Proudly serving the industry for which it was named for more than 50 years, Outdoor Power Equipment provides dealers who sell and service outdoor power equipment with valuable information to succeed in a competitive market.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/765117
www.outdoorpowerequipment.com OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT JANUARY 2017 19 Made for severe conditions, extreme use and high temperatures. Zinc-formulated for extreme parts-plating lubricity. Engineered for anti-shear, grade-stable endurance. JASO and API certified for heavy commercial duty. Robust conventional or synthetic blends. Don't cut engine life short. Keep it genuine Kawasaki. kawasakienginesusa.com Made for severe conditions, with some of our other most popular innovations. In 2016, we paired our Quiet Power Technology engine with Just Check & Add, creating a quieter engine that never needs an oil change*. 2017 brings the Just Check & Add innovation to our Mow N' Stow engine that can be stored upright without leaking gas or oil. Those are just a few examples of the consumer-driven innovations we've recently developed and are now combining to make it easier for consumers to start, use, maintain, and store their outdoor power equipment. Finally, Briggs & Stratton will continue to build our You.Powered. brand positioning, which launched in 2016. We refreshed our brand to better refl ect the emotional connection we have with the end user and the sense of achievement they feel when a job is done well. It also summarizes our philosophy as a company and how we collaborate and support our customers. You.Powered. is all about making sure that we're doing all we can to help our consumers, employees and business partners achieve their goals, and we look forward to continuing to bring this positioning to life. 2) How will the election of Republican Donald Trump as president, along with Republicans maintaining control of Congress in both the House and Senate, impact the OPE industry? RZ: Every election brings potential changes to the industry and our company. We are currently evaluating President-elect Trump's policies and the introduction of the new administration to ensure the continued success of our company. 3) What was the OPE industry's biggest story in 2016, and what do you predict it will be in 2017? RZ: In 2016, we witnessed both residential and commercial users demanding products that help them get work done more effi ciently. For Briggs & Stratton, we saw very positive responses to our innovations that address those needs. For example, our Vanguard EFI engines and our consumer EXi series engine that never requires an oil change*, were met with enthusiastic responses. For 2017, we'll see continued support of our dealer network. Dealers have always been the backbone of the industry, and at Briggs & Stratton, we're providing additional tools and support for dealers to grow their businesses and help serve their customers better. For us, this focus on dealers is manifesting itself in many ways, not the least of which is through Power Distributors, our single Briggs & Stratton distributor. As the only national distributor of whole goods, engines, parts and accessories for Briggs & Stratton, Snapper and Simplicity, Power Distributors offers superior service and the ability to deliver next day to 99 percent of the country in order to meet the business needs of dealers and their customers. 4) What will be the OPE industry's hottest trends in 2017? RZ: We'll see residential and commercial customers alike both looking for smarter, better solutions in their equipment and trading up to get them. In the past few years, many innovations have been introduced in response to what customers wanted. Now that these innovations are well established in the marketplace, we'll see people trading up, even if their old equipment is still working. In the riding mower category, for instance, our research indicates that more than 1/4 of purchases were made by existing owners who were looking for something newer or better. Likewise, approximately 20 percent of recent walk-mower buyers sought new technology that made it easier to use and maintain their equipment. As we as an industry continue to offer more meaningful innovations, the end user will continue to trade up. 5) What is your overall outlook for the OPE industry in 2017? RZ: We believe there will be moderate growth in the outdoor power equipment