12% CAGR projected in Thailand tyre market

The tyre market in Thailand is forecast to grow at a CAGR of more than 12 per cent between 2014 and 2019. Anticipated double digit growth in automobile production, expanding automobile fleet size, upcoming important infrastructure developments and growth-focused initiatives being undertaken by the government are expected to propel tyre sales in the country through 2019.The two-wheeler tyre segment accounted for the largest market share in 2013, followed by commercial vehicle, passenger car and OTR tyre segments. While the two-wheeler tyre segment is expected to retain its dominance, in volume terms, in the Thailand tyre market, the passenger car tyre segment is expected to surpass the commercial vehicle tyre segment and capture the second largest market share by 2019.

Passenger car tyre segment is forecast to witness highest growth among other segments, in value terms, due to government promoted Eco-Car projects, which are also attracting significant investment from leading global car manufacturers. The retread tyre market in the country is also expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period, with major demand for retreaded tyres emanating from commercial vehicle segment, followed by the OTR vehicle segment.

Central and North East regions are the highest contributors in the country’s total tyre volume sales, mainly due to expanding fleet size, rapid rate of industrial development and a large percentage of Thailand’s population living in these regions.

Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear are a few of the major tyre brands in Thailand, followed by Sumitomo, Yokohoma and Continental. Other tyre brands operating in the country are Pirelli, Vee Rubber, Otani Tyres, Apollo, Nokian and Toyo Tyres. However, new factory investments from Linglong and Sentury Tire are likely to boost domestic tyre production further.

“Rising per capita income and favourable government policies to promote the automotive industry in Thailand are boosting automobile sales in the domestic market. Moreover, the country also exports a substantial percentage of the total automobiles manufactured in Thailand, which are further anticipated to increase during the forecast period. With growing automobile sales in domestic as well as exports markets, the country’s overall tyre market is expected to register double-digit growth by the end of 2019.”, said Karan Chechi, research director with TechSci Research.

TechSci make the observations in a reported entitled “Thailand Tyre Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019”, which was published 5 December 2014.