Modern Tire Dealer - May 2019

ADVERTISEMENT

3-PLY SIDEWALL PROTECTION FOR MORE DURABILITY

F-LOAD RANGE 12-PLY AND 80 PSI READY

DUAL SIDEWALL DESIGN FOR A CUSTOM LOOK

OFF-ROAD. TOWING CAPACITY. DURABILITY. A CATEGORY KILLER OFF-ROAD TIRE

36

MONTHS ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE

35

SIZES AVAILABLE

45

DAY TRIAL

NexenTireUSA.com

The Industry’s Leading Publication May 2019, Volume 100, Number 5

36

F E AT U R E S 22 Past, Present, Future: Kelsey Tire

Kelsey turns 50! That’s Kelsey Tire. Owner John Kelsey is still golden, too

24 Past, Present, Future: Kelsey Tire in 1985

22

DEPARTMENTS

1930 to 1970s: Goodyears for collector cars

28 The latest battery testing tools

What you need to have in your shop

4 Editorial Technological breakthrough? Hardly: Still, self-sealing tires are back in the limelight

6 moderntiredealer.com

36 Tires and the future of hybrids

News and navigation tools for MTD’s website

8 News/Views Nexen wants more: A 3.25% market share tops the list of ambitious goals

18 Your Marketplace

Bigger low rolling resistance tires are on the way

it simple 40 Keeping Leipold Tire focus on tires, chassis service and brake work

Consumers may be experiencing sticker shock following price increases

20 Numbers that Count Relevant statistics from an industry in constant motion

are not alone 44 You Tire manufacturers’ associate dealer programs offer benefits and rewards

50 Business Insight Take a small bite out of training: Have your new employees master one task at a time

52 European Notebook

40

Europe upgrades its tire labeling: However, the same problems with the legislation remain

Focus on industry 54 Giti reveals a 5-year plan: Two brands will benefit from U.S. plant TPMS 56 Dodge Journey — 2009-2018 62 Products 64 Ad index 65 Classified

28

COVER: ©GETTYIMAGES.COM/LONGQUATTRO

Modern Tire Dealer is a proud member of:

w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

44 3

Editorial

Technological breakthough? Hardly STILL, SELF-SEALING TIRES ARE BACK IN THE LIMELIGHT By

Bob Ulrich

Y

ou may have read recently that Ford Motor Co. has embraced Michelin self-sealing tire technology. It will equip two versions of the 2020 Explorer with Michelin Selfseal tires.

It’s not often a vehicle manufacturer plays up tires in a press release, but Ford clearly sees the marketing opportunities here. Just look at the headline: “Spare the flat tire fiascos: All-new Ford Explorer introduces Michelin Selfseal tires designed to keep road trips rolling.”

Promoting self-sealing tires on a family vehicle like the Explorer makes sense, and Ford makes the most of it, rather dramatically, I might add: “In the time it takes you to read this sentence, another vehicle tire was punctured.

Road trip sidetracked. Commute delayed. Across the United States, flat tires will leave millions of motorists every year on the side of the road, jack in hand and gravel on knees.

According to Ford, Michelin Selfseal tires “seal 90% of tread punctures up to a quarter-inch in diameter, slowing the loss of air pressure to less than 15 pounds per square inch (psi) per week.

Results are based on Michelin internal analytical testing.” If your tire is inflated to 35 psi, then the vehicle owner has about a week to get it repaired or replaced. Run-flats, in contrast, can be safely driven only for about 50 miles at a maximum speed of 55 mph after the tire loses air.

Michelin North America Inc. says its technology utilizes a natural reddish brown rubber sealant material “that has no impact on rolling resistance and maintains all other tire performances.”

Maybe this makes the sealant truly unique, but I couldn’t help but think of Uniroyal self-sealing tires, which have been around for more than 35 years.

Uniroyal Tire Co.’s Royal Seal was used in original equipment tires on luxury cars in the 1980s. Then came NailGard at the replacement level in the late 1990s.

“Uniroyal tires with NailGard instantly seal 90% of tread punctures up to 3/16-inch in diameter,” said Uniroyal ads at the time. Sound familiar? Michelin’s new Selfseal tires have increased the fillable puncture by 1/16-inch in the last 20 years.

Michelin, which had purchased Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co. in 1989, also claimed NailGard sealed the punctures permanently.

The company even promoted NailGard technology on its 83-foot Uniroyal tire off I-94 in Allen Park, Mich.

I mention Selfseal because it is the latest sealant technology introduced into the U.S. tire industry. Others include ContiSeal (not to be confused with GenSeal) by Continental AG, DuraSeal

4

The Royal Seal All-Season radial tire from Uniroyal Tire Co. was standard equipment on the 1982 Buick Riviera.

by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Sealguard by Hankook Tire Co. Ltd., and Seal Inside by Pirelli Tire LLC. None of the tire sealant technologies result in permanent repairs, so it sounds to me like they will eventually need to meet Tire Industry Association (TIA) repair standards. TIA says the only way to properly repair a tire is to “demount it from the rim so it can inspected on the inside, remove the damaged material, fill the void with rubber, and seal the innerliner with a repair unit.” (A Michelin spokesperson told me a proper repair does not impair the remaining Selfseal sealant.)

“A plug by itself or a patch by itself is not an acceptable repair because the plug does not permanently seal the innerliner and the patch does not fill the void left by the penetrating object, which allows water to enter the body of the tire,” says TIA. In addition, punctures in the shoulder or sidewall of the tire are not repairable.

Keep these standards in mind when dealing with tires that feature new, or kind of new, tire sealant technology. If you have experience repairing Uniroyal Royal Seal and NailGard tires, you probably know what to do. ■ If you have any questions or comments, please email me at bob.ulrich@bobit.com.

MTD May 2019

ALL-NEW

LUXURY MEETS PERFORMANCE IMPROVED TRACTION Shorter stopping distance and reliable traction in wet or wintry conditions.

PRECISE HANDLING Specially designed center ribs and a reinforced shoulder provide enhanced stability.

LONG-LASTING WEAR Wider footprint provides longer wear backed by a 50,000-mile limited treadwear warranty.

QUIET RIDE Staggered tread elements reduce pattern and road noise to ensure a smooth, quiet ride.

Constructed specifically to be the premier replacement tire in the industry, the all-new GEOLANDAR X-CV™ provides your luxury crossover and SUV customers with an upgrade in long-lasting, all-season performance.

And with 23 W-speed rated sizes, it covers nearly all 18”- 22” fitments.

© 2019 Yokohama Tire Corporation

ModernTireDealer.com

HOME OFFICE

DIGITAL RESOURCES FOR THE INDEPENDENT TIRE DEALER

3515 Massillon Rd., Suite 350 Uniontown, OH 44685 (330) 899-2200, fax (330) 899-2209 Website: www.moderntiredealer.com

MTD digital edition You can view the digital version of Modern Tire Dealer’s monthly magazine plus archived issues at http://mtd.epubxp.com/t/22225

PUBLISHER Greg Smith, ext. 2212 Greg.Smith@bobit.com

EDITORIAL

Keep tabs on the industry with Modern

eNewsletters Sign up now for Modern Tire Dealer eNewsletters. We’ll send you the latest news and most popular articles.

Go to: www.moderntiredealer.com and scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up. See “Be the First to Know.”

Editor: Robert J. Ulrich, ext. 2211

Tire Dealer on Facebook and Twitter. You’ll find breaking news alerts and exclusive content, including photos and news bits when the MTD editors are on the road. Follow MTD and tag along for the journey!

Bob.Ulrich@bobit.com Managing Editor: Lori L. Mavrigian, ext. 2216 Lori.Mavrigian@bobit.com

Senior Editor & Digital Projects Editor: Joy Kopcha, ext. 2215 Joy.Kopcha@bobit.com Senior Editor: Ann Neal, ext. 2218 Ann.Neal@bobit.com

Like MTD on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ModernTireDealer

PRODUCTION Art Director: Vince Taroc, (310) 533-2547

Follow MTD on Twitter:

Vincent.Taroc@bobit.com Graphic Designer: Jeff Polman, (310) 533-2460 Jeff.Polman@bobit.com Production Manager: Karen Runion, ext. 2210 Karen.Runion@bobit.com

www.twitter.com/MTDMagazine @MTDMagazine ©GETTYIMAGES.COM/NATASAADZIC

Laying the groundwork for growth The news items on www.moderntiredealer.com that received the most attention once again focused on companies’ growth plans. OK Tire Stores Inc. is planning to spend $100 million over the next five years to expand distribution capabilities. Bauer Built Inc. bought the commercial tire division of Allied Oil & Tire Co. Tire Discounters has more than doubled its number of stores in less than a decade and has an eye on even more growth. Telle Tire & Auto Service Inc. acquired its 10th location. Here’s our top 10 news items for the past month.

1. What to do after Bridgestone closes 13 stores in your market: Hustle 2. OK Tire begins $100 million, nationwide expansion 3. Bauer Built buys 7 stores and 1 retread plant from Allied Tire 4. 10 things to know about tire retreading in the U.S. 5. Tire Discounters lays the groundwork for more growth 6. Pep Boys introduces mobile service program for fleets of any size 7. Cooper scores its first OE tire on a Mercedes 8. A look at the Top 44 Point S tire stores in the U.S. 9. Telle Tire hits double digits with 10 stores 10. Monro acquires Allied Discount Tire & Brake in Louisiana

SALES South and Texas: Greg Smith Greg.Smith@bobit.com (330) 899-2200, ext. 2212 Midwest: Bob Marinez Bob.Marinez@bobit.com (330) 899-2200, ext. 2217 West Coast: Marianne Dyal /The Dyal Company Marianne.Dyal@bobit.com (760) 451-9216 Automotive Aftermarket: Dan Thornton djtinc@gmail.com (734) 676-9135, mobile (313) 410-0945 Classified Sales: Bob Marinez Bob.Marinez@bobit.com (330) 899-2200, ext. 2217 Reprint Sales: Karen Runion Karen.Runion@bobit.com (330) 899-2200, ext. 2210

CUSTOMER/SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE (888) 239-2455, fax (888) 274-4580 bobitpubs@omeda.com

EXECUTIVE OFFICE 3520 Challenger St. Torrance, CA 90503

CORPORATE OFFICERS CEO: Richard Rivera President: Sherb Brown Chief Financial Officer: Tony Shepherd Chief Digital Officer: Eric Bearly Chief Content Officer: Cyndy Drummey Chief Marketing Officer: Paul Andrews

MODERN TIRE DEALER (ISSN 00268496) (CDN IPM #40013413) (USPS #369-170) is published monthly by Bobit Business Media, 3520 Challenger St., Torrance, California 90503-1640. Periodicals postage paid at Torrance, CA 90503-9998 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MODERN TIRE DEALER, P.O. Box 3312, Northbrook, IL 60065-3312. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for address changes to take effect. Subscriptions in the U.S. and its possessions, $65; Canadian, $99; Int’l surface mail, $99; Int’l airmail, $198.

Single copies, $10, except the January Facts Issue, $30. Address all subscription correspondence to MODERN TIRE DEALER, P.O. Box 3312, Northbrook, IL 60065-3312. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks to receive your first issue. Please address Editorial and Advertising correspondence to MODERN TIRE DEALER, 3515 Massillon Road, Suite 350, Uniontown, OH 44685-6217. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without consent of Bobit Business Media. All statements made, although based on information believed to be reliable and accurate, cannot be guaranteed and no fault or liability can be accepted for error or omission. For your information: We sometimes make our subscriber information (i.e. fax, e-mail or mailing address) available to carefully screened organizations whose products and services may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to have your information made available, please write MODERN TIRE DEALER, P.O. Box 3312, Northbrook, IL 60065-3312.

6

MTD May 2019

News/Views

Nexen wants more

A 3.25% MARKET SHARE TOPS THE LIST OF AMBITIOUS GOALS

O

ur goal is to achieve a market share of 3.25% by 2020 while maintaining and developing a balanced distribution network throughout the North American Market.”

That’s the clear message John Hagan, executive vice president of sales for Nexen Tire America Inc., delivered during a dealer appreciation event in Napa, Calif., in early April.

Hagan also told dealers that the company wanted to “market the Nexen brand in a way that supported Nexen and its customers’ goals.”

Globally, Nexen wants to become the 10th largest tire producer by 2025. Currently the company is ranked 14th with roughly $1.8 billion in annual sales.

During a sit-down interview with Modern Tire Dealer, Hagan provided additional insight.

“The 3.25% is for the consumer replacement market. We believe we are at 2.1% right now,” says Hagan. To obtain the increase, Nexen wants to leverage its original equipment business, particularly for consumers coming in for the “first time replacement” of tires.

The company enjoyed a 10% increase in unit volume during 2018, and plans to increase volume again this year, says Hagan.

This will come about in spite of a market that he views will be flat, at best. “We’re looking to gain ground with increases through our existing customer base and adding new customers.”

Hagan says the company sees growth opportunities in the Northeast and Northwest, both at the wholesale and retail levels.

Nexen has streamlined its decision-

John Hagan (left) and J.S. Kim hosted the recent Nexen dealer appreciation event held in Napa, Calif.

8

Nexen Tire America’s marketing initiatives for the Roadian MTX tire included hosting off-road driving events for social media influencers, who publicized the tire by sharing their driving experiences via their blogs and social networks.

making process and is committed to getting answers back to dealers within a 24-hour cycle. Hagan says it is critical to do so because dealers need answers quickly, as evidenced by how rapidly market conditions have changed over the course of the last two years.

Although no new product lines are being introduced during 2019, Hagan says there are plans for new lines in 2020.

The company is focusing on its Roadian MTX line, which was introduced last year.

Hagan says Nexen also will continue to expand its vision by moving beyond passenger and UHP tires and into SUV/ CUV and light truck tire lines. At the same time, the company continues to increase its emphasis on the UHP side of the business.

Earlier this year, Nexen hired Megan Wentz as its marketing manager. She told MTD that her immediate plans are to “use the first half of this year to focus on planning, refining and promoting the successes in recent years through 2019, such as with the Nexen Heroes campaign. We then want to get a jump start on planning for 2020 and beyond to ensure longevity and consistency.”

The company is continuing its American Muscle for American Heroes campaign.

Last year, Nexen partnered with the Purple Heart Foundation for the program.

The parent company, Nexen Tire Corp., is continuing its sponsorship of Manchester City soccer, and Wentz is looking “for opportunities to promote global efforts, such as this sponsorship, throughout the U.S. market as well.”

Nexen’s new technical center in Ohio plays a pivotal role in bringing new products to the North American market, says Hagan.

For instance, the center is working on EV (electric vehicle) tire technology to be ready for those fitments as they become available.

The company’s NexenACE training program has far exceeded its expectations.

“When it started, it was for our associate dealers with a connection to our company store,” says Hagan.

“Now, we’re seeing a lot of usage and our challenge is to keep it fresh.”

The company recently added reminder cards that can hang from a car’s mirror to its portal. Hagan says the test went so well that they ran out of cards within two days, “a great problem to have!”

Looking forward, Nexen has no plans to have a manufacturer’s direct-to-consumer website. Hagan says the company works with its dealers and distributors for online exposure and directs everyone to hold to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, but does not intend to have MAP pricing. — Greg Smith MTD May 2019

News/Views

Telle Tire hits double digits with 10 stores

Bites FutureTechs winners rock

PHOTO: TELLE TIRE

The TechForce Foundation has named 10 automotive, diesel, motorcycle and collision repair technician students winners of its 2019 FutureTechs Rock Awards, with the grand prize going to an Ohio student. The awards are part of the FutureTech Success initiative to help inspire and support tomorrow’s workforce of technicians.

Bush will speak at AAPEX Former President George W. Bush will be the keynote speaker at the 2019 Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) Grand Opening Keynote Session on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Continental expands plant Continental Tire the Americas LLC is expanding its Sumter, S.C., tire plant so the company can begin making ContiSeal and ContiSilent tires in the U.S. for the first time.

Tire production is expected by May 2020.

Discount Tire has new ads Discount Tire says its new advertising campaign, “Let’s Get You Taken Care Of,” showcases “the expertise, authenticity and empathy found in each and every Discount Tire expert.”

Atturo donates tires For the second straight year, Atturo Tire Corp. is supplying tires for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) High School Vehicle Build. Students in five high school automotive shop classes are building custom vehicles as part of the SEMA-funded program.

Pep Boys expands ‘Crew’ Icahn Automotive Group LLC is expanding its Pep Boys Mobile Crew service to provide on-site common maintenance and repair needs to any size fleet. The new program is called Pep Boys Fleet.

Bauer Built is honored Bauer Built Inc. has received the Bert Grover Child Advocacy Award from the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA) in recognition of providing support for the youth in the state.

VIP adds store in Framingham VIP Inc., dba VIP Tires & Service, has opened its fourth store in Massachusetts, and 59th location overall.

10

Telle Tire has acquired its 10th store. The former Assured Automotive store in Eureka, Mo., joins eight other Telle Tire locations across the St. Louis metro area.

T

elle Tire & Auto Service Inc. has acquired its 10th location, and owner Aaron Telle says his tire dealership will spend 2019 improving operations, creating and implementing a new pointof-sale system and adjusting to the company’s new five-day workweek.

The company, dba Telle Tire & Auto Centers, finished 2018 with its fourth acquisition. Telle Tire bought Assured Automotive in Eureka, Mo., in December.

Telle, a fourth generation tire dealer, is the CEO and president of Telle Tire. He says the Eureka store has been rebranded as Telle Tire. Renovations include a new waiting room with modern furniture and wireless work stations. Customers have access to a refrigerator full of free water and soft drinks, plus fresh fruit and snacks. Service bays have been updated with new equipment to add tire services and continue the previously available automotive repairs.

All of that came after Telle Tire was ranked the 17th fastest growing company in St. Louis by the St. Louis Business Journal in 2017. In 2011 Telle Tire had a single location and seven employees.

It now has 10 stores and 76 employees.

2018: GROWTH AND A FOCUS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE Last year, Telle Tire’s focus was on expanding its footprint — the company moved outside of the St. Louis metro area with its acquisition of Kwik Kar & Lube in Jefferson City. But throughout the year Telle Tire also worked to provide top notch customer service, including valet car service and complimentary loaner cars. Telle Tire owns 14 loaner cars and is purchasing four more in 2019.

Telle Tire also offers online appointment booking, and with digital inspections and valet service, customers can be informed of their car’s needs and make decisions from any location.

2019: THE YEAR OF THE EMPLOYEE As of Jan. 1, 2019, Telle Tire has changed its business hours in the greater St. Louis market. Stores are open only Monday through Friday. (The store in Jefferson City remains open on weekends.)

“In addition to providing top of the line services for their customers, Telle Tire has a lot of pride in its small business culture, specifically listening to the interests of their associates,” Telle says.

“The decision to close stores on weekends was the result of an employee survey, with an overwhelming majority identifying weekends off as a huge benefit within the industry.”

Telle says he’s excited about the talent and experience in the company’s employee ranks, and he’s open to leveraging their ideas while “making culture a key focus to drive future success.”

In 2019 the company will focus on improving processes and operations.

Among the projects in the works is the development of a new POS system with Tire Gurus. The company expects the fall rollout to result in increased administrative efficiencies.

Telle says, “We recognize the potential challenges in quick growth and are excited to spend 2019 focused on deepening our values through our culture and ensuring our business operations fully leverage the synergies and talent within the company prior to further expansion in 2020.”

— Joy Kopcha MTD May 2019

A LONG WAY

TOGETHER

Road oriented Steel belts Excellent self-cleaning features Fuel economy High speed BKT USA Inc. 2660 West Market St., Suite 100 Fairlawn (Akron) - OH 44333 Toll free: (+1) 888-660-0662 Office: (+1) 330-836-1090 Fax: (+1) 330-836-1091

News/Views

Nexen opens global hub for research and development

Bites US Motor Works has tips

Ford expands parts rewards Ford Motor Co. is adding a new level of rewards to its Ford Professional Service Network (PSN) wholesale parts program for independent repair facilities. The updated program has a tiered membership structure, featuring a standard base program along with a new elite level of membership.

OK Tire is growing OK Tire Stores Inc. plans to spend $100 million over five years to expand its distribution capabilities in Canada. There are more than 300 independently owned and operated OK Tire stores across Canada.

N

exen Tire Corp. has invested more than $171 million and opened a 10-story building in Seoul to serve as its global hub for research and development.

The company spent two years building the space, which houses research and business complexes in more than 613,000 square feet. There’s room to focus on smart technology, including a research and development center that can predict and implement optimal performances such as original equipment and replacement product manufacturing, artificial intelligence technology, virtual tires, a center to More than 300 people attended the grand opening of evaluate the performance Nexen’s UniverCity in Seoul. It will serve as the comof tires and vehicles, and pany’s hub for research and development. a material research center to analyze diverse nano and macro dimensions on various materials. The center will serve as the hub for research and development efforts in Yangsan, Changnyeong, Germany, the Czech Republic, U.S., and China.

PHOTO: NEXEN

US Motor Works LLC is sharing its expertise in a new educational series for technicians.

The first installment, “Success in Cooling,” covers water pumps and is available in print or by download from the company’s Pro Tech Center.

What to do when Bridgestone closes 13 stores in your market

Giti sponsors contest For the third year in a row, Giti Tire (USA) Ltd. sponsored a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) competition with the Chester County School District, S.C., where the company has a manufacturing plant.

The Alliance earns honor GCommerce Inc., a provider of cloud-based automation solutions, has named the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Inc. to its GCommerce Hall of Fame.

USTMA says ‘Know Your Roll’ During National Tire Safety Week May 20-27, consumers will be prompted to “know your roll” and perform basic tire maintenance. The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) says tire safety week also will focus on unsafe used tires.

Yokohama is top supplier Yokohama Tire Corp. has earned Caterpillar Inc.’s platinum supplier award for the seventh straight year.

TravelCenters expands TravelCenters of America LLC has added a TA Truck Service center off Interstate 85 southwest of Atlanta.

12

B

ridgestone Retail Operations LLC has closed 13 of its 14 Firestone Complete Auto Care stores in the greater Salt Lake City area. For Burt Brothers Tire and Service Inc., that spells opportunity.

Jeremy Burt, operations and marketing manager for Burt Brothers, says the independent tire dealer is working to capture three things: • consumers who now are looking for a new source for tires and auto repair; • employees who are suddenly out of work; and • opportunity to expand to meet the market need.

On the consumer end, Burt Brothers has announced in local media that it will honor all of Firestone’s consumer agreements and warranties. It’s also telling consumers that Burt Brothers is “the only local, direct Firestone dealer in Northern Utah,” that it has “one of the largest Firestone tire inventories in the state,” and that the dealer will accept the Firestone credit card.

“We will make this a seamless transition

for customers,” Burt says. “We will honor all Firestone warranties and take care of all tire rotations and balances, flat repairs and other needs.”

As for employees, it’s well known in the industry that it’s hard to find good workers, especially technicians. Burt Brothers wants to engage the dismissed workers, too.

Burt Brothers hosted a job fair for former Firestone employees at its Burt Brothers corporate office on April 5 — three days after Bridgestone closed its doors.

The closing of the stores also presents an opportunity for Burt Brothers to expand.

The company, led by brothers Ron Burt and Wendel Burt, was founded in 1991, and operates 11 stores along the Wasatch Front in northern Utah. A second generation — Ron and Wendel’s sons, including Jeremy Burt — have joined the company.

Jeremy Burt says the company “is also looking for opportunities to reopen the Firestone shops under the Burt Brothers name.”

Bridgestone didn’t specify the reason for the closures, other than to say it made the “difficult decision.” Burt Brothers says the closure was “due to a master lease agreement.” — Joy Kopcha MTD May 2019

News/Views

Bridgestone’s retreading campaign promotes fleets

Bites The Group honors vendors The Automotive Parts Services Group (the Group) presented its Co-Man Vendor of the Year award to KYB Americas Corp. The CoMan Vendor of the Year for Order Fill award went to Fram Group IP LLC’s Autolite Division.

ATD is recognized American Tire Distributors Inc. (ATD) has won three Blue Diamond Awards from the Charlotte Area Technology Collaborative for creating business value in the use of information technology systems and contributing to the development and recruitment of IT talent to the Charlotte area.

Tenneco supports students Tenneco Inc. donated Rancho-brand ride control parts to two high school automotive programs participating in the 2019 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) High School Vehicle Build.

Monro moves into Louisiana

T

he 2019 Fleets We Depend On Roadshow made its way to Akron, Ohio — home of the Bridgestone Americas Technical Center.

The Bandag roadshow is part of Bridgestone’s industry-wide campaign focused on educating small- to medium-sized fleets on the advantages of retreads.

“Fleets are constantly looking for new ways to improve efficiency, Jarrett, director of marketing for Bandag, remain competitive and increase LaTres told people at the Fleets We Depend On Roadsafety,” said LaTres Jarrett, Bandag show in Akron that a retread tire is produced managing director for Bridgestone with 15 gallons less oil than a new tire.

Americas Tire Operations LLC. “Fleets are looking to tire manufacturers to help them evolve and improve across key performance indicators, including safety, cost, productivity and efficiency.

“As the market dynamics change, we as tire manufacturers must also change.

Delivering products is no longer enough to satisfy (fleet) managers. We must deliver holistic tire solutions to maximize tire performance.”

For Bridgestone, the common denominator for its cradle-to-grave solutions is the casing, which Bridgestone refers to as a “sustainable asset.” The outdoor Bandag display featured a Bandag truck tire casing that had traveled 1 million miles. — Bob Ulrich

Monro Inc. acquired Allied Discount Tire & Brake Inc. on March 31. The 12 stores, which are expected to add $15 million in sales with a mix of 35% service and 65% tires, will be rebranded as Tire Choice.

Michelin opens a supersized distribution center

Tirescanner names sales VP Scott Friedman is joining Tirescanner as vice president of sales. He previously spent three years leading marketing at Jack Williams Tire Co Inc.

Sullivan Tire turns 64 Sullivan Tire Co. Inc. is celebrating its anniversary with help from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., and a visit from the blimp.

Tariffs cost Cooper $10 million New tariffs on truck and bus tires from China cost Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. $10 million in the first quarter of 2019. The company says it expects the tariffs will cost $50 million by year’s end.

Engine light repairs cost more In its most recent CarMD Vehicle Health Index report, CarMD.com Corp. said U.S. vehicle owners paid 6.5% more on average to repair check engine light issues in 2018 than in 2017.

14

M

ichelin North America Inc. has opened its largest distribution center in the world — in Greenville, S.C. It spans 45 football fields with the capacity to move 4 million tires a year.

The company began building the gigantic distribution center in November 2016, and as of April 2019, it is fully operational.

Michelin says the goal of the mega distribution center is to provide better product availability by consolidating inventory in one site to serve the southeast U.S. Known as the Woodruff U70, the distribution center is Michelin’s biggest.

Here are the details at a glance: • It consists of five buildings.

• Each building is as large as nine football fields.

• It covers more than 3 million square feet.

• The center will accommodate more than 4 million tires a year, using Michelin’s first automated, robotic system.

• The automated system includes 16 robots and 29 cranes.

• The facility will have the capacity to process 200,000 tires a day — 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

• Shipments will roll on 100-120 trucks per day.

• Total truck capacity: 550 trucks.

• Customers served: nearly 3,000.

Michelin’s systems team installed two key digital tools: the warehouse management system (WM6) and the yard management system (YMS).

The center is Michelin’s first fully, genuinely paper-free site. Barcodes, scanners, RFID chips and computers have replaced the paper trail. The company considers it a step in improving its global supply chain.

The buildings are awaiting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

MTD May 2019

News/Views

Falken turns training focus on commercial tire dealers

Dates May 22-26 Autopromotec, Bologna Exhibition Centre, Bologna, Italy +39 051 6424024 www.autopromotec.com

June 4-6 Automechanika Birmingham, National Exhibition Center (NEC), Birmingham, England +44 (0) 1483 483984 www.automechanika-birmingham.com

June 10-12 Automechanika Dubai, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates www.automechanikadubai.com

June 13-14 Asian Tyre and Rubber Conference, Chennai, India +91-9833 901 586 www.atrc.in

June 22-23 Alabama Tire Dealers Association Convention, The Lodge at Gulf State Park, A Hilton Hotel, Gulf Shores, Ala. (256) 616-3587 www.alatiredealers.com

July 10-12 PAACE Automechanika Mexico, Centro de Convenciones Banamex, Mexico City (770) 984-8016 www.messefrankfurt.com

July 24-26 Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo & Latin Auto Parts Expo, Amador Convention Center, Panama, Republic of Panama (786) 573-0757 www.latintyreexpo.com

Aug. 19-21 China International Tire Expo (CITEXPO), Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, Shanghai, China +86 10-8589-8181 www.citexpo.com.cn

Oct. 17-19 Kazakhstan International Exhibition for Tyre and Tyre Repair Equipment, IEC AtakentExpo Ltd., Almaty, Kazakhstan +7 727 275 13 57, 275 09 11 www.autoshow.kz

16

F

alken Tire Corp. has expanded its dealer education program, Falken Academy, with sessions dedicated to commercial tires. The Falken Commercial Tire Academy incorporates lessons on products, quality assurance, plus sales and marketing.

Falken held the first commercial-focused academy in April at its Rancho Cucamonga headquarters. In 2018 the company launched a similar dealer-focused training focused on passenger and light truck tires.

The day-and-a-half-long session gave Falken commercial tire dealers more exposure to the brand’s products, and also allowed them to provide the company with feedback related to the commercial truck and bus tire market.

The training session featured a hands-on alignment exercise led by Mike Beckett of MD Alignment Services Inc. “It’s important, as a partner to our dealers, that Falken continually provides a platform to Falken brought its commercial tire customers together to California for exchange information on topics that improve the company’s first Falken Commerbusiness relations at the fleet level and shares cial Tire Academy in April. real-world experiences where tire maintenance and best practices are applied,” says Bob Klimm, director of commercial tire sales for Falken. “We were glad to have such a good turnout with strong participation from many key Falken dealers.”

The Falken Commercial Tire Academy covered the basics, such as proper tire applications and commercial tire maintenance, as well as more specific discussions on how to correct irregular wear. Falken’s experts addressed best sales practices, provided a detailed feature and benefit analyses on specific Falken tire offerings, and detailed the brand’s customer support that extends after the tire purchase.

“From a product planning perspective, the feedback we were able to capture during the Falken Academy has been invaluable,” says Raul Garcia, product planner for commercial truck and bus tires. “I look forward to applying those inputs to enhance upcoming development efforts.”

Armstrong replaces Sweatman at Marangoni Clif Armstrong knows he has big shoes to fill at Marangoni Tread North America Inc. He has replaced CEO and President Bill Sweatman, who retired on May 1, 2019.

Sweatman was with Marangoni more than 18 years, the last 16 as CEO and president.

“I started in the tire industry in 1977 and the retreading industry in 1984,” said Sweatman.

ARMSTRONG “The industry has been very good for me and my family, and I would like to thank the employers, peers, customers, suppliers and friends for this experience, and I wish all well.”

Armstrong joined Marangoni in 2017 as vice president of business development.

Armstrong brings more than 35 years of industry experience to his new role as CEO and president. He has served in multiple executive management functions including sales, marketing and operations.

Ringtread, Marangoni’s flagship product, SWEATMAN is a double-contoured precured tread molded in a circular shape; as a result, it does not need to be spliced like other precured retreads used in commercial truck tire retreading. ■ MTD May 2019

Š2019 Hankook Tire America

Fit for your everyday journey

Ultra-high-performance all-season tire Touring performance all-season tire

Hankook Tire America Corp. 333 Commerce Street, Suite 600, Nashville, TN 37201

laufenn.com

Yo u r M a r k e t p l a c e

By

John Healy

Consumers may be experiencing sticker shock following price increases

R

ecent conversations with dealers leave us with a view that retail sell-out remains healthy and trends continue to remain on the positive side of the ledger. From a volume standpoint, surveyed dealers relayed they saw unit sales volumes improve in the low-single-digit range compared to the same period last year and were up roughly 1% for the first quarter as a whole.

It seems that the only speed bump that dealers have encountered is slight push-back from consumers who initially experienced sticker shock on premium priced products resulting from recent price increases. This has been reinforced through our survey work over the last few months as consumers have traded down in favor of less expensive products and made Tier I and II tires the worst performers among our contact base of dealers from November to February.

What is encouraging for dealers and manufacturers, however, is that despite initial friction at retail, price increases appear to be sticking.

Our survey of more than 10,000 consumer replacement tire SKUs suggests a nice acceleration as retail prices were up 3.5% in 1Q19 compared to 4Q18, and nearly every major brand we tracked displayed price appreciation during this period. More specifically, prices across the most popular passenger tires showed notable strength in 1Q19, increasing 3.6% sequentially while the most popular light truck tires were mostly flat quarter-over-quarter. We view the recent growth in the SKUs we track as evidence that the price increases implemented across the manufacturers have stuck and are flowing through to wholesalers and retailers.

As the end of the tax season quickly approaches, we thought it would be worthwhile to again gauge the status of individual tax returns compared to last year in light of the disrupted tax return season among American consumers. As of the end of March, the total individual income tax returns received by the IRS was down by 1.4% compared to the same time period in 2018. Furthermore, the total number of refunds issued was down 2.2% year-over-year while the average refund was down 2.9% comparatively. Although these percentage comparisons may not seem significant at first glance, we note that there has been 1.28 million fewer refunds filed and $6.17 billion less in refunds issued (roughly $4,800 per return filed) at the end of March 2019 versus the end of March 2018. Despite a notable

Average tire tier rankings Tier

Jan ’18

Feb ’18

Mar ’18

Jan ’19

Feb ’19

Mar ’19

Tier 1

3

3

3

3

2

1

Tier 2

1

1

1

2

3

2

Tier 3

2

2

2

1

1

3

SOOURCE: NORTHCOAST RESEARCH ESTIMATES

18

improvement in tax return activity since the middle of February, when we pointed out that individual returns and refunds were down 4.8% and 26.5%, respectively, we still believe these reduced levels of cash flow that consumers are normally accustomed to receiving in the first few months of the year could be having an effect on tire sell-out trends.

MONTHLY SURVEY A number of independent tire dealers were surveyed concerning current business trends. The results of the March 2019 survey are compared with those of March 2018. See the report on www. moderntiredealer.com.

DEMAND ENVIRONMENT SUGGESTS FAVORABLE SELL-OUT TRENDS IN 1Q Dealer commentary suggests consumer demand for PLT replacement rose in March compared to the same period last year. The net number of respondents indicating they saw an increase in demand year-over-year was 20.7% of contacts. We note that our tire demand index increased nearly 28% year-over-year and we believe volumes are becoming more closely aligned with the current level of GDP growth as our dealer contacts have seen nine straight months of positive volume growth. Further, our research suggests a constructive backdrop occurring within the North American tire market as dealers seem pleased with Q1 sell-out activity. Dealers west of the Mississippi highlight a strong start to the year with trends cooling as the first quarter progressed, while dealers east of the Mississippi tell us the opposite with a slow start to the year and strong end to the quarter.

A LOOK AT MIX TRENDS IN THE MARKET In response to best and worst performers, our recent survey revealed that Tier 1 brands were the segment of most significant strength among our surveyed contacts for the first time since August 2018.

Conversely, after spending three months atop our rankings, Tier 3 again fell to the bottom spot for the first time since November 2018 (see chart). After a delayed tax refund season, many consumers have finally received their refunds and the additional influx of cash in consumers’ pockets may have impacted buying behavior causing them to trade up to higher-quality, legacy nameplates.

When examining the landscape from a longer-term view, we continue to hold a view that the pricing environment in North America will remain rational and in-line with raw material costs. ■ John Healy is a managing director and research analyst with Northcoast Research Holdings LLC based in Cleveland, Ohio. Healy covers a variety of subsectors of the automotive industry.

MTD May 2019

A STRONG AND DURABLE ALL-PURPOSE-TERRAIN TIRE PROVIDING COMPETENT ALL-TERRAIN OFF-ROAD CAPABILITY, BALANCED WITH EXCELLENT ON-ROAD PERFORMANCE, designed for all weather conditions.

Robust design and materials provide long, even wear and excellent cut and chip durability.

A flatter footprint, optimized tread pattern stiffness and robust tread compound provide excellent tread life.

Tread cushioning system with counter-angled shoulder grooves provide a more comfortable, quiet ride.

Meets the severe snow service requirements of the Rubber Manufacturers Associations (RMA) and the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC).

Excludes OE fitments.

NumbersThatCount

Relevant statistics from an industry in constant motion

©GETTYIMAGES.COM/WISSANU01

©GETTYIMAGES.COM/GENNADYPODDUBNY

28%

34 million

Percent of 2017 model-year vehicles that came without spare tires.

Number of passenger tires shipped to the U.S. by Thailand (the top importer) in 2018. That’s a 4 million unit increase from 2017.

SOURCE: AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION

SOURCE: MODERN TIRE DEALER’S 2019 FACTS ISSUE ©GETTYIMAGES.COM/ARTEM NOVOSAD

1891 The year in which the first car accident occurred.

©GETTYIMAGES.COM/IHOR KASHURIN

©GETTYIMAGES.COM/VLADRU

SOURCE: HOLT LLOYD INTERNATIONAL LTD., WWW.HOLTSAUTO.COM

30,000

$306 Average parts and labor repair estimate in 2017 for an engine light-related cost on the Hyundai vehicle brand, the lowest for all vehicle brands.

The number of unique parts in an average car.

SOURCE: HOLT LLOYD INTERNATIONAL LTD., WWW.HOLTSAUTO.COM

SOURCE: CARMD.COM CORP.

©GETTYIMAGES.COM/TAKA4332

©GETTYIMAGES.COM/CARLANICHIATA

19

Number of gallons of gasoline the average commuter wastes sitting in traffic each year.

SOURCE: AUTO INSURANCE CENTER

35% Percent of the world’s population that drives on the left side of the road.

SOURCE: FACTSLIDES.COM

20

MTD May 2019

F-RATED! HIGHER

CARRYING CAPACITY. INFLATION PRESSURE. From 15” - 24” wheel diameters!*

APPROVED

F RATED 12 PLY CONSTRUCTION

DX9 MU

B D -T AN DIT ERR M AI N /T Foll TI R ow us E @d

elin

tetir

es:

DX1 ALL 0 B A -TE R

ND RAI IT A/ NT T IRE

*F-R

ated

tire s ar

e av

aila

DX1 2 BA ble

in s

elec t

size s

.

N DI

TR

/T

Past, Present, Future: Kelsey Tire

!

Kelsey turns 50 THAT’S KELSEY TIRE. OWNER JOHN KELSEY IS STILL GOLDEN TOO, HOWEVER By

Bob Ulrich

I

n the fall of 1969, John Kelsey purchased the first automobile tires for his fledgling vintage tire business, then called Kelsey Tire Co. “Being an antique automobile collector and raised with antique cars, tires were always a problem, the sizes in particular,” he says.

Fifty years later, Kelsey, 75, continues to buy old molds or have new ones made to meet the needs of antique or vintage vehicle owners. The main difference is in the tire brand: He used to sell Armstrong and Denman products. Now he is the exclusive distributor of Goodyear Collector Series tires from the 1920s to the 1980s.

Oh, and he is member of the Tire Industry Hall of Fame.

DEFINITIONS IN FLUX In general, vehicles at least 25 years old are often referred to as being antique, vintage or classic. The descriptions are not interchangeable, although their definitions vary depending on the company or organization.

For example, the Antique Automobile Club of America defines antique as cars at least 25 years old. With some exceptions, the Classic Car Club of America considers cars produced between 1915 and 1948 to be classic, although members generically describe the vehicles on their “approved” list as vintage.

“To us, ‘antique’ encompasses essentially automobiles from the late 1890s thru to 1925,” says Kelsey. “‘Classic’ is from that point thru 1942, with vintage covering the period from the end of World War II to

22

vehicles 25 years of age. Truthfully, as time has evolved, the slide rule of definition by various national clubs has moved ‘the goal posts,’ especially in the defining of classic and vintage.

“I believe antique encompasses the Brass Era to the late Nickel Era, 1929. The heavy classics defined the time frame and naming of the age groups: the Cadillac, Duesenberg, Cord, Auburn, Stutz, Lincoln, Chrysler Imperial, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, ad infinitum. I consider the classic marques mentioned and not mentioned a category of vehicles as well.

“The Model T and A, Chevrolet, Durant, etc., are another group of popular cars vastly outnumbering the classics, both in units produced and participating brands. This family of vehicles placed America on the road. They are simply beautiful vintage automobiles. Thus, if you view the classic and vintage parameters within my layered definition, you will find ample examples coexisting.

Paul Kelsey, right, and his son, John, ride along with opera singer James Melton in Kelsey’s 1910 White steam car.

“This conversation has been continuing at length for decades, a tribute to malleable viewpoints,” says Kelsey. “I encourage the debate to continue.”

When Kelsey started out, his main competitors were Lucas Automotive, which started in 1957, Coker Tire Co. (1958), Lincoln Highway Tire Co. (1966) and Universal Vintage Tire Co. (1968). Lincoln Highway Tire later morphed into Lester Tire Co. Three free standing vintage tire companies remain in operation today: Kelsey Tire, Coker Tire and Lucas Automotive.

TOURIST ATTRACTION Modern Tire Dealer may be 50 years older than Kelsey Tire, but the latter offers tires for cars almost as old as we are. John Kelsey’s love of older vehicles was handed down to him by his father, Paul, who built a museum in 1949 near Albert Lea, Minn., to house his collection. A reporter writing about the opening of the museum in the Oct. 16, 1949, edition of the local Sunday Tribute defined the cars in the elder Kelsey’s collection not as antique or vintage but “ancient.”

“The museum had two locations, Minnesota and Missouri,” says Kelsey. “We were in the museum business close to 50 years.”

The museum may be unofficially closed, but Kelsey’s collection remains intact. His oldest car is an 1899 Mobile steamer, featuring a steam-powered engine.

“During the Centennial year for Wisconsin in 1948, Dad drove this car on a circuitous route to Milwaukee for the celebration. Total mileage was 1,000. No breakdowns.”

MTD May 2019

John and Jan Kelsey, pictured here at the Goodyear Customer Conference in Dallas last January, continue to spend a lot of time on the road selling Kelsey antique and classic tires.

Other favorites of his include a 1903 Curved Dash Oldsmobile, 1906 Cadillac and a 1906 Stanley Steamer.

“In the museum setting, you wanted to demonstrate how transportation had evolved from the earliest-era cars up through whatever would be considered vintage at a given point in time, and on up through the generations of cars as they advanced.”

Kelsey says he never owned a Buggyaut, which is considered by many to be the first American gas-powered automobile. It was

“THE EFFICIENCY OF LOGISTICS HAS REACHED A POINT TO WHERE MULTIPLE LOCATIONS, TO THE EXTENT THAT WE USED TO HAVE THEM, ARE NO LONGER NECESSARY,” SAYS KELSEY. built in 1893 by Charles and J. Frank Duryea.

“Many people were expanding their thoughts and usage of the internal combustion engine in the 1890s. To be included as well were the development of steam and electric cars during this time period.”

Ask him to name a favorite car, and he can’t. “I have personal memories with all of them. To say I really have a favorite, that would be a tough one. I was raised around steam cars first of all, but again, being in the museum business and whatnot, as time w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

Hup, two, three, four…

Personal nods to a forgotten marque car Hupmobiles were the product of the Hupp Motor Car Co. for some 30 years beginning in 1909. At one time, the Kelsey Museum housed a 1910 Hupmobile, Model 20 Runabout.

“Great little cars!” says John Kelsey, owner of Kelsey Tire Inc. “The appropriate tire — clincher design — is 32x3½, or if a

straight side (conventional bead design), the size was 33x4. The rim diameter is 25 inches (different designs) in both cases.

“We do not offer these tires. We do offer the Goodyear 6.00/16 and 6.50/16 for the 1934 forward Hupmobiles.” — Bob Ulrich

goes by, you generate a set of experiences, events you go to with cars, your parents, your children, yourself, and so forth as time goes on.”

THEN AND NOW Kelsey hoped to open his antique tire business three years earlier than he did.

“When I came home from the service, I had my separation pay from the Army,” he says. “That gave me a certain amount of liquidity to make the purchase of these tires, which I started to do in 1966 initially.

However, I needed to complete my military obligation before I’d be able to be considered for some financial assistance from one of our local banks. I started buying the first vintage auto tires in the fall of ’69.

“Armstrong and Denman were our primary sources for these types of products.

As you were able to afford them, you’d make purchases and work the swap-meet circuit. That was very active. That was the only way you really met your customers, face to face. Credit cards weren’t used.

800 numbers were not available. FedEx didn’t exist. UPS was servicing only a few states.”

Kelsey started a dialog with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in 1980. By 1984 he was solely a Goodyear distributor.

“In my case, I saw more of a particular need for the Goodyear major brand, which, up to that point didn’t have a presence in the vintage auto tire market.”

Kelsey has exclusive rights to Goodyear antique and classic tires globally. That includes antique military tires.

“Based upon our size range mix, primarily driven by the American auto

My grandfather Dr. Joseph Ulrich (pictured with sons Richard, left, and Joe) owned a Hupmobile in the mid-1920s prior to the Great Depression.

manufacturers, I would say our business is probably 85% domestic.

“At one time we had six warehouses in North America. We were doing about 150 swap meets and shows a year.”

Kelsey and his wife, Janice — “a very staunch supporter and advocate of the business” — need only one warehouse now.

It is located in Missouri near Kelsey Tire Inc. headquarters in Camdenton.

“The efficiency of logistics has reached a point to where multiple locations, to the extent that we used to have them, are no longer necessary,” he says.

Kelsey primarily advertises in vehicle enthusiast publications. But he sells by phone, in person and online.

All the tires offered by Kelsey Tire are identical to the originals, a necessity, particularly with show cars. “In the world we live in, authenticity is everything,” says Kelsey. “External optics have to be identical for maximum judging points.”

The oldest tire he sells is the 450-21 Balloon Goodyear. “My 1925 Chevrolet Superior K Touring Car uses that particular size,” says Kelsey. “Then the sizes go forward from there.

“The newest tire we’re working with at the present time would be a mid-’80s Fox Body Mustang tire, the Eagle VR60 Gatorback tire. And we’re active in the development of vintage original equipment radial tires.

“We plan to continue with the expansion and development of our product line. Once you develop an SKU, it’s with you forever.”

To look back on Kelsey Tire in 1985, written by our own Lori Mavrigian, check out MTD’s March 1985 story starting on page 24. ■

23

Past, Present, Future: Kelsey Tire in 1985

1930 to 1970s: Goodyears for collector cars

By Lori L. Wiese Senior Editor “This is God’s country,” an old sign in Kelsey’s Antique Cars museum reads, “so don’t drive through it like Hell.”

This particular sign refers to the area around Camdenton, Mo., the home of the museum, and if you don’t take the advice you could miss downtown Camdenton entirely. It is literally a one-stoplight town.

Yet, the main reason for not speeding through the region is it

is far too beautiful to be properly appreciated with a cursory glance out a car window at 55-plus mph. It is called the Lake of the Ozarks, where rolling hills relax into shorelines.

In the winter, appearances are deceiving in Camdenton.

This seemingly sleepy town of 2,303 within the corporate and approximately 20,000 within the county has no apparent commercial activity.

Commercial value it has, however, for in three months the area’s number one industry

John Kelsey, owner of Kelsey Tire, sole distributor of Goodyear collector car tires.

24

kicks into gear. Tourism.

Droves of water-sportseekers will descend on the area to partake of swimming, water skiing and fishing. They will also shop at the wide variety of re-awakened souvenir shops and browse through the antique auto museum owned and operated

by John Kelsey.

Kelsey’s business, which includes the museum as well as his tire dealership, is in an area of the country being promoted heavily by the Missouri Board of Tourism as “a land of opportunity.” The promotions are paying off. Not only are the hotels and resorts filled to the maximum during the summer months, but increasing numbers of people are deciding to move to the area and enjoy the atmosphere year round. According to Kelsey, the area is the second fastest-growing in the nation.

Kelsey is in the hub of the activity, and he got in on the ground floor. As it is in his choice of locality, it is in his

business. Kelsey knows a good thing when he sees it, and he seems to see it, and know it, long before others. This is one reason he came to own the more than 30 valuable collector cars displayed in his museum, and why he became involved in selling tires that fit those, and other, antique cars.

After getting out of the service, Kelsey wanted a job in an area that always interested him – antique autos. He had experience in the parts and accessories market before serving his country, but after his discharge he decided to go into tires, an area where he felt there was a need for product supply and customer service.

Kelsey has been selling more than 75 types of whitewall and blackwall tires for collector cars under his private brand name of Bedford, manufactured for him

by Denman Rubber Manufacturing Co., and is the authorized distributor of Dunlop Vintage tires. He is now introducing a MTD May 2019

line of collector tires with the Goodyear name.

If you don’t recognize the significance of this, you don’t know the antique car/tire market. Throughout the years, many tire manufacturers have supplied tires for antique, vintage and collectors cars, either producing the tires or selling molds to other companies which produce tires.

For example, Kelsey has the Dunlop line, Firestone tires have been available through Lucas Automotive, BFGoodrich tires can be bought through Coker Dealers will soon be customers’ main source for collector car tires.

Tire Co., and a host of other brands are available from these and other suppliers.

As Goodyear discontinued the production of a certain tire line, however, the company would store or destroy the molds, refusing all offers for the blueprints. The reason?

The firm did not want another company to make tires with the Goodyear name on them, tires the company feared might not live up to the high standards it sets for its products.

How, then, is it possible that Kelsey can sell Goodyearbranded collector car tires?

Because Goodyear has begun to produce the tires at its Argentina plant. Kelsey had the molds taken out of storage, or rebuilt from blueprints, and put back into limited production. Kelsey is the sole distributor on Goodyear’s side of the ledger.

This turn of events was precipitated by Kelsey, who knows the market as well as, if not better, than anyone. The unavailability of Goodyearbrand tires to replace tires fit as original equipment in years past left a definite void, he felt.

Collector car owners had to take

their second choice on tires, and to a true car enthusiast, second best is not good enough.

Dealers will soon by customers’ main source for collector car tires.

“Authenticity is the key to any vintage endeavor,” Kelsey noted. “Coming close doesn’t hit the mark.” Kelsey knew there was a market out there, the next step was convincing Goodyear.

“You can’t expect a company to crank up assets, human and material, to satisfy someone’s curiosity.” Kelsey stated. “You have to be certain the proposition has bottom-line merit.”

Kelsey reports it did not take too much pushing to get key people interested in the project.

He credits Jacques Sardas, executive vice president of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and president of Goodyear International Corp.; John Purcell, president and managing director of Goodyear/ Argentina; Joseph Graden, vice president, manufacturing for Goodyear International Corp. in Akron; Frank Corcoran, vice president of Goodyear International/western hemisphere, and Emmett Sellars, vice president of tire sales marketing, Goodyear International, as instrumental

New technology played a part in the selection of collector tires between the years 1864 through 1972. A computer company representative listens as Kelsey requests his analysis of vehicle production with standard and optional tire fitment data.

in getting the project up and running.

“These people looked at the idea with a magnifying glass,” Kelsey says. “They viewed the marketing requirements, the development of the project and the implementation. They gave it a fair overview and decided it was a viable market.”

What Kelsey proposed to

Chart A Goodyear “performance package” Goodyear Polyglas Size E70/14 F70/14 F70/15 F70/15 F60/15

Sidewall treatment Raised white letter Raised white letter Raised white letter White line Raised white letter

Goodyear collector tires available through Kelsey Size W/W width Construction 695/14 7/8-inch Four ply poly tubeless 750/14 2 ¼-inch Four ply poly tubeless 670/15 3 ½-inch Four ply poly tubeless 670/15 2 11/16-inch Four ply poly tubeless 670/15 2 ¼-inch Four ply poly tubeless 670/15 1-inch Four ply poly tubeless 600/16 3 ½-inch Four ply poly tube-type 650/16 4-inch Four ply poly tube-type

w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

Goodyear was another market area for promoting the Goodyear name. And it is a market that will reap benefits for years to come.

Thirteen tire sizes will be available for tire dealers by the end of this month. These bias tires will fit cars built from the 1930s through the 1970s, explained Kelsey. “These 13 items cover the largest volume of vehicle production during those years. And from this nucleus, we will develop satellite sizes.”

(See Chart A).

For a segment of the tire line, Kelsey discerned which tires would fit the maximum number of applications using yesterday’s information incorporated with today’s technology He utilized vehicle production data and tire guides printed for the model years 1964 through 1972 to do an “analysis of vehicle production and a list of standard and optional tire sizes fitted to cars.”

This information was put into a computer program and, with the push of a few buttons, Kelsey can tell the potential tire demand for the collector. “Turning back the pages of history is much more

25

Past, Present, Future: Kelsey Tire in 1985 Collector car tires represent an area for high growth and profit. precise than looking forward into a crystal ball,” joked Kelsey.

“Our focus and intent for setting up our program was to show Goodyear the long-term advantages it would bring to the company. These tires have been so long awaited,” Kelsey said, noting that Goodyear was OE on a large portion of the cars produced in those years.

When Goodyear gave the nod to the project, it was decided the tires would be made in the company’s South American facility because, Kelsey explained, “it was the plant with the most recent association with these bias products.”

One thing that Kelsey is grateful for is the “similarity of enthusiasm in Akron and in Argentina. The only difference is geography. Both places maintain the same high level of communication and quality.

“Tire dealers can be assured these tires are designed with ultimate positive performance as the main characteristic. Goodyear has not compromised the product to match the possible end use,” Kelsey indicated, referring to the cases where the collector cars are never driven, only trailored to shows.

Another thing dealers can be assured of, Kelsey stated emphatically, is that “the tools needed to fit these tires to collector cars are already in the tire dealer’s shop.”

“Mention vintage cars to dealers and most visualize themselves struggling on the floor replacing a tire on a Model T. That thinking needs to be turned around. It is no more difficult to service a 1935 to 1970 car than it is to service late model cars. The vast majority of cars can be dealt with no problems,” he said.

For autos which require

26

any out-of-the-ordinary items, Kelsey wants the dealer to know the he, and his experts in warehouses around the country, are only a phone call away.

“The frustration factor comes up very quickly,” Kelsey said. “We make ourselves as accessible as possible,” referring to himself, his San Jose, Calif., warehouse manager, Ralph Finley, and his Elizabethtown, Pa., warehouse manager, George Walborn.

Kelsey admits that currently, the majority of business in collector car tires is mail order.

He and other collector car tire companies advertise in magazines geared toward the auto enthusiast, such as Hemmings, the most widely-read antique car buff book, and other offshoots such as Mustang Monthly, Camaro Corral and Popular and Performance Car Review.

Another avenue for sales is antique and collector car shows.

Kelsey reported his company attends approximately 35 shows per year, including the biggest of them all, the annual collector car show and swamp meet held in Hershey, Pa. “It is not unusual for 100,000 people to attend the Hershey show,” informs Kelsey.

However, people who buy through mail order, as well as the people who buy at Hershey, have one problem.

It’s called “lugging the tires,” noted Kelsey. Whether the tires are purchased through the mail or at a car show the fact remains the tires have to be lugged to a tire dealership for mounting and balancing. Because of this inconvenience, Kelsey sees tire dealers playing a more important role in collector car tire sales.

Collector car tires represent an area for high growth and profit “We see our role changing in the future,” Kelsey said. “We see

The Kelsey Tire support team (left to right): Tom Rohde, store manager, Helen Randle, secretary/bookkeeper, and Melvin Miller, alignment specialist.

our major influence changing from supplying the customer to supplying the dealer. It is important for the tire dealer to recognize the potential of this market. It holds golden opportunities for growth and profit for dealers.”

Recognizing the possibilities covers a broad spectrum. The dealer should find out if anyone on his staff is involved in collector cars. Kelsey feels very often there is at least one person at each dealership who is an auto buff. It is natural that people who choose to work around cars are interested in their development.

The dealer should also look for antique and collector car clubs operating in his area, as well as canvass the area for members of the largest group, the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA). Repair shops that deal with the restoration of collector cars should also be noted.

And the dealer should look for competition. If there are no dealers in his area already specializing in serving this market segment, and if the dealer decides there is a sufficient number of people in the area to justify offering collector tires, this is an area of good growth and profit.

“Gross profit potential is equal to, or more than, what a dealer will get on his everyday product line,” Kelsey affirmed.

He added that prices are dependent on applications, yet “the pricing structure will not leave

the dealer at a disadvantage.

“When a dealer sells the Bedford or the Goodyear line, he will find himself offering major brand tire lines at competitive prices.”

It should also be noted that dealers need not worry about carrying a lot of inventory.

“Because of United Postal Service delivery times, it is my opinion that dealers should not handle much inventory. Customers are used to mail order, so they will not be unaccustomed to waiting a little for their tires.”

Kelsey figures dealers can receive ordered tires within three to five days, depending on the dealerships’ distance from his warehouses.

“What a dealer does need is to allocate a certain amount of floor and wall space for a display of collector tires. Nothing helps a sale more than letting the customer have his hands on the product he is buying.”

It is apparent the customer base is increasing, as is the number of cars to be fitted with collector tires. The Baby Boomers, who are credited with being the main purchaser of high performance cars and replacement performance tires, are becoming a major influence in the collector car market. They can now afford the cars they longed for while growing up.

Collector car owners are, as stated, demanding. They won’t settle for second best. If you offer the service and product, they won’t have to. ■ MTD May 2019

B a t t e r y To o l U p d a t e PHOTO COURTESY OF MIDTRONICS

The CPX-900 battery and system analyzer from Midtronics for conventional and advanced vehicle systems assesses the health of both a battery’s starting and reserve capacity abilities through patented Conductance Profiling technology.

By

Ann Neal

The latest battery testing tools: What you need to have in your shop

A

t any moment in time, one out of four car batteries needs replaced. The only way to know which one is to test every vehicle that comes in for service.

Battery testing is a great opportunity for shops to service their customers, according to Cliff Sewing, product category manager at Interstate Batteries Inc. “Looking at the total volume of batteries sold in the market, and based on the number of cars that are out there, our research indicates that one out of four batteries is going to need replaced.”

Sewing says proactively testing the battery builds trust with a customer. “A lot of times it’s cost, cost, cost to a consumer when they bring their car to a shop. With

28

the battery test, three out of four times it’s positive feedback. You can tell your customer their battery is good and come back in three months and we’ll test it again for free. But one out of four times you want to give that negative feedback so the customer has the opportunity to replace the battery and avoid a no-start situation.”

BATTERIES WILL NEED REPLACED MORE OFTEN Interstate Batteries expects the rate of battery replacement to increase. “We know once shops test, they are going to see one of four cars need batteries,” says Dusty Russell, product development and marketing manager. “From a market standpoint, battery life will continue to

be adversely impacted based on vehicle electrification placing higher load demands on the battery. The downward trend in battery life is going to necessitate even more so proactive testing platforms that we think will build the kind of trust that customers would want.”

But new batteries, systems and components require improved technology for accurate diagnostics. Battery service tools are evolving and expanding to keep pace.

Modern Tire Dealer asked manufacturers for an update on the market and their products, beginning with the types of batteries shops need to be prepared to service.

In addition to Sewing and Russell from Interstate Batteries, four other companies answered. Speaking for Bosch Automotive MTD May 2019

PROGRAMMABLE UNIVERSAL TPMS

COMBINE BOTH FREQUENCIES

OE QUALITY SENSOR

COMBINE BOTH FREQUENCIES

99%

VEHICLE COVERAGE

RUBBE R / ALUMINUM

MEMBER ®

C O M P L E T E ONLY

PRODUCES

MORE COMPATIBLE & E ASY TO USE

TS508

N L OA OW D D

FREE

For The Life Of The Tool

ADVANCED TPMS

• Read & Relearn All Known Sensors • 4 MX-Sensor Programming Methods • Exclusive TPMS Status Screen • Tire Pressure Placard Value Reset

Phone: (855) 288-3587 • USSUPPORT@AUTEL.COM AUTEL.COM • MAXITPMS.COM • MAXISYSADAS.COM © 2019 Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd., All Rights Reserved

S O L U T I O N •

TPMS TOOLS & SENSORS

MOST CURRENT VEHICLE COVER AGE

TS608

SERVICE & TPMS

• Includes 20+ Service Functions • AutoSCAN All Vehicle Systems • 4 MX-Sensor Programming Methods • Enhanced TPMS Status Screen

Follow Us @AutelTools

WIRELESS MA XIVCI MINI

B a t t e r y To o l U p d a t e PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERSTATE

Service Solutions Inc. were Pat Pierce, product manager-battery testers, and Surender Makhija, consultant-battery testers. Answering on behalf of Clore Automotive Inc. was Jim O’Hara, vice president of marketing. Responding for Midtronics Inc. was Rob Salach, senior product manager-aftermarket. EnerSys Inc. shared perspective via Bruce Essig, transportation and specialty national program manager.

STANDARD FLOODED PRODUCT DOMINATES FOR NOW What types of batteries do independent shops need to be prepared to test? All respondents agree standard flooded lead acid batteries dominate the market now, but changes are on the horizon. Midtronics expects Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) and Enhanced Flooded Batteries (EFB) to increase to more than 65% of the market in the next three to four years.

Bosch: Although AGM and EFB batteries usage is becoming more popular, flooded lead acid batteries still hold the predominant market share for independent aftermarket battery service. Lithium-ion batteries are now being used in electric and hybrid vehicles, but high costs prohibit use in everyday vehicles. There are some heavy-duty applications that use 24-volt systems, but those typically run two 12-volt batteries.

Clore: For conventional vehicles as well as many hybrids, the primary battery types shops should be prepared to service are: flooded, AGM, spiral wound, gel cell, and deep cycle batteries. In addition, they likely will encounter vehicles with capacitor-based starting systems and lithium starting batteries, but these will be fewer in number.

EnerSys: The AGM sealed, lead-acid battery is growing in popularity as being installed by the car manufacturers, especially with the growing popularity of the engine stop/start feature. This feature increases the discharge and charge cycling on the battery, with the traditional SLI (starting, lighting, ignition) battery not being capable of providing the required discharge-recharge cycles to give good service life. The AGM battery requires more sophisticated chargers that can assess the battery’s state-of-charge and chemical condition and choose the most appropriate charging algorithm versus a fixed charge procedure. AGM also requires more complex performance testing with

30

The IB Pulse from Interstate Batteries recommends Interstate replacement batteries by part number to reduce installation error, provides battery reset instructions, and retrieves battery test history by vehicle identification number.

advanced conductance testers as well as an understanding of how to exchange a battery in a vehicle without disrupting various on-board microprocessors and engine management systems.

Interstate: The automotive aftermarket is going to be largely standard flooded product for the next 24 to 36 months.

We are clearly going to see a continued shift to more premium lead acid battery types such as AGM and EFB as vehicle electrification trends increase and original equipment manufacturers position their vehicles to address the higher load demands being placed on automotive batteries.

But while the OE market is growing with higher-performing batteries, it represents a comparatively minor amount of the total in today’s automotive aftermarket. Testing requirements will therefore remain largely driven by the existing flooded lead acid product seen in the market today.

Midtronics: Independent shops still need to be prepared to service lead acid batteries. Conventional flooded batteries will be the majority of what they see now but with the increased volume of start/ stop vehicles and greater electrification in today’s vehicles, the amount of AGM and EFB batteries in use will continue to grow. Currently AGM and EFB batteries represent less than 20% of the market, but within the next three to four years those battery types are predicted to increase to more than 65% of the market.

THE LATEST DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS Modern Tire Dealer asked manufacturers for an update on the latest technology in battery diagnostic tools.

Bosch: The latest technology in battery

diagnostic tools, like the Bosch BAT-120, integrate battery test services with scan diagnostic service into one system. The tool offers a single solution for battery charging/testing services, computer scan battery reset/relearn calibrations, and battery replacement guidance.

Clore: The latest technology centers around the need to constantly update and refine the diagnostic judgement maps used by modern battery testers to determine if a particular battery is sufficient to perform its task (is it good or bad?). We are constantly refining our judgement maps to ensure we can accurately assess the widest possible array of battery type, battery size, battery condition and more.

EnerSys: Dynamic conductance technology provides handheld testers that provide unparalleled testing accuracy and decision making. For example, the Odyssey OBT2000HD battery and electrical system analyzer is used for commercial truck applications and offers a user-friendly smart html PC interface and features patented single load, dynamic resistance technology for accurate results.

Interstate: AGM, enhanced flooded, SLI batteries all can be tested with the conductance battery testers in the market today. The new IB Pulse provides the capability to test all those technologies, as well as the ability to test group 31, lawn and garden, marine, powersport and commercial batteries. We’ve also integrated additional information and databases into the IB Pulse. For the automotive testing in the Pulse, these include battery location diagrams and battery reset instructions.

The IB Pulse also displays the automotive Interstate Batteries that fit the vehicle MTD May 2019

FASTER IS BETTER.

AutoAdaptive One Plane Balancing (AA OPB) is a new and exclusive feature reducing balancing time by over 36% on more than 70% of today’s better quality tire and wheel assemblies.

AA OPB also provides superior dynamic balance quality based on CEMB’s extensive ISO industrial balancing background.

Ask us how!

PAYS FOR ITSELF!

Save an average of 10 hours labor time per month balancing 30 tires per day.* *ROI test report available on request

CEMB. SIMPLY BETTER. Balancing Experts Since 1946 F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N :

678 717-1050 l www.CEMB-USA.com

The Odyssey OBT2000HD battery and electrical system analyzer for commercial truck applications from EnerSys has patented single load, dynamic resistance technology for accurate results.

and alerts the technician if a car requires a battery registration tool. We expect to integrate a battery registration tool into the IB Pulse by the end of 2019.

Midtronics: Conductance Profiling, a patented Midtronics technology, represents the latest advancement in battery diagnostics. With increased electrification in today’s vehicles, batteries must do more than just start the vehicle. They also supply power to items like infotainment systems, vehicle safety components, regenerative braking, etc. The measurement of the battery’s ability to sustain these loads is called reserve capacity and traditional conductance or load testers cannot perform an analysis of the battery’s reserve capacity status. Conductance Profiling is the only technology on the market today that can accurately assess the health of both a battery’s starting and reserve capacity abilities.

IS IT TIME TO BUY A NEW TOOL? MTD asked manufacturers if there are specific types of diagnostics tools a shop must have in order to service vehicles.

Bosch: New battery testers have separate testing algorithms for batteries used in start/stop vehicles. Battery testers that shops use should have capabilities to test AGM and EFB batteries, which differ from conventional flooded lead acid batteries.

Existing tools will work if they have been recently updated or are equipped with the latest technology.

Some of the suggested tools for bat-

32

tery diagnostics and service include a digital battery tester featuring printout or a means to capture, store and share test results. Bosch recommends model BAT-135 tester with integrated printer or model BAT-120 Bluetooth battery tester that integrates with Bosch scan tools.

Also, a scan tool with the capability to reset or relearn the ECU (engine control unit) where the vehicle is equipped with computer controlled electrical systems like those found in 2010 and newer F-150s and most vehicles from Audi, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz. Other recommendations are a parasitic drain tester to help locate electronic vehicle components that continuously drain the battery, a memory saver device that provides 12-volt power to the entertainment /comfort and ride systems on vehicles to keep them live while a battery is replaced, and an anti-zap surge protector that protects sensitive electronic systems while replacing the battery.

Clore: All shops should have a quality battery tester with a testing capacity that exceeds the range of battery sizes they normally encounter. It should also be optimized to accurately assess the specific battery types that they are likely to encounter. It is possible that their existing tools are sufficient to meet this need. But, if their tool is dated, it is a worthwhile investment to update their equipment to improve their testing accuracy.

EnerSys: Today’s vehicles have a level of electronics and sophistication with complex integration that only a few years ago would have been considered a dream more than a reality. Knowledge and sophisticated diagnostic tools are a must to troubleshoot and correct operational issues with today’s vehicles.

Interstate: Older diagnostic tools will perform a battery test. But the older tools do not provide all that additional information and techs will have to do Google searches for battery reset instructions, for example.

Battery tools a shop should have include battery reset tool, battery registration tool and a continuous power source.

Midtronics: Existing conductance and load testers will continue to be successful in diagnosing a vehicle battery’s ability to start the vehicle. But, based on how heavily newer vehicles rely on the 12-volt battery, they can no longer deliver a complete picture of battery health. Battery testers such as the Midtronics DSS-5000 Battery Diagnostic

Service System and CPX-900 Battery and System Analyzer feature conductance profiling technology, which enables testing of both cranking and reserve capacity.

TIPS TO BOOST PROFITABILITY Manufacturers suggested a number of ways for shops to improve the profitability of their battery service. There was one tip they all agreed on: Test every vehicle.

Bosch: Making battery service checks part of every shop’s preventive maintenance program for their customers is a way to improve profitability. Some helpful hints/ tactics for these preventive maintenance programs include: Use a battery tester that provides a battery health report featuring battery state of charge (SOC) and state of health (% of battery estimated remaining life). Some battery testers provide an app or a means to capture and store tests electronically or through cloud-based internet systems to record customers’ battery life cycle through service intervals over time highlighting battery performance. This is a professional way to show a customer he or she may need a battery replacement before encountering a no-start condition.

For multi-store operations, we recommend having a test solution that tracks the number of batteries and the test results performed by a store or a technician to help store operations better track battery warranty management.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CLORE

PHOTO COURTESY OF ENERSYS

B a t t e r y To o l U p d a t e

Clore says the BA327 digital battery and system tester with integrated printer is a complete testing solution for 6- and 12-volt batteries and 12- and 24-volt charging systems. With an operating range down to 1.5V, it can accurately test discharged batteries.

MTD May 2019

B a t t e r y To o l U p d a t e

34

Midtronics: Test every vehicle’s battery that comes into your shop for service as an added preventive maintenance benefit.

Combining a preventive maintenance battery testing program with conductance profiling technology will further enhance the benefit for your customers. Conductance profiling is one of the most decisive and comprehensive battery testing technologies available. When you combine preventative maintenance testing with increased decisiveness, you will be able to identify more opportunities to advise your customers

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOSCH

Clore: First, it is important to ensure that all personnel know how to properly utilize the battery tester, whether it is a digital tester or a more traditional carbon pile tester. Particularly with digital testers, if the tester is configured to test a specific battery type but deployed to test a different battery type, the results provided could be affected. All personnel need to be trained to properly identify the different battery types and understand the importance of getting that step right.

Second, the most important factor in improving profitability is to be using the tester frequently. We suggest testing every vehicle that enters the shop. This will result in increased sales of batteries, rotating electrical components, belts, cables and other related items. It is a proven fact, but you have to use the tester to drive add-on sales and increase profitability per ticket.

All Solar electronic testers equipped with printers incorporate a counter function so that the shop can track exactly how many tests are performed in a given period. If a shop’s car count is four times the number of tests performed, they are not maximizing their return on their equipment investment.

EnerSys: Utilizing these advanced battery conductance testers on every vehicle in for service can provide early detection of a failing battery before a true no-start, and provides an opportunity to sell a battery.

Offering a range of good, better, best in batteries provides a service to the customer and revenue to the service dealer.

Interstate: The way you have more profit is you sell more batteries; the way you sell more batteries is you test every car.

When the battery does need replaced the customer thinks you tested that the last couple times, first time it was good, last time there was some degradation. Now you tell him or her it’s bad and that makes sense because of that history.

Make battery testing part of your multipoint inspection. Have the right product in the shop to actually close the sale. At Interstate we pride ourselves with identifying the batteries and stocking the batteries at the dealer’s location. In addition, the IB Pulse tracks the types of cars and batteries tested.

Dealers have the option to log into an online portal and see a record of the batteries and cars serviced. We will stock the batteries for the dealer as a service. The data on year, make and model of cars serviced will help them stock brakes and other parts.

Bosch says the BAT-135 battery tester includes an integrated printer to capture test results for customer records such as presenting the state of health and state of charge percentage of the batteries to ensure optimal efficiency and usage.

about failing batteries and increase the potential to sell batteries.

WHAT ABOUT HYBRIDS AND EVS? MTD asked manufacturers to describe opportunities the growth of plug-in hybrid vehicles and pure electric vehicles (EVs) will create for shops. Are these opportunities months or years away?

Bosch: Lack of technology standardization among OEs, safety-related issues in servicing these high voltage systems, and limitations to accessing the battery pack within the vehicle all are barriers to independent aftermarket shops servicing pure electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. In near future, these systems will mostly be serviced by authorized dealerships, which have been required by OEMs to have specialized insulated tools and hybrid/EV training to service the vehicles.

Clore: This opportunity exists now, but is small. We expect it grow significantly over the next 10 years. We would suspect that time frame for it to reach critical mass for aftermarket shops is still years away.

EnerSys: These vehicles will require a much higher degree of system knowledge and diagnostic equipment to service. There will be a high price for this equipment and the training of the service technician.

Interstate: Current EV and hybrid vehicle platforms frequently contain a 12V lead acid battery for back-up power support. Future platforms are trending toward a 48V system to accommodate the growing electrification demands in this EV/hybrid segment, which will create some unique safety and repair challenges for a shop. But for the foreseeable future it’s going to be standard lead acid, AGM-type technology in the marketplace, and that’s what we’re addressing with the Pulse.

Midtronics: Hybrid vehicles have been on the road for nearly 20 years and are coming into aftermarket shops for similar reasons as traditional gasoline-powered internal-combustion engine vehicles — oil changes, tires, wipers, and 12-volt lead acid battery service, etc.

The number of plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles on U.S. roads today represents only a tiny share of the total vehicles in operation.

However, the rate of customer adoption, as well as the number of different vehicles being designed and manufactured by the OEMs, is increasing. According to a recent IHS Markit forecast, more than 350,000 new EVs will be sold in the U.S. in 2020, which would still give EVs just a 2% share of the total U.S. fleet. By 2025, however, that figure is expected to reach more than 1.1 million vehicles sold for a 7% share.

This trend and transition to plug-in hybrids and full EVs represents a huge opportunity for the aftermarket, though it’s still probably years away. In the near term, most of these vehicles will still be serviced in dealership shops due to warranty considerations and technology level. But as these vehicles come off warranty, customers are going to look to the aftermarket as an option for faster, more economical service.

Shops that learn about the service requirements of these vehicles and acquire the necessary equipment to support them now will be ahead of the game when they start rolling into their bays. ■ MTD May 2019

LS43B Laser-Spot™ Wheel Balancer

$

NEW

3040 $

5040121

3170

WHEEL SERVICE

E V A S !

B IG

SUPER SALE!

• Max. Wheel Diam. - 10”- 30” • Max. Tire Diameter - 50”

COLORS MAY VARY

90 DAYS ONLY Valid April 1 - June 30, 2019

2125 $2255 $2450 $2580 $3005 $3135

1965 $

$

$

2095

FREE

Wheel weight starter kit included with all balancers

DST2420 Wheel Balancer

DST30P Wheel Balancer

DST642D Wheel Balancer

DST64T 3D Quick-Touch™ Wheel Balancer

5140200

5140300

5140305

51402400

• Max. Wheel Diam. - 10”- 30” • Max. Tire Diameter - 50”

• Max. Wheel Diam. - 10”- 30” • Max. Tire Diameter - 50”

• Max. Wheel Diam. - 10”- 30” • Max. Tire Diameter - 50”

• Max. Wheel Diam. - 10”- 30” • Max. Tire Diameter - 50”

2455 $2585 $3930 $4080 $6460 $6610

$

R980XR Swing-Arm Tire Changer

R76ATR Tilt-Back Tire Changer

5140220

5140280

R80EX Tilt-Back Tire Changer

• Int. Clamping - 13”- 34” • Ext. Clamping - 10”- 30”

5140122

$

7465 $7615

RV1 Touchless Tire Changer 5140109

• Rim Diam. - 13”- 30” • Max. Tire Diameter - 47”

• Int. Clamping - 10”- 30” • Ext. Clamping - 8”- 26”

• Int. Clamping - 10”- 30” • Ext. Clamping - 8”- 26”

Call now 1-800-253-2363 or visit www.bendpak.com *Free shipping on Ranger products to the 48 contiguous states. © 2019 BendPak Inc. Ranger Products is a registered trademark of BendPak.

Green Tires PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOYOTA

Tires and the future of hybrids By

Joy Kopcha

BIGGER LOW ROLLING RESISTANCE TIRES ARE ON THE WAY

T

he company that brought hybrid vehicles to the masses doesn’t see them as a fringe component of its business.

They’re not limited to the hippies or the hipsters. They’re the future.

Toyota Motor Corp. created the world’s first mass-produced gas/electric hybrid vehicle. The Prius was introduced in late 1997 in Japan, released worldwide in 2000, and the 2001 Prius made its debut in the U.S. market in August 2000.

In 2011 Toyota Motor Sales USA sold its one millionth Prius, and by the middle of 2012 had sold another half million. And the company has extended and improved its hybrid technology to other sedans and SUVs, most recently including the world’s best-selling car, the Corolla. The Lexus line has six hybrid options of its own.

Mike Donick is the vehicle dynamics senior manager for Toyota Motor North America Inc. He says the proliferation of hybrid technology will continue throughout Toyota’s vehicle lineup. “We’re planning to grow that exponentially as we move forward.

We think hybrid or electrification is growing dramatically,” says Donick. “Right now about 9% of our products are hybrid, and we expect to grow that to 15% by 2020. The target is by 2030 it will be 50% globally.”

Here’s one more goal for one of the world’s largest automakers: to have an electrified option in every Toyota and Lexus model by 2025.

“We have more development projects for North America than we’ve ever had before, so it’s a busy time, but it’s an exciting time.”

PUSHING THE ENVELOPE FOR PERFORMANCE With such an emphasis on alternative fuel vehicles for the future, Modern Tire Dealer

36

turned to Toyota to talk about what this means for the development of original equipment tires, and ultimately, the replacement tire market.

Donick leads a team of 10 engineers that focuses on ride handling vehicle performance, including all of the tire development for Toyota in North America. Most of them work from the 12,000-acre Toyota Arizona Proving Grounds.

At any given time two of those engineers are working on tire development — so he estimates tires account for 20% of their work.

And a growing amount of that tire work involves fuel efficient products. Donick says Toyota is choosing fuel efficient, low rolling resistant tires for its conventional vehicles, as well as its hybrids.

The company’s tire research is broken down into two categories — tire development for new vehicle projects, and overall improvements that result in better tires. The OE work typically stretches over a couple of years with constant back-and-forth between Toyota and its tire manufacturing partners, including Michelin North America Inc. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. One tire maker creating an OE fitment on a Camry “has probably tried on the order of 40 different designs to come up with the best tire design for that specific application, and that’s just from one supplier.”

Donick says, “We develop tires that are specifically matched to that vehicle; they are purpose built for our performance.

We go through many iterations so that the characteristics of that tire are perfectly matched to the characteristics of the vehicle for the best ride comfort, handling, steering feel, fuel economy and rolling resistance, and braking performance.”

And while Toyota conducts tire research alongside its OE tire makers, it also works on its own. Creating better tires for the future requires a focus on the best balance of targets so the company can accurately predict performance. Donick says that necessitates a focus on three things: the tire’s construction and shape, its compounds, and the tread pattern.

With a base of repeated tests and predictable performance, the company can make educated adjustments. For instance, if it adjusts the angle of a tire belt slightly, “we know what kind of performance change we’re going to see in the vehicle.” From there, the goal is to push the envelope while “always trying to see how we can get a bigger envelope and have both better softness and better ride comfort. We’re trying to optimize the tire in both areas.”

SERVING THE CONSUMER With its ongoing push into the hybrid market, it’s logical to expect Toyota to remain dedicated to the development of better green tires. But are fuel efficiency and low rolling resistance the first priority at the outset of a new hybrid project?

“At a higher level I’d say customer satisfaction is priority one, and low rolling resistance is a big piece of it,” Donick says.

“The way we set our targets and then develop the tires to meet those targets is we start at the customer level. We want the customer to have a certain level of ride comfort, fuel economy, handling performance, snow, wet performance, etc. Then we look at the vehicle and tire as a system, and we try to figure out how we can optimize the system to try to get the best overall performance for the customer.”

One of the trade-offs of a low rolling MTD May 2019

DURABLE SPECIALTY TIRES

ATV D942 Trail Crusher

D929

D930

D932 Swamp Witch

DEESTONETIREUSA.COM

Deestone ATV tires feature an aggressive tread design for both exceptional traction and steady ride quality

D933

D985

D943

Outlaw MST

Dirt Dragon

CONTACT US AT 281-600-TIRE

resistance tire is ride comfort, but Donick says Toyota expects its hybrid vehicles to perform for customers just as its non-hybrids do. That means a hybrid vehicle’s suspension system has to be tweaked and developed in a way to compensate for the loss of ride comfort. Once that’s complete, the auto maker will set specifications for the tire based on the vehicle’s fuel economy. There are other targets for stopping distance, handling, ride comfort and snow.

Another important priority for hybrid vehicles is tire noise. “When the engine’s not running it’s very quiet, so there’s a little additional emphasis on low road noise for hybrid tires.”

Consumer expectations, and requests, drive the complicated process of setting performance targets, and Donick says it involves four paths of information.

When updating a vehicle model, the

PHOTO COURTESY OF TOYOTA

Green Tires

“Tires are the most important single component for vehicle dynamic performance,” says Toyota’s Mike Donick. He’s spent 14 years working on vehicle dynamics for the automaker.

first goal is to address any customer dissatisfaction from the previous models. That might come from customer complaints at dealerships, or from warranty problems that were reported. The second step is to look at customer satisfaction rankings, such as those reported by J.D. Power and Associates and media outlets like Consumer Reports.

The rise of hybrids fered 203 different models, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center.

In the last 28 years, the “Big 3” auto manufacturers have introduced almost two-thirds of the alternative fuel vehicles to the marketplace.

By 2025, 18% of light vehicles produced will be a hy-

brid of alternative energy, according to a Specialty Equipment Market Association Future Trends report.

Toyota’s Mike Donick says the automaker expects 15% of its products to be hybrid vehicles by 2020. By 2030, the goal is to make hybrids account for half of Toyota’s global vehicle production. — Joy Kopcha

PHOTO COURTESY OF TOYOTA

The first alternative fuel and hybrid electric vehicles (AFV and HEV) models were introduced in 1991; the market leader Toyota entered the fray at the end of 1997 and the company brought the 2001 Prius to the U.S. in August 2000.

Two decades later, for model year 2018, 31 manufacturers and brands of-

Taking the hybrid technology to the Corolla “is a really important development,” Donick says, “but I think it’s a piece of our overall puzzle.”

38

Toyota also conducts interviews with customers, and talks to its dealer staff about what they’re hearing from vehicle owners. The final piece is competitive benchmarking.

Toyota wants to be competitive or the best in its segment.

“Trying to take what the customer wants and converting that into our performance targets is a big part of our job, and a pretty complex part of the job, but it’s a very important one.”

BIGGER GREEN TIRES ARE COMING One thing that’s set the expansion of hybrid vehicles apart from the rest of the tire industry has been tire sizing.

While the tire industry has focused on larger sized tires— 17-inch and 18-tires have become the leaders — vehicles on hybrid vehicles remain smaller. (The top passenger tire size, 225/65R17, entered the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association’s top 10 list of most popular sizes in 2014, and ascended to the top of the list three years later.) The Toyota Prius offers an option with a 17-inch tire, P215/45R17, but since 2010 it’s been fitted with P195/65R15 tires. The 2020 Corolla hybrid will debut with the same size.

But it might not always be that way.

“I think with low rolling resistance tires, as we move forward you’ll see them penetrate the entire size market, maybe with the exception of very large section widths.

We still don’t have very much in the plans for your 285 and 295 and up because that large width by nature isn’t so efficient for rolling resistance. But in diameter size, I’m confident within four years you’ll have 22s that are low rolling resistant.”

Donick says he thinks the expansion will be led by the auto makers since “we’re developing larger vehicles that are also hybrid.

They need to maintain a balance of good styling, performance, wheel diameter, as well as good fuel economy performance.” ■ MTD May 2019

i Since 1983

Blackburn is the cornerstone for all of your OEM wheel, hubcap and center cap needs. We continue to stand the test of time.

• Access the most complete online inventory of OEM wheels • Immediate shipping nationwide

OEM Wheel Solutions

Free, Sign Up Today!

blackburnswheelfinder.com 800-981-8321

Leipold Tire

Keeping it simple LEIPOLD TIRE FOCUSES ON TIRES, CHASSIS SERVICE AND BRAKE WORK

By

Shana O’Malley-Smith

D

ennis Leipold has emphasized simplicity since he started Leipold Tire Co. Inc. in 1975.

“All throughout the years I’ve used the KISS philosophy, which stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid, and it’s proven well for me!” he says.

While many big box stores, car dealerships and national chains are offering bumper-tobumper service, Leipold prefers to specialize in tire, chassis and brake work.

“Having a smaller menu allows us to focus on what we do,” he says. “We’ve got an ad that says our whole business revolves around tires, and basically that’s where we confine ourselves, right to the wheel and axel and suspension.”

By keeping his focus on tires, Leipold, who runs two store locations in Northeast Ohio, says he can dedicate the very best products and services to his customers.

“We do the right things right,” he says.

FOUR DECADES OF TIRES Leipold got his start in the tire business while in high school working for a local tire shop during summer breaks. After graduation he enrolled at the University of Akron but dropped out to go back into the tire industry.

“I started off in engineering, and I became aware that it wasn’t for me so I took a general

Dennis Leipold says the way you do business is more important than numbers.

40

selection of business courses,” he explains.

“During… my third year, I dropped out midterm and it was early enough to get my money back. I had to be signed out by every professor, and two of those guys told me what a big mistake I was making and what a failure I was going to be.”

Leipold says that was motivation for him to start his own business. He chose tires because that what he knew the most about, and he had heard it was a strong industry.

“Back when I was really starting out I remember someone telling me it was a recession- proof business,” he says. “People always have to have tires, and it’s proven to be that way.

“Sometimes recessions are our best years because people aren’t replacing their cars.

Going back to 1975 and going through many economic ups and downs, it has proven to be pretty much recession-proof. The only limit is yourself. I’ve seen a lot of places go out of business, and it wasn’t because of the market. It was because of bad management.”

Leipold started his business in May 1975 and was joined by his brother, Ken, later that summer. The pair rented an old two-bay Texaco gas station in Stow, a suburb of Akron.

“Business was very slow, but back then everything was very inexpensive,” he said.

“My overhead was $75 a day and that covered everything.”

As business picked up, Leipold purchased a semi-trailer and parked it next to the building to use as a warehouse. He purchased a second location in neighboring Cuyahoga Falls in 1983, and in 1986 he moved his Stow store from the Texaco station to the location where it sits today.

“In ‘87 and ‘88 we grew and expanded both buildings. I was adding warehouse space and service space and gradually increased the staff from just my brother in 1975 to currently 26 people.”

WORKING WITH WHAT YOU’VE GOT Today, both store locations sit on suburban

Inventory space is limited at Leipold Tire, both by design and necessity. “To try and have on hand what could come in the door, I would need a 90,000-square-foot warehouse to cover every potential call,” says President Dennis Leipold.

MTD May 2019

While the winter months are a busy time of year for tires, Leipold says not that many customers are buying snow tires like they used to.

street corners with heavy traffic volume.

Both locations are also noticeably small.

“The Stow store is around 3,500 square feet and the Cuyahoga Falls store is 5,500 square feet,” he says. “Each store has 10 seats in the waiting room, and the waiting rooms are about 400 square feet. There’s not a square inch of open space.”

Leipold says he kept the stores small on purpose, focusing on efficiency and keeping fixed costs down. He played with the idea of doing an expansion in the past, but ultimately decided to rework the space instead to save money.

“Around 2000 I had the plans drawn to double the size of the Cuyahoga Falls store for more service bays and more warehouse, and at the last minute I pulled the plug on the deal and I looked at ways to increase efficiency. We reduced our inventory and moved in three additional tire changing machines and one more balancing machine, and it kept our utilities and insurance and all of our fixed costs down.”

He took the savings from not doing the expansion and invested it into his employees.

“Instead of putting money into buildings, we put money into our employees through bonuses,” he says. “They work hard and they earn it.”

Although the shops are small, they turn out quality work in similar volumes as their larger competitors. The Cuyahoga Falls store operates with five bays while the Stow location has six.

“We have a new car scheduled every hour for the auto services,” he says. “We w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

do five to six cars an hour on the tire side, that’s sales and tire repairs.”

They take both walk-in customers as well as appointments.

“Our appointment schedule is generally full, but we have it built in a way so we can fit in the walk-in service for most of the year,” he explains. “November and December we have appointments scheduled as well as some walk-ins and we have a heavy amount of drop-off because of the weather.”

While the winter months are a busy time of year for tires, Leipold says not that many customers are buying snow tires like they used to.

“Back in the ‘80s I did a huge volume of snow tires because a lot rear-wheel drive

cars existed, but I haven’t stocked snow tires in about five years,” he explains. “We’ve got so many distributors that we can have them here the same day if I order them by 11 a.m.

We let them carry the inventory and we take it when we need it. Most of our customers want all-weathers.”

KEEPING UP WITH DEMAND Another aspect of business that has changed dramatically for Leipold over the years is the way he buys tires from distributors.

“I used to buy directly from the rubber companies in trailer loads, and I’d order one to two trailer loads a month and mix it up,” he says. “However now, there are so many regional distributors that we have probably six

Preventing NVH problems before they happen Attention to detail is especially important when customers come in for noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) issues. They can be a tricky problem for tire pros since several factors can cause NVH. At Leipold Tire Co., a two store operation based in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Vice President Andy Leipold says taking time to listen to the customer’s complaint is the essential first step to identifying the problem.

“They might say, ‘It really

shakes when I’m getting on the highway’ or ‘I hate these tires because they’re so noisy’ or ‘Every time I hit a bump I feel like my car is falling apart.’ Those are the three main complaints and from there we’ll have to look and narrow down all of the causes.”

The root cause of NVH tends to be the lack of regular tire maintenance, says Leipold. One way Leipold Tire is able to help customers avoid NVH issues is through its regular

tire maintenance program.

“Anytime you purchase tires from us, rotation and balancing are included in the life of the tire. Obviously were moving around the tires to even out the wear as far as mileage goes, but we’re also watching for uneven wear, so if somewhere along the line it does knock the alignment out, if you come in every 5,000 miles, we can catch it in time and get the alignment set before (NVH) becomes a problem.”

41

Leipold Tire to eight short truck deliveries from regional distributors daily to restock and to bring in special orders for non-stock items.”

With the rapid increase SKUs, he says it doesn’t make sense for him to keep a large warehouse of inventory on site nowadays.

“The last 10 years the size and speed ratings and profiles have gone ballistic. A trailer load would last 10-25 days. Now I have to have two-a-day deliveries from distributors because to try and have on hand what could come in the door, I would need a 90,000-square-foot warehouse to cover every potential call.”

He says about 80% of his business is stock tires and 20% is customers’ special orders. When it comes to tire brands, Leipold

Between Internet sales and more neighboring competition than ever, Leipold says it’s important to stay relevant in customers’ minds.

“The number of independent dealers has declined dramatically in the Akron area. They’ve been replaced by national and regional chains, and car dealerships have taken their stab at it. We’ve seen a lot of change in the competition, and it forces us to be continually on our toes to maintain our market share.”

MAINTAINING MARKET SHARE Leipold credits his quality work, attention to detail and top-notch customer service for his longevity in business.

chassis and brake services,” he says. “Those are highly skilled guys and the employee who has been there the least amount of time has been with me for 12 years. The longest is 26 years.”

In the tire department, Leipold admits that help is a little harder to come by, but he’s recently found a great group of workers.

“My tire department has gradually grown,” he says. “Finding employees has been a challenge. I currently employee five documented immigrants from Myanmar who were granted asylum. These guys are the best new hires. I’ve had them with me for four or five years.”

Leipold keeps turnover low by paying his employees good wages and maintaining a family-style relationship.

“We’re not getting these guys cheap. We pay well above the market for the field for all of our employees,” he says. “We treat them like family because they are.”

THE FUTURE OF LEIPOLD TIRE CO.

Vice President Andy Leipold helps unload a truck full of tires at the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, location. Rather than manage a large tire inventory, Leipold Tire relies on six to eight short truck deliveries a day from regional distributors.

Tire works with all of the major brands — BFGoodrich, Continental and Michelin to name a few — but feature Cooper and Mastercraft tires.

“We are really dedicated in our relationship with Cooper Tire and Mastercraft Tire,” he says. “They’re the bulk of our market because the distributors have a fair share of all of the other brands. So when a customer comes in, a lot of them will make the decision based on our recommendation. However, we listen to customers and we’ll get any brand they want.”

One thing he won’t do is let customers buy tires from the Internet and bring them in for installation.

“If you want to buy them there, figure it out yourself,” he says. “We’re not going to build those companies. They’re successful, but they can be successful without me. That’s just another market change.”

42

“One of the things I have programmed into the DNA of all of our employees is attention to detail and to dazzle (customers) with service,” he says. “Those two phrases have been repeated for decades now.”

Leipold caters to the customers who are looking for quality rather than those who are looking for a cheap deal.

“We’ll be competitive, but we won’t be the lowest price in town,” he says. “We differentiate ourselves with our service, and we provide a different level of service than our competition. The majority of customers appreciate that.

“However, I lose customers who don’t care about the level of service. I have customers who ask me to price match the low-ball guy and I say ‘No.’” Many of Leipold Tire’s technicians have been with Leipold for decades.

“Our auto service consists of all of our

Leipold officially retired in 2016, but you can still see him in the stores most days.

His brother retired in 2014, but his two sons, Andy and Ben, are vice presidents.

His grandson, Landon, also helps manage the business full-time.

Leipold spends the winter months in Florida, but comes back to Ohio when the weather breaks and works as a mentor to his family and employees.

“I see myself as ‘coach’ now. With 44 years of experience there’s a lot of stuff that I can help improve from my experience.

Sometimes they offer to send me back to Florida!”

Leipold says he enjoys being around the employees and the customers but his life motto is “You either live to work or work to live.” He says he never dreamt of owning dozens of stores and wholeheartedly believes in a work-life balance.

“I’m a faith-based business,” he says. “I’m not going to run a banner over my store, but I live and operate with a biblical life view. It plays into every decision and every relationship. The way we treat people, the way we treat employees.

“These things are really the driver. My best advice is the U-Haul doesn’t follow the hearse.” ■ Shana O’Malley Smith is a freelance writer living in northeast Ohio. She specializes in the automotive aftermarket.

MTD May 2019

CONTACT YOUR LOCAL MAXXIS TIRES DISTRIBUTOR TO GET SIGNED UP TODAY

ASSOCIATE DEALER PROGRAM A Powerful new Program to ACCELERATE Profits With the Maxxis Accelerate program working for you, your business will gain a strong competitive edge in a marketplace that rewards value. A brand born of performance, Maxxis supports your ability to build profit with a product line you can be proud to offer.

As a Maxxis Accelerate dealer, you will have unlimited access to the support of a Global Tire Manufacturing leader. Sign up and accelerate your success today!

• • • • •

Dealer Locator Monthly and Quarterly Retail Promotions Maxxis Branded Point of Sale materials Quarterly and Annual Bonus rewards Maxxis Wearables and promotional Items

www.maxxisaccelerate.com

0000 0000 0000 0000 Maxx

Autho zed Deale

Associate Dealer Programs Continental dealers and their guests enjoyed water sports aboard a cruise ship as part of their reward for participating in the Continental Gold associate dealer program. Trips can be one of the many rewards offered for associate dealer group participation.

You are not

alone

TIRE MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATE DEALER PROGRAMS OFFER BENEFITS AND REWARDS

Y

ou are not in this alone. Tire manufacturers back your business in the form of associate dealer groups, which offer you payouts for purchases, discounts, training, opportunities to participate in annual trips and much more.

We asked manufacturers to update their program information and tell us what’s new for 2019.

See April’s article on independent tire dealer program groups and the tools and services they offer for more ways to increase profitability.

Program name: Growing Together Associate Dealer Program Offered by: Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT) Website: www.bkt-tires.com/en Who’s eligible to participate? Agricultural tire dealers who purchase a minimum of 100 BKT units from their chosen distributor each year.

What are the top benefits for participants? Quarterly payouts, the direct relationships and support offered, and benefits such as promotional giveaways, truck wraps, Monster Jam events, etc.

Number of participants: Just over 400 and growing each month.

What’s new in the program for 2019? In July of 2018, BKT made a number of changes to the program by adding new products, creating tiered payouts, and changing the structure of the program to promote growth. In 2019, we will continue to listen to our dealers’

44

needs and make the necessary changes for the program to continue its success.

Program name: Bridgestone Affiliated Retailer Nationwide Network Offered by: Bridgestone Americas Inc. Website: www.affiliatedretailer.net The details: There are more than 50 membership benefits including advertising and promotion support, volume discounts, preferred auto parts pricing from nationally recognized suppliers, a national lubricants program, training, online sales capabilities, social media, a credit card program and a nationwide tire protection plan.

Who’s eligible to participate? U.S.- and Canada-based dealers with a positive image who are able to carry a minimum amount of inventory based on a good, better, best merchandising plan.

What are the top benefits for participants? Access to world-class brands including Bridgestone and Firestone passenger and light truck tires. Financial support for purchase and sell-out of Bridgestone, Firestone and Fuzion brand tires. Deeply discounted pricing on related services and merchandise. Award-winning training and education programs that include online, experiential and in-person sessions on what dealers need to know to be successful.

Number of participants: More than 2,850.

MTD May 2019

Associate Dealer Programs What’s new in the program for 2019? We have added an additional aftermarket auto parts supplier to our list of vendor/ partners available to our network members. Members will now receive competitive national account pricing and quarterly rebates on qualifying purchases from our new partners at Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper.

Program name: Continental Gold Program Offered by: Continental Tire the Americas LLC Website: www.ContiLink.com The details: The goal of the Continental Gold program is to be the independent tire dealer’s number one partner and supplier. Being number one means gaining complete confidence in Continental’s product, people and program. It also means making Continental’s retail partners’ views and concerns a part of the process. The Gold Program offers dealers opportunities to grow their business with an easy-to-implement and dealer-friendly system that offers a spectrum of opportunities and a lucrative program that will maximize results.

Who’s eligible to participate? Independent retailers that are brick and mortar locations that sell to consumers and perform on-site mount and balance services.

What are the top benefits for participants? Industry-leading products that are easy to sell. A program that is easy to understand and earn rewards.

Number of participants: 2,500.

What’s new in the program for 2019? The Gold Program now features Dealer Business Suite, allowing dealers to connect and benefit from a network of preferred vendors for their business needs. Continental provides Gold dealers a way to gain access to our global network of suppliers and bring savings to their bottom line.

Program name: Cooper Medallion and Mastercraft Century Offered by: Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. The details: Cooper has two programs, Medallion (for Cooperbrand tires) and Century (for Mastercraft-brand tires.) Cooper provides marketing insights and assistance, product education, and other tools and techniques to help dealers build their business.

Who’s eligible to participate? These programs are for local, independent tire retailers. Entry into this program can begin with purchase quantities as low as 240 to 300 tires per year. Five levels of membership exist based on yearly purchase quantity. Cooper Medallion is available to dealers in the U.S. and Canada, and Mastercraft Century in the U.S. only.

What are the top benefits for participants? Members of Cooper’s Medallion program earn rewards for tire purchases and receive bonus payouts offered through strong additional promotions launched throughout the year. Cooper Medallion members may participate in annual consumer promotions. They receive members-only perks such as exclusive access to marketing insights and collateral, product education, and sales training through eCooper University.

Members joining the Cooper Medallion and Mastercraft Century programs are eligible to receive a new member bonus enrollment award. The program’s highest performers have access to exclusive benefits, including an opportunity to participate in annual trips.

Program name: Fanatic Offered by: Falken Tire Corp.

Website: www.fanaticdealer.com

46

Who’s eligible to participate? Independent tire retailers with a physical storefront and the ability to service customers on site.

What are the top benefits for participants? Cash rewards including quarterly promotions, location awareness through our easy-to-use dealer locator on the falkentire.com website, and showroom/exterior enhancements including an extensive line of POS materials.

Program: Goodyear Tire & Service Network Offered by: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The details: The Goodyear Tire & Service Network was established in 2009 and offers tire retailers a total business solution for consumer tires and automotive service. There is also a similar program for Goodyear commercial dealers.

Who’s eligible to participate? Direct and G3X customers can work with their local Goodyear account manager to be nominated for the Tire & Service Network program. Contact goodyeardealerprograms@goodyear.com for more information.

What are the top benefits for participants? Nationwide warranties, national account support, training, and vendor parts and equipment purchase programs. The comprehensive marketing program includes point-of-sale materials, advertising support, the Goodyear credit card, national rebates, websites and other digital assets.

Number of participants: More than 2,500 members in North America.

Program name: Hercules Power Program Offered by: Hercules Tire & Rubber Co./American Tire Distributors Inc. (ATD) Website: www.herculestire.com Who’s eligible to participate? Only independent tire retailers.

What are the top benefits for participants? Each Hercules retailer is offered limited geographic “protection,” which enables the Hercules retailer a higher profit potential at the point of sale. Hercules branded passenger and light truck products come complete with an exclusive enhanced protection policy including mileage expectation, no-charge replacement on road-hazards and workmanship and materials, plus our 45-day “trust our ride” test drive. It’s a combination of dealer support peace of mind for the dealer and consumer alike. Hercules retailers are eligible to capitalize on quarterly volume bonuses, retail rewards and an annual incentive trip.

Program: Hankook One Offered by: Hankook Tire America Corp.

Website: www.hankookone.com The details: Hankook One dealers are grouped into one of four volume categories and earn cash rewards in the top each of the four categories. A minimum of 320 annually is required to perform on the program with each per quarter dealer earns cash for every tire sold based on their annual tracking. At the highest level, Diamond, dealers who purchase at least 1,800 Hankook brand tires annually earn $8 per tire. In addition, dealers who sell one of the premium lines of passenger and light truck Hankook brand tires earn an additional $4 premium per tire.

Who is eligible to participate? Dealers not currently participating with one of the following can participate on the One Program: car dealers, direct Hankook customers (distributors, wholesalers or retailers), or government/fleet accounts.

MTD May 2019

Associate Dealer Programs What are the top benefits for participants?

1. Cash rewards based on volume and premium line tire sales.

2. Accrual of program points to purchase Hankook marketing materials, merchandise and travel for dealers who are tracking to Platinum (1,200 units) or Diamond (1,600 units or more) level annually (minimum of 300 units per quarter).

3. Participation in national consumer promotions/seasonal specials.

Number of participants: 4,100 What’s new in the program for 2019? Changes include no opening order required to apply to be a One dealer (in 2018, we required a 24 unit opening order), and changes in our minimum level requirements. Premium line changes – Hankook Optimo H727 has been removed, Hankook Dynapro AT2 (RF11) and Dynapro MT2 (RT05) were added to the premium lineup; Laufenn is now available on the One program as a volume enhancer and receives $1 per tire (volume bonus is only paid on Hankook-branded products).

Program name: Kenda Traction Offered by: Kenda USA Website: www.kendatraction.com The details: It is offered in conjunction with authorized Kenda distributors, dealers earn up to $2 per tire between the Kenda Traction Black Card and co-op funds. Dealers earn rewards with purchases of at least 125 tires each quarter. The program is tiered, so more tire purchases qualify for higher payouts. Purchases of 125–249 tires each quarter qualify for tier 1, purchases of 250–399 tires qualify for tier 2, and 400 tires or more qualify for tier 3. Kenda works with its distributors to offer reasonable trade area management to enhance the retailer’s value with the Kenda brand.

Who’s eligible to participate? Independent dealers buying from authorized Kenda distributors. Email kendatraction@kendausa. com to confirm qualification.

What are the top three benefits for participants? The ability to earn money back via the Kenda Traction Black Card. Co-op rewards to use on future purchases and Kenda Store Access for shopping online with dozens of products. Plus, full access to a marketing portal for branding tools — product images, logos, digital advertising and catalogs, and inclusion in the dealer locator on www.kendatire.com Number of participants: About 1,000 dealers.

Program name: Premium Fuel Offered by: Kumho Tire USA Inc. Website: www.Kumhoportal.com Who’s eligible to participate? Retail stores with physical locations that do not have more than 10% in automobile and wholesale sales.

What are the top benefits for participants? The Premium Fuel program provides dealers with POP/POS items, quarterly bonuses, annual volume bonuses and travel bonuses for their hard work.

Program name: Alliance Offered by: Michelin North America Inc. The details: The Alliance program is intended to offer Michelin, BFGoodrich and Uniroyal shoppers an excellent retail experience at dealerships who demonstrate professionalism, product knowledge, convenience, integrity and excellent services. It addresses the needs of specific customer types, volume levels customized to meet dealers’ actual business requirements, providing each level of retailer a profit margin sufficient to succeed and grow in a competitive environ-

48

ment. To support its network that recommends the company’s tires, Michelin pursues quality service, analytic tools to meet varying market conditions, a variety of delivery options, and incentives and consumer promotions.

Who’s eligible to participate? For independent retailers, Michelin requires a minimum of 60% retail business, and, depending on the program type, a purchase minimum of 250 Michelin, BFGoodrich and Uniroyal tires combined (for indirect customers) or 5,000 Michelin Americas Small Tires (MAST) units for direct service. The dealer must also provide a welcoming environment for shoppers, competent salespeople who are willing to pursue various training courses and, the capability to provide expert tire and wheel service for today’s complex vehicles.

What are the top benefits for participants? MAST brands, Michelin, BFGoodrich and Uniroyal, are recognizable brands with reputations for performance and quality that command excellent or best-in-class brand equity for consumers. The loyalty of OE tire owners provides willing buyers for Michelin tires. A well-trained, energetic and technically adept sales force willing to share information, assist in market and business analysis with support for dealer merchandising efforts; lucrative incentive programs and funding for customer advertising and promotion efforts.

Number of participants: Approximately 7,000 independent dealer outlets. The company has 300 Alliance distributor warehouses throughout the U.S. What’s new in the program for 2019? Michelin has expanded the indirect program to 14 different levels that make the program more aligned with dealer goals.

Program name: Mickey Thompson Marketing Alliance (MTMA) Offered by: Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels Website: www.mtmaprogramsignup.com Who is eligible to participate? Any brick and mortar retailer.

What are the top benefits for participants? Direct access to the manufacturer exclusive Power promotions for higher earnings and preferred status on our website to drive more business.

Number of participants: 350 unique members with 447 locations across the U.S. and Canada.

What’s new in the program for 2019? New buy-in level of 32 units to join. Online sign-up at www.mtmaprogramsignup.com, online portal at www.mtmaprogram.com.

Program name: Next Level Offered by: Nexen Tire America Inc. Website: www.nexentirenextlevel.com The details: The program rewards our valued dealers for their loyalty to our brand and to provide them opportunities for future growth and profitability. Next Level offers generous cash back rewards paid out quarterly on most Nexen patterns, as well as a lucrative volume bonus structure.

Who’s eligible to participate? Approved tire retailers who purchase Nexen tires through an authorized Next Level distributor.

What are the top benefits for participants? Fast payouts, straightforward bonuses, and top-tier support.

Number of participants: 4,000 enrolled dealers.

What’s new in the program for 2019? A new website — www. nexentirenextlevel.com. We have updated the site to be more userfriendly for both our Next Level dealers and our authorized Next MTD May 2019

Level distributors (with more to come). The new site will make our Next Level dealers more profitable by understanding their Nexen product mix and how to maximize their sell-out based on our data.

Program name: Nokian Tyres Authorized Dealer Program Offered by: Nokian Tyres Inc. Program name: Delinte Care and Landsail Care Offered by: Sentury Tire Americas Who’s eligible to participate? Retailers of our authorized partners.

What are the top benefits for participants? Mileage warranty plan, road hazard plan, and record holder for registered participants.

What’s new in the program for 2019? Our program continues to be the same as last year. It continues to grow and all retailers purchasing from our distribution network are part of this program.

Program name: Titan Strong Seller Program Offered by: Titan International Inc. Website: www.titan-intl.com Who’s eligible to participate? We are continually evaluating potential dealers for enrollment in the program. We evaluate dealers based on a number of factors, key among them are location and size. We want to make sure we’re setting our associate dealers up for success based on market opportunity and competition in the area.

What are the top benefits for participants? The Titan Strong Seller Associate Dealer Program is an uncapped program. We’re continuing to invest in our program by adding exclusive training opportunities for enrolled dealers. This includes in-person training at the dealer’s facility with Titan’s sales team, field technicians, and our product managers, as well as eligibility to participate in our hosted training programs such as Titan University and Tire Industry Association service trainings. Dealers in the program also have access to exclusive sales offers and marketing support from Titan, which consist of product literature and free marketing materials.

What’s new for the program in 2019? Our industry-exclusive Low Sidewall Technology (LSW) products are now eligible for the program. Titan added an incentive trip for top Titan Strong Seller associate dealers; special terms and conditions apply.

Program: Driven Offered by: Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.

Website: driven.toyotires.com The details: The Driven program rewards associate dealers with cash back, Toyo-branded merchandise and more. Dealers must purchase 50 units to enroll, then 100 units per quarter to qualify for payouts. Cash rewards are earned based on three levels and received via a reloadable debit card. Dealers receive a POP kit after the first order of 100 tires and each quarter Toyo rewards top performers with “Driven Dough” to purchase branded merchandise on the POP site. Dealers who achieve the highest level within four consecutive quarters in a calendar year are eligible for a signage program. Driven dealers also have access to online training and marketing assets, plus they are listed on ToyoTires.com.

Who’s eligible to participate? The Driven program is open to dealers not currently buying direct from Toyo. Dealers interested in joining should contact their local Toyo wholesaler or Toyo regional sales manager. The enrollment process includes filling out an application, which is available online, and making a minimum purchase w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

of 50 units. Once enrolled, the Driven dealer can track purchases and payouts through the Driven website. Then each quarter the associate dealer must purchase 100 passenger car/light truck units or 50 commercial tire units to qualify for payouts. Cash rewards are earned based on three levels and received via a reloadable debit card or direct deposit. All Toyo product purchases count toward the three tiers, with select patterns eligible for cash payouts.

What’s new for the program in 2019? In 2019 we introduced “Driven Dough,” which allows dealers to choose merchandise and POP that is most useful for their dealership. This replaced quarterly rewards of branded merchandise determined by Toyo. We also added direct deposit as an option in addition to the reloadable debit cards.

Program name: Vogue Elite Offered by: Vogue Tyre & Rubber Co. Program name: Advantage Offered by: Yokohama Tire Corp.

Website: advantage.yokohamatire.com What are the top benefits for participants? Advantage associate dealers can earn cash rewards on Yokohama treads purchased through their designated distributor. Dealers are also eligible to earn travel rewards, marketing funds, signage and point-of-sale (POS) material based on quarterly and annual goals. Dealers can utilize Advantage Online to track their progress toward goals and ensure they are maximizing their rewards. ■

BY LIVE INVENTORY ᛫ WHOLESALE PRICING EASY ORDERING!

REGISTER NOW!

᛫

᛫

᛫

᛫ Text Pics to 951-RimText (951-746-8398)

49

Business Insight

Take a small bite out of training HAVE YOUR NEW EMPLOYEES MASTER ONE TASK AT A TIME By

George Kingman

W

orking with clients, I hear over and over that training is one of the most dreaded tasks. It can be exhausting, the idea of starting with someone who has little or no experience in the industry and turning them into our next superstar. One of the reasons people dread this is rarely do people know where to begin.

How many people can relate to my start in the industry? First day, I’m excited to get started, I’m put behind the counter, am told to watch how everyone does their job, answer the telephone, and by the middle of the first day, my boss had thrown me to the wolves to fend for myself. We all survived, so that must be the right way to train new employees, right? Ehh, probably not.

Imagine I switch this up, and we talk about training someone to understand algebra… fun, right??! Now imagine, they have no understanding of basic math. If we applied this training logic to algebra, we would try to teach algebra without first having the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division down to “muscle memory.” That probably wouldn’t lead to any future mathematicians, but it would lead to people hating math. This is why we lose so many people from our industry within the first 90 days.

What if instead, we had a set plan, and no matter what, we wouldn’t take a short-cut. I suggest having your new employee learn one task at a time, until they are an expert on that task. They can continue to do the learned task while they add one more task to their list, and master it as well.

It goes something like this: Day one, the salesperson does nothing but answer the phone until they have your script or method memorized. Once they get good at answering the phone, teach them how to master asking for the appointment. Once that is done, have them master the phone quote.

Within a week, you will have trained them how to be exceptional on the phone.

The best part about this method of training is that because they didn’t learn to take short-cuts, the fundamentals are similar to addition and subtraction. They take less effort to manage going forward.

Another way to think of it is right now they are overwhelmed trying to learn everything. The pathways in their brains get crossed, and to overcome, they invent short-cuts. But by learning one thing at a time, the maps in their brains are laid out neatly, so they can quickly recall from muscle memory, like 3 + 3 = 6.

If you take this approach, you can have a customer service teammate skilled at the fundamentals within one month. Isn’t that much better than teaching them everything, and still after 90 days, they continue to make daily mistakes or are constantly failing to meet our expectations?

One way to break out the tasks for a new or struggling customer

50

Plaza Tire Service Inc., MTD’s 2017 Tire Dealer of the Year, knows the importance of properly handling phone calls. The company was founded 56 years ago in Cape Girardeau, Mo., by Pee Wee Rhodes. Above is third generation tire dealer Sam Rhodes.

sales associate is to list the essential skills the teammate will need on their first day, and help them prioritize it. Something like this: • Answering the phone • Asking for an appointment • A tire quote over the phone • Cash-out every customer • Write-up every customer

The number of days on each task will be determined by the complexity of your POS and your own store process.

I use the same principles for tire or lube techs. Give your new tire guy a scrap tire, and puncture 30 holes in it. Let him/her run through the innerliner to see what it feels and looks like. Then have them mount/demount a tire 30 times. Do the same with a low-profile tire, a tire with a TPMS sensor and a truck tire.

Your tire tech only needs to learn about 10 different tasks. If we approach learning one task at a time, they will become excellent at their tasks.

Remember, things like racking a car is a task in itself. For that matter, so is pulling a car in. Teaching employees to use the steering wheel cover, floor mat and seat cover every single time is a task to be mastered itself. Just like getting the mileage and any other tasks you want done at check-in, you should have your new tech pull in every single car for several days, until they have mastered it.

If you take this approach, you’ll have a staff that makes fewer mistakes, takes fewer short-cuts and best of all, your entire team will have much less stress! ■ George Kingman is executive director of Dealer Strategic Planning, the DSP 20 Group. He can be reached at George@dsp-20group. com or (704) 506-2164. See the website www.20DSP.com.

MTD May 2019

The Future in Motion

Find a new road forward.

From speedway to driveway, Continental puts you in the driver’s seat.

Based in Fort Mill, S.C., Continental Tire the Americas, LLC manufactures and distributes a complete premium line of passenger, light truck and commercial tires for original equipment and replacement markets. Our ultra-high performance tires include award-winning technologies that focus on safety, help save money, and reduce CO2 emissions. Continental’s premium products are proudly sold at Mr. Tire and Big 3 Tire Dealers.

CONTINENTAL PRODUCTS ARE PROUDLY SOLD BY THE

AND FAMILY OF DEALERS

European Notebook

Europe upgrades its tire labeling HOWEVER, THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH THE LEGISLATION REMAIN By

John Stone

52

COURTESY OF SAPPHIRE MEDIA SERVICE

T

ire labeling legislation was first introduced in 2012 in Europe. The last seven years have seen a lot of contested debate on the merits of the label, where it should be fitted and whether retail tire dealers actually pay much attention to explaining what the ruling means to car drivers.

Ever since the label was introduced arguments have continued relentlessly right across the European tire market as to whether the label goes far enough in its measures. Eventually the market demand for reform in all European countries became so strong that in March 2018 the European Commission (EU) adopted a proposal for new regulation adjustments to the label in order to further enhance levels of fuel efficiency, safety and the reduction of road noise to give “cleaner, safer and quieter” tires.

As you would expect right through last year there was a constant amount of discussion and opinion and in September 2018 following a few slight amendments to their original proposal the European Commission confirmed the introduction of the next phase of its European tire labeling legislation, which now includes necessary information on tire grip in road conditions affected by snow and ice. The EU also gave notice of its intention to include information on future labels to include wear and mileage performance once suitable testing methods have been established.

At the same time provisions have been made for the future inclusion of suitable labels for retreaded tires, which will come into force (once again) when suitable measuring facilities have been developed for testing. In addition, there will now be an obligation to register all tires for sale in a company’s product database.

Finally, in my opinion, probably the most interesting new adjustments proposed concern the display of a label so that it is clearly visible on a tire for the end user to see when inspecting a tire, and more clear regulation around the selling of tires on the internet.

All of these new decisions on future tire labeling are intended to improve a label’s visibility to potential buyers and to ensure they are fully informed about a tire’s label rating at the point of a sale.

However, it is interesting to note the proposed new legislation has disappointed environmentalists, as in their opinion it does not go far enough to protect the environment. Following pressure from national governments throughout Europe, tire distributors will be allowed to display the tire label information near where a tire is stored rather than attached to a tire.

So that is the present position regarding European tire labeling, but it will never surprise me if the debate within the industry continues to lean toward even more changes in the future. In my opinion, the scenario of presenting safety and performance labels on tires is an “open ended book,” and there is no conclusion to just how far the information can go to measure a tire’s suitability to be fitted to a car.

However, I also feel the main problem lies with not what is

European tire labelling is still in “uncertain waters.”

actually displayed on a tire but whether a label is actually recognized as a safety measure by tire retailers, as in my travels over the last 12 months I have witnessed varying degrees of efficiency by tire sales staffs from very high to blatant complacency. In the worst cases the salesperson is more concerned with confirming the sale of a tire than explaining the merits of different tire labels.

To be honest, all the blame for this disappointing situation cannot be placed on the tire retailer because in many European countries, the replacement of a tire to a driver is seen as an expensive setback, and even today in Europe buying tires is still regarded as a “distress purchase.”

On a positive note, I think the situation is improving, but very slowly. The only solution is tires and, in particular, the care of them should be significantly upgraded in terms of marketing and promotional presentation. ■ John Stone has been working within the global tire industry for the last 28 years.

In 2004 he launched his own consulting company, Sapphire Media Service, which caters to business media clients around the globe. Stone also writes for tire and automotive-related publications in Europe, South Africa and Asia.

MTD May 2019

Focus On Industry

Giti reveals a 5-year plan TWO BRANDS WILL BENEFIT FROM U.S. PLANT By

Joy Kopcha

A

s Giti Tire (USA) Ltd. continues to ramp up production at its first factory in the U.S., the tire maker also is unveiling the first of three new products for 2019. And Tim Fulton, CEO of Giti North America, said this is just the beginning of a rapid-fire revelation of new tires.

“We’ve got a plan over the next five years to introduce new products every year out of this plant,” Fulton said. “This plant will help us launch new products. That will help us have a complete footprint with two brands, GT Radial and Giti.”

The company will reveal a Giti-brand passenger touring line in 2020. But first up are three new products for the GT Radial brand.

The GT Radial Maxtour LX is a grand touring tire that fits the top 20 passenger cars and crossover vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2018.

Of its 42 sizes, 25 are being built at Giti’s manufacturing facility in Richburg, S.C. (The other 17 come from Giti’s plant in Indonesia.)

Tire dealers began selling the Maxtour LX in April 2019.

In mid- to late-summer of 2019, Giti will launch the GT Radial Adventuro HT. Jim Mayfield, senior executive vice president of sales and marketing, said the company has begun building some sizes of the tire. Its production, like the Maxtour LX, will be split between the U.S. and Indonesia.

The third tire planned for 2019 is the GT Radial Maxmiler Pro, designed for transit vans. Mayfield said the company has begun a soft launch of the van tire. It is being built in Indonesia, and targets “a segment of the market that is under-served. We feel we’ll do very well there.

“That’s three new product lines that we’ll go to market with in 2019 to help us as we build the GT Radial brand from where we are now.”

Hank Eisenga, plant manager for Giti’s facility in Richburg, is vice president of manufacturing for Giti Tire Manufacturing (USA) Ltd.

Clinton Foote operates one of the tire building machines at Giti’s manufacturing facility in Richburg, S.C. In March 2019 he posed with a new GT Radial Maxtour LX.

54

Giti officials gathered in the storage area of the company’s South Carolina tire factory. From left, Phang Wai Yeen, Hank Eisenga, Tim Fulton and Jim Mayfield.

“The product road map is critical. And we’ve got to be ahead of the curve,” he said.

The 1.7 million square-foot plant sits on 1,600 acres in South Carolina, about halfway between Charlotte, N.C., and Columbia, S.C. Eisenga said there are more than 700 employees at work who are producing more than 8,000 tires a day. “And we’re continuing to grow.” At full capacity, the plant will produce 5 million tires a year, and after another phase of expansion and construction, capacity will be 10 million tires a year.

Giti makes the Dextero brand of tires for Walmart Inc., and has been moving production of those tires from Indonesia to the U.S. facility. (Of the Dextero DHT2’s 20 sizes, 16 sizes are made in the U.S. plant. The other four are imported into the country.)

Phang Wai Yeen is chief technology officer for Giti and head of the company’s global research and development efforts. He said, “In the U.S., most important is time to market.” Giti moved its U.S. R&D operations to South Carolina from the Akron, Ohio, area, and that work now occurs in a facility adjacent to the tire plant. He said doing that research in the U.S., where experts are able to closely track the changing needs of the domestic market, helps it respond quickly. At the same time, the company’s four R&D centers around the world work from a common technological platform so they can share products, innovations and testing results simultaneously. “We have local resources but we have global support. That is very important.

We have the capability to put products into the marketplace fast.”

Fulton said Giti’s R&D capabilities set it apart, and place it in the upper echelon of tire manufacturers worldwide. “We’re the No. 11 tire manufacturer in the world. We’re amongst that top tier that has a global footprint, global R&D capabilities, a global technology platform and global distribution. It’s a big advantage.” ■ MTD May 2019

AMERICAN OMNI TRAIDING

I

R NT

OD

IN UC

G With an aggressive tread design and rugged construction, the Ranger A/TR is built for maximum traction for on- and off-road applications. Studdable tread blocks offer all-season performance for today’s popular LT/SUVs.

AGGRESSIVE SIDEWALL 25 SIZES FROM 15” TO 20” STUDDABLE 3D MICRO-SIPING AND ENHANCED RUBBER COMPOUND FOR EXTRA TRACTION 281-600-TIRE THUNDERERTIREUSA.COM

9 SEGMENTED MOLD CONSTRUCTION FUL FULL NYLON OVERWRAPS

TPMS

Dodge Journey – 2009-2018 COURTESY OF FCA US LLC.

SUBJECT VEHICLE: Dodge Journey, 2009-2018 RELEARN PROCEDURE? Yes. SPECIAL TOOLS NEEDED? Yes, a RKETPMS analyzer can be used in conjunction with a scan tool.

T

he tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) on the 2009-2018 Chrysler/Dodge Journey monitors air pressure in the four road tires.

Pressure in the spare tire is not monitored. The system alerts the driver when tire pressure falls outside predetermined thresholds. The TPMS is controlled by the wireless control module (WCM), commonly referred to as the sentry key remote entry module (SKREEM).

An indicator light located in the instrument cluster and the electronic vehicle information center (EVIC), if equipped, are used to communicate system information.

The TPMS uses radio and sensor technology to monitor tire air pressure levels. Sensors, mounted to each road wheel as part of the valve stem, transmit an RF signal indicating their individual pressure to a receiver located in the SKREEM. These transmissions occur approximately once every minute at speeds over 15 mph (24 km/h). The TPMS remains

56

active even if no tire pressure-related message is displayed. The sensors lay dormant (Park Mode), then wake and start transmitting (Drive Mode) when the vehicle first reaches speeds over 15 mph (24 km/h). Once the wheels stop rotating for a period of approximately 20 minutes, the sensors shut down until again awakened.

Although not transmitting as when in Drive Mode, while in Park Mode, the sensors still transmit approximately once every 13 hours to let the receiver know air pressure status at that time. Sensors will also transmit when a pressure change of 1

psi (7 kPa) or more is detected during that period. Under the following conditions, the system may not function properly:

• The areas, facilities or devices that use similar radio wave frequencies are located in the vicinity of the vehicle.

• A radio device of similar frequency is used near the vehicle.

• A lot of snow or ice is stuck to the vehicle, especially around the wheels or wheel housings.

• The battery of the sensor has been depleted (approximate 10-year life span).

Figure 1: Identifying tire pressure sensor components (2009-10 — 1 of 2).

MTD May 2019

AUTOMOTIVE INTELLIGENCE

PROGRAMMABLE UNIVERSAL TPMS Figure 3: Identifying tire pressure sensor components (2011 and later).

Figure 2: Identifying tire pressure sensor components (2009-10 — 2 of 2).

• A spare tire is installed.

• A tire without a tire pressure sensor is used.

• Wheels other than the manufacturer factory wheels are used.

TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR WARNING INDICATORS If any road tire pressure has exceeded the low or high pressure threshold, the warning light will be on continuously.

If equipped with the premium system, the electronic vehicle information center (EVIC) will display a message and a single chime will sound.

The text message will indicate which tire is low, and the display will show all current tire pressures (the pressure value for the low tire will be flashing). If warning indicators are on continuously due to low pressure in one or more tires, adjust tire inflation to specification. The light will remain on until tire pressure is properly set.

After adjusting air pressure in a tire, allow approximately 2 minutes for the warning indicators to turn off. If a system fault is detected, a chime will sound, and the TPMS indicator (telltale) lamp will flash for 75 seconds, and then remain on solid.

For vehicles with the premium TPMS, a “CHECK TPM SYSTEM” message will appear in the EVIC, followed by a graphic display. See the appropriate manufacturer service information.

TPMS RESET PROCEDURES NOTE: If a tire pressure sensor has been replaced, the tire pressure sensors must be retrained.

If warning indicators are on continuously due to low pressure in one or more tires, adjust tire inflation to specification.

The light will remain on until tire pressure w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

is properly set. After adjusting air pressure in a tire, allow approximately 2 minutes for the warning indicators to turn off.

TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR RETRAINING Using a RF signal, each sensor transmits tire pressure data approximately once every minute. Each sensor’s (transmitter) broadcast is uniquely coded so that the SKREEM can monitor the state of each of the sensors on the 4 rotating road wheels.

The SKREEM automatically learns and stores the sensor’s ID while driving after a sensor has been replaced.

There is no formal retraining procedures necessary. Drive the vehicle for a minimum of 10 minutes while maintaining a continuous speed above 15 mph (24 km/h). During this time, the system will learn the new sensor ID code and will clear any DTCs automatically. If a sensor cannot be trained, see appropriate manufacturer service information. A new sensor ID also can be programmed directly into the WIN or TPMS module by using a RKETPMS analyzer in conjunction with a scan tool. Once the new sensor ID has been programmed, the vehicle will need to be driven above 15 mph until the fault is no longer active (lamp extinguishes) and the display is updated (for up to 20 minutes).

NOTE: Using a TPMS-RKE analyzer can take up to a minute to force a transmission from a sensor.

99%

VEHICLE COVERAGE

TS508

DEMOUNTING/MOUNTING PROCEDURES CAUTION: The tire should be demounted from the wheel using the tire changer manufacturer’s instructions. Use the following information to avoid damage during the demounting/mounting procedures.

CAUTION: The TPMS has been optimized for the original equipment tires and wheels. TPMS pressures have been established for the tire size equipped on your vehicle. Undesirable operation or

(855) 288-3587

autel.com / maxitpms.com Register and update tools for latest coverage ©2018 Autel Intelligent Technology Inc.

57

TPMS

Figure 4: Demounting the tire with a tool.

Figure 5: Removing and installing a tire pressure sensor (2009-10).

sensor damage may result when using replacement equipment that is not of the same size, type, and/or style. Aftermarket wheels can cause sensor damage.

NOTE: If a tire pressure sensor has been replaced, the tire pressure sensors must be retrained. See “Reset procedures.�

NOTE: Wheels and tires are matchmounted at the factory. Before demounting a tire from its wheel, a reference mark should be placed on the tire at the valve stem location, to ensure that it is remounted in the original position on the wheel. For match-mounting procedures, refer to the appropriate manufacturer service information.

NOTE: Tire pressure may increase from 2 to 6 psi (14 to 41 kPa) during normal driving conditions. Do not reduce this normal pressure build up.

NOTE: If tires require leak-testing, a water test may be used to check for a leak around the sensor, as long as any water at the valve core is removed when the procedure is completed. Water can be expelled from the core area by pushing in on the core for several seconds, allowing escaping air to

drive out any moisture. Re-inflate the tire as necessary. Install the original valve stem cap.

TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR IMPORTANT: This vehicle uses the 433 MHz TPMS sensor. Although 315 MHz and 433 MHz sensors are identical in size and shape, they are not interchangeable.

Always make sure the correct sensor is being used. A RKE-TPMS analyzer can be used to determine the sensors frequency without having to demount the tire.

CAUTION: The use of tire sealants is strictly prohibited for vehicles equipped with TPMS. Tire sealants can clog tire pressure sensors.

CAUTION: Before installing a tire pressure sensor, ensure you have the correct sensor. Sensors can be easily identified by a white outline oval (with black center) insignia on the sensor body.

CAUTION: To prevent moisture and contamination from entering the valve stem, the cap used on this valve stem contains an O-ring seal. Retain the original valve stem cap for reuse. A regular valve stem

Figure 6: Removing and installing a tire pressure sensor (2011 and later).

58

cap cannot be used as a substitute. After inspecting or adjusting the tire pressure, always reinstall the valve stem cap. This will prevent moisture and dirt entry into the valve stem, which could damage the tire pressure sensor.

CAUTION: The valve stem used on this vehicle is made from aluminum, and the core is nickel-plated brass. Retain the original valve stem core for reinstallation.

Do not substitute a valve stem made of a different material, as the different metals will cause corrosion.

CAUTION: 2009-10: Any time a sensor is to be reinstalled in a wheel, a new seal and washer must be installed on the stem to ensure airtight sealing (see Figure 1).

2011 and later: Any time a sensor is to be reinstalled in a wheel, a new valve stem assembly (2) must be installed to ensure air tight sealing (see Figure 3).

CAUTION: Do not reuse the sensorto-wheel grommet. Always use a new grommet when installing a pressure sensor and properly torque the sensor nut.

Figure 7: Installing a tire pressure sensor.

MTD May 2019

What is an empty bay

costing you?

Do your part to solve the technician shortage

ÂŽ

Join the industry-wide campaign to solve the technician shortage.

techforcefoundation.org TechForce is a nonprofit 501(c)(3)

TPMS Removal 1) Remove the tire and wheel assembly from the vehicle.

2) Demount the tire from the wheel following the tire changer manufacturer’s instructions while paying special attention to the following to avoid damaging the pressure sensor: • When breaking the tire bead loose from the wheel rim, avoid using the bead breaker in the area of the sensor. That includes both front and rear beads of the tire (see Figure 4).

• When preparing to demount the tire from the wheel, carefully insert the mounting/demounting tool at the valve stem +/- 10 degrees, and then proceed to demount the tire from the wheel. Use this process on both the upper and lower tire beads.

3) Using a thin-walled socket, remove the special nut retaining sensor from the wheel. While removing the nut, hold pressure against the rear of the metal valve stem to keep the valve stem from pushing rearward, which could damage the antenna strap (see Figure 2).

4) Remove the sensor (see Figure 5).

Installation NOTE: Before reinstalling an existing tire pressure sensor, replace the seal and the metal washer at the base of the valve stem to ensure proper sealing (see Figure 1).

1) Wipe the area clean around the sensor/valve stem mounting hole in the wheel. Make sure the surface of the wheel is not damaged.

CAUTION: To avoid damaging the sensor antenna strap, hold pressure against the rear of the metal valve stem while the sensor is inserted through the wheel mounting hole and the nut is installed (see Figures. 2 and 5).

2) Insert the sensor through the wheel as shown keeping pressure against the rear of the metal valve stem.

The potted side of the sensor is to be positioned toward the wheel. Do not attempt to mount the sensor otherwise, or damage may occur.

Install the sensor nut (with a pressed-in washer) by hand (see Figures 5 and 7).

NOTE: Before tightening the sensor nut, push downward on the sensor housing in an attempt to make it flush with the interior contour of the wheel.

3) Using a thin-walled socket, install the sensor nut. While holding the sensor in position, tighten the sensor nut to 71 in.-lbs. (8 N.m).

CAUTION: Over-torqueing the sensor nut by as little as 106 in.-lbs. (12 N.m) may result in sensor separation from the valve stem. Under this condition, the sensor may still function; however, the condition should be corrected immediately.

4) Mount the tire on the wheel following the tire changer manufacturer’s instructions, paying special attention to the following to avoid damaging the tire pressure sensor: Rotating wheel tire changers Once the wheel is mounted to the changer, position the sensor valve stem approximately 210 degrees from the head of the changer in a clockwise direction before rotating the wheel (also in a clockwise direction) to mount the tire. Use this procedure on both the upper and lower tire beads (see Figure 8).

Rotating tool tire changers Position the wheel on the changer so that the sensor valve stem is approximately 210 degrees from the head of the changer in a clockwise direction from the mounting end of the tool (see Figure 9). Make

Figure 8: Mounting a tire using a rotating wheel machine.

sure the sensor is clear of the lower bead breaker area to avoid damaging the sensor when the breaker rises. Rotate the tool in a counterclockwise direction to mount the tire. Use this procedure on both the upper and lower tire beads.

5) Adjust air pressure to specification.

Make sure the original style valve stem cap is securely installed to keep moisture out of the sensor. Install the wheel and tire assembly on the vehicle.

6) Drive the vehicle for a minimum of 10 minutes while maintaining a continuous speed above 15 mph (24 km/h). During this time, the system will learn the new sensor ID code and will clear any DTCs automatically.

If a sensor cannot be trained, see the appropriate manufacturer service information. ■ Information for this column comes from the tire pressure monitoring systems data in ProDemand®, Mitchell 1’s auto repair information software for domestic and import vehicles. Headquartered in Poway, Calif., Mitchell 1 has provided quality repair information solutions to the automotive industry since 1918.

For more information, visit www.mitchell1.com.

Torque specifications Component Wheel nut

Ft.-lbs.

100

(N.m) (135)

Tire pressure sensor nut Torx screw

In.-lbs.

171 12

(N.m) (8) (1.4)

Over-torquing the sensor nut by as little as 106 in.-lbs.

(12 N.m) may result in sensor separation from the valve stem. Under this condition, the sensor may still function; however, the condition should be corrected immediately.

Figure 9: Mounting a tire using a rotating tool machine.

60

MTD May 2019

T R A D E O N LY

Get hands-on demos of the latest tires, tools and installation equipment at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Nov. 5–8, 2019.

Register to Attend at

SEMASHOW.COM

Products Nexen expands winter tire lineup WinGuard WinSpike tires for passenger vehicles, SUVs and CUVs from Nexen Tire America Inc. have a new tread design for better winter performance and are available in 20 new sizes. The redesigned WinGuard WinSpike WH62 (pictured) for passenger vehicles and the WinGuard WinSpike WS62 for CUV/SUV vehicles deliver enhanced snow/ice performance thanks to an optimal arrangement of stud lines. The WH62 and WS62 feature 20 stud lines instead of their predecessors’ 12.

Nexen says the added stud lines maximize grip and minimize stud noise. Both models also have a new square-type contact patch and compound for improved braking and handling.

NEXEN TIRE AMERICA INC. www.nexentireusa.com

CRP Automotive has Rein direct replacement hoses Rein OE-quality hoses from CRP Automotive are direct replacements for original equipment hoses and assemblies. The company says Rein hoses are 100% identical to original equipment in form, fit and function. Key applications include but are not limited to Jaguar Coolant Hose P/N CHR0538, Audi/VW Breather Hose P/N ABV0165, Lexus/Toyota Power Steering P/N PSH0486 complete with hardware and seals, Audi Turbocharger Oil Pipe P/N TFP0286, and Mercedes-Benz Turbocharger Intercooler Hose P/N TCH0332 complete with quick connectors. CRP Automotive is part of CRP Industries Inc. CRP AUTOMOTIVE www.crpautomotive.com

Continental offers vehiclespecific VDO fuel modules VDO OEM Direct Parts (OEMDP) Fuel Modules from Continental Commercial Vehicles & Aftermarket are identical in fit, form, and function to the original part.

Built in ISO/TS certified facilities, they are the exact OEM replacement and come directly from the manufacturer, Continental.

Previously offered as “dealer only” parts, these vehicle-specific fuel modules are competitively priced for a shop’s service needs. Continental says the line offers exceptional coverage for Audi, BMW, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Porsche, and Volkswagen applications.

CONTINENTAL COMMERCIAL VEHICLES & AFTERMARKET www.usa.vdo.com

BPI expands Raybestos Performance Rotors coverage Brake Parts Inc (BPI) has added 60 part numbers to its Raybestos Performance Rotors specialty line. The expansion includes coverage for sport utility vehicle, truck and luxury vehicle applications. The company says Raybestos Performance Rotors are made with application-specific enhanced iron, which suppresses noise and keeps brakes running cool, quiet and vibration free.

Drivers experience a stronger bite without sacrificing smooth braking. Performance Rotors feature black fusion coated hats or Grey Fusion 4.0 coating for rust protection.

Patented S-groove slot designs on select applications allow for improved pedal feel.

BRAKE PARTS INC. (BPI) www.brakepartsinc.com

Vredestein Quatrac Pro handles all weather The new Vredestein Quatrac Pro is an all-weather tire with ultra-high performance capabilities. Apollo Vredestein Tires Inc. says it was designed with superb handling and short braking distances under both dry (wide center ribs) and wet (wider longitudinal grooves combined with diverging grooves in the shoulder) conditions. The advanced compound material has a high silica and resin content for excellent traction on wet and snowy roads. Compared to the Quatrac 5, the tire has more than 10% better wet grip and 5% better snow handling. The Quatrac Pro is available in 50 sizes, 29 of which are Y-rated.

APOLLO VREDESTEIN TIRES INC. www.vredestein.com

62

PQ Pro brake pads require no break-in period The next-generation PQ PRO disc brake pads from Centric Parts do not require a break-in period and are designed to eliminate brake fade, improve brake response and reduce excessive noise. PQ PRO features application-specific friction that meets or exceeds original performance specifications to ensure reliable stopping power. The exclusive Mu500 friction coating provides an immediate increase in Mu (stopping power) right out of the box, while advanced multilayer shims eliminate noise. Centric Parts, a division of APC Automotive Technologies LLC, says line provides wide coverage for cars, light trucks, vans and SUVs. CENTRIC PARTS www.apcautotech.com

MTD May 2019

Looking for...

Ways to increase protability?

Professional insight on how to perform in a constantly changing industry?

Strategies to increase the value of your business?

Advice on how to outperform the industry?

Then you’re looking for DSP 20 Group.

ATTEND A MEETING.

MTD-.

Call our facilitators today.

George Kingman (704-506-2164) or Randy O’Connor (704-572-7492) www.20dsp.com

Ad Index WHEN YOU CONTACT ONE OF OUR ADVERTISERS PLEASE BE SURE TO MENTION YOU SAW THEIR AD IN MODERN TIRE DEALER

64

ADVERTISER

PAGE

WEBSITE

1-800EveryRim—OEM Wheels

49

www.1800everyrim.com

Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Inc.

15

www.perfectstopsummerpromo.com

American Omni Trading

37

www.deestonetireusa.com

American Omni Trading

55

www.thunderertireusa.com

AUTEL

29, 57

www.autel.com

BendPak Inc. Ranger Products

35

www.bendpak.com

BKT USA Inc.

11

www.bkt-tires.com

Blackburn OEM Wheel Solutions

39

www.blackburnwheels.com

Bridgestone Tire

13

www.bridgestonetire.com

CEMB USA

31

www.cemb-usa.com

DSP 20 Group

63

www.20dsp.com

Falken Tires

27

www.falkentire.com

Federal Tire

53

www.federaltire.com

Firestone Tire

33

www.firestonetire.com

General Tire

19

www.generaltire.com

Hankook Tire

17

www.laufenn.com

K & M Tire Inc.

51

www.kmtire.com

Kenda Tires USA

IBC

www.kendatraction.com

Linglong Americas Inc.

7

www.linglongtire.com

Maxxis Tires

43

www.maxxisaccelerate.com

Nexen Tire America Inc.

IFC

www.nexentireusa.com

Nitto Tire U.S.A. Inc.

OBC

www.nittoenthusiastcircuit.com/apply

Nokian Tyres Inc.

45

www.nokiantires.com

Sailun Tire Americas

9

www.gosailun.com

SEMA Show

61

www.SEMAshow.com

Sentury Tire

21

www.delintetires.com

TechForce Foundation

59

www.techforcefoundation.org

Tireco Inc.

47

www.milestartires.com

Yokohama Tire Corporation

5

www.yokohamatire.com

MTD May 2019

Advertising information (330) 899-2200 ext. 2217

MTD Classifieds USED TIRES FOR SALE

USED MEDIUM TRUCK TIRES

Japanese original truck tires: 275/80R22.5 11R22.5 6-8 millimeters of tread remaining

Major Brands:

BRIDGESTONE, YOKOHAMA, TOYO, and DUNLOP. no patches, no cracking, no old DOT Tel: 915-860-2222 email: info@lallantaco.com Contact: Manuel Ayala

DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH USED TIRES? WE HAVE TRUCKLOADS OF USED TIRES READY TO GO!!

PASSENGER, LT, TRUCK AND OTR TIRES AVAILABLE

SOFTWARE cloud-based

Tire Dealer, Auto Repair, Tire Wholesaler

SOFTWARE 30 YEARS

FREE 30-day Software Test Drive Watch software demo videos online at:

GIVE US A CALL! 412-562-1700

www.hitstiresoftware.com

INCREASE YOUR SALES Advertise in MODERN TIRE DEALER We offer...• 35,000+ industry decision makers • Competitive rates • Frequency discounts

w w w . M o d e r n T i r e D e a l e r. c o m

65

Advertising information (330) 899-2200 ext. 2217

MTD Classifieds TOOLS & EQUIPMENT

BUSINESSES FOR SALE

Tire Dealer Tools & Equipment

www.ezliftconveyors.com

Air Tools • Battery Chargers Compressors • Hose Reels Impact Sockets • Jacks Lube Equip • Tire Equip

For FREE Catalog Call 800-772-0863

BUSINESS FOR SALE: Well established, successful, multi-location, full-service TIRE BUSINESS in western Kansas. Long-term and loyal employee base at each location. Property lease options will be considered. Businesses are offered individually or as a multi-location sale.

Please contact us at

TireBusinessForSale@Gmail.com for more information.

www.wesbrooksinc.com

2012 Sheppard Access Rd. Wichita Falls, TX 76306

SMALL

SPACE

5 gal. - 10 gal.

Push Buttom Release, lightweight aluminum tank

Floor to Floor tire storage made safe, fast, and reliable with this conveyor!

E-ZLIFT has been serving major tire retailers for over 30 years!

Length selection guide and prices: Floor to Floor Distance

Conveyor One Length Req. Start/Stop at 55˚ Incline Control

8 ft.

10 ft.

12 ft.

14 ft.

12 ft. long 15 ft. long 18 ft. long 21 ft. long

$ 5,256.00* $ 5,582.00* $ 5,924.00* $ 6,482.00*

Two Start/ Emergency Stop/ Down Controls**

$ 6,065.00* $ 6,370.00* $ 6,690.00* $ 7,196.00*

* USD prices good thru 12/31/2018, FOB factory ** Conveyor system is Underwriters Laboratories Listed

Call Toll Free For More Details!

1-800-821-9966 Local: 303-733-5533 Fax: 303-733-5642

Denver, CO USA

66

Proven Power

#1

MTP, INC. Phone: 1-800-645-1123 Supplying/Suppliers 1975 CATALOG Prices onSince Request www.movittire.com Email:sales@movittire.com sales@movittire.com Email:

MTD delivers customers!

(35,000+ industry decision makers)

For more information call Bob Marinez

(330) 899-2200 ext. 2217

MTD May 2019

$ $

CASH EXPLOSION!

$ $$

$ $ Premium performance H/T light truck and p-metric sizing for ½ ton, ž ton and SUV applications

$ $

60K Limited Mileage warranty for p-metric & 50K for LTR Strong wet & snow performance with optimized footprint for towing

$ $ $ $$

$

$ $

DOUBLE DOLLARS IN MAY on the Klever H/T KR600

That means more cash, more earnings, and more for you and your business this year!

*Double points applies to all sizes of the KR600 tread pattern. Promotion is for dealers enrolled in the Kenda Traction program.

The Kenda Traction program is free to enroll at KendaTraction.com. Through Kenda purchases earn cash back and Traction Black Card rewards.

Contact your local distributor for more details.

KendaTraction.com

Traction