TGI CEO Talks Products, Plans for Cosmo and More

In this MTD exclusive, Tony Gonzalez, CEO of Tire Group International LLC (TGI), discusses products, distribution, how TGI is positioning Cosmo as a lifestyle brand and more.

MTD: Can you bring us up to speed on TGI's business so far in 2025?

Gonzalez: Let’s start with the accomplishments and the things we’ve done to grow our footprint and our business with Portland finally coming online at the beginning of the year. (Editor’s note: TGI acquired Avaun Tire Supply, a distributor based in Portland, Ore., in late-2024.) Moving them from a 25,000-square-foot warehouse to a 98,000-square-foot warehouse was a huge step in growing that market and it's been paying dividends ever since. Our revenue in that market has tripled in the last few months. The team has grown and whereas we only used to service Seattle twice a week, now we're servicing Seattle on a daily basis out of Portland. So the whole Northwest region for us is a definite region of growth. And within the Pacific Northwest, we may be looking to expand with additional warehousing to better serve the market.

In addition to that, we’ve signed a lease on our Orlando, Fla., facility. We’ve been in the construction phase and that should be coming online, as well. Though we already service the Orlando market out of Tampa, it’s very inefficient. Before the end of this year – hopefully by the end of November or December 1 - we’ll be operating 100% out of Orlando and will be able to then service other markets from that warehouse. And we will expand the service area in Tampa since we will no longer have to run out to Orlando with multiple trucks every day. Then we will be able, out of Orlando, to head further north and further south in the eastern part of Florida. So that will lead to market expansion and more coverage. (Editor's note: TGI is headquartered in Miami, Fla.)

The other things that we did this year is that we announced the launch of the GripIt XT extreme all-terrain tire and the premium touring EV-ready Kurrent product finally started hitting warehouses just as recently as two to three months ago, in bulk and quantity. We had a few sizes that had been released earlier in the year, but now the full line-up - with all the sizing we had promised in those lines-  is in stock. And just now getting to market is our new Jefe HTL+, which is a second-generation tire built for heavy-duty light truck applications in 10- and 12-ply ratings. Then we added a power line called RoadHunter for CUVs and SUVs, which is hitting the market now and has a total of 53 SKUs. It's a strong power line. We also expanded the Stray Kat, which is our S/T trailer tire, by about seven or eight additional sizes. And then, in addition to that, in our secondary brand, the Astro brand - which is our industrial, agricultural and OTR line-up - we’ve expanded into the radial OTR segment and we're currently offering seven sizes. The first tires are hitting the U.S. as we speak, so that’s exciting for us, as well.

One of the other things is the addition of new product lines within our portfolio to complement our current line-up. Since we have these growing footprints, this year we took on the Yokohama product line, as well as the Falken product line, which have been great additions to our portfolio.

MTD: What's your take on the state of the U.S. consumer tire market? What are you seeing?

Gonzalez: There was a little gap in ordering when the tariffs were first implemented. We didn't stop ordering for our distribution centers, but some of our distributors around the country did and slowed things down and I think we’ve seen a pick-up of that again, where they understand those tariffs are not going to come and go. They're here to stay. So I think normalcy has taken over and the water is finding its level in the market.

Distributing our own products, we never paused. We kept going. We’ve been through this before so many times with all these different tariffs and duties, going back to the Obama-era tariffs. We learned our lesson early. You just have to plow through them and at the end of the day, everything will work out. Even during COVID-19, we never stopped. We kept ordering. Our industry is like food. You gotta have it. You gotta have tires. Even though there are economic slowdowns, it’s not a perishable product. If you have the capital, the warehousing space and the wherewithal, you're going to be OK.

MTD: This past May, TGI unveiled its first-ever associate dealer program, Cosmo Kat Kash, a unique move for a company of your size. What was the impetus behind the program? You mentioned that it's designed for "simplicity and maximum profitability."

Gonzalez: Kat Kash has been phenomenal. I think we have over 500 dealers currently signed up on the program. It's super simple – 125 units a quarter qualifies you for your bonuses. We have a debit card the dealer can have his bonus credited to or just take it against his outstanding payables. It's been a way for us to directly incentivize our retailers, giving them more reasons to be loyal to Cosmo. There aren’t too many players at our tier level, in relation to the Cosmo brand, that have the ability to do this. We’re totally automated on it and are very proud of how we came to market with a system that works.

MTD: We talked about the expansion of your distribution center in Portland and a new center in Florida coming up. We also know in recent years that TGI has established distribution with other independent wholesalers. Will TGI continue to pursue a mix of its own controlled distribution and distribution through other wholesalers and why is this a successful strategy for TGI?

Gonzalez: We have a history as a distributor at the local level. That was our genesis, along with export, going back 33 years. Since then, our business has shifted. The majority of our business today is in the U.S. versus export markets. That's not to say our export markets are not important to us. Cosmo is also growing  tremendously in most of the Latin American region and the Caribbean region as we speak, but the U.S. is our focus right now.

Where we have typically distributed, we’ve wanted to keep controlling our distribution. It just makes sense. But in other parts of the country, we’ve looked for partnerships with distributors who are like-minded and are family-oriented and want to grow with a brand that truly gives them an exclusive area. We, as a distributor, know the pain of growing a market and then having someone else come in and reap the rewards, so we’ve been very careful to pick the right partners and that will be a strategy that we will continue to employ going forward. What we need are good partners, good representation and good communication with these distributors to make sure we're not just selling our products, but more importantly, we’re marketing our products.

Cosmo is not about selling tires. I say this to our distributors and customers: we’re about marketing tires and creating a true lifestyle brand and making sure the consumer understands that. We're coming to market with technologically superior products that are designed to not only look good, but function well. We’re putting all those extra bells and whistles and all that extra effort into our products because we want to stand out and we want to be best-in-class. And I think we’re accomplishing that, especially in the last couple of years, with the introduction of all our new lines.

MTD: You mentioned marketing. TGI continues to invest in a variety of marketing initiatives to promote the Cosmo brand, including your own car show concepts, Kool Kat Ambush and Ambush Nites, and other sponsorships. How are these efforts driving more business to Cosmo customers?

Gonzalez:  Naturally, Florida is a major area where we focus and also the Pacific Northwest, where we have our own distribution. But then around the country and in markets where we have partners, we are also putting dollars into marketing, not only at the digital level, but also grassroots efforts through partnerships with national promoters such as Clean Culture, which hosts 35 car shows/drift events around the country. Cosmo is the official tire of Clean Culture and its events. This provides us with a forum for activations. We’re directly engaging with the consumers who buy our products.

This year, we also became the official tire of Burnout Nationals, which has 23 events around the country, as well. We’ve also been rolling out our Kool Kat Ambush Concept. Not only did we do a Kool Kat Ambush at our own locations, but we also did an event in Virginia and we’re doing events later this year in Pennsylvania and in Puerto Rico. And we’re doing Kool Kat pop-ups at our retailers, where we engage with the consumer and provide DJs, food and Cosmo gear to drive more business to our retail partners. 

MTD: In 2023, the first Cosmo-branded retail store opened. How is the Cosmo store initiative coming along? Are more stores in the works?

Gonzalez: It’s a retail partnership. We’re not opening our own stores. We're partnering with owner-operators and we're giving them a marketing platform. If you’re my retail partner and have Cosmo branding in your store, we’re going to focus a lot of money on pulling customers to you.

We have two stores in Portland (that are) in the process of being converted to Cosmo stores. We have one in West Palm Beach, Fla., that should be done soon. All we’re waiting for is the final permit. Then we have three more in Miami. We’ll have a total of seven branded stores in our core marketing areas and then overseas, we have two in Venezuela, one in the Dominican Republic and one in Honduras. In Puerto Rico, we have one that’s coming online next month, then a store coming online in Costa Rica and a store coming online in Peru.

MTD There's been a lot of consolidation in the retail tire dealer channel and even more recently, at the wholesale distribution level. Does this concern you? Does it create more opportunities for TGI?

Gonzalez: At the level where we play and where the target retailer is, I think it has had very little effect on us. Obviously, there’s a lot of roll-up going on in the retail space and a lot of two- and three-store operations being absorbed, but then again, that market is huge. We  ourselves are in talks with some of these consolidators and operators to maybe do something with them with Cosmo in certain areas, where they would take on our brand. So it's all positive for us. 

At the wholesale level, we see business as usual. Wholesale consolidation hasn't been as active as the retail end in recent years. We keep our head down and mind our own business. I tell our people, ‘If we do right by our customers, we will always be good.’

MTD: What can we expect to see from TGI and Cosmo during the rest of 2025 and into next year?

Gonzalez: We’re continuing to work on product development. At the SEMA Show, we’ll have a new Mud Kicker X, which is the next evolution of our Mud Kicker. It’s being built on a tried-and-tested mud tire platform, with a low noise output for a mud tire. We’re going to continue doing that and we're going to continue growing the GripIt XT product offering. From its initial phase, we should have another 12 to 16 sizes by the end of the first quarter of next year. That tire has been an absolute hit. We're very, very excited about what we're bringing in terms of products in the next few months. And in warehousing, we’re looking to grow our footprint. There's more to do in the Pacific Northwest and there’s more to do in Florida. At the end of the day, our goal is to see Kool Kats everywhere and people waving the Cosmo flag - understanding, as I said earlier, that we're more than a tire. We're a lifestyle.