Can anybody explain this?

[Mystic]

Can anybody explain why Castrol seems to be taking their time in introducing the German Castrol to the US market? The stuff apparently sells big time when it is available. Castrol has a product here that could compete with Mobil 1. They should be mass producing it, and perhaps selling it in other viscosities. Are they testing the market to see if it will sell? Are they getting rid of surplus stock from Europe? Every UOA of the German Castrol seems to indicate that it is a super oil. Based on what I have seen from the various UOAs, I certainly would have no problem using it in my car. It fact, thanks to pscholte, I did try four quarts and my car ran great. But the stuff is almost impossible to find. Castrol has a product that if mass-produced would offer major competition to the big synthetic oil in America-Mobil 1. Why do they not seem to recognize that fact?

 

[TSoA]

My guess it that they want to consolidate their product line, too many viscosities now. Perhaps they are working on a reformulation of their keeper oils like 5w-50 and 10w-40. Along with 0w-30, it makes for an adequate product line, imo, all ACEA A3. Castrol still has to sell the old stocks too, this is evident in the fact they are running generic Castrol Syntec commercials.(blank red label on the bottle) Maybe the Nu-Syntec is a teaser to get a buzz going about Castrol with oil conisseurs, while they pawn off the old stuff. Eventually a reformulation or consolidating of product lines will occur, maybe the 3 I mentioned. THEN Castrol can have their "coming out" party. FTR- I am on my 6th case!

 

[bretfraz]

Most of those questions will be impossible to answer without some inside information. I don't think BITOG has a Castrol rep as a member so anything we offer is 100% speculation. I've said it before in a previous thread, but the only way to know what's going on with this product is to develop a rapport with a Castrol rep. Find out who he/she is in your area and open a line of communication. It'll take some time and effort but they're usually the only ones who have some access to inside distribution plans. The customer care reps who answer phones and e-mails either don't know or won't tell you. Don't waste your time with them. I have a question: Outside of the hard core OCD oil lovers out there, how many people do you know use the German Syntec? Or even know what it really is? Like all synthetic oils, I don't think sales are as good as some of us think they are. It's been widely reported that synth oils represent a small part of the overall motor oil distribution. So German Syntec represents a small fraction of a small fraction. Maybe this is a part of the reason for the slow roll out of this oil. Castrol looks at the Big Picture and thinks, "no sense in spending tons of $$ changing our entire distribution plan when this oil is only going to get 0.x% of the market".

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Bret, Castrol seems to be spending a lot of money (here in NY anyway) promoting SYNTEC. My guess is that that German Castrol will have to wait for a major rollout until the marketing departments get their ad dollars to support it.