Motomaster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (July 2006)

Motomaster is a line of automotive products sold exclusively at Canadian Tire stores. Products branded as Motomaster range from small items, such as oil filters, which are actually manufactured by FRAM, and air filters, to larger items, such as the Motomaster line of tires.

In some product classes, Motomaster has created its own sub-brand to distinguish high-end merchandise. 'Motomaster Eliminator' identifies premium batteries and power-related products, while 'Motomaster Roughrider' is a line of truck tires. 'Formula 1' is the name used on premium Motomaster oils and additives.

The Motomaster line has shrunk somewhat in recent years as the store has moved towards brand name products. For example, in early 2003, the line of Motomaster spark plugs was fully discontinued in favour of carrying only brand names such as Champion, NGK and Bosch. In 2004, the Formula 1 line of oil filters was discontinued, and in 2002, the 'Motomaster 60' line of batteries was replaced with the more generic 'Sure Start'. One reason for the graduation reduction of the Motomaster line is the existence of the PartSource chain, of which 63 locations are fully owned and operated by the Canadian Tire Corporation as of May 2007. Though these stores carry many of the same products and share much of their supply chain, there is no formal affiliation between PartSource and Canadian Tire stores.

Although the Motomaster name remains on a wide variety of tires, the selection has shrunk recently. Since 2004, the Sentinel A/S and Touring 160 tires have been discontinued, with no Motomaster replacements expected. Another line of Premium Tires, the Motomaster LXR, has been phased out starting in late 2007 / early 2008. It has been replaced by certain "General" brand tires.

Generally, Motomaster is regarded as the "base" or "starting" quality and price point line.