Japanese Tyre Sales up 1.3 per cent

Japanese domestic tyre shipments rose 1.3 per cent year-on-year in March, to 11.865 million units.

This was the same increase as recorded in February and, according to Deutsche Bank analysts, suggests that demand for studless tyres has levelled out. This comes after heavy snowfall and anticipation of tyre price increases buoyed growth in December (+13.9%) and January (+9.