Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. has a lot to be excited about as it enters the second half of the year, says Michael Graber, the company’s president and CEO.
MTD: Can you bring us up to speed on Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.’s business so far? What have challenges and accomplishments been?
Graber: We’ve had a good start to the year. 1Q was up 2.3% or so in volume, so tire sales have been up. Also on the success side, we launched the Proxes Sport 2 and it's been a very good addition to our line-up. We also launched the Open Country R/T Pro in April – another exciting new product in the Open Country line. New products are always exciting and they also help with future success.
The challenges, like anybody else in our industry, are what’s going to happen with the tariffs and how that (will) impact business. We're monitoring that. But overall, we’re off to a good start this year.
MTD: Last year around this time, you told us that you though the U.S. tire market had settled into a “new normal.” Do you still feel that way?
Graber: I think it has largely returned to pre-COVID-19 norms as far as organic market growth. The business cycle of buying and selling tires has returned to basically what we experienced before COVID-19. Now we’re faced with sort of a new challenge in the market with the tariffs and the unknowns associated with that.
MTD: What’s your take on the state of consumer and TBR tire demand in the U.S.? What are you hearing from your customers?
Graber: On the consumer side, replacement sales are up this year. Our enthusiast market – our core customer base – remains strong. On the lower end of product offerings, inflation is definitely impacting purchase decisions. People are sometimes choosing less-expensive tires instead of buying what they really intended to buy. But we’re doing very well.
As you know, TBR is very cyclical. Our business is up this year, but we'll be impacted by market factors as we go forward this year. The state of the business is (that) it’s growing. It’s growing like it should. We see normal growth in both consumer and TBR, but we're keeping an eye on things as they evolve.
MTD: In November 2024, Tim Chaney, Toyo’s vice president of marketing, told MTD that Toyo, last year, had “embarked on a retail channel strategy to drive pull-through sales.” What are some of the components of this and how has the effort worked out?
Graber: Tim was referring to the growth of our associate dealer program, which is called Driven. We put a big focus in 2024 on growing our Driven customer base and we were very successful at that. It grew very significantly. We added north of 46% (new members) to our Driven base. This year, we're focusing on cultivating that new business and getting as many (tires) as possible pulled through. It’s good for the retail side and its good for the dealers who we do business with to keep the tires flowing through the system and opening points of sale throughout the country.
MTD: Are you planning to add more dealers and features to the Toyo Driven program this year?
Graber: We’re not going to grow as much as we did last year, but (we’re) still adding dealers where it makes sense and continually evolving the program. We want to support (dealers) and give them opportunities to grow their business and grow with the Toyo brand. We’ve enhanced Driven in certain ways with payouts and point-of-purchase materials and other things to support the business, which will evolve.
MTD: Toyo continues to invest in rolling out new products. How has the Proxes Sport 2 been received by dealers and consumers? Why is it important for Toyo to maintain a regular cadence of new product launches?
Graber: The Proxes Sport 2 has been very successful. It’s our max-performance summer tire. The focus on development was enhancing wet and dry performance and we achieved that. We’ve launched over 70 sizes. Regular product updates are critical to future success. The continuous improvement mentality is ingrained in our DNA here. We have a lot of pride in continually developing new products and working on the next generation as soon as we launch the previous one.
MTD: What can we expect to see from Toyo during the rest of the year?
Graber: We just launched our Open Country R/T Pro, so we're looking to continue to roll that out. We’re very excited about that tire. It gives us another option in our Open Country (line) to really fine-tune the driving experience to what the enthusiast wants. So we're really focused on making that a successful roll-out and then just navigating the ebbs and flows of 2025. We’re on plan and we’re excited about this year. We feel like we're going to have a good year. All the indicators are positive for us.
