Expanding its product range and boosting brand awareness are two of Atturo Tire Corp.'s priorities in 2026, Michael Mathis, the company's president, tells MTD.

MTD: Can you bring us up to speed on Atturo’s performance this year? What have been some of the company’s challenges and achievements?

Mathis: The first quarter of 2026 wrapped up on a very positive note for us. (Editor's note: this interview was conducted in May.) We exceeded our budget forecast every month. April saw the same. We’re looking at 2026 as a rebuilding year after the disruptions we had in 2025 with the tariffs. That continues to impact the market, but it's stabilized to some degree and the market, at least for us, is showing some signs of rejuvenation and improvement. We’re seeing some good momentum. We've continued onward with the growth of the brand. 2025 saw us bring into market close to 90 new SKUs, so those are now fully available now. So we're continuing with our product development ... continuing (to expand) our range to cover the broader segment of the replacement market.

2025 saw Atturo coming off probably our biggest year, as far as investment in brand awareness. We had a very robust marketing campaign in 2025 that really helped to grow that level of brand awareness among consumers through a lot of different outlets – sports marketing and television (and) continuing with other advertising placements we’ve done. So we’re continuing to build on that momentum. Our two-fold goal is building out that product portfolio and raising that brand awareness to secure our position in the market.

MTD: How would you describe the state of the of replacement PLT tire market? What are you hearing and seeing?

Mathis: We’re seeing that it's kind of stagnating. It’s not growing. It’s not necessarily declining. But we’re seeing a cautious consumer that continues to kind of trade down. I think you're seeing tier-one and tier-two brands suffering and that volume is falling into tier-three, where we’re positioned. Our heightened brand awareness is making consumers more comfortable in selecting an alternative to a major brand product or at least getting a brand that they have a little bit of familiarity with. They’re trading down to a more affordable product.

MTD: What investments have you made in manufacturing and supply chain within the last year of so? Can you tell us about them and how they are benefiting your distributors and dealers?

Mathis: From a manufacturing standpoint, we’ve continued to expand our product range. We’ve made significant investments in new mold equipment ...  and along with that, R&D spend, certification upkeep and performance testing. And then, of course, on the supply chain side, we’ve initiated a number of different technological pieces that we’ve added to be able to improve our container tracking, freight tracking and freight monitoring – not just the location of the tire, but on-time delivery performance and then being able to turn that back around into being able to improve performance from those freight carriers, in both cost and shipping time.

MTD: Last year at the SEMA Show, Atturo unveiled the Artis, a tire targets the luxury high performance segment. How has that product been received and what other niche categories is Atturo exploring?

Mathis: Overall, that product’s been well-received. It's just getting into the marketplace now. One of the pieces we really used from a technological standpoint on that product ... was the heavy-load designation on the majority of that product range. That helped us to bring these ultra-low profile, large-rim diameter sizes to market with load capacities that are better-suited for hybrid and EV-type vehicles. We’ve really been sensitive to trying to make sure we’re providing a tire that's suited for those kinds of vehicles. That’s a little bit of a unique piece that we’ve added to that product, along with a very attractive design, both in the tread and in the sidewall, and very good ride quality and very low noise. That’s a combination of things that those applications are seeking today, from a consumer standpoint, and of course, to be able to deliver that with a wheel brand that's well-recognized in that space - and still be able to do it at a value price point - has been attractive to dealers.

As far as other areas that we’re moving into, we continue to focus a lot of our product development in applications that are kind of around those different hybrid and EV type vehicles. There’s still certainly growth in that area, both for OE replacement-type sizes and aftermarket sizes, and not just in aftermarket sizes, but in alternate tread designs. You’re seeing more vehicles like Rivian and some of the electric vehicles from Ford and GM that are in the SUV or light truck category. Those are spots that we continue to develop, as well as in the all-weather category. We’ve had a number of products with 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake certification on them for years and it’s a feature of a lot of the different tires we offer. Even if it’s not necessarily targeted to a market that demands that, it's just an added performance feature that we try to build into a lot of our products.

MTD: Atturo continues to invest heavily in sports marketing. What are some of the benefits you’re seeing from this aspect of your marketing plan?

Mathis: Sports marketing, in particular, is one where we place the Atturo brand name alongside major household brand names that consumers see. When you see Atturo flash by, followed by Coca Cola and preceded by Chase (Bank), that’s kind of an elevation of the brand in positioning in the subconsciousness of the consumer. That’s kind of the halo effect, along with the huge number of eyeballs that see those. I always say for a little private brand, we try to punch above our weight. As you have consumers making that trade-down and they're trying to select a tire that’s not as expensive as their OE (tire), seeing a brand they've heard of or have been exposed to in some way and then discovering its value proposition ... that’s really been a winning combination for us.

MTD: What can we expect to see from Atturo during the second half of the year and into 2027?

Mathis: We continue to build out our product range. We have a couple of new tires that are wrapping up development and getting into production, so those will be announced during the second half of the year. We continue to expand the sizes of our current product range – addressing more of those OE replacement, as well as aftermarket sizes, which will include more new sizes coming in the Artis. And then we’re going to continue to build on the momentum we’ve had from these marketing efforts. We’re going to stay the course on that and continue to build that out, delivering more tools for our dealers to engage and drive sales directly to our associate dealers... and trying to do a more thorough job at translating those campaigns directly into traffic for our dealers.