Volkswagen and Giti Tires Partnership
We would like to introduce Giti Tires USA Ltd a Singapore-based company that has been in the tire business since 1951, Giti Tire Group operates eight manufacturing plants and produces for consumers in more than 130 countries. Giti has a plant in Richburg South Carolina where it produces tires for our Volkswagen models. After a successful audit by Volkswagen their Richburg plant has been approved to be an original equipment supplier of tires for the Tiguan and the Passat. The tire that Giti Tire USA Ltd. will supply for the Tiguan is the Giti Comfort XA1 In the size 215/65R17. The Passat will be supplied with All season Giti Comfort A1 in sizes 235/45R18 95H and 235/40R19 92H (gititireusa.com). In 2017 one of Giti tire brands was sourced as original equipment on the 2018 Atlas (columbiabusinessreport). Giti Tire USA Ltd. has a distribution center local to our Ontario Volkswagen dealership located in Rancho Cucamonga with 50 + employees.
Volkswagen of America has a unique program offered to our partners for their consistent support, where they may be eligible to receive $500 off from invoice price of select new vehicles and it can even be paired with current offers and incentives, which is a pretty awesome deal. There are about 1122 companies that are a part of the Partner Program and Giti being included.
We teamed up with Giti Tires USA Ltd. specifically their distribution center in Rancho Cucamonga to have a Partner Drive Event on Thursday June 20, 2019 from 10am to about 1pm. We brought over 5 models for the Giti employees to experience and test drive: The Atlas, Tiguan, Passat, Beetle Convertible, and the Arteon. When the event first started one of our managers Randy Halcomb introduced Ontario Volkswagen and gave information about the Partner Program and we saw all the employees intrigued since some were is disbelief of the program and we had a few questions like when it would end or if the discount was off from the MSRP or the invoice price.
Lunch was provided from a Mediterranean food truck, they had pita bread stuffed with chicken, veggies and a sauce and a cone option with chicken, veggies, fries and sauce. The food was delicious and everyone was able to enjoy it while they waited for their turn to test drive a vehicle.
We first had the option to test drive the Tiguan, Passat, and Atlas and the first one to be test driven was the Tiguan. The Giti employees seemed to like the Tiguan the most; it was the most popular of the models. They asked questions and were intrigued on pricing and waited in line to drive it. We noticed that the white convertible Beetle we brought over was the star of the show, we had people crowding around it and waiting for their turn to test drive it. We allowed the employees to drive the Beetle around the parking lot and we could hear the laughter and excitement while driving it. It is quite clear that the soon to be discontinued Beetle is as iconic as ever! As a surprise for the Giti employees we had the Arteon driven over and it attracted all the attention is deserves, what people seemed to like was the hype of it being our new car and the unexpected hatchback since it provides a lot of space for cargo. We received many questions about it and had some test drive it. Towards the end of the event there was a raffle held for the employees and they all received a pen from Volkswagen, which they were excited about. At the end of the event we had a few Giti employees come up to us and ask more questions about the cars and the program.
