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FOCUS PSB Tire & Wheel www.PowersportsBusiness.com Powersports Business • May 26, 2014 • 19 18 • May 26, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com BY DAVE McMAHON EDITOR IN CHIEF ITP still stands as the top-selling aftermarket ATV and side-by-side tire and wheel manufac- turer. Only now, ITP will have more resources behind it as aims for continued growth. On Dec. 31, American Industrial Partners, a middle-market private equity firm focused on acquiring and improving North American- headquartered industrial businesses, acquired ITP's parent company, the Transportation Prod- ucts division of Carlisle Companies Inc. (CTP). Beyond its powersports footprint, CTP, founded in 1917, builds tires, wheels and power transmission belts for the outdoor power equip- ment, ag/construction and trailer markets. "We are very excited about the acquisi- tion of CTP," AIP's Joel Rotroff said in a press release. "The company has built a very strong brand over its nearly 100-year history and is the market leader in the majority of the markets in which it competes." "Working alongside an exceptional manage- ment team and talented collection of employ- ees, we plan to drive operational enhancements that will allow CTP to more efficiently and effectively serve the needs of our global cus- tomers," said Justin Fish of AIP. "We are extremely pleased to be partnering with the American Industrial Partners team," said Kevin Forster, CEO of CTP. "As a stand- alone company, we intend to further invest in our business and build on our long-standing customer relationships and market leading dis- tribution network to further differentiate CTP from its competitors." For Rhett Turpin, ITP Powersports director of sales and marketing, it has been an immensely positive experience in the early going. "They've been very fast paced, very fast paced, yes," said Turpin, who began working in the company's distribution warehouse in 1982. "But it's been great. Even only four months in, we're already seeing tremendous progress in efficien- cies in our factories, in our finance department and distribution centers. They're all manufac- turing operations and finance gurus. They had a distinct advantage to come in and assist us in improving manufacturing efficiencies and getting things straight on the finance side. They're distri- bution geniuses as well, so they're making sure we're streamlining the way we get the product to the distributors. And they're making sure we're being all we can be to our OEM partners." And while ITP was once a cornerstone busi- ness of Carlisle Companies, it's now a stand- alone operation that will benefit from AIP's infrastructure and capital spend. From aftermarket to OEM to private label- ing, ITP products are known for their durability and longevity. In addition, Turpin said the com- pany's product development team has provided it with an edge in the side-by-side tire market. "We saw the direction that the OEMs were taking and we felt like it was the real deal and wasn't going to go away, at which point we started adding a little more definition to new product development as far as making sure it was side-by-side capable," Turpin said. Dealers, Turpin says, have found ITP's abil- ity to provide a consistent supply of product to be a benefit. "We're American-based manufacturing, and we can get it to them much quicker. The mar- kets are not that easy to predict sometimes, so we can react and adapt to the market changes much quicker than say an Asian-based manu- facturer. You may have 30 days on the water to get product here, and in 30 days the market can shift. So it's been a big advantage for us." That same ability to adapt to changing sizes and tastes has helped its OEM business growth. "We've noticed how the OEMs are becom- ing more and more nimble and we've been able to do a good job of maintaining the cadence that they're moving at," Turpin said. PSB Heidenau's new tire hits the dirt or road New ownership group brings resources to ITP Dual sport tire just one in a vast collection from German company BY LIZ KEENER MANAGING EDITOR John Bettencourt has heard adventure riding stories that surprise him. He's heard tales of riders who take their bikes to Alaska with a newly installed rear tire, bring two more as spares, and return home with the last tire wearing thin. He says Heidenau's K60 Scout dual sport tire wouldn't deliver that kind of performance. Instead, he says, Scout users can ride on their tires for a month, then take them on an adven- ture ride in Alaska and bring them back to their local streets before needing a tire change. "Tires are very important. When you're in the middle of nowhere, the last thing you want to deal with is a flat," Bettencourt said. He's been pleased with the performance of the K60 Scout and the other Heidenau tires he distributes as the owner of MotoAmore. "In general customers have been really happy with the K60 Scout that we produce," he said. "It is a 50/50 tire. It is good on the asphalt, and it is good in the dirt, but consequently it's not going to be perfect on the asphalt, and it's not going to be perfect in the dirt." Riders have reported to MotoAmore that they appreciate the K60 Scout because it allows them to commute on-road, while easily taking an off-road trip without switching tires. Heidenau originated in the former East Germany and has been working in the pro- duction of molded rubber products since 1946. The company had a rebirth after the falling of the Berlin Wall in 1990, and was producing 35 tire sizes by 1993. Now the brand, brought to the U.S. by MotoAmore in 2007, has more than 600 dif- ferent tires in its lineup, including scooter, moped, street bike, motocross, race and side- car tires, along with vintage sizes, like 18- and 19-inch tires no longer made by many other companies. "What's really nice about Heidenau is the way I describe it to people, the company isn't run by accountant — it's run by an engineer, so they make the best tire they can," Betten- court said. As a rubber expert for nearly seven decades, "What's really nice about Heidenau is the way I describe it to people, the company isn't run by accountant — it's run by an engineer, so they make the best tire they can." John Bettencourt Owner, MotoAmore The Ultracross R-Spec from ITP, shown here on the brand's Dual Beadlock wheels, has been one of ITP's top selling tires in recent months. P14x20-PSB7-Focus.indd 18 5/14/14 2:11 PM