May Figures Show Continued European Market Decline

The ETRMA reports that in May the overall European replacement tyre market declined for the 14th consecutive month. In terms of segment demand, truck tyre sales between January and May dropped 32 per cent compared with the same period last year, and the ETRMA notes that May’s 24 per cent decline “confirms the strong deterioration of tyre demand.” According to Europool figures, approximately 600,000 truck tyres were sold Europe-wide during the course of the month.

European passenger car tyre sales decreased eight per cent during the January to May period, and decreased nine per cent in May to around 12 million units. The UK market suffered a much greater drop during the month, declining 26 per cent in May. Some European markets, buoyed by national market support measures, experienced increased sales during the May period; passenger car sales in France, for example, rose 12 per cent.

The ETRMA comments that, “after a mitigated first part of the year 2008, the agricultural tyre market eventually got affected as well from August by the international crisis and the decrease of the tyre demand.” The organisation points out that this decrease is particularly visible from October, and the market has remained negative since this time. In the first five months of the year, the decrease in the European agricultural tyre market has been 15 per cent compared with the same period a year ago. According to Europool figures sales in May reached around 160,000 tyres. The most affected markets during the month were Finland, where sales decreased by 46 per cent compared to a year earlier, the Netherlands, where sales declined 39 per cent, and Germany, where sales dropped 30 per cent.