At the recently held West Africa Auto Show (WAAS), Ignatius Ushie and Goodness Sunday interviewed Mr. Sunil Khanchandani, the Managing Director of Alonsa Electric Gulf fzco, the company charged with the responsibility to position and develop the Goodyear lubricant in the West African market
Tell us about the background and history of Goodyear Lubricant as a brand.
Goodyear Lubricant is a product by the Goodyear Tire Company in USA. It is a licensed product of Goodyear. We are licensing for them to develop the product in Nigeria. We belong to Alonsa Electric Group, Dubai. One of our key responsibilities is to develop the West African market. We have been the licensee and the developer for the Goodyear Tire Company lubricant range which comprises of Engine oil, Marine oil, Construction oil, Industrial lubricants, and greases.
We have now achieved since 2020, export to over 20 countries and we hope that our participation in the Lagos West Africa Automotive show (Expo fair) after the Covid, and the travel challenges that has been between the international business department, we hope that the exhibition is a good market start for introducing the lubricants range under the Goodyear Brand for the Nigerian market, we see a way, a very solid opportunity at the same time a good challenge to introduce to the Nigerian consumers high quality, high performance engine oil backed by Goodyear’s 125 innovation durability, reliability, innovation and all of our management it has achieved in the Tire business.
So we want to bring in those values of the Goodyear management into the Goodyear lubricant extension in promoting, developing and appointing distributors to understand the value chain system and give a product of high performances, quality product to the Nigerian consumers market.
What motivated Goodyear Lubricant to enter the Nigerian market?
I think the market size. Nigeria is one of the biggest African economies in terms of consumption, in terms of fuel and petroleum and crude oil, crude businesses and even gas business. The people are enterprising. It has a young population, a growing population.
The zeal of the Nigeria consumers is getting really organized and its going towards other sectors in consuming luxury products which are not there in older times of the Nigeria market. And I think Goodyear brings this innovation to the lubricants product line and hopefully we are quite positive that we connect with the right distributors.
Would you share with us your strategies of getting to the Nigeria market?
We do have internal strategies which are of course confidential. However, on the basis on how we would penetrate the market, we see a good gap and a big gap in the fully synthetic segment which is not powered by generally the other players in the engine oil business, so we do hope that we enter the really synthetic business of engine for the automotive sector as well as for the industries within Nigeria to give a very consistent virgin blended engine oil.
So what differentiate Goodyear Lubricant from other brands in Nigeria? In terms of quality, technology, and customer service?
The most important thing is the brand name and the heritage of the brand name. The biggest differentiation is the 125 years of brand management. The history was not just built in one day because the culture which Goodyear by itself stands out in terms of the global brand name and local brand name. In terms of the product, we do not manufacture in any non – compliant plant, so majority of our products are coming from plants out of America, out of Spain in Europe, out of Malaysia, out of Dubai. And these plants are managed by global high scale, high credibility petroleum companies, I cannot name the company.
Let’s talk about WAAS. How was your experience?
I would like to share my experience not only about WAAS because it is exhibition we are attending, but also Nigeria. First, I would like to say that Nigeria is a welcoming country. We had a very good time entering the airport, even explaining that we are here for the exhibition.
Secondly, about the WAAS. I think we did not expect a heavy portfolio. However, it has been good to meet a lot of good Nigerian companies, who are looking aggressive, who are looking for ideas, who are looking for new opportunities and we hope that the contribution we have made here, we would take this discussion on the prospect forward.
About Alonsa Electric Gulf FZCO
Alonsa Electric Gulf FZCO, based in Jebel Ali Free Zone Dubai, UAE, established since 2005, is part of Al Tara Group in United Arab Emirates. It is a leading marketing & distribution company with presence in multiple countries in the region. Its trade sectors range in Home Appliances | FMCG | Logistics & Automotive Ancillaries industries. The Group has transformed itself into one of the leading corporate entities in the Gulf region within a 1 generation span of time. Its strength lies in the dedicated personnel that service customers, providing financial stability, product inventory and prompt delivery.
www.goodyearlubricants.me
About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. It employs approximately 62,000 people and manufactures its products in 46 facilities in 21 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products please go to: www.goodyear.com
Goodyear (and winged foot design) and blimp are the trademarks of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber CO, Akron, Ohio USA used under the license by ALONSA Electric Gulf FZCO since 2020.
