Tire Dealers Association of Canada Convention - Autosphere

Private Brands
What Are they?
Even if many tire outlets sell private brand tires, the segment is more or less known by many people in the
industry, and not well understood by customers. So, what are private brands?
In the past, many were leery of private
brands—not knowing what they were
and where they came from. Indeed, over
the years, private brands have begun
mimicking most of the branded products
and, by doing so, gained a very good
reputation. To know more about the market,
we spoke to a specialist: Rob Keller,
president of Hercules Tires Canada, one
of the country’s biggest private brand tire
manufacturers.
According to Keller, private brands account
for about 25% of the tire industry
in Canada. And, with today’s economy,
he sees a growing opportunity for private
brands. In his opinion, since the market
is shifting, people will be looking at the
better deal private brand tires will offer.
What’s more, as we learned in the past
few years, major tire manufacturers are
slowly walking away from private brands,
though a few majors still have customers
in the segment.
Who are the private brand customers?
Keller says that most people who buy
private brand tires are typical consumers
who will use them as second or third fitment
for an older car. Other customers
will choose them because they want to
save money. For others still, it’s a cure
to the “sticker shock” that usually comes
with a new replacement tire. Hercules is
trying to keep up to date with sizes. For
example, if a new vehicle comes out with
tires of unusual sizes, it will try to produce
a replacement tire in those sizes within 18
36 Tire News tn October 2008
to 24 months from the time the vehicle
hits the market.
In real life, about 50% of the people who
are in the market for a replacement tire
know exactly what kind and what brand of
tire they want. Keller calls them “pre-sold”
products: customers will show up and ask
for a major brand tire exactly or almost
exactly the same as the original equipment
on their vehicle. Therefore, brands
like Hercules are designed for dealers,
businesses that sell products to people
who have a budget to respect and don’t
want to pay as much as an OE tire, but still
want quality. Private brands are also more
affordable because there is less money
spent on advertisement.
Are private brand tires as good as OEs?
How good are private brand tires? Can
they stand up against OEs? Hercules
Tires sources its tires globally, but most of
them come from American manufacturers,
suppliers such as Cooper Tires, a manufacturer
that is still committed to private
brands. Consequently, private brand tires
Éric Descarries
104420.662@compuserve.com
nowadays are of very good quality. Keller
explained that Hercules tires run on the
same carcass as the supplier’s carcasses
and that the compound is no different.
The only major things that differ are the
moulds and the tread, and sidewall designs.
In other words, private brand tires
are produced on the same production line
as other tires, using the same components
and the same materials. Also, they must
meet the same stringent governmentmandated
quality standards as branded
tires. So private brand tires are just as
well made and as carefully inspected as
branded tires.
In case your customers are asking about
Chinese-made tires, Keller recommends
that you let them know that they are gaining
in quality and that some major brands
are already into China. Actually, Chinese
manufacturers use the same global materials
used by any other tire manufacturer
in the world. “And their average equipment
is at least twice as new as the ones
we have in America or Europe. So they are
using the latest technology in tire making,”
says Keller.
Keller has a final recommendation for
dealers—never to install only two winter
tires on a vehicle, even if it’s rear-wheel
driven. “When installing winter tires, go
for four tires, that’s all!” tn
Hercules Tires is among the best-known independent
brand tire manufacturers in Canada.