Hello, Gentlemen...
Thank you all for your interest in the Green Diamond Tire (GDT) and possible application for your SmartCars. I chose to respond to you together because your request was universal… and my response will be consistant for the SmartCar application.
By now, you must realize that we do not produce the OEM specified tires in the GDT product line. Here in Denver, I stopped by the local SmartCar dealership to study the car, learn the tire sizes, and to check to see if any of our current lineup could fit the very tight wheel well of your vehicles. What I discovered is that we do not even have an adequate alternate size with which SmartCar owners would be satisfied.
By way of a bit background, at issue is the availability of QA-able donor casings. At our current rate and level of inspection, we are rejecting fully 80%+ of the casings that we evaluate. Extending the math… we must see literally 1,000s of casings in order to build 100s of GDTs. The segmented plate molds for a 15 inch GDT typically cost around $40k. I am sure that you can appreciate that, as a small manufacturing concern (for now :-), we must be careful with all of our economic decisions.
Our ‘rule-of-thumb’ of our decision process is to consider only those tire sizes that have been been in the market for at least 3 years… and then a given size must be established in the top 15 to 20 percentile of popularity. At present, we will be introducing an additional 12 sizes for the coming 2009 winter season. However, the SmartCar sizes are not in that mix.
Where does that leave us? Well, for the time being we are stuck. The suggestion of building GDTs from a new casing of the appropriate size often comes up. A key component of the value proposition of the GDT in the introduction of the silicium carbide. While a used casing is cost effective, the cost of the carbide is hideously expensive… adding fully 1/3 to the cost of remolding a casing into a GDT. To acquire, (if we could) a new casing would be prohibitively expensive in a market that, at present, is still considered niche/boutique.
I want to build GDTs for the SmartCar… it will ultimately become a timing issue, and of course, driven largely by the economics.
Sorry for the winded explanation. However, I feel that it is important for customers (and prospective customers) to have an understanding of bit of our business model and decision process.
Should you have additional questions or concerns, please to not hesitate to contact me. Your call or email will command my immediate attention.
Kind regards,
Rich Gostenik
Owner
Green Diamond Tire – West
Green Diamond Tire / E-Commerce
Green Diamond Tire – North America
866.380.0009 (toll-free)
303.770.5295 (local - Colorado)
303.808.7280 (mobile)
Rich@GreenDiamondTire.com
www.GreenDiamondTire.com
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