Originally Posted By: KCJeep
That'll stick it to the OCOD...superior white Purolators next to them, and for a little less money too. Since I'd speculate the #1 driving factor in the majority of Wal-mart filter buyers is price, the OCOD of death may have to find a better value factor or take a hit to market share. On the other hand, since Fram has done such a good marketing job, the lower price of the Purolator may only support the idea the Fram is better in the minds of many buyers.
Anyway it'll be good to see Puro's at Walmart. Kmart already carries Puro as their #1 filter brand...they even have PureOnes.
One might think that it would hurt Fram, but in reality it just serves as a major annoyance and ultimately will affect us in a few years.
See, Purolator won their space by not only catering to the point that WM didn't want 1 major supplier, they also came in with extremely aggressive pricing. Therefore in short order WM will come back to Fram and demand a cost reduction or they'll throw them out. (They won't). Fram will cave to save the business and WM just increased their margin (which they'll never pass on to you unless sales go into the [censored]). Fram is now making less and Purolator is doing nothing but grabbing volume to eat their costs.
Where that ultimately gets us is once Purolator drives the market down...the off-shore guys will have figured out how to make their very pretty oil filters actually quite well. Then they step in and cut everyone out. AAP is doing it now with Drive Works and every other major retailer is looking at sourcing direct. Once again...NONE of this cost savings will be passed on to you.
Another factor to consider is that Fram does so much business with WM that the amount of pressure that Purolator will place on them is non-existent when it comes to overall dollars. Understand what this truly is...it's not for a consumer ever. It's strictly to give WM a leverage tool in negotiations.
