Michelin extends lead, MRF leads rise of Indian tyremakers
Our 2025 ranking of the leading tyre manufacturers by sales, based on full-year 2024 date as updated on 11 June 2025, depicts a stable and yet evolving landscape. The top four positions remain unchanged from previous years, with Michelin leading at €27,193.0 million (with €26,674.0 million from tyres, 98.1% share), followed closely by Bridgestone at €27,168.5 million (€25,348.2 million from tyres, 93.3%), Goodyear at €18,171.1 million (100% tyre revenue), and Continental at €39,719.0 million (but only €13,861.0 million from tyres, 34.9%). This quartet has maintained its order since 2020, with Michelin extending its lead over the past 12 months.
Continue Reading![The tyre [markets] they are a changin’](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tyre-Clock.jpg)
The tyre [markets] they are a changin’
With news of the European investigation into Chinese-produced car and light truck tyres, Goodyear’s sale of its Chemical business, tariffs, the publication of our latest tyre retail ranking – and did I mention tariffs? – May was a pretty eventful month. At the same time, we learnt the sad news of industry stalwart Sir Tom Farmer’s passing. From the end of a personal era, to the initiation of new chapter in global trade, what these differing events say together is: the times are changing.
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The re-glocalisation of the tyre market
On first glance, the ownership dispute between Pirelli and Sinochem, the impact of US tariffs on the share prices of premium tyre manufacturers, Bridgestone’s job cuts in Spain, and Apollo Tyres’ decision to shutter its Enschede, Netherlands factory might not appear connected. However, all of them took place in the last month (April 2025) and reflect overlapping trends – geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic pressures, and competitive disruptions – that are reshaping the industry’s landscape. More broadly, some have described the present business era as the end of globalisation. However, looking at the same subject through the prism of the global tyre business suggests we could be witnessing a re-ordering of global powers or even a re-globalisation of the tyre market.
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Tyres & Accessories Magazine May 2025 issue available now
The May 2025 issue of Tyres & Accessories is now available for Tyrepress subscribers to read online or download. Delivering the latest news on fleets and fleet tyres and the OTR tyre segment, the issue also features the breaking stories and analysis of the UK and international tyre business, including the UK parliamentary debate on used tyre exports, Bond Internationals latest acquisition, and a round-up of the latest tyre test results. Non-subscribers can gain access to Tyrepress with a print or online subscription. Tyre professionals can take advantage of the current Tyrepress Professional Membership offer, helping to drive business online and stay informed with the industry’s leading magazine and websites. Click this link to download or read the May issue online.
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How tyre companies are navigating Trump’s trade war
As the global business landscape shifts under the weight of geopolitical tensions and economic recalibrations, recent developments at Pirelli are emblematic of how the context is forcing tyre businesses to be strategically agile. On 27 March 2025, Pirelli CEO Andrea Casaluci addressed the press following an already-postponed board meeting, signalling ongoing negotiations with its largest shareholder, China’s state-owned Sinochem, which holds a 37 per cent stake. The messaging was clear: Pirelli must adapt to new realities, particularly in the US market, where President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war threatens to put the economic brakes on companies with significant Chinese ties. Here I examine how Pirelli’s predicament reflects broader challenges for multinational firms, intertwining Trump’s tariffs, parallel Italian governance, and economic headwinds in the UK, while spotlighting opportunities for agile businesses.
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Tyres & Accessories Magazine March 2025 issue available to read or download
In the March 2025 issue, available now for Tyrepress subscribers to read online or download, Tyres & Accessories brings you the latest news from the commercial vehicle tyre segment and also features tyre industry sustainability. This issue also features the breaking stories and analysis of the UK and international tyre business, including the results of the UKs latest surveillance effort on tyre label compliance, the latest financial results from some of the biggest players, and the new Continental EcoContact 7 and 7 S. Non-subscribers can gain access to Tyrepress with a print or online subscription. Tyre professionals can take advantage of the current Tyrepress Professional Membership offer, helping to drive business online and stay informed with the industry’s leading magazine and websites. Click this link to download or read the March issue online.
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Thought leadership: Why a hearing could end up with both legislators and competitors listening
People often throw around terms like thought leadership without the accompanying evidence to make an impact. However, every once in a while, an example of thought leadership emerges by itself. The recent appearance of Michelin chief executive Florent Menegaux before a hearing of the French Economic Commission feels like that. What stands out from the hearing is that Michelin is overtly facing both the hard realities of lost market share as well as the difficulties of being competitive while manufacturing in mature Western markets. At the same time the company is fighting back against what it calls an “invasion” of low-cost imports with requests for a more level playing field – i.e. legislation balancing competition with lower cost import markets as well as standard-raising rules and with technological advances in both its products and its manufacturing processes.
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Fake news? Why real-life journalists trump artificial intelligence-based content generation
Repeat those words and the image of President Donald Trump is likely to appear in your imagination. However, despite the fact that President Trump is due to be sworn in for his second term of office around the time this magazine goes to press, and despite the fact that tyre-market-impacting tariffs will no-doubt be part of his second term, he and his opinions of what constitutes news are not the subject of this column. Rather, there are two further and completely distinct reasons to engage with the idiom “fake news”.
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Nokian Tyres & Continental – 9 decades of winter tyres
The winter tyre is 90 years old in 2024. Nokian Tyres brought the Kelirengas, its first product with a winter-specific tread pattern, to market in 1934. This was also the year that Continental threw its hat into the winter tyre ring with a tyre called the Gelände.
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‘Tariff man’: What Trump 2.0 means for the tyre business
The scale of Donald Trump’s success in the recent US election surprised many and disappointed those looking for a return to the White House for the democrats. But whatever you think of the once-again President Elect, based on his many and varied promises to the electorate, there is no doubt that his second term will result in change. The question is how will that change affect tyre businesses?
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Let’s go round again – what’s next for ATD?
On 22 October 2024, American Tire Distributors, Inc. (ATD) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It was the second time in around six years that the large – if not the largest – US tyre distributor made such a petition. And ATD did so leaving more than half-a-billion dollars outstanding with some of the world’s largest tyre manufacturers as well as some of some of the fastest-growing tyremakers (see Tyrepress.com and page 27 of the November edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine for further details relating to both the Chapter 11 announcement and how much money is outstanding with which tyremakers). This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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Competition heats up in the Europe’s coldest tyre markets
September has been a month of official openings. Specifically, Nokian Tyres opened its Romania tyre factory – something it has done in record time (see pages 14-16 for the details). And Linglong flipped the switch on passenger car tyre manufacturing at its Serbia plant too (see pages 18-19). At the same time, October’s magazine focuses on tyre wholesale (see page 44 onwards) and industrial tyres (from page 36). However, this column turns its attention to an arguably under-reported part of the European tyre market – the Nordic/Scandinavian tyre business.
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Looking forward: The enduring role of industrial tyres in the post-pandemic environment
The COVID-19 pandemic showcased the critical role played by the commercial and industrial tyre sectors in ensuring uninterrupted supply chains and the global flow of essential goods. From food and medical supplies to industrial equipment, tyres were at the foundation of the logistics chain that kept the world functioning amidst lockdowns and restrictions. Commercial tyres, specifically designed for long-haul trucks and delivery vehicles, facilitated the smooth transportation of crucial supplies, while industrial tyres ensured that heavy machinery continued operating in factories, warehouses, and construction sites, while material-handling tyres kept crucial logistics systems going – all of which highlights the indispensable contribution to economic resilience made by off-highway tyres. This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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Sustainability, new European-orientated factories and EV tyres
July’s edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine focuses on three points – our latest ranking of the leading tyre manufacturers in terms of turnover and accompanying analysis of key players in terms of share price and third-party brand valuation (see pages 14 to 21); headlines and interviews from the recent The Tire Cologne exhibition (see pages 26 to 41); and our scheduled mining and construction tyre feature (see page 48 onwards). While they are not intentionally related, the impact measured within the pages of our leading tyremakers table and accompanying analysis, echoes into the key themes and movements on-show at Tire Cologne. And that impact revolves around three themes: one philosophical, one strategic and one product-related, namely – sustainability, investment in factories and the development of electric vehicle ranges. Of course, these themes interrelate like the overlapping circles of a Venn diagram. But they also represent distinct themes in and of themselves. This article is an example of the editorial comment that introduces every edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem, click here to become one.
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East meets West: The interplay between Far Eastern tyremakers and western markets
As this June edition of Tyres & Accessories went to press, we were all preparing for The Tire Cologne. Lauded as Europe’s leading tyre exhibition, the 2024 show will be an undoubtedly international event (see next month’s July issue for the review of what took place). Within Tire Cologne’s international remit, Tyres & Accessories understands that a number of well-known as well as up-and-coming Far Eastern manufacturers will be present this year. Since China is the world’s largest producer of tyres by unit volume, and in order to catch up with developments that have taken place post-Covid, T&A recently spent time in China meeting with numerous domestic and international tyremakers there.
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