In 1988, Oldsmobile was facing a major crisis. Its market share was shrinking because most of its customers were elderly, and younger car buyers were looking for something different. At the time, Ford had three of the top five best sellers with the Escort, Taurus and Tempo, while Honda, Hyundai and Nissan each had one model in the top eight (Accord, Excel and Sentra). General Motors held the remaining spots in the top ten with two Chevys (Cavalier and Celebrity) as well as the Olds Cutlass Ciera and Pontiac Grand Am to round out the list.
Like most desperate corporate executives, Oldsmobile turned to an advertising agency to pump new life into the brand. “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile” was supposed to bring in a new generation of customers, but it offended the existing market that wanted their father’s Oldsmobile, and the cars didn’t change enough for the younger buyers. By 2004, the last Oldsmobile rolled off the assembly line—and another iconic brand became part of history.
The “not your father’s” tagline, however, has become a symbol for anyone who wants to portray the image of something that has evolved. It has been used to describe countless things over the years and is currently the brand name for a line of alcoholic soft drinks like root beer and ginger ale. It’s a saying that needs little explanation for most people regardless of age.
Retreading definitely fits the mold (sorry for the pun) of a product that has entered a new generation. Automation, computerization, and technology in general have turned a labor-intensive and skilled process into one where machines do most of the work. In the old days, the inspection process consisted of a trained eye and a flashlight, while today modern inspection machines can analyze the internal structure of the casing with nondestructive methods.
Likewise, the buffing process that used to require a template and tape measure has been automated to the point where most casings will have the exact same diameter with the push of a few icons on a touchscreen. Retreading has become manufacturing where the workers are trained to run advanced machinery that produces consistent quality and performance.
Despite the technological revolution that has changed the future of the retread industry, there are still too many people who subscribe to the old-school thinking that retreads are somehow less dependable than new tires. With container after container of low-cost offshore imports flooding the market with cheap truck tires, some fleets are abandoning known technology with a history of safety and performance in favor of unknown brands of questionable quality and safety. And when those no-name brands are submitted for retreading, they are returned at a higher rate because the casing quality is nowhere near that of the market leaders.
I’ve always said that I prefer the truck tire industry over the passenger tire industry because marketing sells car tires, while truck tires are sold after the rubber hits the road. Low prices and gimmicks rarely translate into a competitive cost per mile, so the sophisticated fleet is not going to be fooled by slogans, ridiculously low prices, or unsubstantiated claims. Name brand casings with name brand retreads will outperform a lot of offshore products simply because they are engineered to deliver maximum safety at the lowest possible lifetime cost.
These aren’t your father’s retreads, and fleets that understand value recognize the importance of a known commodity. But don’t believe me. Run the tests and do the math. In the end, I’m confident that a high-quality retread on a high-quality casing can outrun a lot of no-name brands of the month every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
