Each week, The Pulse provides insight into the buying, sourcing and brand-loyalty habits of counter personnel and professional technicians. This week, using Babcox Research, we look at the number of tire dealers that perform automotive and light truck vehicle service.

According to the most recent Dealer Profile conducted by Tire Review magazine, 66 percent of tire dealers interviewed say they perform vehicle service on cars and light trucks, in addition to selling tires. In fact, 61 percent of those performing service said they saw an increase in service sales in 2006.

Respondents reported that ideally they would like their businesses to have a near-even mix of tire sales and service sales. Tire dealers surveyed responded that, in an ideal world, they would like to see 55 percent of their business come from tire sales and 45 percent from service sales.

For more information about Babcox Research, go to: http://www.babcox.com/marketing_research.html.