The name Atlas Equipment is well-established as the go-to brand for hundreds of thousands of garage equipment users, who have settled on Atlas for their lifts, tire equipment, alignment products, and much more over the last 30 years. The combination of excellent quality and extraordinary value has seen the company grow to 10 locations across the US and Canada in addition to its significant export division.

So, it was a logical step for the company to evolve their offering to a wider customer base, with the introduction late last year of the all-new ‘Atlas Platinum’ brand.

Atlas Platinum has been designed to cater to the higher volume, or more demanding user, where simple key factors such as ALI certification on lifts, or OEM approval of tire equipment, are important features and key purchasing aspects. The range has been carefully considered, considering what kind of product people are buying and what draws them to the undoubtedly more expensive traditional or ‘big-name’ brands. The result is, Atlas claims, a range of product that competes with what the market typically considers to be the best and matching them feature for feature or in certain cases, exceeding them. All of this while maintaining a sensible pricing strategy that the company claims is largely lost because many are driven on brand name rather than product.

The new line of Atlas Platinum Tire Equipment is a perfect example, where models such as the PWB50 and PWB90XL Wheel Balancers, are built using key components and circuitry sourced from the same suppliers used by the 3 biggest Italian manufacturers. In addition, the PTC500 ‘Leverless’ Tire Changer features a patented system which enables the machine to be used as leverless or traditional levered machine at the turn of a hand.

The expertise gained from decades in the lift business have ensured a range of 2 post and 4 post lifts which boast the coveted ALI certification. The ALI standard cannot be argued with as it brings a degree of comfort to the user knowing that, whatever brand is on the lift, it has been designed to meet the same stringent standards as those ‘famous’ brands everyone associates as being the best.

“Our progression into Atlas Platinum was driven largely by our customers” states Atlas Director Grant Smith. “When you supply a customer who is just starting out with an Atlas Tire Changer and he comes back 5 years later with a business that’s changing 30 or 40 tires a day and they want the next level, we needed to be able to continue our relationship with that customer.”

The concept has already been proven, with Atlas Platinum sales doubling over the last several months. James Boon, EVP for Atlas Garage Equipment and someone who has spent over 25 years working amongst the Italian garage equipment manufacturers on product development, describes the Atlas Platinum brand as ‘something the industry should take very seriously,’ claiming that they intend to make a name for themselves in the industry.

“I have worked amongst equipment manufacturers and some of the most demanding users for a long time, and I know who is producing what product for which brand, and what direction the market is taking,” states James. “Our Atlas Platinum line up is absolutely designed to meet the need of the guy who needs a tire changer that will handle the toughest run-flat tire, or a lift that will match up to that famous brand he has been with for years but is maybe questioning their support. Atlas Platinum is a high quality product that competes with the “best of the best”, and one that we are totally in control of, not just some re-branding exercise.”

Questions regarding service of Atlas Platinum equipment? How does the Atlas model fair up to the traditional equipment suppliers, many of which have partnerships or their own facilities providing a network of support across the country?

“We are doing things slightly differently”, continues Grant. “We have a network of service partners like many of our competitors, but we are embracing the 21st century technology, through our ‘Tech Hub’ facility. In a day and age where we have Skype, TeamViewer, and FaceTime, you have to question whether a customer really needs to pay to have someone travel hundreds of miles and who may or may not have the part required to fix a problem. Why would a shop want to wait weeks for a tech to come out, diagnose the problem, order the part, wait a week for the part to arrive, and another week for the tech to get the customer back on their schedule. Our Tech Hub is easily accessible and provides instant support which allows our customers to be up and running in a timely manner.”

With an ever-expanding range, set to include amongst other products a high-end CCD aligner with integrated ADAS calibration option, Atlas Platinum is set to become a common sight amongst professional workshops nationwide. To support this, the company has recently recruited Jonathon Cole as brand manager. Further investment is planned as the profile grows and the customer base expands.