Doing business during the coronavirus pandemic has brought about a whole new set of challenges, demands, expectations, tough decisions and the need to embrace change and pivot quickly to keep production moving, products in the pipeline, vehicle services completed and customers happy.
Those businesses in our industry weathering this storm have leaders who “dug deep” to put their team’s fighting spirit and resilience into motion through foresight, acumen, innovation, initiative, resourcefulness, creativity, determination, hard work and agility to name a few.

Operating in what has become the “new normal” way of doing business, it’s important to also have insights into various market dynamics that can help fine-tune tire and parts inventories, hone business strategies and tweak operations to position your dealership to capitalize on unperformed maintenance on an aging vehicle population, provide innovative solutions for customers and deliver first-class service, to safeguard and grow your business for the long term.

Our special Sourcebook issue is aimed at doing just that—providing a wealth of data that sheds some light on our industry’s current status as it moves into recovery mode and points to ongoing tire replacements and aftermarket service and repair opportunities on the 289.9 million registered vehicles on the road today. Even though vehicle miles traveled dipped during shutdown restrictions earlier in the year, vehicle travel has steadily increased as of late June to pre-pandemic levels as the result of states reopening, which has a direct correlation on the need for vehicle service.

Lower gas prices are also in our industry’s favor as the summer driving season that’s set to continue into fall with consumers’ ongoing aversion to flying, and consumers holding onto older vehicles longer due to higher unemployment, all of which point to more money being spent on maintenance and necessary vehicle repairs.

Turning to the data in the special sections, here’s a glimpse of what else you’ll find:

• Tire Brand Studies: Here we take a look at dealers’ perceptions about the brands of consumer tires they carry based on various criteria, including brand profitability, fill rate, consumer awareness, application coverage and more.
• Tire Review Dealer Study Pandemic breakout: We explore the many business aspects of owning and operating a tire dealership in what has been quite an abnormal year, and how they’ve mitigated the effects of the coronavirus on their business.
• U.S Regional Tire Fitments: provides the top five tire fitments in the passenger car and light truck segments within the five regions of the United States, as well as the No. 1 replacement passenger tire size and the No. 1 replacement light truck tire size in the U.S. in 2019.

State of the Industry Special Section

This year, Tire Review’s State of the Industry” was produced as a special section within this issue vs. a separate edition. Beginning on page 43, this thought-leadership editorial provides a comprehensive look at the trends and challenges shaping the global tire industry during the coronavirus pandemic through the eyes of subject matter experts and influencers. Our coverage includes:

• What the tire industry will look like in 2021 and beyond;
• How dealers are faring during the pandemic and adapting to “new normal” way of doing business;
• PLT segment opportunities, challenges and trends in 2021—how shifting consumer behavior is reshaping the passenger and light truck tire segment;
• Supply chain/distribution—the tire supply chain of tomorrow and four keys areas that are ripe for change; and
• Auto care industry trends: Opportunities, challenges and expectations for 2021.