Interview with the Goodyear MDs

Both Richard Fleming (MD, Goodyear ASEAN) and Nasution Abdul Rahman (MD, Goodyear Malaysia) are not your typical company men who just sign off budgets for events and then read the reports on Monday morning. They are motorsports enthusiasts themselves (Mr Fleming even takes part) and in the case of Encik Nasution, his personal car is a Nissan Skyline! So for these guys, it’s a 'dream job’ where they can enjoy their personal interest on company time!

 
MTM managed to get some time with both gentlemen before the Formula Drift press conference today to get some insights into the reasons Goodyear is more involved in motorsports lately and a few other tyre industry topics. Extracts from the interview: 
  
 

Richard Fleming

Nasution Abdul Rahman

How important is the Malaysian market to Goodyear in the ASEAN region?

We’ve been in Malaysia for 40-plus years and it’s certainly an important market for us. We believe that in that time, we have built up trust from our consumers who drive vehicles from across a broad spectrum – from entry-level cars to premium models. We also supply the greatest number of Original Equipment (OE) tyres to the local assembly plants and that’s good for our business because many Malaysians get to experience our tyres on their new vehicle and they’re highly likely to buy Goodyear tyres again when it’s time for replacement because they will have a good experience with them. So we make sure we get it right for the Malaysian market and provide the best tyres.
 
Incidentally, Goodyear Malaysia just won the No. 1 supplier award from Proton, out of some 400 suppliers, which we’re very proud to receive. We work very hard to ensure that our quality is high and also our deliveries are on time and in the required quantities to the assemblers.
 
Does Goodyear have any R&D activity in Malaysia?
We don’t have such activities at our plant in Shah Alam and our regional R&D centre is in Thailand, which is of course supported by the Goodyear Technical Centre in Luxembourg and Goodyear facilities elsewhere. We appreciate that road and driving conditions are different around the region and we therefore optimize the tyres for each market. We have roads in Thailand which we think are similar to those in Malaysia so we do our tuning and testing on those roads before we start selling the tyres in the Malaysian market.
 
Can you comment on the move by the Malaysian government to ban re-grooved tyres?
An excellent move which we at Goodyear commend. It’s a safety issue and we’re glad that consumers will not have access to unsafe tyres. It’s an important step that the industry appreciates because when there are problems with tyres, like failures or even accidents, it reflects negatively on the tyre companies.
 
Who are the buyers of re-grooved tyres? Are they individuals or people who drive commercial vehicles?
Most of them are individuals and it is very much a case of the limited amount of money they have to spend on tyres. For them, the lowest price is the only thing they want since they simply cannot afford to spend more. These are people who might only be able to buy one tyre at a time and only when they must do so. It’s hard to convince them about the value proposition in such cases.
 
So do you expect sales of Duraplus to go up as it is an affordable tyre? Is it cheap enough to draw people to buy it when they can’t buy re-grooved tyres?
We’re not going to compete in that segment where people have been buying re-grooved tyres; that’s not our future. It’s not physically possible to offer a tyre at such low prices and satisfy Goodyear’s standards of safety and quality. In the Duraplus, we offer a great value proposition and I can tell you that sales have been exceeding our expectations in every country that we have launched it – and meeting the targets I set is not something that is easily done because I’m quite demanding! 
 

Goodyear Eagle RS Sport	Goodyear Revspec RS-02

Goodyear has been involved in motorsports for decades. Does it really help to sell more tyres? How does it help the brand?
Goodyear has been involved in motorsports for 90 years and our degree of involvement has gone through cycles, sometimes more and sometimes less depending on various factors. In the case of Formula Drift, it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our technologies. Goodyear’s about safety but it’s also about innovation. People are able to associate well with the tyres on the track because the same high-performance tyres our drift drivers use - the Eagle RS Sport, F1 Asymmetric and Revspec RS-02 - are also available for the public to buy.
 
To answer your question more specifically, yes, it does help sell more tyres and I can tell you that since we began our association with Formula Drift, sales of our ultra high-performance tyres in Malaysia have grown by 134 percent… way over what we have expected. Plus we see from our regular surveys that the brand preference for Goodyear has also increased in recent times.
 
An important point to note is that Goodyear is involved in motorsports to sell all kinds of tyres, not just to make money from racing tyres. The event is the easy part actually but what’s important is to be able to leverage on it after the event – using the drivers’ endorsements, involving the trade, having product displays and so on. In fact, we now have a Goodyear Racing Zone at selected dealers where high-performance tyres are displayed. Early in 2010, we will also begin selling in Malaysia a new series of tyres for circuit use so we can offer more specialized tyres to customers here who want to go racing.
 
So with Bridgestone ending its role as tyre supplier for F1, any chance that Goodyear will take its place?
We have various commitments to other motorsports especially NASCAR in the USA and all I can say is that F1 is not on the horizon. Can’t say what will happen in the future but it’s all about priorities for the company and also what the benefits will be if there is involvement. 
 

A Goodyear Malaysia event where motorists are shown how to check if the tread depth is sufficient using a 20-sen coin

'Goodyear Racing’ seems to have appeared lately in advertising and this is something new, isn’t it? Is there a change from Goodyear Malaysia’s earlier involvement in road safety?

Yes, it’s something new which we have conceived in conjunction with our greater involvement in motorsports, particularly Formula Drift. For now, we are focusing on drifting which we see as being increasingly popular and as Richard said, it’s a great way to showcase our tyre technologies and innovations as well as enhance our brand image in this market.
 
It’s something for the long term but it is not replacing our ongoing road safety involvement. We will definitely continue with our road safety activities that we’ve been having for many years, especially during festive periods, and we will also work closely with the Road Safety Department and other authorities.
 
Incidentally, even though we are now more involved in motorsports, there is also an element of safety in it. Because Goodyear emphasizes safety, we have ensured that the sport of drifting is upgraded where safety is concerned and that it follows international regulations. The drivers must wear proper suits and use helmets and the cars must go through strict scrutineering before being allowed to enter.

Related articles:

Driving Goodyear to greater heights

Formula DRIFT Singapore ProAm Series 2009

Inaugural Formula Drift in Thailand

Drifting on stage!

Doing it sideways 

Goodyear raises standards of drifting events