Goodweek Tires, Inc. After extensive research and development, Goodweek Tires, Inc. has recently developed a new tire, the Super Tread, and must decide whether to make the investment necessary to produce and market it. The tire would be ideal for drivers doing a large amount of wet weather and off-road driving in addition to normal freeway usage. The research and development costs so far have totaled about $10 million. The SuperTread would be put on the market beginning this year, and Goodweek expects it to stay on the market for a total of four years. Test marketing costing $5 million has shown that there is a significant market for a SuperTread-type tire. As a financial analyst at Goodweek Tires, you have been asked by your CFO, Adam Smith, to evaluate the SuperTread project and provide a recommendation on whether to go ahead with the investment. Except for the initial Investment that will occur immediately, assume all cash flows will occur at year-end. Goodweek must initially invest $160 million in production equipment to make the SuperTread. This equipment can be sold for $65 million at the end of four years. Goodweek intends to sell the SuperTread to two distinct markets: 1. The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) market: The OEM market consists primarily of the large automobile companies Nike General Motors) that buy tires for new cars. In the OEM market, the Super Tread is expected to sell for $41 per tire. The variable cost to produce each tire is $29. 2. The replacement market: The replacement market consists of all tires purchased after the automobile has left the factory. This market allows higher margins: Goodwook expects to sell the Super Troad for $62 per tire there. Variablo costs are the same as in the OEM market. Goodweek Tires intends to raise prices at 1 percent above the inflation rater, varlable costs also will increase at 1 percent above the Inflation rate. In addition, the SuperTread project will incur $43 million in marketing and general administration costs the first year. This cost is expected to increase at the Inflation rate in the subsequent years. Goodwook's corporate tax rato is 23 percent. Annual Inflation is expected to remain constant at 3.25 percent. The company uses a 13.4 percent discount rate to evaluate new product dec lons. Automotive industry analysts expect automobile manufacturers to produce 6.2 milion now cars this year and for production to grow at 2.5 percent per year thereafter. Each new car needs four tires (the spare tires are undersized and are in a different category). Goodweek Tires expects the Super Tread to capture 11 percent of the OEM market. Industry analysts estimate that the replacement tire market sizo will be 32 million tires this year and that it will grow at 2 percent annually. Goodweek expects the SuperTread to capture an 8 percent market share. The appropriate depreciation schedule for the equipment is the 7-year MACRS depreciation schedule. The immediate Initial working capital requirement is $9 million. Thereafter, tho not working capital requirements will be 15 percent of sales. What are the NPV, payback period, discounted payback period, IRR and Pl on this project
