ZC RUBBER Uses Goodride Meet to Connect with Dealers

AUTO1 TYRES, which is the sole dealer for ZC Rubber’s core brand Goodride in the UAE joined hands with Al Rahala International to organize a gathering of all Goodride dealers in the UAE at the Hilton Hotel in JBR on May 19, 2016. Representatives from over 100 dealerships across the UAE attended the gathering, representing various product categories from Goodride. The gathering began on an exciting note with AUTO1 & Goodride announcing that it marked the 15th anniversary of partnership between the two organizations. There was plenty of entertainment, product presentations and discussions, presentation of awards to key dealers in recognition of their contribution to the growth of GOODRIDE in the region.

In his opening speech, Chandramouli Jayaraman, Country Head at AUTO1 TYRES spoke at length on the longstanding collaboration between AUTO1 & Al Rahala International while representing GOODRIDE in the UAE for over 15 years. He attributed the growth of business by 23% percent year over year in fiscal 2015 of Goodride products even in highly challenging market conditions to their superior performance and reliability. He went on to state that AUTO1 will continue to focus on building stronger relationships with the dealer channel as dealers have contributed significantly to AUTO1’s overall growth and success.

Chandramouli added that the company has done really well in the past in the PCR category and was looking forward to bounce back strongly despite increased competition. Through focus, hard work, and outstanding support of its dealers who have represented the brand well and provided excellent service to retail customers AUTO1 Tyres has helped Goodride to gain almost 10% of the market in the TBR category. AUTO1 has also invested in resources and people on the field to drive growth in its dealer network and has plans to create history in UAE by becoming a market leader in all the product categories GOODRIDE represents.

Liu Yi, General Manager at Al Rahala International felt that the gathering was a good platform to bring all the Goodride dealers across the UAE together so that they could exchange information on market trends, acknowledge the achievements of key dealers during the past year, and introduce new products to the dealers that they would shortly be launching at the retail level.

Liu added, “AUTO1 is one of the largest distributors for GOODRIDE products in the Middle East region. Our partnership with AUTO1 has always been a win-win relationship. They have always given us their best support in terms of their product updates, sales network and best technical support making sure that the needs of Goodride consumers are addressed with the highest standards of customer service. As owners of GOODRIDE brand, we believe that the technological capabilities of our products are far superior to any other tire brands/ solutions offered by competition”.

Kevin, Sales Manager at Al Rahala International delivered the product update presentation to introduce Goodride tire’s new products to dealers and speak at length about new product initiatives for the coming year. These include additions to the brand’s range of OTR and specialty tires in the industrial, mining and port segments. He further added that, “Goodride has set the benchmark in standards of reliability and performance and there are constant new product launches giving our dealers a vast portfolio of products to sell.”

Delivering the key note address NS Suresh, President, Tires Business at KAPICO Group Holding Co. spoke about the special bond over the past decade and a half between AUTO1 and Goodride, which is one of its major brands across different markets. He said that the the brand has a lot to offer to its dealers due to the excellence of its products backed by the superior after sales support that is provided by the AUTO1 team. He pledged to continue to look for the most effective ways to support its dealers through provision of better resources, reliable supply and the best customer service. He also expressed his confidence that the dealer network would back AUTO1 in its drive to help Goodride cement its market leader position and continue to uphold its heritage as one of the leading Chinese tire brands in UAE market.

Both AUTO1 and Goodride believe in acknowledging their dealers as important associates who play a key role in developing and maintaining brand awareness and help them to reach consumers. The Goodride Partner Appreciation Award was created to recognize high performing dealers on the basis of their sales and customer service performance during the past year. Winners for the awards were chosen from the entire UAE market with AUTO1 recognizing 20 dealers as premier dealers including 6 dealers from Dubai Region, 7 dealers from Abu Dhabi region and 7 dealers from the Rest of UAE.

The grand event concluded with the biggest dealer incentive scheme of the year, which will run from June till August of this year. Dealers who qualify for the scheme have a chance to win an all expenses paid trip for two abroad and many other exciting prizes. Dealers responded enthusiastically to the scheme and the company reiterated that such reward programs would be organized on a regular basis to motivate and give back to the dealers who support Goodride in a very competitive market.