ENSCHEDE, The Netherlands (BRAIN)—Vredestein Tires announced plans Thursday to change its distribution model in the U.S., moving away from its existing relationship with Veltec Sports.
“The USA bike market is extremely important to us. While we thank Veltec Sports, Inc., our distributor in prior years, it is important that we now take bold, new steps to strengthen our USA distribution and our relationships with the independent bicycle dealers,” Marc Ganzeboom, manager of marketing and sales for Vredestein Two Wheel Tires said in a press release.
Vredestein will announce details of its new U.S. strategy early next month, the release said. Its departure from Veltec leaves three brands in the distributor’s portfolio: Descente, Lake and Shebeest.
Vredestein Two Wheel Tires is a subsidiary of Apollo Vredestein B.V., which is a part of Apollo Tyres Ltd., a Dutch manufacturer of tires for cars, commercial vans and agricultural and industrial applications. The company makes about 7 million tires per year at factories in Europe and the U.S.
