How do you view the changes happening in tyre retailing, and its future course into a digital world?

I was born and raised in the tyre industry. My dad had a wholesale company along with 13 retail locations so I had the opportunity to work on the wholesale and retail side. Retailers have always faced challenges, whether it be size proliferation where you look back 25 to 30 years ago where 80% of the market was dominated by 10 sizes while today 80% market is dominated by 250 plus sizes. That poses challenges that retailers have to manage because it’s not in their domain, it’s all about tyres and sizes and it’s their specialty. 

The biggest challenge that I see retailers being faced with now is the new digital age. It’s out of their comfort zone! They have to rely on marketing themselves through social media platforms and Geofencing. So now retailers have to sit down and think of how they can be different and how can they attract an audience and bring people through the door, rather than how it was before. This is an aspect of the business that is out of their comfort zone. Many do not understand it and have to rely on third party software’s or consultants. The market structure in the US is still predominately driven by independent tyre retailers, where over 65% of the industry is run by ‘Mom and Pop’ shops. Everybody wants to think about the large chains but the bulk of the business is by these independent operators, and they’re competing against these Giants that are trying to gain that customer base. 

What strategies does TGI adopt in the current changing business environment?  

Size proliferation is a big driver and one of the things that benefits companies such as us Tire Group International, is that we are a large wholesaler with large inventories & large warehouses. The reason for that is we have to stock a lot of tyres because retailers no longer have the luxury to stock tyres. They may have financial constraints, space constraints, etc , to be able to stock all the different sizes in order to service whatever car is coming through one of their doors. So, they have to rely on wholesalers like us to offer them a good solid product range. It all depends on the type of consumer coming in. Once that is satisfied then you have to meet the requirement of getting there on a timely manner to get them those tyres.

One of the things that we have been able to do is to increase the service side of our business. It's really been changing our business. It’s not about just providing tyre support. You have to have great customer service having a great relationship with your customers and being able to deliver to them more than three times a day in-order to offer what they call ‘Hot Shot’ delivery, where you get your tyres within 30 to 60 minutes to the retail location. They are heavily relying on that supply chain to be able to satisfy their retail customers.  So as a part of our strategy to bring that all together and meet the needs of today’s market, we have opened up additional smaller distribution centers so we can service regional locations as opposed to having to drive from our main hub to one of our farthest customers almost three hours away. Opening up a location closer to customers has now given us the opportunity to deliver a customer a 30 to 45-minute delivery window rather than having to wait almost a day for delivery. In Latin America which we have invested in, single shop operators and multi branded stores are very prevalent and they rely on fast service and getting tyres to customers in a timely manner and that is something that we will continue to push on.

How much has the pandemic and its impact forced you into bringing in new changes?

The pandemic has taught us many things. Most importantly is has taught us how to lean on our digital platforms and software systems that we’ve been developing over the years. Being forced to use them more and other digital platforms has taught us a lot. Video calling has been a great tool to showcase our product line to dealers from all across. It has definitely opened our eyes to the use of technology and how important it is to have the right technology in the workplace. We felt the first impact of the pandemic when I got a call from our VP of Sales asking if one of our dealers could get a 30-60 stay on his trade receivables as he was being forced to shut down due to having to adhere to CDC guidelines. That was the start. A lot of our customers were asking for more time to sort out and figure out what was really going to happen. The pandemic was affecting all of us and this solidarity came out from everyone. People were very accommodating and understood the situation.

Surprisingly consumer demand never dropped off. For most, if you had a job, you continued to have your revenue stream coming in, but you didn’t go out to eat 2-3 times a week, you weren’t spending money on gas, on a vacation, or going out. You had to stay at home, and this led to consumers having more spending power and wanting to travel locally. Rather than air travel, people started opting for more road trips and so tyre purchases which may have been a faraway thought, now became a front and center and customers had the discretionary income for it.

Manufacturing plants were shutting down but consumer demand never dropped. These plants tried to come back but with workers going back to their hometowns and not being able to travel back, there was suddenly this supply gap in the industry that started to drive the price up but demand kept increasing. Everyone thought that consumers were not going to buy tyres or spend much on them but it was the complete opposite. Even today demand is extremely strong and supply has not caught up with it. Over the last couple of years, we have seen retailers go thought a price decline, but with the market demand increasing they are going through a price incline which is good.

What is your take on online retailing? What are its advantages as well as disadvantages?

We divide our business into many units and the online retail sector is one that has taken off in the last 3-4 years. It is the wave of the future as more and more things become automated and we adopt a ‘buying everything online’ type of world. The challenge with tyres is, you cannot just click and get them to your house, but you have to get them installed. That creates the challenge which people are trying to meet, whereby coupling the service of buying online with mobile service via appointments to get the tyres fitted. These are the challenges faced in the online sector but it is by far the largest growing sector. The online space is the first place where customers go to find out when they should buy a new tyre, what size they need and see what their options are. The challenge is, how do you put your product in front of a consumer or how can you get that consumer into your virtual door. We service a lot of B2B platforms where customers can place their orders and we ship those orders directly to the consumer. We started doing this in 2017 and this has grown by over 400% year over year.

What are the challenges in retailing multi-brand products?

Back in the days there were only single branded tyre retailers because at that time there were only limited tyre sizes. But now with so many tyres sizes available in a particular spectrum, even if you wanted to be a single brand retailer, you wouldn’t have all the tyre sizes that you would need to be able to service every consumer’s needs. This forces you to become a multi brand outlet. It has its own challenges. No particular tyre can be branded as the best as it’s a subjective decision and so as a retailer it depends on how you are going to market it. We as a retailer need to understand what are our objectives. How we tier our products in our portfolio matter.

Which segment of tyres is more in demand than others?

In the US market, with the new import restrictions and import duties on tyres from certain countries, the biggest challenge has come in the passenger and light truck segment. Tyres which were imported and that were once available at a certain price point are now more expensive because of the cost of the duties to import them. It is estimated that with the new duties imposed on tyres imported from Taiwan alone, there is about two and a half percent of the market share of the US that is now priced out of the market. So now there is a tremendous supply gap in the passenger and light truck segment because of this new import law and the duties that have been imposed. This also works as an opportunity for those who have inventory to increase the price a bit. Passenger and light truck segment is where the demand is more but trying to secure product for that segment is now a challenge.

Do customers demand any specific features for the tyres they seek?

For the vast majority of our consumers, the main question in their mind is pricing. The second question is how good is your cheapest tyre. It’s always a mental game of price for quality. Most consumers don’t know a lot about tyres, and most of the time, the lower priced tyres are from brands that they’ve never heard off. Consumers put a lot of trust in the retailer as far as quality vs price go. From a retail side, bridging the gap from price to quality as in safety,is crucial. On the wholesale side, it’s very different. We wholesale and buy tyres on the open market and that’s where competition comes in. Profit margins and pricing plays a big part, bridging the gap between the cost, quality, exclusivity make a difference.

For the most part, general consumers don’t ask for specifics about a particular tyre, like the kind of grip or longevity it offers. But you get specific consumers who are performance oriented. An educated consumers will ask more questions about the benefits each tyre brings. Top US publications in the US ran a survey last year and about less than 20% of the consumers we get come in well informed and are looking for specific features. As per a survey done here in the USA, 80% of the time, a consumer walking in to a retail tyre shop, will buy a tyre that the counter person recommends. Customers also look at what tyre they have already on their car, and feel that those tyres served them well, but according to the survey, customers only left buying the same brand of tyres 30% of the time. 70% of the time, customers bought the tyre that the counter person recommended. So there’s a lot of power in what the counter person recommends.

What is your take on tyre manufacturers doing their own retailing? Does that affect your business?

The first here in the US to get into that was Michelin. They developed their own online platform and then Goodyear and a lot of the Tier1 manufacturers followed. But some have taken a step back. The channel disruption it was creating was more a drag on their business than a benefit. They did create a MAP pricing (Manufacturers Authorised Price). This way they wanted to make sure that their tyres were being sold at the same price across platforms and dealerships. But by setting a ceiling price on a tyre, you’re also setting a ceiling on how much a shop or tyre channel can make. Whereas if I’m selling an in-expensive brand of tyre, I can buy at my cost point and the retailer can sell it at their cost point where both make a profit margin.

There are a lot of dynamics at play. The younger the consumer becomes, when they start buying tyres, the more they’re going to look for online purchasing. The challenge is a retailer’s consumer is becoming younger and becoming more fleet driven with the likes of Uber, Lyft, etc. These fleet buisnesses are becoming more of our consumer base than an individual car owner. The old ways of going to a tyre shop and talking to the guy, having a cup of coffee and talking about tyres is over, the younger generation of buyers want to buy everything online. This is where online providers are trying to bridge the gap between product and service, as you need specialized service as far as tyres go. Automated tyre installation bays is being worked on and I think that will be the future. (TT)

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Pirelli is set to play a central role as the FIM Superbike World Championship concludes the first half of its season this weekend at Donington Park for the UK Round. Marking the final event before the summer break, the Italian tyre manufacturer has equipped competitors with the softest rear compounds from its 2026 standard range. This selection represents a clear advancement in development from the previous year, when riders were limited exclusively to older specification tyres.

For the premier WorldSBK class, the rear tyre allocation is headlined by the SCQ extrasoft compound, intended primarily for qualifying and the Superpole Race. This option, the softest in Pirelli’s portfolio, has already garnered positive feedback from riders during the Emilia-Romagna Round for its exceptional single-lap pace and consistent performance over a sprint distance. Complementing the SCQ are the SCX supersoft and SC0 soft compounds, while front tyre duties are covered by the standard SC1 soft and SC2 medium solutions, with the softer front being the overwhelming preference of last year’s grid, including triple race winner Toprak Razgatlıoğlu.

The notoriously unpredictable British weather remains a critical variable, with cool morning temperatures and frequent rain showers posing significant challenges for teams. Pirelli’s range has historically demonstrated considerable adaptability across fluctuating track and air temperatures, maintaining reliable grip in both cooler and warmer conditions. To address potential precipitation, the allocation is supplemented by DIABLO Wet intermediate and full DIABLO Rain tyres for both front and rear positions, ensuring competitors have viable options regardless of the elements.

In the supporting categories, WorldSSP riders will retain the SCX and SC0 rear compounds alongside the SC1 and SC2 front options. Meanwhile, the WorldWCR field and the emerging talents of the Yamaha R3 World Cup will also be in action, with both series utilising the Pirelli DIABLO Superbike SC1 tyre on both axles throughout the weekend’s racing programme.

Giorgio Barbier, Pirelli Motorcycle Racing Director, said, “Donington Park is a very distinctive circuit and, in many respects, a unique venue on the FIM Superbike World Championship calendar. The opening part of the lap features a series of fast, flowing corners taken at high speed and rapid changes of direction that require riders to manage significant power while the bike is still heavily leaned over. This demands tyres capable of delivering outstanding grip, precision and stability while maintaining consistent performance over race distance.

"Compared with last year, when only standard range solutions were available and no development specifications were included, this season, while confirming the same compounds introduced in 2025, we will provide riders with the complete 2026 standard range. The SCQ extrasoft compound will be the softest option in the allocation and can be used not only in free practice and qualifying but also, potentially, in the Superpole Race. For the longer races, riders will be able to rely on the SCX supersoft and, should temperatures be lower, the SC0 soft compound – solutions that have already demonstrated throughout the season an excellent balance between outright performance and consistency, as reflected by the many new records that have been set.

"Finally, the weather, which has historically been unpredictable in the UK, will once again be a key factor. Rain and low temperatures, even in the middle of summer, can have a major influence on tyre management and race strategies. Having a complete and versatile range available will therefore be essential to provide the best possible support in any weather conditions.”

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Sri Trang Group has unveiled a comprehensive organisational strategy centred on its ‘Empowering AI’ mission, designed to integrate artificial intelligence across its operations to boost efficiency and foster long-term sustainability. The initiative was formally announced during the company’s flagship annual gathering, the Sri Trang Town Hall 2026, held at the Four Points by Sheraton Phuket Patong Beach Resort. The event drew over 1,700 participants, including executives such as the Chairman, Group CEO and other board members, alongside employees from domestic and international branches who attended both in person and virtually.

Central to the new vision is the Group’s commitment to leveraging AI and data analytics throughout its entire value chain, supported by a robust Enterprise Data Foundation and an AI Governance framework. These systems are intended to ensure meticulous data management and foster stakeholder confidence. The application of AI is being tailored to optimise specific operational phases, from upstream procurement and production to downstream sales and logistics, aiming for precision in market forecasting, quality control and customer responsiveness.

Parallel to its technological push, Sri Trang is prioritising the development of AI Agents and practical AI Use Cases to accelerate tangible business outcomes. This effort is complemented by a cultural shift towards an ‘AI x Human’ paradigm, preparing the workforce to collaborate effectively with intelligent systems. Concurrently, the Group is reinforcing its dedication to environmental, social and governance principles, focusing on resource efficiency and the management of energy, water, waste and emissions as part of its trajectory towards a Net Zero target.

To support its ESG goals, Sri Trang is enhancing data systems to align with international standards like ISO 14064-1, ensuring accuracy and auditability for better risk management and decision-making. The company is also expanding collaboration with suppliers through its ESG Partner approach to elevate industry standards. This strategic direction underscores Sri Trang Group’s ambition to solidify its status as an innovation-led entity, combining human potential with AI to drive the Thai natural rubber sector towards resilient and sustainable growth on the world stage.

Dr Viyavood Sincharoenkul, Chairman of Sri Trang Group, delivered a keynote address on the vision, stating, “AI will not merely be a tool; it will become part of Sri Trang’s way of working and decision-making. We are building the Sri Trang AI Factory to connect data, technology and people together. AI is not simply a new technology but a major transformation in the way we work and compete in business. As the world accelerates AI adoption, organisations and people that are able to learn, adapt and work effectively with AI will be the ones that gain a competitive advantage and achieve sustainable growth in the future. Our goal is not to have the best AI but to build an organisation where everyone can use AI effectively, supported by trusted data, proper governance and a culture of continuous learning. The success of AI is not measured by the number of systems developed but by the number of people who can work effectively with AI and create value for the organisation.”

Veerasith Sinchareonkul, Group CEO, Sri Trang Group said, “The ‘AI Revolution Without Boundaries’ does not mean bringing in technology to replace our people. Rather, it means using AI to enhance people’s capabilities so that they can work smarter, faster and more efficiently. In essence, the meaning of ‘Empowering AI’ is ‘Empowering People with AI’ empowering our people to grow and move forward through the potential of AI. We believe in the power of collaboration between humans and AI. When AI works alongside people at every level, it helps improve decision-making accuracy, enhance the efficiency of frontline employees, strengthen executive leadership and foster a culture of continuous learning, teamwork and innovation. The future of the organisation is therefore not one in which AI replaces humans, but one in which humans grow together with AI without limits.”

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Michelin has expanded its retail footprint in North India by inaugurating two Michelin Tyres & Services (MTS) outlets, located in Amritsar and Panchkula. The Amritsar location operates through a partnership with National Auto, while the Panchkula facility is a collaboration with Universal Tyres. This development underscores the French tyre giant’s strategy to place its globally recognised products and services within closer reach of consumers in a rapidly developing automotive market.

Each of the new establishments spans 5,000 square feet, situated strategically on Loharka Road and within Panchkula’s Industrial Area. Designed as modern service hubs, they provide a full spectrum of offerings, ranging from passenger car and two-wheeler tyres to advanced wheel alignment and mechanical maintenance. The stores stock renowned product lines such as the Primacy, Pilot Sport and Latitude Sport series, aiming to deliver a premium and seamless experience for vehicle owners.

The selection of Amritsar and Panchkula reflects Michelin’s assessment of their growth potential, driven by tourism, infrastructure projects and a rising number of private vehicle owners. To capitalise on these opportunities, Michelin has aligned with established regional players. National Auto, a trusted entity in Amritsar since 1927, brings a long-standing reputation for quality service, while Universal Tyres contributes over three decades of technical expertise and market knowledge in the Panchkula region.

These partnerships are central to Michelin’s broader objective of delivering superior mobility solutions rooted in safety and durability. By combining its own technological leadership with the local acumen of its partners, the company aims to strengthen its service ecosystem and cater to the evolving demands of the northern Indian automotive sector.

Shantanu Deshpande, Managing Director, Michelin India, said, “North India continues to be a key market in Michelin's growth journey, supported by rising vehicle ownership, improving road infrastructure and growing demand for premium mobility solutions. The launch of our new Michelin Tyres & Services Stores in Amritsar and Panchkula marks another important step in strengthening our retail presence and bringing Michelin's globally benchmarked products and services closer to customers across the region. As we prepare to introduce Made-in-India passenger car tyres, we remain focused on delivering solutions tailored to the evolving needs of Indian consumers.”

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Tyres Europe has issued a formal call for the Industrial Accelerator Act to be revised, urging policymakers to grant greater recognition to the tyre sector’s strategic importance within the continent’s automotive ecosystem. In a newly published position paper, the organisation argues that the current framework insufficiently addresses the industry’s unique contributions and challenges.

The association is advocating for several key amendments, including an expanded scope that acknowledges tyres as critical components in both the replacement and original equipment markets, thereby stimulating demand for EU-manufactured products. Additionally, Tyres Europe proposes the establishment of a Union origin definition that would prioritise European production in public procurement and state-aid schemes. The paper also highlights tyres’ potential to enhance energy efficiency and lower CO2 emissions for light vehicles, while calling for dedicated backing for retreaded and EU-made truck and bus tyres, alongside increased financial mechanisms for industrial decarbonisation and improved governance of manufacturing acceleration zones.

With these targeted modifications, Tyres Europe contends that the Industrial Accelerator Act could effectively foster a market for low-carbon, high-performance tyres produced domestically. Such adjustments would simultaneously bolster competitiveness, support decarbonisation goals and reinforce the overall resilience of Europe’s automotive supply chain.

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