In a conference call to employees early Wednesday, American Tire Distributors (ATD) leadership announced its plans to downsize a number of employees across the organization, sources close to ATD tell Tire Review.
According to ATD in a followup phone conversation, this is part of a long-term strategy. The company says the objective is to align the internal capabilities to their strategies to make the changes necessary to support long-term growth and customer service. A company spokesperson says that changes today were limited to the field support center.
ATD President and CEO Stuart Schuette sent the following letter to employees:
“Today has been a tough day for ATD. The decision to reorganize our Field Support Center was not made lightly but it was critical for us to align our capabilities with our strategy.
“I am grateful for the work of the associates who have been affected by this organizational restructuring. They have been a part of our journey and the fabric of our company. Their contributions to our company are valued and we honor their service.
“More than 18 months ago, we began our transformation to become the most connected and insightful automotive solutions provider, and every decision that we have made – and will make – is grounded in realizing this vision. The digital tools and advanced technologies that we’ve introduced are key differentiators for ATD and are being recognized by both aligned customers and manufacturers.
“We also know that the industry is going through its largest change in decades as we’ve seen in recent industry announcements. Additionally, we know that to grow, thrive and lead the industry we must continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers with differentiated capabilities. We can see that our customers value these efforts as our NPS customer satisfaction scores are high across all metrics of service. And they are voting for us – and with us – by making brand allegiance changes to stay with their ATD partnership.
“Today, you should remember that ATD has been an enduring brand for more than 80 years because we aren’t afraid of change.
“We make the change. We are the innovators, the disrupters and the leaders. We have a plan that we are working through with our sponsors, and over the course of the next few months through all of our efforts we will pave the road ahead of us. We look forward to sharing this with you as it becomes finalized. We will remain the industry leader in every respect.
“We own our destiny. We will move forward. And, we will stand with each other, shoulder to shoulder, as we create the ATD that will lead the industry into the future.”
The move is on the heels of a July 9 report from Moody’s Investment Services calling for “urgency to right-size capital structure,” after the loss of revenue after both Goodyear and Bridgestone pulled their passenger and light truck products from the nation’s largest tire distributor.
The team at ATD is currently working on our request for the specific number of employees that will be affected by the announced restructuring. This article will be updated as more details are made available.
