Eduardo Salazar, the CEO of Spain-based Grupo Andrés spoke to Europneus about the current state of the industry stating, “At this moment and with a degree of projection over the upcoming months the key word is going to be availability. As we are experiencing a significant shortage from all our manufacturers, having tyres available will be the ultimate target to work towards.”
Grupo Andrés Neumáticos Looking Towards Recovery
“We sense a strong recovery within the sector,” argues the company known for its international presence distributing various brands and segments within the industry, as “the data we have obtained in our distribution centres and professional workshops where we supply tyres shows that the industry is achieving a level of recovery at a healthy pace after the initial drop in sales during the months of confinement related to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
One of the strongest keys to improving the Spanish market, according to specialists of Grupo Andrés is timing. “There are 3.5 million vehicles that are awaiting the annual motor inspection – more important than usual as many cars have been unused for several months, so there’s an element of the personal transport sector needing to be developed right away.”
Salazar himself is relatively confident, if a little caution adding, “Although we should be cautious with the situation we find ourselves in, it does seem that the end-user is returning to the roads for their holidays with increasing confident, especially on short routes, or trips.” He also confirmed that sales levels are approaching those of 2019, which confirms the long-awaited normal, or ‘new normal’ may be around the corner.
So availability is the key ethos for Grupo Andrés Nuemáticos, as manufacturers struggle to maintain pre-Covid-19 levels, having tyres at their disposal will be the key differential. Salazar confirms that they have been able to guarantee supply throughout the period and have met the demand of professional workshops thanks to their stock of 700,000 tyres in their warehouses, helping to counteract shortages occurring in the import and supply sectors on the international scale. He adds that “The logistics capacity of Grupo Andrés and the functionality of our B2B technological platform are helping to overcome the crisis, as the platform serves the workshop professionals with speed and efficiency, as well as the needs of consumers.”
Perhaps, most impressive, Grupo Andrés reached five million online orders in May, which, in part to the lockdown helped the company focus on the reopening of their workshops, whilst slowly returning workers who had been benefiting from the Government’s furlough scheme.
Source: Europneus
