Code named "The One," Hankook Tire America Corp.'s associate dealer program is set to launch April 1, with sign-ups taking place in February and March. Run-flat tires also are coming to America.
Using a record $1 billion sales year in the U.S. for 2011 as a backdrop, Hankook Tire told its dealers at its annual Partner's Day meeting in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, that it is launching an associate dealer program.
The program is due to launch April 1, 2012, with sign-ups taking place in February and March. Dealers were told that accrued coop funds would be utilized to help provide marketing support at the retail dealer level. There will be three different levels of support, based on sales volume and product pattern sales for associate dealers.
Associate dealer incentives for the program will include travel awards and promotional incentives. Distributors will benefit due to increased brand awareness at the retail store level, increasing premium product sales and being able to utilize motivational tools for the dealers to sell more Hankook tires, Hankook dealers were told.
The program will have its own website that will allow distributors to monitor their associate dealers' progress toward goals. The site wil also feature an on-line training component and product information. Dealers can receive POS materials as well as use the site's built-in ad builder.[PAGEBREAK]Hankook will begin bringing its run-flat tires to North America. The decision was made since the company has been sourced as an OE supplier to the Mini-Cooper (2010) and BMW 1-series cars (2011) being built in Europe that are now being shipped to the North American market.
The run-flat tire lines are the Ventus S1 evo in 17- and 18-inch sizes with V- and W-speed ratings; the Ventus Prime2 in two 16-inch sizes targeted specifically for the Mini-Cooper and BMW 1- and 3-series; and the Icebear W300 winter tire in 16- and 17- inch sizes. The Icebear W300 run-flat is V-speed rated.
All of the run-flat tires will fit on a standard rim.
(For more information on the Hankook Dealer Meeting, click on "Hankook president addresses supply, growth concerns.")
