Continental looks to future at Gold Dealer meeting

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — In a land that celebrates its past and present, Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C. laid out its future before a record 356 tire dealers and distributors during the firm's annual Gold Dealer program trip.

The excursion, awarded to Continental and General Tire dealers who reach sales goals during the previous year, is running April 9-12 at the luxurious Paridisus Playa Del Carmen resort, located about 45 minutes south of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula. A handful of dealers earned two extra days at the all-inclusive resort, extending their trip through the weekend.

Executives from Continental A.G's North American subsidiary — including Bill Caldwell, vice president of sales and marketing; Travis Roffler, director of marketing; Chris Charity, vice president of sales; Joe Maher, product manager; and Debbie Richards, director of the Gold program — addressed a group of more than 400 dealers and spouses during the business meeting on April 10.

"We think it's important to have a strong relationship with our customers," he said.

Conti's two newest tires improve already successful products, officials said.

Conti shared several new initiatives with the group, including:

• The launch in June of the TrueContract Tour and PureContact LS, both of which will replace existing passenger tire lines;

• The recent launch of three General Tire products, the Grabber APT; Grabber A/Tx; and General's first-ever ultra-high-performance entry, the G-Max RS.

• The ongoing push of Conti's sports marketing campaigns, which includes continued sponsorships in soccer (U.S. Soccer and Major League Soccer); college basketball (Conti sponsors 31 NCAA college basketball programs, including three — Michigan, Kansas and national champion Villanova — that reached the Final Four; motorsports, particularly the ARCA oval-racing series; and professional fishing.

• Several improvements on incentives offered to dealers, as well as marketing tools designed to sell the Conti and General portfolio. In fact, Mr. Roffler said General Tire will redesign its website within the next few months.

"Tire business for us is people business and a relationship business, and that is very important for our team," Mr. Caldwell told dealers, "and hopefully we show that as we go through the course of the week."

Mr. Caldwell highlighted four key principals that he said Conti needs to deliver in order to be successful:

• focus on strong product performance and portfolio;

• partnership with people;

• value proposition that provides dealers value over other tire manufacturers; and

• people.

"We think it's important to have a strong relationship with our customers," he said.

Conti's two newest tires improve already successful products, officials said.

The TrueContact Tour has the same tread pattern as its predecessor, but Mr. Roffler said, but the difference is in its proprietary compound, providing a 27-percent improvement in treadwear, allowing Conti to offer a 70,000-mile limited treadwear warranty.

The all-season tire also reduces noise levels, Mr. Roffler said, and has stronger sidewall protections that guard against potholes and other road debris. The line will be available in more than 40 sizes, ranging from 15 to 19 inches in rim diameters.

Meanwhile the all-season PureContact LS offers a new tread pattern using a different compound, delivering improved performance in wet, dry and snowy conditions.

The PureContact LS also offers a 70,000-mile treadwear warranty and will be available in around 30 sizes, covering 15- to 20-inch rim diameters.

"I couldn't be more proud of what my product planning team has done in developing these products along with our engineering crew and the people in Germany who support us to bring the product to you," Mr. Roffler said.

"It all starts and ends with the product. We can do all these song and dances, but if product doesn't perform for you and your customers, we failed in the end. So It really comes down to the product."

Messrs Roffler and Caldwell said Conti will continue to look for ways to expand their promotional activities, particularly in road racing, where Conti's sponsorship of the International Motor Sports Association's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and Prototype Challenge series ends after the 2018 season.

"We've really tried to embellish and bring the brands closer within these activations," Mr. Roffer said. "We are trying to engage consumers in a meaningful way at these events, engaging them on understanding who the Continental brand is, so when they walk into your stores, they will know who Continental is and what a Continental product is all about."