According to Modern Tire Dealer’s new “Retail Tire Customer Survey,” 52.5% of the retail customers who come into a dealership to buy tires do not specify brand.
Another 25.7% specify a tire brand, but are convinced by the tire dealer to make a different choice. So, close to 78% of your tire-buying customers buy the brand you suggest to them, based on their driving needs, financial means and, in some cases, preferences.
The remaining 21.8% of them specify a brand and buy that brand. However, there’s more to a tire than just a brand name. How often do you suggest the line, or even the size? And does the extent of your influence change depending on whether or not the replacement is the first or second for a vehicle?
Our “Retail Tire Customer Survey” addressed the original equipment loyalty issue brand by brand for both the first and second replacement sets.
As the chart shows, vehicle owners replace Michelin OE tires with the same brand 32.3% of time for the first replacement. Goodyear is second, followed by Bridgestone, Firestone, BFGoodrich, Yokohama, Continental and Toyo. Rounding out the top 10 are Hankook and Dunlop.
When customers replace their tires for the second time, all the OE brand loyalty percentages are lower -- except for Hankook and General.
To read more about the results, and the influence of independent tire dealers on the tire-buying experience, read Editor Bob Ulrich's editorial in the April issue of MTD. You can do that in two ways:
1. Either pick up the April issue (see page four),
2. or click here, which will take you to the editorial on our Web site.
And if you want copies of the survey, just e-mail Ulrich at [email protected], or Publisher Greg Smith at [email protected].
