Light truck tire opportunities abound for dealers

摘要

The light truck tire market continues to be a significant part of tire dealers’overall business.Whether consumers actually go off-roading or not,having that capability seems to be top of mind,dealers said.After consulting with his team,William Munroe,director of operations-West of Evans-ville,Ind.-based Raben Tire Co.,told Tire Business that light truck tires”have always been a large part of our mix,and we see light truck tire sales rising in the mix year after year.”He noted that about half of his tire sales are in the light truck tire segment,with most being all-terrain tires.”My light truck sales have been about the same this year as they were last year,”Paul Coronado,owner/manager,A.S.A.P.Firebird Tire Service in Phoenix,said.”No increase or decrease.”He added that 24% of his tire sales are light truck.He sells about 95% LT versus 5% passenger tire,but Firebird is a commercial tire company.Other dealers are seeing the light truck tire segment being at least 30% of their overall business.Gary Voss,co-owner of Ala-meda,Calif.-based Big Discount Tire Pros,said light truck tire sales make up about 30% of his business.Fellow Californian Bud Luppi-no,owner of Riverside,Calif-based Bud's Tire Pros,said he sees light truck tire sales contributing about 40%.On the other side of the country,Brent Bingham,president of Bing-”ham Tire,which has three locations around Kentucky,said his sales are a 50/50 split between passenger tires and light truck tires.