“We want to build out our channels of distribution,” says Tim Chaney, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp’s vice president of marketing.
“Toyo, for many years, had what I would call a regional strategy,” he told Modern Tire Dealer during the recent Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. “We love our regional dealers.”
But to facilitate continued growth, “and with the consolidation in the industry, we have to broaden our scope of our channels of distribution. This has been a project we’ve been working on for some years. We now have national dealers and distributors, in addition to regional dealers and distributors.”
During the 2019 SEMA Show, Toyo officials elaborated on the company’s distribution strategy in the northwestern United States, where Les Schwab Tire Centers enjoyed exclusive rights to Toyo passenger and light truck tire products up until Jan. 1, 2019.
“Our relationship with Les Schwab is very strong,” said Michael Graber, who will become Toyo’s vice president of sales in January. “We still sell a lot of tires to Les Schwab. We’ve had good success with both Les Schwab and other companies that operate (in the area), whether they are distributors that are promoting our associate dealer program or retailers like Point S and Discount Tire.”
Toyo believes that its original equipment presence will help drive replacement sales. “OE is important to us,” said Chaney. “If they’re happy with their OE fitment, a fairly significant portion of people will look to that brand for a replacement tire.”
The company, which has traditionally “been strong with Japanese OEMs,” also has established supply agreements with Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ Dodge brand “so we can have good relationships with their aftermarket organizations.”
Chaney and Graber provided additional insight into Toyo’s plans for 2020 in this article, which was published earlier this month.
