Although a mild improvement was seen within the truck, agricultural and two-wheeler tyre segments in the third quarter of 2020, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) reports that the results for the first nine months of this year still show that the COVID-19 pandemic is “delivering worrying sales results for the industry.”
The second quarter of 2020 provided the worst quarterly sales results in recorded memory, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) states. Publishing its members’ replacement tyre sales for the Covid-19 pandemic stricken quarter, ETRMA secretary general Fazilet Cinaralp said: “The tyre sector’s full recovery is still far away. For the moment, we can only hope for the market to stabilise in the second half of the year. Our outlook for 2020 remains bleak with a double-digit drop in sales expected across all segments.”
Continental has merged its passenger and truck tyres replacement businesses in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Philipp von Hirschheydt, former head of the passenger tyres replacement business in the EMEA region, leads the new business unit. This transformation started on 1 January, 2020, becoming effective on 1 July, 2020. Conti states that it has merged the businesses to “increase customer centricity while increasing the overall efficiency of the organisations.” In making this organisational change, Conti has shifted its structure to align with customer groups rather than product categories.
Fresh figures from the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) show the extent to which COVID-19 control measures have impacted upon Europe’s tyre markets. The year-on-year slowdown in tyre replacements and sales in the first quarter of 2020 has been “dramatic”, the ETRMA reports.
Figures recently published by the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA) show that its members produced almost 242 million tyres in all segments of the replacement market in 2019, two to three per cent fewer than the 248 million tyres produced a year earlier.
Sales of tyres produced by European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) members decreased year-on-year in almost every product category during 2019. The ETRMA describes the market last year as “weak”, and this is particularly the case for the original equipment segments.
Although the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association has reported that its members’ sales declined in all segments during the third quarter of this year, it interprets the figures as indicating “a general stabilisation of the market.”
The second quarter of 2018 saw sales of replacement market car and truck tyres in Europe rise year-on-year, however this improved result didn’t quite suffice to lift sales figures for the first half of the year above the H1 2017 result.
Companies belonging to the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) experienced a further decrease of replacement market tyre sales in all segments during the third quarter of 2017. This decline was particularly strong in the agricultural segment, where member sales were down 25 per cent year-on-year in the three months to 30 September 2017. The ETRMA comments that sales in agricultural segment confirm a negative trend already seen in 2016.
During last Thursday’s annual press conference, Continental CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart shared that expansion of the tyre business and further acquisitions are on the cards as part of the company’s aim of reducing its reliance on the automotive original equipment industry. After discussing the recent acquisition of Veyance Technologies, a firm he described as “ideally” matching the ContiTech division in terms of both product range and markets, Degenhart added that further steps towards reducing automotive OE dependence will follow: “Firstly, in the form of continuous expansion of our replacement tyre business. And then too, we are not ruling out the possibility of further acquisitions.”
This year, Continental expects to sell a total of 11 million more tyres in the European and the NAFTA replacement markets than in 2013. Speaking at the company’s press day in Hannover, Germany today, Continental CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart stated that the tyre maker anticipates an increase of two per cent in these two regions, markets he said were “very important to our tyre replacement business”. He added that together with further growth effects in Asia and South America, Continental is looking forward to its global replacement tyre business rising three per cent this year. In regards to the original equipment segment, the CEO said Continental expects global production of passenger cars, SUVs and light commercial vehicles to increase by about two per cent.
The European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA) suggest the 2013 tyre replacement market stabilised in 2013 after a shaky start to the year. According to figures published 16 January, the car segment contracted 1 per cent to 192.699 million units in 2013. Total truck tyre sales were put at 8.849 million.
Once again, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations plans to grab the attention of viewers of Super Bowl XLIV, which airs 7 February on CBS from Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida, reports Tire Review. BATO will unveil two new Bridgestone brand tyre commercials during the game, in addition to the brand serving as the title sponsor of the Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show featuring The Who. The Richards Group, a Dallas-based independent advertising agency, created the 30-second commercials, one of which will run at the end of the first quarter, while the other will air during the third quarter.
Emerging tyre markets led by China are bucking the downward sales trends encountered in the European and US markets. According to Michelin’s latest market figures, Chinese passenger car replacement tyre sales have grown significantly (up a huge 31 per cent in the circumstances). At the same time Chinese truck tyre replacement market is said to be flat year-on-year, compared with massive falls in the West.
South American tyre sales, on the other hand have not faired so well. In Brazil sales of original equipment truck tyres are 30 per cent lower than last year, according to the data, which also points out that this reflects on the heavy cuts that have been made to new truck tyre production. As far as the Brazilian replacement tyre market is concerned, truck tyre sales are said to have declined approximately 20 per cent year-on-year.
Sales of summer passenger car tyres throughout Europe in 2007 are said to have increased by 3 per cent over 2006 figures, which in turn were a 2.5 per cent increase over those recorded in 2005. The information supplied to T&A indicates that, Europe-wide, 120.7 million summer pcr tyres were sold last year. This increase was offset by the second consecutive decline in passenger car winter tyre sales. In 2007 only 35.5 million units were sold in the whole of Europe, a decrease of 9.58 per cent on 2006, when 38.9 million winter passenger car tyres were sold. That year the number of winter tyres sold also decreased, dropping by 13.4 per cent from a 2005 high.
ETRMA
Continental