ealing with, and spotlight areas of concern. All of these facts and figures are then made available to you in the pages of this magazine.
Some of the research projects we undertake profile today’s tire dealer (a report on which appears in this issue) – the structure of your business, how you conduct your business, the tools and training you rely on, the types and brands of tires you carry, what your customers demand, and much more. Other research, like our annual Tire Brands Study, tries to uncover unique attributes of a particular segment, product type or business.
For the past two years we’ve also spent considerable time in the OTR market. In conjunction with TANA, we’ve uncovered some of the key and unique operational characteristics of OTR tire dealers
Every couple of years, we also conduct research on the custom wheel market. And, as computers and the Internet play a greater role in our business life, we’ve turned our research capabilities toward documenting the advancements you’ve made with this effective tool.
What’s the point of telling you all of this? Consider it a lead-in to announcing a small, yet effective tool we’ll now offer on quarterly basis. Beginning with this issue, we’ll provide you with a greater sense of how the economy directly impacts your business climate and your future decisions.
There are a lot of opinions these days about the strength of the U.S. economy. Tire Review has started to conduct a nationwide survey of dealers like yourself to help gauge the level of business activity in the tire industry, as well as gain a sense of where you see business going near-term. You may, in fact, get tapped someday for one of these random surveys. If you do, we’d appreciate your help.
This project began with this year’s first quarter and continued in the second quarter. We faxed short questionnaires to a random selection of readers asking for their feedback. After verifying the results from both quarters, we feel comfortable in reporting our findings to you, as we will in the future.
Listed below are the six questions, the second quarter results, and a comparison with the first quarter results.
Compare your tire sales revenue for the first and second quarters of 2001 to the first and second quarters of 2000.
42.9% saw an average increase of 31.6%, up from 22% in the first quarter that saw an average increase of 15.1%.
Compare your revenue from service sales for the first and second quarters of 2001 to the first and second quarters of 2000.
47.8% saw an average increase of 12%, up from 34% in the first quarter who saw an average increase of 12.6%.
How do you feel business will be in the third quarter of 2001?
54.9% said business would be better in the third quarter. In our first quarter survey, 68% thought second quarter business would be up.
Are you currently looking to fill service or tire technician jobs in your shop?
In the second quarter, 50.7% said yes, up from 42% in the first quarter.
In what timeframe do you plan on making capital equipment expenditures of $10,000 or more?
In the latest survey, 10.1% planned to make such an expenditure within three months, 8.7% said within six months, and 18.8% said within a year. This compares to 12%, 8% and 24%, respectively, in the first quarter.
In what timeframe do you plan on making capital equipment expenditures of $2,500 or more?
For the recent survey, 23.9% said within three months, 23.9% said within six months, and 18.3% predicted within a year. This compares to 26%, 20% and 12%, respectively, in the first quarter survey.
In the future, the results of this survey will be found in our Industry Report section. They appear here now because, honestly, I wanted the privilege of unveiling them for the first time. Additionally, we’ll also run the quarterly results on our Web site at www.tirereview.com.
This survey is for and about you. So if the questions we’re asking aren’t pertinent – or you want answers to other pressing questions ®“ please let us know.
Like all of our research projects, useful data can’t be gathered without your help. So feel free to lend a hand.
