March 14, 2018—Dealers are seeing more drivers in need of winter tires, according to a Tire Business story.
“There is a very big difference between the performance of a winter tire in cold weather conditions than even an all-season tire in cold weather,” said Mike Spitale, store manager at Parrish-McIntyre Tire Co. in Akron, Ohio.
The story reports that because winter tires are seen as a luxury item, most people generally will want to buy a brand name tire.
Gary Saks, general manager of Boston-based Dorchester Tire Service Tire Pros, says that Tier 1 and 2 vs. Tier 3 and 4 is 50-50. However, with winter tires, it is closer to 75 percent buying Tier 1 and 2 brands.
According to the story, Saks says that he’s seen an increase in the demand for winter tires and that it could be due to OE sizes going to higher speed-rated tires. During the winter months, winter tires are 10 to 15 percent of Dunn’s overall retail business.
Tire Business reports that compounding advancements have changed to focus more on temperature, which means that dealers may need to only sell two winter tires.
The story advises that dealers start thinking about winter tires before the temperature wants and that orders should be in by the end of March.
