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The relationship is cooperative”
Claus-Christian Schramm, CEO of Goodyear Dunlop, talks in the KFZ Wirtschaft interview about the current business, the trend towards all-season tires, the future of the tire specialist trade and outlines how the industry supports the trade.
The relationship is cooperative”
Automotive business: How has the summer tire business been going for Goodyear Dunlop?
Claus-Christian Schramm: The economic data currently shows stable, positive trends for Austria. The number of registered vehicles and the number of new registrations are at a good level. We expect the number of passenger cars to grow by 2.4% by 2018 and also expect an increasing tire replacement market. Under these conditions, the demand for “high-end products” such as ROF, 4×4, HP and UHP tires will increase. In the first half of 2016, the summer tire business ran at a constant level according to our plans.
How is the winter tire business developing now?
Overall, preparation for the upcoming season is in full swing. Based on the current storage orders, we expect positive impulses and would like the appropriate weather conditions to support this.
You recently said that the Essen tire fair had confirmed the trend towards all-season tires.
Consumers are increasingly interested in all-season tires, which means the segment is currently growing rapidly. The reasons for this are warm winters or trends such as increasing urbanization. We expect continued high growth rates in the double-digit range - at least until 2020. Goodyear was the first tire manufacturer to develop an all-season tire and successfully bring it to market over 30 years ago. Since then, we have used our expertise to continuously develop our products. In addition to the latest generation of the Vector 4Seasons in the premium segment, we also offer a reliable product in the budget segment under the Sava brand. Goodyear is now launching the latest development in the mid-price segment under the traditional Fulda brand, rounding off its product range.
Does the tire trade have a future?
The general trading environment is generally facing radical change, with digitalization being one of the main drivers. This challenge also applies to tire retailers, which in recent years have been confronted with increasing price pressure, increased price transparency and increasing vehicle complexity. Increasingly difficult product differentiation and the extremely high expectations of end consumers make things even more difficult. In such a situation, it is important to build joint strategic partnerships and work in alliances. It is important to keep the end consumer at the center of everything and, above all, to define appropriate sell-out measures.
The relationship between industry and specialist retailers: How do you currently assess this?
The relationship is cooperative. As an industry, we support our trading partners primarily with high-quality products, training measures and reaching end consumers via various communication channels. In order to produce needs-based production and avoid overcapacity, we work with interested trading partners on so-called collaborative planning approaches. The Goodyear Dunlop Group offers tailor-made concepts with various modules for each individual trading partner via the Goodyear Dunlop Trading Systems (GDHS). Three sales channels from tire discounts to tire specialist retailers with an additional vehicle service mainstay are professionally supported by the system headquarters.