In early September, Navistar celebrated the 50-year anniversary of its Fleetrite all-makes aftermarket parts line. As the OEM community’s longest running all-makes private label brand, Fleetrite has grown during its five decades in the market from a single-product line to more than 80, and today offers more than 15,000 part numbers to International dealers across North America.
While Fleetrite’s longevity may be unique, its popularity is not. The last decade has been one of dramatic growth for all-makes parts brands throughout the dealer channel. In observing Fleetrite’s milestone in September, Navistar also announced the opening of six new Fleetrite-exclusive retail parts stores. The new stores were a first for Navistar in 2019 but not the first for the industry at large.
Paccar’s TRP all-makes line opened locations in Indiana and South Carolina in April, while Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) announced last month its all-makes Alliance Parts brand opened 15 locations — three standalone facilities and 12 in-dealership retail locations — in October and November alone.
Coupled with Volvo Group’s August announcement of subsidiary DEX Heavy Duty Parts’ new facility in Oklahoma City, it’s clear the OEM community has turned its attention, and investment, to the all-makes parts industry.
According to those in the OEM and dealer communities, the new store boom of 2019 is more than coincidence. It’s the result of years of analysis and research into the growing acceptance and popularity of branded all-makes parts lines throughout the trucking industry. All-makes product lines have created a conduit to second-, third- and latter-generation truck owners OEMs and their dealer partners have struggled to establish with OE genuine product lines.
While 2019 will ultimately go down as one of the best new truck delivery years in industry history, current order totals and projections for next year continue to trend down. Without truck sales to rely on, OEMs and their dealer partners see all-makes brands as an opportunity to capitalize on previously untapped sales opportunities and maintain their overall profitability.
Navistar’s T.J. O’Hanlon, senior director, product management – North America, says all-makes brands open doors to customer segments a truck dealer’s conventional parts department cannot. Speaking about Navistar’s new Fleetrite stores, O’Hanlon says, “It is important for these facilities to be branded Fleetrite to attract a different customer segment than we do through our International branded dealerships.”
He adds that customer segment is deceptively large, referring both to second- and third-generation International truck owners as well as truck owners running equipment with other name plates. “Removing the OE badging has allowed us to attract more of an all-makes customer base,” he says.
The Larson Group has opened standalone TRP stores in Charleston, S.C., and Fenton, Mo. (above), a St. Louis suburb.The Larson Group (TLG), a Peterbilt dealer with more than 20 locations across eight states, has had similar success with its TRP stores in Charleston, S.C., and St. Louis.
Richard Dorsey, the company’s vice president, parts, says TLG and Paccar Parts have both identified customers operating trucks later in their life cycle are receptive to TRP, though they “may not consider a Peterbilt dealership as their primary parts source.”
Alliance Parts’ Marketing and Communications Manager April Mitchell says that focus on truck owners running other truck brands is a fundamental advantage for DTNA’s all-makes brand.
“Alliance Parts offers parts and accessories for the entire commercial transportation industry,” Mitchell says. “These retail areas exist inside the dealer network of Freightliner, Western Star and Thomas Built stores, but we offer reliable new and remanufactured parts and accessories for nearly all makes and models of commercial vehicles.”
A glimpse inside an Alliance Parts retail facility (Photo credit: Trey Mytty/Truck Center Companies).O’Hanlon says Fleetrite gives International’s dealers that same comprehensive product coverage, noting the company’s six new stores have “product on the shelf for over 24 different makes and models at competitive price points that allow us to attract a broad customer base.”
All-makes lines also can enable OEMs and their dealer partners to flesh out their remanufacturing and recycled component inventory. As the remanufactured, recycled and surplus value-line brand for Volvo trucks, DEX Heavy Duty Parts enables the truck maker to position itself as the “only North American OEM to offer a complete lifecycle channel for its products,” says Darin Redmon, director, DEX operations.
When positioned with Volvo’s Road Choice Truck Parts all-makes brand, Redmon adds DEX Heavy Duty Parts helps the company offer “varying levels of pricing, warranty and quality levels” that far exceed the standard dealer parts department options.
There is also a market coverage and customer footprint advantage provided by all-makes facilities that OEMs say should not be overlooked. While it might not behoove a dealer to open a new OEM-branded store in a region sparsely populated by large fleets and new equipment, a satellite location or all-makes parts store may still be lucrative.
O’Hanlon describes Navistar’s process with its Fleetrite stores as follows: “We determined the existing locations by using market intelligence that mapped vehicle registrations within a dealer’s area of responsibility along with parts potential for said vehicles based on age [and] make. From that data, we were able to create a heat map … that allowed us to have very targeted conversations with interested dealers regarding where a store might make the most sense. Each of the dealers then provided their input based on their vast knowledge of their market to select the location.”
Mitchell says DTNA and Alliance Parts also note their “stores and retail areas are selected by scientific analysis of potential target markets,” while Dorsey says TLG’s relationship with Paccar Parts and TRP was important while evaluating locations for its newest store. “[We] always solicit their input and closely confer customer service strategy,” he says.
