Conti Says Winter Tire Growth Will Come With Consumer Education
Depending on your latitude – and attitude – you love or hate winter. If you’re a tire dealer in the northern climes, winter is a great time to pack on some sales that those farther south cannot.
Come October winter tire selling season officially opens, the apex of months of careful planning (and weather forecasting) and promoting the benefits of winter tires to your customers. As long as the weather is favorable and consumers are receptive, northern dealers should enjoy good sales. When winter weather is mild, things are different.
Winter is also the time tiremakers demonstrate their winter wares, such as Continental Tire North America’s now well-established Arctic Blast dealer and media event. This year’s Blast was held in Montreal, which, ironically, saw record-breaking snowfall this season and is in the only Canadian province to formally mandate winter tire use.
This year’s edition did not include any new products; rather, the focus was on testing Continental and General winter products, honing winter driving skills (where else to learn the fabled Scandinavian Flick?), reviewing advanced winter tire technology, enjoying local culture and taking in the Continental-sponsored ice races held during the city of Sherbrooke’s winter carnival.
CTNA has one of the broadest winter tire lines in North America, with three Continental branded tires and two wearing the General badge, covering passenger car, pickup and SUV segments. The company feels this array gives dealers plenty of options to meet consumer and vehicle fitment needs.
By comparison, the winter tire market in Canada and the U.S. is a fraction of that in Europe, where harsher winters, prevailing regulations and different driving attitudes prevail. The total U.S./Canada winter tire market for 2007 was 9 million tires, a meager 4% of the combined replacement tire market. For obvious reasons, winter tires make up 28% of the Canadian replacement market (5.1 million units) but only 2% of the U.S. market (3.9 million tires).
Europe, however, took in 55 million winter tires in 2006, and another 46 million last year, and winter tires represent 20% of the total European replacement market. Germany alone accounted for half of those winter units.
Still, CTNA sees a lot of opportunity for growth in the upper U.S. and Canada, as consumer knowledge grows and other Canadian provinces consider winter tire mandates. Responsibility for educating drivers rests mainly on dealers and the media, thus the continuing efforts by CTNA and other tiremakers to expose those industry representatives to the effectiveness of winter radials.
With no new winter tire in the pipeline this year (CTNA does plan to roll out 26 new sizes – giving it 52 sizes total – for the General Altimax Artic for the 2008-09 winter season), most of the focus for this year’s Artic Blast was on winter tire capability and driving techniques.
CTNA set up a range of seven driving challenges, putting their winter products in accident avoidance and off-road situations and on various road courses carved out on the snow-buried runways at the now-closed Montreal Mirabel Airport. Best known as the location for the airport interior shots in Tom Hank’s The Terminal, Mirabel closed to passenger traffic in 2004 and now only handles some freight. More recently, ICAR has opened a vehicle and tire test location there, putting the airport’s massive runways to use.
A wide open runway meant there was nothing to hit – other than iced-over snow walls, that is – so dealers and journalists could cut loose and push the tires to their limits.
Using typical consumer vehicles – Honda Civics, Audi A4s, Ford F150s and Volvo XC90s – each of the activities demonstrated the handling, braking and traction advantages of winter tires, often in direct comparison with all-season options. Professional instructors were at each station to provide tips on driving techniques, adding to the knowledge base of those charged with educating consumers.
