Specialist
Former executive at Truck Hero Inc
Agenda
- Trends and developments in the light truck accessories industry, focusing on Truck Hero
- Demand trends and competitive positioning across Truck Hero’s product portfolio
- Profitability profile and growth given inflationary headwinds and acquisition strategy
- Medium-to-long-term outlook
Questions
1.
Which 2-3 key industry trends or developments have you been following?
2.
What are your full-year expectations for 2022? What are your 3-5-year growth expectations?
3.
Do you expect Truck Hero to grow ahead, below or in line with the industry trajectory?
4.
Could you outline your views of the competitive landscape and where Truck Hero falls into the stack?
5.
Do players such as Fox Factory or Rough Country pose any competitive threat in Jeep and off-road markets? How are those companies positioned in those markets, focusing more on off-road?
6.
You’ve highlighted the importance of a D2C model in this space. What are your thoughts on the growth potential in the e-commerce and D2C channel for the industry generally and for Truck Hero specifically?
7.
What percentage of US light truck accessories do you estimate are sold through an e-commerce platform vs D2C?
8.
Is the lion’s share of RealTruck sales coming through its own platform or is a lot of the business is going through Amazon?
9.
Do you have a sense of the difference in economics between the D2C, Amazon and retail partner channels? How significant of a margin difference do we see across those?
10.
Might a lot of cheaper competitors be getting a trade-down benefit in today’s inflationary environment? Are there any particular cheaper competitors that you are keeping an eye on?
11.
How might a company in this space profile its typical customer base? Might it be around income, age or gender?
12.
What is Truck Hero’s key product portfolio and what are its key brands on the truck and Jeep side? What is your performance outlook there? Are these products leaders or laggards in the portfolio? How do you see things trending?
13.
Do you expect Truck Hero to maintain its dominant position in bed covers? Do you expect that to grow? Is there anything eating at the company’s share that you would highlight?
14.
You mentioned a talent drain in product and engineering at Truck Hero. Do you think there was something about the culture or something at the company specifically that led to this? Is that an ongoing issue?
15.
How are you thinking about unit sales for Truck Hero through the rest of 2022 and into 2023? How do you see that trending on both sides? How might unit sales compare to a pre-coronavirus environment or YoY?
16.
Beyond the integration with Lund International, are there any issues or struggles that you would highlight?
17.
What do you think will happen to demand in 2023 if we go into a recession? What typical things have we learned from previous recessions? What might be different this time?
18.
You mentioned some of the supply chain issues facing the company, specifically relating to aluminium. Are there any other pressures that are impacting Truck Hero’s business model today? If so, which pose the most risk for margin deterioration?
19.
You talk about a dynamic wherein nobody wants to be the first to pass price increases on to customers. Does Truck Hero itself dictate any of the pricing power in the market or are there other players that lead the way?
20.
Do you have any high-level thoughts on Truck Hero’s cost structure and its ability to flex costs down in a potential downcycle?
21.
What’s your outlook for Truck Hero’s growth and profitability profile over the next few years?
22.
From an M&A perspective, are there any viable or attractive targets that could make sense for Truck Hero to consider bringing into the fold? Are there any product lines or geographies that the company would like to get into?
23.
What are your views on Truck Hero management? How would you characterise its ability to execute? Are there any moves that you would question?
24.
What is the best- and worst-case scenario for Truck Hero over the next 12-18 months?
