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PANAMA SHOW
Weller also pointed out that the tyre industry in the USA could no longer exist without Chinese tyres because they now make up 40 per cent of the replacement market. “No other country could satisfy the demand if Chinese tyres were not available,” he added. Back on the subject of trends in the retreading industry, Weller argued that those retreaders who were affiliated to the main players and those who had managed to tap into major fleet programmes were still enjoying good business in a relatively stable market. The difficulties, he argued, were being faced by independent retreaders marketing cap and casing services to small fleets and owner/operators, a sector, which he said, the industry had failed to market to.
The key to the problem, explained Weller, lay in solving customer service issues, which remained a major factor in owner/operators and small fleets remaining unconvinced about retreads. Although they understood that warranties were available from
local retreaders, the problems occurred when a retreader suffered a breakdown away from his local area and was forced to replace
tyres with expensive new tyre alternatives. This, said Weller, was an understandable reaction which needed to be solved.
Weller’s solution was for independent retreaders to collaborate to create a network of certified retreaders, with a certified casing programme and the standardised use of shearography, backed up by a co-ordinated effort to target the small fleet and owner/operator sector properly. Of course, it is true that achieving something like this is easier said than done, but it is something that needs to be addressed, perhaps in conjunction with those tyre manufacturers who are not among the Big Three.
The two presentations offered by Shaw and Weller were complementary in many senses in that they confirmed the reality of the market. The Chinese tyre industry is here to stay, and the act of seeing things in black and white by simply treating it en bloc as an enemy of the retreading industry is both inaccurate and pointless. What the retreading industry does need to do is understand that times and have changed and the challenges and opportunities facing the industry are different to what they used to be. If the retreading industry can pick itself up and face these challenges with innovation, energy and a positive attitude, it has plenty going for it.
Walt Weller of the CMA believes that Chinese tyres and retreading are not incompatible. He also argued that many Chinese tyres were eminently suitable for retreading. Weller called for a co-operation of independent retreaders to help address the needs of the North American market.