Yield to Better Profits: Win Ag Business By Offering Tires and Services with the Best Yields
When Tire Review last looked at the agricultural tire market in August 2004, a weak dollar and poor growing conditions in other parts of the world were stimulating U.S. crop exports. Production demands on the ag sector were relentless. A year later, the news is still good. Farmers are enjoying a fruitful harvest with high
Real Balancing Act: Phasing Out Lead Wheel Weights May Change Balancing Forever
If you missed the news, it’s no longer legal to use lead wheel weights in Europe. So, what should that mean to you? Start planning now for the same thing to happen here. Already, wheel-weight maker Perfect Equipment Co. is producing zinc clip-on and steel adhesive wheel weights for GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler vehicles being
A Red Hot Market: Knowing the Options Can Help Deliver a Winning Look
It all starts innocently enough. A couple of car nuts decide to get together on a weekend to show off their rides. Before long, it becomes an organized event. Streetrods and muscle cars are seeing a huge growth in popularity and will continue to grow. Traditionally a market for the over-50 crowd, you may be
Good, Better, Best: CTNA Seeks Premium Positioning with Four New HP, UHP Tires
CTNA Seeks Premium Positioning with Four New HP, UHP Tires
Gone Muddin’: Cooper’s New Off-Road Course Makes Testing More Scientific and Fun
Cooper’s New Off-Road Course Makes Testing More Scientific and Fun
Painting a Picture: Kumho Introduces New UHP Tire; Hints at Future Developments
Kumho Introduces New UHP Tire; Hints at Future Developments
Forensic Accounting: Follow the Clues to Find Hidden Profits, Track Down Profit Killers
Lean back in your chair, take a deep breath, and think “accountant.” What comes to mind? Do you see a humorless, taciturn man with a wiry build peering over spectacles at ledger books? You’re not alone. That’s the image most of us still conjure up when we think of that person we hire when we
Hanging High and Dry: Blurred ‘Facts’ Leave Dealers to Answer Consumer Fuel Economy, Aging Questions
Ford. DaimlerChrysler. NADA. Sean Kane. California. Massachusetts. Sen. Chuck Schumer. Four think old tires are a plague. Three are convinced OE tires are highly fuel-efficient. Nice to be loved, isn’t it? TPMS regulations aside, this industry – tiremakers and dealers – faces two major issues: tire aging and tire fuel efficiency. Last year, California enacted
Winter Harvest: Dealers Can Plant the Winter Tire Seed All Year Round
It wasn’t too long ago that some in this industry were ready to declare the winter tire dead. Popular in Europe and Canada, sales in the U.S. had been, at best, flat for the previous couple of winters. A few suggested that advances in standard passenger and performance offerings were enough to cope with slush,
Lead the Charge: Hybrid Vehicles Need Hybrid Care So Be the Local Expert
No sense in ignoring hybrid vehicles any longer. They’re here to stay. They are not a trend. Every year since 2000, the sale of hybrid vehicles in the U.S. has doubled. According to ABI Research, by 2006, sales of hybrid vehicles will account for 10% of the two million mid-size vehicles sold annually in the
Clean Living: A Safe, Tidy Tire Operation Will Scrub Your Image Inside and Out
In recent years, I’ve visited a number of trucking companies and had the opportunity to study their tire operations in some detail. Several I’ve seen lately made quite an impression, in that they were very atypical compared to what I have been used to seeing over the years. Specifically, they were organized, uncluttered and very
Profit in Steel Wheels?: Advances in Steel-Alloy Wheels Can Mean Profitable Upgrades
You read that right. There’s profit in steel wheels if you offer a wheel that looks like chrome but is priced like steel. Over the last several years, you’ve probably noticed a few OE wheels that were basically steel but had a chrome-plated ‘skin’ applied over the base. Most were simple in design and