FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (BRAIN) — Todson has signed a deal to exclusively import Hutchinson bike tires and tubes. Hutchinson tires will be sold and marketed in the U.S. by Todson and its independent rep force. Todson currently sells Topeak, Elite, Velox and Onguard. The French tire brand rounds out its product assortment and is the only rubber brand carried by Todson.
Roy Hough, general manager of Hutchinson Tire North America, will continue to provide overall market guidance and direction for the French tire brand and help with the transition. Earlier this year Hutchinson closed its U.S. sales office, laying off four full time employees.
As part of the deal, Hutchinson gains 20-plus independent reps. Hough said the partnership will help Hutchinson accelerate its dealer-direct business. He said Todson has worked with Hutchinson in the past.
Rick Dyer, national sales manager for Todson, said, "We provide economy of scale and can leverage our brands ... We have a marketing agency we work with, a media agency we work with. We have more leverage with reps and more contact with individual dealers. They're not just calling us for one category; we have different categories that people want or need. That's the biggest thing. As a standalone tire brand, it's challenging for any company. The fact that we bring all these brands together will strengthen Hutchinson. We should have collectively more money to invest in the brand."
Dyer said it would supply Hutchinson product to key partners including QBP, J&B, KHS, Hawley, BTI, and Olympic, with most shipments coming from Todson's Foxborough warehouse.
Hough added, "For us it's a way of controlling distribution to prevent value and price degradation in the marketplace. It allows us to have more price integrity in the distribution channel. And it's a way for us to hit the reset the button and make sure from a market standpoint we were at value we wanted in marketplace with key product. That and having a dedicated sales force. It was difficult for me to build a sales force that was stable."
The deal will impact aftermarket sales and distribution of Hutchinson bike tires, but OE sales will continue to be handled by OE sales agent Kendall Young.
Todson will have a booth at the upcoming Sea Otter Classic where it will be showing Hutchinson's tires, including its new Eleven Storm compound.
