Pennzoil motors ahead of Quaker State - top automotive brands at discount stores - Top Brands, Part 1: Store Manager Survey

Discount Store News, Oct 1, 1990

Pennzoil Motors Ahead of Quaker State

For the second year in a row, Pennzoil and Quaker State flip-flopped positions in the standings for best performing automotive brands in the minds of discount store managers.

In DSN's Top Brands Survey, it was Pennzoil's turn to surge past Quaker State in the automotives category, with four out of 10 discount store managers naming it as a top performing brand, compared with one-fourth of managers citing Quaker State. That was the reverse of 1989, when Quaker State shot past Pennzoil by about the same margin.

Those sudden reversals contrasted sharply with the 1988 results when the two brands virtually tied, with three of 10 managers naming Pennzoil and almost the same number citing Quaker State as a top performing brand.

What remains constant is their dominance of the two top spots over the past five years. In those years, Quaker State took honors as the top brand three times to two for Pennzoil.

Another constant is the prominence of oils and filters in the top brands survey, reflecting the increasing importance of oil and filter changes as a simple DIY project that the average consumer can still handle in an era of mounting automotive complexity.

As they did last year, five oils made it on the Top 10 chart this year, along with Fram filters, which ranked No. 3, and STP, best known for oil additives, completing the 10.

For Fram, the 1990 survey meant a step up from the No. 4 spot last year. It bumped Valvoline out of third place this year returning it to the middle of the pack, a spot it held from 1986 though 1988.

The other three on the Top 10 chart this year also represent products for simple projects for the backyard mechanic: Prestone, anti-freeze; AC-Delco, batteries and spark plugs; and Turtle Wax, polish, wax and washes.

On the Top 10 chart, Havoline moved up a notch this year to No. 4 from No. 5 in 1989.

In other shifts, Valvoline dropped to No. 6 from No. 3, Prestone moved to No. 5 from No. 7; AC-Delco moved up to No. 7 from No. 9; Turtle Wax moved up to ninth place from No. 10 in 1989; and STP dropped to 10th place from sixth.

Pennzoil gained ground over rival Quaker State in the view of both conventional and upscale managers but gained the most among managers of conventional discount stores. A bit more than four of 10 conventional discount store managers said they regard Pennzoil as their best performing brand, compared with one-third of upscale managers.

In comparison, Quaker State lost status in the thinking of both categories of managers, with one-quarter of conventional managers saying they think Quaker State is a top brand and three out of 10 upscale managers expressing the same opinion.

Fram also gained stature with both categories of store managers but picked up most of its improvement among upscale store managers. Almost half of upscale managers named it their top brand, against one-fifth of conventional managers.

Even brands that fail to make the Top 10 list showed pockets of strength.

About two of 10 K mart managers, for example, cited Amoco as their top performing brand, but none at Wal-Mart and Ames.

Amoco tied with STP with roughly 6% of all store managers--mostly K mart--naming it as among their top performing automotives brands.

Top 10 automotive brands also vary widely in their standing from chain to chain.

Half of K mart managers, for example, named Pennzoil as a top performer, compared with less than one-tenth of Ames managers. On the other hand, more than half of Ames' managers cited Quaker State as a best performer, compared with one-quarter of K mart managers.

In the survey, Fram made its best showing at Target, where six of 10 managers said it was a best performing brand compared with less than one in 10 of K mart managers.

At Wal-Mart, almost four of 10 store managers named Havoline as a top performer, compared with less than one in 10 at both Ames and Target.

Prestone, however, showed a fairly consistent standing among the four chains, with roughly two of 10 managers at each of the four major chains naming it a best performer.

Automotive brand performance also varies widely by region, and some brands appear, as expected, to do better in their home territory.

Pennsylvania-based Quaker State performed best in the Northeast, with almost half the managers citing it as a top performing brand, while only about two of 10 managers in the South and West agreed.

Houston-based Havoline, did twice as well in the South--no doubt thanks to its strength among Wal-Mart managers--than it did in the Northeast and the West.

Detroit-based AC-Delco performed best among North Central managers, while it trailed off in the minds of managers in the Northeast and West.

Pennzoil: Best in the West

In an apparent exception to regional preference, Houston-based Pennzoil made its best showing in the West, with almost three-quarters of Western managers in its camp, followed by the North Central region, with half of those managers. In its home turf, about three of 10 Southern store managers named it as among their best performing brands, while less than one in 10 managers in the Northeast named it a top performer.