The new year kicked off in high gear for Point S with the company announcing that it has signed a Master Franchise Agreement with Tatko Group. Tatko now becomes the exclusive representative of the Point S brand in Turkey and will be in charge of the development and the management of the Point S network in the country.
Tatko Group is largely known as Turkey’s largest independent retail tyre company. The Group already manages several tyre dealer networks under the names Lastik Park, Lastik VS or HerLastik with over 750 locations all over Turkey.
With the Point S brand, Tatko wants to complete its coverage and retail concepts offer, diversify its offering with fast fit services and benefit from the support of a global player in the automotive industry. The Point S network will be developed and managed by a specially dedicated team in Tatko’s organisation. It will be considered as a stand-alone business unit, even though it will benefit from some of synergies within the Group. The plan foresees the opening of at least 20 Point S locations in 2021 and over 200 at mid-term.
Fabien Bouquet, CEO of Point S, comments: “We are delighted to welcome Tatko to the Point S global family. I am strongly convinced that the combination of our know-how will allow us to build a strong and innovative network in Turkey. Despite this pandemic context we are continuing to expand our footprint with very high-quality partners such as Tatko.”
Mr. Cüneyt ŞENER says: “Tatko is Turkey’s oldest tyre company which has been operating continuously for 93 years. Tatko began its activities in 1927 as the exclusive distributor of the Goodyear brand in Turkey. In 1962, Tatko and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, working as a joint venture, opened Turkey’s first tyre factory and started the first domestic production.
In 1996, Turkey’s European Customs Union, with the participation structure of the tyre industry, changed. Before 1996, it was the sector dominated by only 3 manufacturers, but after the customs union, dozens of brands from Europe and Asia entered the market and the market quickly became multi-brand. Tatko read this change quickly and brought solutions suitable for the new conditions of the market. Tatko ended the partnership with Goodyear in 1999 and then started multi-brand tyre wholesale operations.
In 2010, Tatko launched the first multi-brand retail shop concept in Turkey under the name of LastikPark which means TyrePark. In response to the high demand for a multi-brand retail concept, Tatko implemented the 2nd concept under the name HerLastik which means AllTyres in 2013. And in 2019, it also decided to acquire its biggest competitor, Lastik VS. After this acquisition Tatko became Turkey’s largest multi-brand chain with 750 stores.
And now, we have decided to represent the most common, most known and successful worldwide multi-brand brand concept, Point S, in Turkey. We aim to expand our strength in retail to over 1000 stores in Turkey with this cooperation.”
About Point S
Point S celebrates 50 years in 2021!
Created in 1971, Point S is the world leader in tyres and car maintenance. Point S by the strength of its brand, offers a strong brand platform of 50 years of history and a retail concept that has been rolled out on 4 continents. With more than 5 600 Points of Sale, the company is present in 43 countries across the globe and employs over 23 000 people. Point S will also benefit its Turkish partner and its existing network by the global expertise of tyres it has built up over half a century The Group sells over 18 million tyres per year and has a consolidated retail turnover of more than €3 Billion.
Point S Press Contact for international:
Muriel Clarke, International Brand Manager, POINT S GROUP Alianco
muriel.clarke@alianco.ch +33 634 210 273