ needs, which the industry does not do a good job of, in my opinion. We need to improve on that and improve our share of account with customers,” he said.

“We’re hoping for a very successful 2023 and beyond. We’ve established a very good framework and foundation.”