Chabill's Tire & Auto Service Owner Says No to Goodyear E-Commerce Scheme

Longtime Dealer Says No to Goodyear E-Commerce Scheme

At the meeting, Goodyear claimed that some 1,100 dealers had already committed to the program, but since the meeting closed, Tire Review has heard from several Goodyear dealers who are unhappy with the tiremaker’s plan, including Charley Gowland, founder and owner of Chabill’s Tire & Auto Service, a 14-store Goodyear and Michelin dealer in Louisiana.

[Editor’s Note: At the recent Goodyear Dealer Conference, held at the Gaylord Texan outside of Dallas, the tiremaker made the formal announcement that by mid-2015 it would open the gates and allow consumers to purchases and pay for Goodyear, Dunlop or Kelly brand tires directly through its goodyear.com website.

The purchaser would select a nearby Goodyear company-owned store or independent dealer to perform the installation. If a dealer were involved, Goodyear said the independent would be compensated for the sale in a manner similar to Goodyear’s current national accounts program, receive a delivery commission, and be reimbursed 100% for mounting/balancing and any disposal fees as applicable.

“Why in the world would I want to sign on to a program that spells eventual doom to a large part of the profitability of my business? All you people are going to accomplish is to set in motion the need for other manufacturers to follow suit with direct to consumer programs for “competitive” reasons. In the end, another distribution channel will be established, in a static marketplace, with the loser being the independent dealer channel. In the end, Goodyear, and the rest of the manufacturers who follow suit, aren’t going to produce one additional tire because of this program.

“Do you see car manufacturers rushing to allow these same Internet shoppers the opportunity to buy cars and trucks from them on line? That may happen someday, but for now car manufacturers seem to be smart enough to respect, and honor, the substantial investments that business people make in the brick and mortar, people, inventory and training needed to market their products. You should do the same.

“I would remain the responsible party in the customer’s eyes, and I would get to handle adjustments, ride complaints, low mileage claims, etc., and you would sit back and reap the profits!!!??? WOW – what a deal!!!??? Are you, or your customers, going to pay me extra for having to deal with aftermarket wheels that require special care and $10,000 tire changing machines to do the work correctly? Are you going to be able to explain those special circumstances to your customer before he, or she, shows up to get the tires installed? What happens when you, the customer, or your wholesale distributor makes an error regarding the size or service rating required to fit the vehicle properly? Guess who’s facing the customer when something goes wrong. Not you, and not your distributor. We are.

“These are some of the reasons we require more than a $10 profit, or whatever you intend to pay, to make a tire delivery profitable. It’s why it is so important that the dealings on tire pricing, and the cost of the services to install tires, be left to negotiations between the delivering dealer and the customer. This program is an accident waiting to happen.

“If you want a program like this for these consumers, deliver the tires through your company stores. You have control over the workings of that channel. You own them, so you certainly can install any program you think would drive business and profits to those locations. We, the independent dealer channel, helped the car dealers in this country go from a 1% share of the replacement market to nearly a 10% share today. Most of the tires sold in car dealerships are premium products. This program, if it matures, will result in a far greater share of the replacement market moving away from the independent dealer channel than did the car dealer support program. I just don’t think the independent channel can afford to lose that large a share.

“Personally, I’m not interested in giving up additional premium product sales to my “supplier” this time around. Especially when the program is disguised as something that’s beneficial to my cause and my business plan. I’ve always thought that crap could be covered with lots of sugar and honey, but it will always be a pile of crap.

“I’m hoping that this effort by you fails because of a lack of support from dealers like myself. It’s not easy to say NO to a major supplier in this tire industry, but if there was a time to do it, that time is now. Manufacturers’ loyalty to the dealer channel has evaporated over the many years I have been in this business, so I certainly hope there’s many more dealers who feel the way I do, and who will say NO to you, and to this program.”

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Ryan Waldron as president of the company's Americas business unit, reporting to Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart. He succeeds Steven R. McClellan, who retired on April 1.

"At Goodyear, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and in Ryan Waldron, we have a customer-centric, execution-focused business leader with a deep understanding of both the marketplace and all aspects of our business, as well as a proven track record of delivering results," Stewart said. "I am thrilled to announce him as president of Goodyear's Americas business and have enormous confidence that under his leadership, both the company and our customers will reach even greater levels of success."